THR had the news, along with this synopsis,
the novel is set at the turn of the 19th century, telling the story of two young magicians, pawns in an age-old rivalry between their mercurial, illusionist fathers, and the enchanted circus where their competition (and romances) play out. Fates of everyone involved – from creators and performers to patrons hang in the duo’s balance.
Images of Prestige & Sons, set in some nightmarish Barnum-esque Big Top, come to mind and given Summit’s roaring success with Twilight the assumption is being made that this is a natural, teen-friendly, successor.
The author has made it clear via her Twitter that despite the synopsis playing up its supernatural elements, surely to tempt the the fans now devoid of their Twilight or Harry Potter, this is not fantasy solely for the young,
Dear internet: The Night Circus is not YA. I’m sorry. (It’s the “young magicians” bit, isn’t it? It follows them from childhood to mid 30s.)
Reading her website gives more of a flavour of the type of writer she is, and therefore the type of material Summit will have to work with. She talks about her writing as,
[It] tends to be location-driven. Nocturnal circuses, subterranean libraries, townhouses dressed up as pirate ships. I got tired of living in Alice’s Wonderland and decided to build some of my own.
Sounds good, let’s hope when the book is published it succeeds to such a degree that Summit don’t waste it with another Cirque Du Freak debacle. Director, cast etc is a long way off, but, for nothing else, this is great publicity for an unpublished book from a first-time writer.
