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Cyber Circus
Shortlisted for both the BSFA and the British Fantasy Awards for best novel. Going to the circus will never be the same again...
Hellequin, last of the HawkEye military elite, is desperate to escape the legacy of Soul Food, the miraculous plant supplement that leeched the soil, destroyed his family, and instigated a bloody civil war. For a man awaiting the inevitable madness brought on by his enforced biomorph implant, there's only one choice. Run away with the circus...
Drifting above a poisoned landscape, Cyber Circus and her exotic acrobats and bioengineered freaks bring a welcome splash of colour into folk's drab lives. None more so than escaped courtesan turned-dancer Desirous Nim. When Nim's freedom and her very life are threatened, Hellequin is forced to fight again. But, even united, will the weird troupe and their strange skills be enough to save Nim and keep their home aloft? That's assuming, of course, that Zan City's Blood Worms, mute stowaways, or the swarms don't manage to bring them down first...
Welcome to the greatest show on Sore Earth!
Hellequin, last of the HawkEye military elite, is desperate to escape the legacy of Soul Food, the miraculous plant supplement that leeched the soil, destroyed his family, and instigated a bloody civil war. For a man awaiting the inevitable madness brought on by his enforced biomorph implant, there's only one choice. Run away with the circus...
Drifting above a poisoned landscape, Cyber Circus and her exotic acrobats and bioengineered freaks bring a welcome splash of colour into folk's drab lives. None more so than escaped courtesan turned-dancer Desirous Nim. When Nim's freedom and her very life are threatened, Hellequin is forced to fight again. But, even united, will the weird troupe and their strange skills be enough to save Nim and keep their home aloft? That's assuming, of course, that Zan City's Blood Worms, mute stowaways, or the swarms don't manage to bring them down first...
Welcome to the greatest show on Sore Earth!
178 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2011
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
February 23, 2012
The phrase on the cover blurb describes the feeling of this book perfectly: "alternate surreality" Once you get past the terminology and the biomorphed characters and get into the flow of the book you realize there isn't a whole lot of depth to the story. Some very compelling world-building, and some brilliant ideas, but it fell a tad flat for me as an overall story.
December 5, 2011
**CONTAINS SPOILERS**
I own both the limited hardback edition and the Kindle version of this title, and I was extremely pleased to see that the Kindle version also includes the bonus short story 'Black Sunday', which you will find after the main story. 'Cyber Circus' ended at 78% on my Kindle percentage gauge.
(NB: I haven't read 'Black Sunday' yet, having just finished 'Cyber Circus'.)
Firstly, I'll just start off by saying that everything I've read so far by Kim Lakin-Smith is like nothing else I've read before. I have to agree with some who have said that the narrative style can be somewhat 'difficult' to digest, because I can't always manage to read it in long sittings. I tend to break my KLS sessions down into small chunks, and I think the main reason for this is that the sentences are very carefully crafted, which often requires you to absorb an amount of colourful, alternative descriptors, adverbs, and adjectives (often in just the one sentence). But I've never known a style quite like this where I am left with such a strong 'aftertaste'. I mean this in a good way. Every story I have read by KLS has left me with the feeling that the colours, the moods, the characters, have remained with me long after I have read her stories, like the hazy waking from a dream. That's the only way I can describe it.
Secondly, I'm no 'Steampunk' or 'SpecFic' expert, and certainly no expert reviewer. This review is just me giving my own personal thoughts about the book. So here goes:
The story of Cyber Circus is actually a difficult one to pin down to any particular genre, but with the whole flying circus airship thing that runs on steam, it would probably end up being categorised as 'Steampunk'. You know how it is.
When I began reading Cyber Circus, I'll admit that I was bombarded with so many (interesting) characters that I got quickly overwhelmed and had to push myself through the first several pages. But things calmed down after the majority of characters were introduced and I was better able to concentrate on a handful of the circus troupe and what made them 'freaks'.
I loved, loved, loved Hellequin and the way his backstory was leaked out. Amazing character! Out of all the characters, I think he remains my favourite. One scene of note takes place at a bar with Lulu. There's no info dumping here. Hellequin's backstory is leaked out in such an earnest way that I felt like I was sitting right beside him.
