Salamander's Milk — Christopher Smith

Prester John is not a normal man. Nor does he live in a normal world. He's been alive for nearly 2,000 years, with every indication of living many more. That is, until he and his wife decide to make a suicide pact. His much younger wife, Mina, suffers from a chilling terminal disease and does not wish to face a grisly death. But it seems the fates have determined that their lives will not be ending on their chosen date. So begins the story of Salamander's Milk, an epic tale that spans two millennia, several continents, a handful of wives, and scores of tragically sterile children. Through it all, Prester has always had the white salamander, a cornerstone of an ancient religion, who councils him and worries over him whether he likes it or not. And the mystery of the salamander man, the strange wanderer with the unsettlingly blue eyes who brings the salamanders whose nourishing milk and tactile silk forged the world, persists across the ages.