Beautiful imagery cannot make up for lack of plot. The story plods along infuriatingly slow and in the end, not much happens. I liked the descriptions of the Circus, but even they got tedious after a while. The much ballyhooed romance described in the dust jacket amounts to a handful of meetings (maybe three or four)and the magic challenge is no more than the two opponents creating pretty things.
I bought this novel because I enjoyed Beyond Black. However, her use of ambiguous pronouns had me throwing the book against the wall. Many characters have the same name and she doesn't clarify who is speaking. I got SO frustrated I shelved it. Unless you are prepared to read and re-read sections to understand who the heck is speaking, I'd suggest avoiding it. She's a good writer, but in this case, she seems intent on torturing her readers.