Desirous Nim: Initially, I didn't like her because she came across as a pretty darned selfish, angry little strumpet; but over time, we find out why this is so. Great character with some cool lighting effects, but I wouldn't say that I class her as my favourite female in the story. Nope. That place definitely goes to:
Asenath... who bloody dies!! :(
I liked this character for two reasons: The first being that she reminded me of a red-skinned version of the troll I used to run around as in World of Warcraft online. (I am left wondering if Asenath also had those cute, two-toed feet!) The second reason I liked her was because she pretty much OWNED everything that came along. She even tried to OWN Nim, but that didn't quite work out! Too bad. This was definitely a character that I ended up liking a lot, and my only regret is that she didn't live to the end.
I will say, though, that I found the death scene to be a little ambiguous in that it wasn't clear that she had died. I just assumed that she had landed on top of a felled flying insect, and had become unconscious. The other characters didn't seem to mourn her much, or make a fuss, so I just assumed...
It wasn't until Hellequin later said to Pig Heart, "you in charge of the pitch crew again now that Asenath's dead?", that I realised her sad fate. Gutted. :(
Herb, the ring master, actually reminded me of the Mayor character in Tim Burton's 'Nightmare Before Christmas'. I think it was the way he was rotund and jovial and spun around a lot! I also imagined him to speak like the Mayor, which made reading his parts quite fun. I felt there was an underlying sneakiness about him, though; a dark side. But then there's always a dark side to the KLS world! ;)
The Scuttlers reminded me of those freaky things in Toy Story (the first one) that had dolls heads stuck on metal bodies, except they are actually armoured bug things that had the faces of children and can curl up into balls and roll along (am I right with that description?). I quite liked them for some unknown reason. I think maybe because they seemed so innocent.
I also liked Rust, even though my loathing of excessive body hair was a damned good reason why I shouldn't! KLS describes Rust to be a very raw, primitive, violent soul, but one who will protect those she feels affection for. When I was first introduced to her character, the song 'Howling Boy' popped into my head by a now disbanded Irish group I liked. (Oddly enough, the song 'Sad Loved Girl' by the same group was my head theme for Nim.)
Another thing I really loved about Cyber Circus are the fights. KLS appears to be a dab hand at crafting an entertaining brawl or all-out gun battle. I have twice-bitten-down nails to testify to this! I was very surprised by how much the action drew me in. There was one fight scene I was reading while I was boiling the kettle downstairs, and I actually ended up boiling it four times over before I would put the damned Kindle down!
Cyber Circus starts off with quite short, raw, and punchy sentences (KLS excels at this particular style); but as the book progresses, the sentences evolve into longer, more fluid ones---a more commercial style (and I'm not using that word in a derogatory fashion). The book became easier to read for longer sittings the further into it I got, so I think this may have had something to do with the change of sentence structure.
After reading Cyber Circus, I can definitely say that I'd like to read it again. It's certainly left me with that 'will read again' feeling. Not many books I've read lately have done that.
I've given this book FIVE stars for the world crafting, the interesting characters, the fights, and the fact that it is such a hard book to pigeonhole (which I believe is a good thing these days).
If you like Steampunk, travelling circuses, freak shows, fantasy, biotechnology, wild deserts, savage folk, and a little bit of sex, then I would definitely recommend this book to you.
I own both the limited hardback edition and the Kindle version of this title, and I was extremely pleased to see that the Kindle version also includes the bonus short story 'Black Sunday', which you will find after the main story. 'Cyber Circus' ended at 78% on my Kindle percentage gauge.
(NB: I haven't read 'Black Sunday' yet, having just finished 'Cyber Circus'.)
Firstly, I'll just start off by saying that everything I've read so far by Kim Lakin-Smith is like nothing else I've read before. I have to agree with some who have said that the narrative style can be somewhat 'difficult' to digest, because I can't always manage to read it in long sittings. I tend to break my KLS sessions down into small chunks, and I think the main reason for this is that the sentences are very carefully crafted, which often requires you to absorb an amount of colourful, alternative descriptors, adverbs, and adjectives (often in just the one sentence). But I've never known a style quite like this where I am left with such a strong 'aftertaste'. I mean this in a good way. Every story I have read by KLS has left me with the feeling that the colours, the moods, the characters, have remained with me long after I have read her stories, like the hazy waking from a dream. That's the only way I can describe it.
