Thursday, September 15, 2011

One of this Fall's Most Anticipated Titles, and Pete Explains Why

The Night Circus

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 RĂªves, 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 per­formers 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.


Pete says:
"It might be daytime when you first notice a mysterious circus has arrived in your town, but the gates will remain locked until nightfall. And then, well, you're in for an after hours visual feast. There are sprawling tents done in all black and white, a bonfire of unimaginable colors, human contortion, fortune telling, and mirrors upon mirrors until you've lost track of what is real and what is not.
 
But unknown to the patrons and most of the performers, this friendly circus may not be all that it seems. For within all the music and magic a fierce battle is about to take place. Celia, daughter of Prospero the Enchanter, must test her illusionist skills against the equally talented Marco, protege of Alexander, the man in the gray suit. Celia and Marco have been bred since childhood to do battle, but are woefully ignorant of the stakes. There can only be one winner in this contest; the other must die. Complications arise when Celia and Marco fall desperately in love. Naturally they want out of the contest but are told by higher powers that this cannot be done. One lives, one dies. 
 
Has you're interest been piqued yet? If so, step inside the big tent. P.T. Barnum once displayed a sign that read 'This way to the egress,' fooling some into believing an egress was something exotic to see rather than merely an exit. Trust me, you won't want to exit this circus until the very last sentence.

My own fortune telling skills are very limited. If I call for blue skies you'd better grab an umbrella. But in the spirit of the book I gaze into my crystal ball and predict that one day Natalie Portman will play the role of Celia Bowen in the movie version of
The Night Circus. The role of Marco escapes me and perhaps he is being evasive on purpose. The battle continues and just like that...the circus is gone."

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