The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

by Erin Morgenstern

published by Anchor Canada (www.randomhouse.ca)

I am so happy to finally obtain this awesome and fantastic exciting book. I first heard of it a few years ago but wasn't able to get it until this month of October. I am thrilled that it went far above my expectations, and they were pretty high! Erin Morgenstern is a fabulous writer. This is probably the longest book I've ever read and yet I read it steadily, only stopping to sleep, eat and since it is frosty these days in northern BC, chopping wood for the fireplace, what could be more cozy for reading?

I loved this book, it's amazing and unexpected, characters clearly defined, the circus itself a character coming to life only at midnight and closing as the sun begins to rise. Not quite your usual circus, no animal acts, no Big Top, no clowns, but on the other hand, not like the famous Cirque du Soleil or the equally famous Russian Circus. A circus like no other. No, Le Cirque des Reves is something beyond, something living, something elegant. Yet, there is a dark side, too. Not obvious, but competitive, selective in its application of what the competitors, who remain unknown to most, will be compelled to do.

What impressed me was the flow of this book. I felt like I could just become one of the spectators, in fact, I think that is exactly what I was! The story is very unique with a style of its own.

The Shadow Lantern by Teresa Flavin

Published by Candlewick Press (July 2014) Templar

I was excited to receive this book for review, but what I didn't realize at the time was that it is not really a stand-alone but rather the final installment in a series. That said, I did enjoy the book and fairly quickly adjusted myself to what may have gone before. In fact, I hope to purchase the two previous books. This series by Teresa Flavin, judging from this book, is a fascinating journey of magic and time travel that I'm sure juvenile readers will enjoy as I did.

There is some confusion in trying to read this single book without knowing exactly what went on before, although there are many references in this book to the previous ones, enough possibly to keep the momentum flowing from one book to another. Enough to clue the reader in to what went before, and how the situation came to be in this book. Not to say too much about what happened previously, there is plenty of excitement and especially so when it comes to Hallowe'en night and the school community party.

The main characters in the present are teens Sunni, Blaise, Maddy and Dean. Among the adults are the parents and Mr. Bell, who is mainly in charge of the party, Angus, a former art forger who is Mr. Bell's cousin, and the mysterious Munroe, who claims to capture spirits on film and is giving a performance of a magical projecting lantern with hand-painted glass slides, a strange shadow lantern. From the past, we have Fausto Corvo in 1582, a purported magician and artist who combines the two, Lady Ishbel once alive and now a spirit in the present and Soranzo who would like to get his hands on Corvo's paintings.

Enigma Night is being planned for Hallowe'en night at Blackhope Tower, the place where so much has (and will) happen. Sunni and Blaise have disappeared from that tower in the past and it has a great deal to do with a Corvo painting that is housed there. Why was there a labyrinth in the tower room, why did skeletons pop up on it from thin air, why and how did it disappear? Munro is setting up a display and talks about his wonderful find, the antique and magical Oculus, apparently originally commissioned by Corvo. Is it possible that Corvo's secrets are trapped inside? The lamp is very unusual, but what is more unusual is what it does, something Sunni and Blaise will discover to their shock and amazement. What has happened to Mr. Bell, the art teacher who is mainly in charge of the party? He has disappeared. What causes the tower to begin to self-destruct? This book is full of fun, magic, adventure, and secret codes, perfect entertainment for the juvenile set. I enjoyed it to the point that I will probably obtain the other two books in the series, The Blackhope Enigma and The Crimson Shard.