Secondly, I'm no 'Steampunk' or 'SpecFic' expert, and certainly no expert reviewer. This review is just me giving my own personal thoughts about the book. So here goes:
The story of Cyber Circus is actually a difficult one to pin down to any particular genre, but with the whole flying circus airship thing that runs on steam, it would probably end up being categorised as 'Steampunk'. You know how it is.
When I began reading Cyber Circus, I'll admit that I was bombarded with so many (interesting) characters that I got quickly overwhelmed and had to push myself through the first several pages. But things calmed down after the majority of characters were introduced and I was better able to concentrate on a handful of the circus troupe and what made them 'freaks'.
I loved, loved, loved Hellequin and the way his backstory was leaked out. Amazing character! Out of all the characters, I think he remains my favourite. One scene of note takes place at a bar with Lulu. There's no info dumping here. Hellequin's backstory is leaked out in such an earnest way that I felt like I was sitting right beside him.
Desirous Nim: Initially, I didn't like her because she came across as a pretty darned selfish, angry little strumpet; but over time, we find out why this is so. Great character with some cool lighting effects, but I wouldn't say that I class her as my favourite female in the story. Nope. That place definitely goes to:
Asenath... who bloody dies!! :(
I liked this character for two reasons: The first being that she reminded me of a red-skinned version of the troll I used to run around as in World of Warcraft online. (I am left wondering if Asenath also had those cute, two-toed feet!) The second reason I liked her was because she pretty much OWNED everything that came along. She even tried to OWN Nim, but that didn't quite work out! Too bad. This was definitely a character that I ended up liking a lot, and my only regret is that she didn't live to the end.
I will say, though, that I found the death scene to be a little ambiguous in that it wasn't clear that she had died. I just assumed that she had landed on top of a felled flying insect, and had become unconscious. The other characters didn't seem to mourn her much, or make a fuss, so I just assumed...
It wasn't until Hellequin later said to Pig Heart, "you in charge of the pitch crew again now that Asenath's dead?", that I realised her sad fate. Gutted. :(
Herb, the ring master, actually reminded me of the Mayor character in Tim Burton's 'Nightmare Before Christmas'. I think it was the way he was rotund and jovial and spun around a lot! I also imagined him to speak like the Mayor, which made reading his parts quite fun. I felt there was an underlying sneakiness about him, though; a dark side. But then there's always a dark side to the KLS world! ;)
The Scuttlers reminded me of those freaky things in Toy Story (the first one) that had dolls heads stuck on metal bodies, except they are actually armoured bug things that had the faces of children and can curl up into balls and roll along (am I right with that description?). I quite liked them for some unknown reason. I think maybe because they seemed so innocent.
I also liked Rust, even though my loathing of excessive body hair was a damned good reason why I shouldn't! KLS describes Rust to be a very raw, primitive, violent soul, but one who will protect those she feels affection for. When I was first introduced to her character, the song 'Howling Boy' popped into my head by a now disbanded Irish group I liked. (Oddly enough, the song 'Sad Loved Girl' by the same group was my head theme for Nim.)
Another thing I really loved about Cyber Circus are the fights. KLS appears to be a dab hand at crafting an entertaining brawl or all-out gun battle. I have twice-bitten-down nails to testify to this! I was very surprised by how much the action drew me in. There was one fight scene I was reading while I was boiling the kettle downstairs, and I actually ended up boiling it four times over before I would put the damned Kindle down!
Cyber Circus starts off with quite short, raw, and punchy sentences (KLS excels at this particular style); but as the book progresses, the sentences evolve into longer, more fluid ones---a more commercial style (and I'm not using that word in a derogatory fashion). The book became easier to read for longer sittings the further into it I got, so I think this may have had something to do with the change of sentence structure.
After reading Cyber Circus, I can definitely say that I'd like to read it again. It's certainly left me with that 'will read again' feeling. Not many books I've read lately have done that.
I've given this book FIVE stars for the world crafting, the interesting characters, the fights, and the fact that it is such a hard book to pigeonhole (which I believe is a good thing these days).
