The Dragon's Pearl Book

At sixteen, Marco Polo yearns for adventure. He wants to follow in the footsteps of his father, a famous explorer, but instead he is in training to become the head accountant for the Polo family fortune. When his father vanishes while on a dangerous mission to the Unknown Lands, Marco knows that it's up to him to bring him home. He sets out on a rescue mission with his best friend Amelio, but before long Marco will realize that his mission is far larger and more pressing than he thought: the fate of the whole world may turn on the outcome of his journey.

This thrilling untold story of Marco Polo's first adventure is packed with Asian magic, swashbuckling swordfights, overwhelming odds, and the ultimate battle between good and evil.

Publishers Weekly

Fun and fast-moving, this work by first-time novelist Jordan feels very cinematic-perhaps unsurprising as the story began as a screenplay. The rollicking fantasy takes plenty of license with the life of Marco Polo, opening at the dawn of the 14th century with 16-year-old Marco in Venice, where he longs for an adventurous life like his father-only to get his wish when he learns his father has been abducted by the powerful Eastern sorcerer Arghun. With the help of his reluctant friend Amelio, the warrior Aziz and the mysterious guide Kokachin, Marco travels east through the Insurmountable Mountains to the Peking court of the Mongol leader Kublai Khan, battling everything from wily shopkeepers to Arghun's almost undefeatable magic and servants, to rescue his father. The prose is standard, though the story has an engaging mix of adventure, Asian mythology and historical detail-all filtered through the amazed eyes of a young man who is experiencing them for the first time. The pace is unrelenting, but action-loving readers won't mind. Ages 10-up. (July)

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