Paperback, 528 pages
Published July 3, 2012 by Anchor Canada.
The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not. Within the black-and-white striped canvas tents is an utterly unique experience full of breathtaking amazements. It is called Le Cirque des Rêves, and it is only open at night. But behind the scenes, a fierce competition is underway—a duel between two young magicians, Celia and Marco, who have been trained since childhood expressly for this purpose by their mercurial instructors. Unbeknownst to them, this is a game in which only one can be left standing, and the circus is but the stage for a remarkable battle of imagination and will. Despite themselves, however, Celia and Marco tumble headfirst into love—a deep, magical love that makes the lights flicker and the room grow warm whenever they so much as brush hands. True love or not, the game must play out, and the fates …
The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not. Within the black-and-white striped canvas tents is an utterly unique experience full of breathtaking amazements. It is called Le Cirque des Rêves, and it is only open at night. But behind the scenes, a fierce competition is underway—a duel between two young magicians, Celia and Marco, who have been trained since childhood expressly for this purpose by their mercurial instructors. Unbeknownst to them, this is a game in which only one can be left standing, and the circus is but the stage for a remarkable battle of imagination and will. Despite themselves, however, Celia and Marco tumble headfirst into love—a deep, magical love that makes the lights flicker and the room grow warm whenever they so much as brush hands. True love or not, the game must play out, and the fates of everyone involved, from the cast of extraordinary circus per formers to the patrons, hang in the balance, suspended as precariously as the daring acrobats overhead. Written in rich, seductive prose, this spell-casting novel is a feast for the senses and the heart. - Publisher.
I enjoyed this fantasy and thought it had enough red herrings and surprises to reward. I am somewhat curious about the prior challenges but would think it tedious for this great book to be turned into a series.
A pretty fairy-tale about a pointless magical duel conducted over an extended period of time at a circus that is both real and surreal.
There is romance, manipulation and illusion as the central characters, unbeknownst to them, fight out some proxy war over theories in learning magic.
It's an enjoyable fantasy but I found it easy to put the book down and forget about it for a while. I wasn't fully immersed in the fable nor invested in the characters.
Beautifully, gorgeously written, masterful interleaving of the multiple threads of story, wonderful narration.
I just found myself being perpetually frustrated that I had no idea what this "game" was that was being played. Granted, it was also never explained to the players, but WHYYYYYYYY
This was so beautiful. I actually do not have the words to explain how beautiful it was. This is accomplished elegance, intelligence and beauty all in one book.
The symbols, the magic, the aesthetic. The deep thought in the set up and the hidden messages between the lines.
It's precious and I will cuddle this book for a very long time, sleep with it, eat with it and read and reread it. AND NEVER LET GO. And every time the world is a shitty place and other books sucks, I will just get this book out and hold on to it.
Did I mention the magic? The magic was the most beautiful magic I have ever read in a book. I want to put it on paper, but I can't because it's too beautiful to catch it on paper and my attempts will pale in comparison to it.
Fucking Prague …
This was so beautiful. I actually do not have the words to explain how beautiful it was. This is accomplished elegance, intelligence and beauty all in one book.
The symbols, the magic, the aesthetic. The deep thought in the set up and the hidden messages between the lines.
It's precious and I will cuddle this book for a very long time, sleep with it, eat with it and read and reread it. AND NEVER LET GO. And every time the world is a shitty place and other books sucks, I will just get this book out and hold on to it.
Did I mention the magic? The magic was the most beautiful magic I have ever read in a book. I want to put it on paper, but I can't because it's too beautiful to catch it on paper and my attempts will pale in comparison to it.
Fucking Prague
Rain
Books
Stars
And so so much more
I have no idea, how people can not like this book. Or be bored by it. It's like the greatest showman mixed with Moulin Rouge plus Magic (I am not sure which magic, because it was so beautiful magic, incomparable magic to be exact, maybe Neil Gaiman magic, but that also does not fit it 100%). You would need to be a very weird person not to like that.
Oh this book is lovely. It's deep and well-paced and has some of the most vivid imagery I've read in a long time. I swear I could smell the popcorn and hear the violins and taste the chocolate mice (though that might have been this fever helping out).
The book follows a classic magician's duel that is played out through the construction of a fantastical circus. The two unwilling combatants are tied into the game at a very young age by their respective teachers, who have an ancient but amiable vendetta. That's where the book starts, and it only becomes more convoluted from there. It's definitely a novel about characters—the combatants, the performers, the circus followers, and the circus itself (and it's an elegant monochrome cirque du soleil sort of circus, look for tumblers and illusionists and living statues here, not clowns and rainbow-bright colors).
I haven't read the cover …
Oh this book is lovely. It's deep and well-paced and has some of the most vivid imagery I've read in a long time. I swear I could smell the popcorn and hear the violins and taste the chocolate mice (though that might have been this fever helping out).
The book follows a classic magician's duel that is played out through the construction of a fantastical circus. The two unwilling combatants are tied into the game at a very young age by their respective teachers, who have an ancient but amiable vendetta. That's where the book starts, and it only becomes more convoluted from there. It's definitely a novel about characters—the combatants, the performers, the circus followers, and the circus itself (and it's an elegant monochrome cirque du soleil sort of circus, look for tumblers and illusionists and living statues here, not clowns and rainbow-bright colors).
I haven't read the cover blurb, as I bought this as an ebook upon a recommendation, but I hear it's highly misleading.
So let me just say: if you liked 'Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell', 'The Prestige', and the tv series 'Carnivale' as much as I did... Then this is for you. Go for it.