If you like Steampunk, travelling circuses, freak shows, fantasy, biotechnology, wild deserts, savage folk, and a little bit of sex, then I would definitely recommend this book to you.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 3, 2012
Hellequin, last of the HawkEye military elite, is desperate to escape the legacy of Soul Food, the miraculous plant food that leeched the soil, destroyed his family, and instigated a bloody civil war. For a man awaiting the inevitable madness brought on by his enforced biomorph implant, there’s only one choice. Run away with the circus…
Drifting above a poisoned landscape, Cyber Circus and her exotic acrobats and bioengineered freaks bring a welcome splash of colour into folk’s drab lives. None more so than escaped courtesan turned-dancer Desirous Nim. When Nim’s freedom and her very life are threatened, Hellequin is forced to fight again. But, even united, will the weird troupe and their strange skills be enough to save Nim and keep their home aloft? That’s assuming, of course, that Zan City’s Blood Worms, mute stowaways, or the swarms don’t manage to bring them down first…
Welcome to the greatest show on Sore Earth!
Last year I read Tourniquet and thoroughly enjoyed the author’s iconoclastic take on a neo-gothic future Nottingham. Based on that experience, I made a promise to myself that I would definitely read Kim Lakin-Smith’s next novel when it was published. I’m embarrassed to say that due to other commitments I have been denied that chance up until now.
The Cyber Circus is constantly travelling, scratching out a living wherever and whenever they can. Hot on their heels is the pimp D’Angelus. He’s determined to reclaim what he sees as his property, Desirous Nim. In addition to that he is also lusting after Rust, the wolf girl. His growing obsession forces the circus to keep on moving as they try to avoid the mercenaries that D’Angelus has hired to track them down.
One of my favourite things about this novel is the wonderful characterisation. As you read, it becomes evident that Lakin-Smith has taken care to give each of her creations their own fully developed backstory. There are just so many great characters to discover and enjoy. Though Hellequin and Nim take centre stage, I have to admit I developed a bit of a fondness for the chief pitchman, Pig Heart, and a group of children known as The Scuttlers. I can see Hellequin becoming a fan favourite though, as he takes it on himself to protect the Circus and most specifically, Nim. There are some brilliant moments where he cracks heads and causes no end of grief for his enemies.
Reading Cyber Circus feels like a steampunk mash-up of two, sadly short lived but excellent, genre television shows – Firefly and Carnivale. Lakin-Smith has effortlessly captured the detail of the lives of the carnival folk (carnies). Like Carnivale, you get genuine insight into how the circus functions, the reader gets to see what goes on behind the curtains that lead to back stage.
The carnies are one big dysfunctional family. They may not always get on but they look out for one another when push comes to shove. It’s the interactions between them all that make this a very readable ensemble piece.
After the main story is finished, there is a second tale that acts as almost a Wizard of Oz-esque prequel. It’s a genuine strength of the writing that I was starting to imagine the events unfolding in a grainy black and white as opposed to the vivid technicolour of the narrative that preceded it. This prequel also hints that there are many more voices from Sore Earth still left to be heard, next time I certainly won’t wait months to discover them. Highly recommended.
Cyber Circus is published by NewCon Press and is available now.
Drifting above a poisoned landscape, Cyber Circus and her exotic acrobats and bioengineered freaks bring a welcome splash of colour into folk’s drab lives. None more so than escaped courtesan turned-dancer Desirous Nim. When Nim’s freedom and her very life are threatened, Hellequin is forced to fight again. But, even united, will the weird troupe and their strange skills be enough to save Nim and keep their home aloft? That’s assuming, of course, that Zan City’s Blood Worms, mute stowaways, or the swarms don’t manage to bring them down first…
Welcome to the greatest show on Sore Earth!
Last year I read Tourniquet and thoroughly enjoyed the author’s iconoclastic take on a neo-gothic future Nottingham. Based on that experience, I made a promise to myself that I would definitely read Kim Lakin-Smith’s next novel when it was published. I’m embarrassed to say that due to other commitments I have been denied that chance up until now.
The Cyber Circus is constantly travelling, scratching out a living wherever and whenever they can. Hot on their heels is the pimp D’Angelus. He’s determined to reclaim what he sees as his property, Desirous Nim. In addition to that he is also lusting after Rust, the wolf girl. His growing obsession forces the circus to keep on moving as they try to avoid the mercenaries that D’Angelus has hired to track them down.
