The Night Circus



"The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it, no paper notices on downtown posts and billboards, no mentions or advertisements in local newspapers. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not."

- The Night Circus, opening lines

In 1886 a traveling circus became a sensation. Open only at night, constructed entirely in black and white, the circus is like something out of a dream. The Cirque des Reves is a circus like no other, it is the circus of dreams.

However, something strange is going on behind the scenes. Prospero the Enchanter and Mr. Alexander H-- have a game. Trained from a young age, their students Celia and Marco compete in a battle of imagination and will. The scene of their battle is the Cirque des Reves and the game affects the lives of the patrons and performers alike. The only catch to the game? The competitors don't know the rules, they don't know how to win or when they'll win, and they don't even know who their opponent is (at first). All they know is the intimate sense of familiarity they get from one another with each breath-taking addition to the circus that pushes the boundaries of reality.

It is a clever allegory for a number of heavy philsophical themes, each of which seamlessly blend in the narrative.

Published in fall of 2011, the Night Circus is Erin Morgenstern's debut novel. The novel also was adapted into a web game by Failbetter Games, the creators of Echo Bazaar.

This book provides examples of:
"Clearly he must be doing something wrong. If his productions are merely almost transcendent, when the possibility of true transcendence exists somewhere nearby, waiting to be attained, then there is something else that must be done."
 * Abusive Parents: Hector Bowen.
 * Celia's unnamed mother is implied to be this. She called her "the devil's child" and is presumably the reason the mother committed suicide.
 * Mr. A H-- is a more mild example. He is certainly neglectful, and perhaps as emotionally abusive as Hector (if not as physically abusive).
 * Absurdly High Stakes Game: The Challenge. Doubles with Complete Monster since
 * All Part of the Show: Vast components of the circus that should be physically impossible are simply accepted as being extraordinary engineering, resourcefulness and showmanship.
 * Alternate History
 * Anachronic Order: Bailey's chapters are interspersed amongst the general narrative, despite being set towards the end. The climax of the novel is when the two narratives meet.
 * An Aesop: Where to begin?! The book is expertly laced with them.
 * is presented at the very end, a lesson most tropers probably appreciate.
 * The Challenge is inevitable. Both participants had no choice in starting it. Neither of them know the rules, and at the start, there is no discernable way to "win". Sound like Real Life to anyone else?
 * Art Initiates Life
 * Angsty Surviving Twin:.
 * Awful Truth:
 * this sad turn of events is tragically standard.
 * Big Name Fan: Friedeck Thiessen is an in story example.
 * Book Ends:
 * Broken Bird: Tsukiko.
 * Boy Meets Girl:
 * Came Back Wrong:
 * Chekhov's Gun:.
 * Chekhov's Gunman:
 * Circus Brat: the twins Poppet and Widget grow up in the circus. Their parents train big cats and they have their own act, with kittens.
 * Doing It for The Art: Chandresh, in-universe.
 * To clarify, the introduction of Chandresh is him throwing a knife at a review of one of his productions that describes it as "almost transcendent." He is positively furious at the word almost.
 * To clarify, the introduction of Chandresh is him throwing a knife at a review of one of his productions that describes it as "almost transcendent." He is positively furious at the word almost.

"Mr. A. H--: She has remarkable control for one so young, but such a temper is always an unfortunate variable. It can lead to impulsive behavior.
 * Driven to Suicide:
 * Also, Celia is first delivered to her father after her mother kills herself.
 * Earn Your Happy Ending
 * Fainting Seer: Poppet, especially when Bailey comes into the picture.
 * A Fate Worse Than Death:
 * Foreshadowing: This exchange.

Hector: She'll either grow out of it or learn to control it. It's a minor issue."

"Celia: We do not feel the bars unless we press against them."
 * Fortune Teller: Isobel. Celia pretends to do this in her youth as a way to make money.
 * Geas: Celia and Marco are bound using rings.


 * Hermetic Mage: Marco.
 * Ho Yay: Celia notices that Chanderesh is this for Marco.
 * Also Tsukiko and her
 * Hidden Depths: Many of the characters appear one dimensional at first, but reveal more of their personalities as the novel progresses.
 * Ironic Stage Name: Hector Bowen is the exact opposite of his stage name's namesake, Prospero the Magician. Whereas Prospero was was a loving father who willingly gave up his magic at the end of his story, Hector is both physically and emotionally abusive to Celia and is consumed by his magic.
 * Lipstick Lesbian: Tsukiko is implied to be one.
 * Magical Realism: Is to magic what The Time Travelers Wife is to Time Travel. It even has a plug by Audrey Niffenegger on the back.
 * Magitek: Most of the tents in the circus consist of magic charms overlaying simplistic clockwork toys.
 * The trope is invoked by Mr. Barris, the engineer, working in collaboration with the Circus' two magicians to create works that should be physically impossible, but by the very flambuoyant nature of the Circus such architechtural extravagance is accepted by the general public and it goes unnoticed.
 * Mad Magician's Beautiful Daughter: Celia to Hector
 * M Agicians Are Wizards: Hector and Celia.
 * Magically Binding Contract: At the end of the story,
 * Not to mention  in The Challenge.
 * Mind Screw:
 * Parlor Games: If Bailey hadn't picked Dare in his game of Truth or Dare with his friends/sister, well... the consequences would be substantial.
 * Sacrificial Lion:
 * Sink or Swim Mentor: Alexander.
 * Star Crossed Lovers: Subverted in that.
 * count though.
 * Telepathy: Generally all the magical characters have some bizarre perception of the world that is never fully explained, but it allows them to pick up on weird things like whether someone is using an alias. Widget's in particular is very accurate and powerful.
 * Think Twins: The Murray twins.
 * Training From Hell: This is how Celia is taught to refine and control her magic.
 * Specifically, her father repeatedly slashes her fingers open in order to force her to learn healing magic.
 * Not to mention he kills a bird right in front of her when she says she's uncomfortable trying to 'fix it'. Keep in mind Celia is maybe six years old when this happens.
 * The Unchosen One:.
 * Unto Us a Son And Daughter Are Born: the twins were born on the night the circus opened.
 * Unwitting Pawn: Probably everyone.
 * A Wizard Did It: Many of the magical effects created by the two magicians are truly incredible, but the nuts and bolts workings of them are never explained or even really hinted at.
 * Justified in-universe. See Mind Screw above.
 * Weirdness Censor: How illusionists such as Celia and Hector are able to pass their magic off as tricks.
 * Who Wants to Live Forever: Mr. H-- also argues to Widget that someday
 * Woman Scorned: Isobel.
 * Who Wants to Live Forever: Mr. H-- also argues to Widget that someday
 * Woman Scorned: Isobel.

The game provides examples of:

 * All There in the Manual
 * Early Bird Cameo: Many of the characters in the book were first publicized in the game.
 * Gay Option
 * Maybe Magic Maybe Mundane: From the point of view of the player.