The beauty of the internet is that you can wind up in very remote places that you never knew existed. One such a place is Fallen London – a web-based game focused on creating your own story set in the dark, Victorian times of a twisted version of the great British city. If you love interactive novels, mysteries and the Victorian times, you should check it out.
Failbetter Games, the ones behind Fallen London, used the same engine to create the interactive novel of The Night Circus. I’ve played it for hours. The world enchanted me and every time I played some new wonder was shown. The phrases Morgenstern uses are beautifully written, constructed with magic in mind. She plays to your senses and creates pictures in your mind you’ll never want to erase.
Much later I found The Night Circus novel in Waterstones on Trafalgar Square (I love London as well, and I just can’t leave without buying at least a few books). I saw The Night Circus and I had to have it even though I knew most of the story. The style of writing in the game made me curious to how the novel would be written.
Editor’s Note: Perhaps fitting given the time of year, The Night Circus was written across three NaNoWriMo months. The Failbetter game was originally commissioned by the publisher and was opened two weeks before the novel’s release as a form of cross promotion. Both come highly recommended!
I started reading when I was back at the hotel, even ignoring the book I had been reading at the time. I finished it two days later (sight seeing had to be done) and I still read it regularly, at least once a year. Somehow I hope that the magic in the book will transform it so next time I read, it’ll be different. That’s how the magic of the night circus feels, real and captivating. You just have to come back for it.
If you love magic, the circus, wonder, and romance, you will love this book. But be warned, you might not like any other kind of magic afterwards.