One of my favourite things about this novel is the wonderful characterisation. As you read, it becomes evident that Lakin-Smith has taken care to give each of her creations their own fully developed backstory. There are just so many great characters to discover and enjoy. Though Hellequin and Nim take centre stage, I have to admit I developed a bit of a fondness for the chief pitchman, Pig Heart, and a group of children known as The Scuttlers. I can see Hellequin becoming a fan favourite though, as he takes it on himself to protect the Circus and most specifically, Nim. There are some brilliant moments where he cracks heads and causes no end of grief for his enemies.
Reading Cyber Circus feels like a steampunk mash-up of two, sadly short lived but excellent, genre television shows – Firefly and Carnivale. Lakin-Smith has effortlessly captured the detail of the lives of the carnival folk (carnies). Like Carnivale, you get genuine insight into how the circus functions, the reader gets to see what goes on behind the curtains that lead to back stage.
The carnies are one big dysfunctional family. They may not always get on but they look out for one another when push comes to shove. It’s the interactions between them all that make this a very readable ensemble piece.
After the main story is finished, there is a second tale that acts as almost a Wizard of Oz-esque prequel. It’s a genuine strength of the writing that I was starting to imagine the events unfolding in a grainy black and white as opposed to the vivid technicolour of the narrative that preceded it. This prequel also hints that there are many more voices from Sore Earth still left to be heard, next time I certainly won’t wait months to discover them. Highly recommended.
Cyber Circus is published by NewCon Press and is available now.
December 3, 2014
The Cyber Circus is coming to town, and it's not like any circus you've seen before, a great floating sentient dirigible populated with freaks and broken humans, clinging to the fringes of their ruined society as much as they cling to the soft skirts of the circus that protects and houses them. Cyber Circus rides high above Sore Earth, a barren dustbowl crawling with pimps, hustlers, locusts, Zen Monks, cyborgs and Blood Worms, who will cut you up and rewire you for a fistful of cash.
Hellequin, on the run from his own past and the future inevitable madness caused by his cybernetic implants, finds shelter within the walls of Cyber Circus when he saves the resident neonized burlesque dancer, Nim, from being kidnapped by her former pimp, D'Angelo. But D'Angelo doesn't give up easily, and what results is a chase across the skies and down into the belly of the ruined landscape of Sore Earth, where the circus and her crew must fight for their lives and pitch all their varied resources against an implacable enemy.
Every character who rides with the Circus, from Rust the Wolf Girl to her pig-hearted lover to the wonderful Asenath who collects the heads of her fallen enemies, is fully fleshed out with intriguing back stories that are gradually revealed over the course of this short novel. It seems hard to credit that so much plot is packed into such a slim volume, especially as Lakin-Smith also manages to tell us a lot about the history of the desolate Sore Earth and the races (species?) that inhabit it. It's incredibly economical story telling, and while not a word is wasted the writing is so intricate, so intriguing, that the power of her words alone is enough to draw the reader in.
I can imagine a wealth of stories set in the deserts and caverns of the broken Sore Earth, I know Kim Lakin-Smith has written at least one more which is included in some versions of Cyber Circus (but sadly not in mine.) I hope she writes some more, having read and digested the book I want to run away with this particular circus all over again...
Hellequin, on the run from his own past and the future inevitable madness caused by his cybernetic implants, finds shelter within the walls of Cyber Circus when he saves the resident neonized burlesque dancer, Nim, from being kidnapped by her former pimp, D'Angelo. But D'Angelo doesn't give up easily, and what results is a chase across the skies and down into the belly of the ruined landscape of Sore Earth, where the circus and her crew must fight for their lives and pitch all their varied resources against an implacable enemy.
Every character who rides with the Circus, from Rust the Wolf Girl to her pig-hearted lover to the wonderful Asenath who collects the heads of her fallen enemies, is fully fleshed out with intriguing back stories that are gradually revealed over the course of this short novel. It seems hard to credit that so much plot is packed into such a slim volume, especially as Lakin-Smith also manages to tell us a lot about the history of the desolate Sore Earth and the races (species?) that inhabit it. It's incredibly economical story telling, and while not a word is wasted the writing is so intricate, so intriguing, that the power of her words alone is enough to draw the reader in.
