Mechanique: A Tale of the Circus Tresaulti

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Overview

Come inside and take a seat; the show is about to begin...
Outside any city still standing, the Mechanical Circus Tresaulti sets up its tents. Crowds pack the benches to gawk at the brass-and-copper troupe and their impossible feats: Ayar the Strong Man, the acrobatic Grimaldi Brothers, fearless Elena and her aerialists who perform on living trapezes. War is everywhere, but while the Circus is performing, the world is magic.
That magic is no accident: Boss builds her circus from the bones out, molding a mechanical company that will survive the unforgiving landscape.
But even a careful ringmaster can make mistakes.
Two of Tresaulti's performers are entangled in a secret standoff that threatens to tear the circus apart just as the war lands on their doorstep. Now the Circus must fight a war on two fronts: one from the outside, and a more dangerous one from within.

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly

This steampunk-flavored circus story begins with a disturbing undertone, like an out-of-tune calliope, and develops in hints and shadows. Touring a drained postwar world, the Mechanical Circus Tresaulti rarely visits a city twice in anyone's lifetime; borders are lax, and lives are short. The circus's performers have no time for training, instead undergoing terrible trials in the ringmaster's workshop to gain their skills. Enter the "government man," who dreams of bringing back the order and security of the old world and wants the ringmaster to help him. She shares many of his dreams but mistrusts his offers of alliance. The drama and climax come not from the rivalry between the two but their similarities as they decide how to use their powers and who will suffer the consequences. Fans of grim fantasy will love this menacing and fascinating debut. (May)

Jeff VanderMeer

Valentine's novel has the stylized quality of books by Angela Carter like The Infernal Desire Machines of Doctor Hoffman, and it displays similar pyrotechnics…Valentine…raises the novel above the ordinary through her ability to convey the richness of the circus performers' emotional lives, coupled with impressive writing…
—The New York Times

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781607012535
Publisher: Prime Books
Publication date: 5/10/2011
Pages: 320
Sales rank: 307,835
Product dimensions: 5.50 (w) x 8.40 (h) x 0.90 (d)

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fuzzmom

Posted April 23, 2012

more from this reviewer

A disturbing place where humans take on metal bones, lungs, and

A disturbing place where humans take on metal bones, lungs, and wings. Full of both beauty and terror. Performers that never age, but that in and of itself is a horrible truth to face.
Moving through a world gone wild, with war, and evil and those in the circus mechanique form a warped, twisted family, with the Boss in charge, never showing her soft side.
Through it all...the wings...oh the wings. Beautiful, terrible wings that sing and shine and take over with their own brand of madness.
Like a horrible wreck, you cannot look away. You have to read to the last line, the last battle, the last gasp. Who can ever forget the circus. This is not the circus of your childhood. This is a circus of your nightmares....everything looks bright and sparkly, at first. As you look closer, you notice the frayed edges, the strained looks, the awkward moments that whisper "run now, before it's too late". But it's already too late. You are hooked and must read to the very end. It's well worth the read.
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Posted May 3, 2011

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Posted November 6, 2011

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