The Night Circus, Erin Morgenstern
I don't normally read something that could be classified as "romance" but the romance was sufficiently relegated to second place next to the plot. The synopsis actually drew me in on this one. It's the story of two magicians' students pitted against each other to the death who fall in love in spite of this circumstance. But it's not the epic sort of high fantasy battle that it sounds like. The writing focuses more on the characters than the mechanics of magic. The only spell that is detailed is the one that binds everyone to their contracts. After that it's more of vague but elegant backdrop. And it works well since the primary setting is a circus and the time period in which it takes place is the late 19th and early 20th centuries. There's no need for details to the magic, just the mood. You see that each student is trained differently as they grow up - one intellectually and one cruelly. The works they produce later are added to the layers of the circus which serves as the venue for their challenge.
It not only follows the lives of the two competitors, it skips ahead to track the movements of another character that would be important to the resolution at the end. I really liked that diversion from the main story. It was well constructed as the present caught up to the future in which that character is introduced. A nice touch.
It's a relaxing fantasy read without too much depth or intensity to weigh on the brain or exhaust you when it's finished. I'll reread it again some time and I definitely recommend it.
I don't normally read something that could be classified as "romance" but the romance was sufficiently relegated to second place next to the plot. The synopsis actually drew me in on this one. It's the story of two magicians' students pitted against each other to the death who fall in love in spite of this circumstance. But it's not the epic sort of high fantasy battle that it sounds like. The writing focuses more on the characters than the mechanics of magic. The only spell that is detailed is the one that binds everyone to their contracts. After that it's more of vague but elegant backdrop. And it works well since the primary setting is a circus and the time period in which it takes place is the late 19th and early 20th centuries. There's no need for details to the magic, just the mood. You see that each student is trained differently as they grow up - one intellectually and one cruelly. The works they produce later are added to the layers of the circus which serves as the venue for their challenge.
It not only follows the lives of the two competitors, it skips ahead to track the movements of another character that would be important to the resolution at the end. I really liked that diversion from the main story. It was well constructed as the present caught up to the future in which that character is introduced. A nice touch.
It's a relaxing fantasy read without too much depth or intensity to weigh on the brain or exhaust you when it's finished. I'll reread it again some time and I definitely recommend it.
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