I can imagine a wealth of stories set in the deserts and caverns of the broken Sore Earth, I know Kim Lakin-Smith has written at least one more which is included in some versions of Cyber Circus (but sadly not in mine.) I hope she writes some more, having read and digested the book I want to run away with this particular circus all over again...
April 2, 2013
I started reading this novel around two months ago and quite enjoyed the first quarter or so, having read it on the train. However, I put it down at the end and didn't pick it back up again until fairly recently, which made me start wondering what it was that made me not want to go back. At the end, I think the answer is the lack of connection I had with any of the characters – I worked out that I didn't really care about what happened to them, which made me think that I wasn't enjoying the novel as much as I'd thought. The final straw (and the thing that really triggered me putting the book down) was a reveal halfway through the novel about a character. The reveal didn't trigger any emotion in me at all – not surprise at the new information nor satisfaction that I'd correctly guessed the answer to a riddle. (In fact, the reveal was the answer to a riddle that I hadn't even really noticed in the novel.)
I ended up giving up at the end of chapter eleven, halfway through the novel. I'm not sure whether this was just me, or whether it's a fundamental problem with the work. Ultimately, however, all of these reviews are subjective and so from my perspective, I can't give this a higher review.
I ended up giving up at the end of chapter eleven, halfway through the novel. I'm not sure whether this was just me, or whether it's a fundamental problem with the work. Ultimately, however, all of these reviews are subjective and so from my perspective, I can't give this a higher review.
February 6, 2012
This book is amongst the shortlist for BSFA Best Novel alongside books from China Mieville and Christopher Priest, and deserves to be. Not a début novel, as she has already published with Immanion Press, but Cyber Circus will appeal to a wider audience than did Tourniquet. Is this the future or another planet? I was never quite sure and it didn't bother me that I didn't know. In fact, it's one of the attractions. The little bits of information that aren't there give the reader a respect that many books fail to do.
The story is about a Circus, a living organism it sometimes seems, that flies between locations, and its group of dysfunctional misfits, at least on the surface. Most have skeletons in the closet and for the heroes and heroins of this tale their bones come to haunt them. Cities and towns cling precariously to life in the scorched dust bowl of Sore Earth, and their occupants look forward to the distractions that the circus gives them.
Lakin-Smith brings the characters to well-rounded life in a strange but believable world. That's all I'm going to say at the moment. But you should read it...
The story is about a Circus, a living organism it sometimes seems, that flies between locations, and its group of dysfunctional misfits, at least on the surface. Most have skeletons in the closet and for the heroes and heroins of this tale their bones come to haunt them. Cities and towns cling precariously to life in the scorched dust bowl of Sore Earth, and their occupants look forward to the distractions that the circus gives them.
Lakin-Smith brings the characters to well-rounded life in a strange but believable world. That's all I'm going to say at the moment. But you should read it...
August 8, 2012
The Sore Earth of Cyber Circus is a grim world, with strange technology and animals, several different species (or races?), and a deeply damaged earth. However, I didn’t ever feel like I got enough pieces of the Sore Earth puzzle to get a real understanding of the place. Each of the poor souls in the Cyber Circus had their own distinct, extremely tragedy-laden histories, but the frequent point-of-view changes made me feel distanced from them. This distance left me feeling a little uninterested in the many, lengthy action sequences throughout the story. I was also a little disappointed in the simplicity of the overarching plot and the unexplained mania of the villain. The novella included at the end provides an interesting new context with which to view the book, but I couldn’t help wishing that some of that information could have been incorporated in the story of the novel itself.
Full TethyanBooks Review!
Full TethyanBooks Review!
May 7, 2012
This book is a really interesting exploration of the connection between your physical form and who you are. All the characters have lost, changed or had taken from them some aspect of control over their bodies. Hellequin and Nim were surgically altered against their will, Pig Heart started taking on the characteristics of his transplant heart, etc. The eventual conclusion is hopeful, and the love story between Hellequin and Desirous Nim is really beautiful. Black Sunday lost me a little bit though. The Dust Bowl in North America really happened, and this story starts out very realistic, so I don't know, I was a little confused where the line between true events and a fiction set in that time was drawn. And quite what happened with the Virgil Roberts/Locust Queen moment I have no idea. I think it went over my head rather.
But overall excellent book, lots of really good moments and a lot to think about.
But overall excellent book, lots of really good moments and a lot to think about.
January 13, 2013
The Sore Earth Cyber Circus doesn't care for long introductions. Kim Lakin-Smith doesn't waste too much time in elaborate explanations of why you are where you are, or why the technology works in the way that it does; she simply expects you to accept it. For me,this approach worked well, and didn't bore the reader with reams of needless exposition at expense of story.
The writing style is similarly pared down to a basic, almost distant narrative. I settled into this the more the book went on. At times, the writing was a little over-simple - almost naive in places - but on the whole it worked.
The characters were perhaps a little clichéd at times, and also too willing to spill their innermost darkness to others, in contrast to the more spartan elements of other parts of the narrative. But overall, I enjoyed this book sufficiently that I would be happy to read more.
The writing style is similarly pared down to a basic, almost distant narrative. I settled into this the more the book went on. At times, the writing was a little over-simple - almost naive in places - but on the whole it worked.
The characters were perhaps a little clichéd at times, and also too willing to spill their innermost darkness to others, in contrast to the more spartan elements of other parts of the narrative. But overall, I enjoyed this book sufficiently that I would be happy to read more.
January 19, 2013
I'm honestly a bit surprised that this got nominated for the British Fantasy Award. Really the only thing I could hang my hat on was the New Weird elements. The plot, the dialogue and the world was mostly forgettable. In my Kindle version, there were a number of odd usage and spelling mistakes. Some of them could have been on purpose as stylistic flourishes, but it just happened too much to think it was on purpose. For instance, Hellequin magnified 1000°? Did she mean 1000x? Is that a Britishism I'm unfamiliar with? And the name Hellequin is just cringeworthy when they do a flashback and you realize that is his given name and not a circus pseudonym. The last 20% of the Kindle Edition is a novelette about one of the extremely minor characters. Pass.
March 16, 2016
I struggled with this book from the off deciding early it wasn't my cup of tea. It is undoubtedly well written with interesting characters and a well constructed world in which there is plenty of action. Did it make me a fan of this genre? I think not. Did it win me over enough for me to give steam driven circuses and drilling machines another go... probably. If you like steampunk/cybernetics you'll probably love this.
Plenty of action, gore and violence set around two men's obsession with the same woman. Depression, dust bowl America with a twist.
Plenty of action, gore and violence set around two men's obsession with the same woman. Depression, dust bowl America with a twist.
August 17, 2011
As far as I am concerned, Kim Lakin-Smith puts the 'punk' in steampunk. I wish there was more to read about Cyber Circus and its fabulous crew. A entertaining and engaging read, best enjoyed with a glass of bourbon to set the right mood. Any fan of dark fantasy or steampunk with a bit of bite will enjoy Cyber Circus. I certainly did. There was even a goosebumps moment.
Read the full review: I Will Read Books
Read the full review: I Will Read Books
June 16, 2012
http://nwhyte.livejournal.com/1889631.html[return][return]Lots of intense description of the Circus inmates and their enemies, and some very sensual sex, but I found it quite difficult to follow what was actually going on. I actually found Black Sunday, the companion novella set in Dustbowl Texas, much more approachable and liked it more. I will certainly look out for more from Lakin-Smith in future.
March 14, 2012
I really enjoyed this book, I'd never read anything in this genre before and it really surprised at how much i liked it.
It took me a while to visualize the weird and wonderful characters but i thought they were fantastic!
It took me a while to visualize the weird and wonderful characters but i thought they were fantastic!
May 18, 2012
I enjoyed the novel a lot; reminded me of the weirdness I found in China Mieville's works. However, I felt like the ending was a bit rushed. I wasn't ready for the story to be over, I guess. I would like to see these characters again.
October 13, 2012
This book is wonderful, weird, confusing and challenging to begin with. Stick with it and trust the author to reveal what is going on in her own way. In the end I thoroughly enjoyed it, odd though it is.
November 17, 2011
Am actually reading the Kindle version, but that does t seem to have made it on to here yet. So far, so good
April 29, 2012
Some good ideas and the potential for some interesting characters, but not enough depth of story and didn't really capture my imagination as I hoped that it would.
October 24, 2014
Strange but compelling steam punk Circus Story, with a touch of Horror and fun.
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