From /tmp/sf.4258 Tue Feb 1 04:15:14 1994 Xref: liuida rec.arts.sf.reviews:438 rec.arts.sf.written:42266 Path: liuida!sunic!pipex!uunet!news.sprintlink.net!dg-rtp!sheol!dont-reply-to-paths From: dani@netcom.com (Dani Zweig) Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.reviews,rec.arts.sf.written Followup-To: rec.arts.sf.written Subject: Unnumbered Reviews #1: "Circus World", by Barry Longyear Approved: sfr%sheol@concert.net (rec.arts.sf.reviews moderator) Organization: Netcom Online Communications Services (408-241-9760 login: guest) Message-ID: Date: 03 Dec 93 01:19:32 GMT Lines: 79 Unnumbered Reviews #1: "Circus World", by Barry Longyear Barry B. Longyear's "Circus World" (***, on an uncalibrated four-point scale) has the sort of premise that looks promising on paper, but rarely lives up to that promise. This is one of those rare times. The premise is that a circus starship -- City of Baraboo -- crashed on an isolated planet, marooning the survivors. In the centuries that followed, the passengers and their descendents maintained and improved their circus traditions and skills. By the time the planet Momus is rediscovered, it has fortune tellers who can really see the future (or at least the patterns which are forming the future), it has magicians who can really do magic (or, if it's not magic, it'll do until a closer approximation comes along), it has clowns who can leave an invading army rolling in the aisles with laughter (or, if not rolling in the aisles, at least seriously amused). This is a good thing because, as the book opens, there's an army on the way. Two, in a sense, as the Tenth Quadrant means to occupy Momus and the Ninth Quadrant means to defend it. Ashly Allenby is sent as a special ambassador to persuade the government of Momus to accept NQ defenders before the TQ attackers show up. Unfortunately, Momus hasn't got a government, just a body of circus custom. And even if there were one, it wouldn't be likely to pay much attention to an ambassador who hasn't got a decent act. The six stories that make up "Circus World" introduce us to this world and, at the same time, introduce the encroaching galaxy to Momus. This encroachment bring opportunity -- if nothing else, the inhabitants will finally have an audience aside from each other -- but only if Momus can survive the initial encounters. It's an enjoyable enough book, with a quirky premise that isn't allowed to degenerate into a running gag. "Circus World" was Longyear's first novel. It's a fixup, in that it consists of stories which previously appeared in magazines, but they were explicitly written to form a six-part novel. There are two prequels, not quite as good as "Circus World". "City of Baraboo" (**) tells how the last circus on Earth, O'Hara's Greater Shows, is driven off Earth by bad times, and tours space until the enmity of a competitor leads to the crash on Momus. It's weaker than "Circus World", mostly because the story it has to tell has no center. We read about the trials and tribulations of an interstellar circus, and they're only moderately interesting. "Elephant Song" (**+), which tells of the first years on Momus, has a very powerful center -- the struggle to keep the circus's small herd of elephants alive. This central metaphor is diluted somewhat by Longyear's efforts to explain how the more unlikely customs and talents in "Circus World" got their start. I wouldn't read these books in chronological order: If you read and enjoy "Circus World", pick up "Elephant Song" and possibly "City of Baraboo". Badnews frowned. "I've never seen one before, Great Warts, although I've read of them in the Books. Was that a rube?" Disclaimer: Don't think of this as a review series. It's just unnumbered to help me keep track. %A Longyear, Barry B. %T Circus World %D 1981 %O The stories appeared in Isaac Asimov's SF Magazine in 1978 and 1979 %T City of Baraboo %D 1980 %T Elephant Song %D 1982 %I The publication dates given are for the Berkley paperbacks ----- Dani Zweig dani@netcom.com The surface of the strange, forbidden planet was roughly textured and green, much like cottage cheese gets way after the date on the lid says it is all right to buy it.--Scott Jones From /tmp/sf.4146 Tue Aug 9 01:45:26 1994 Path: liuida!sunic!EU.net!howland.reston.ans.net!gatech!udel!news.sprintlink.net!dg-rtp!sheol!dont-reply-to-paths From: aaron@amisk.cs.ualberta.ca (Humphrey Aaron V) Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.reviews Followup-To: rec.arts.sf.written Subject: Retrograde Reviews--Barry Longyear:City of Baraboo Approved: sfr%sheol@concert.net (rec.arts.sf.reviews moderator) Message-ID: <94Feb28.184726-0700.139024@amisk.cs.ualberta.ca> Date: 01 Mar 94 13:38:43 GMT Lines: 40 Barry Longyear was the first author to win the SF Triple Crown--the Hugo and the Nebula for his short story "Enemy Mine", and the John W. Campbell award for best new writer. (I believe William Gibson is the only one to do it since, but I could be wrong.) Among his other early short stories were his Circus World stories. They've been collected in two or three books that I know of; _City of Baraboo_ is the first chronologically. The circus in the book is much like circuses today, so it's educational about what circuses are _really_ like. The twist is that the circus decides to leave Earth and tour other worlds, so it acquires, though quasi-legal means, the ship of the title. (Baraboo was apparently the name of the city where the Barnum & Bailey circus started, or somesuch thing.) The stories sometimes lack punch, but the last two make up for that. The alien race depicted in "Sweet Revenge" are quite interesting, as is how they are outwitted at their own game. And the final story is the first without a happy ending, but it segues into the _Circus World_ itself...more than that would be a spoiler. I'd give it a 7.5/10, and someday I'll have to hunt down the other books in the series. %A Longyear, Barry B. %T City of Baraboo %I Berkley %C New York %D July 1980 %G ISBN 0-425-04940-X %P 214 pp. %S Circus World %O Paperback, US $2.25 -- --Alfvaen(Editor of Communique) Current Album--New Order:Substance Current Read--Karen Ripley:The Persistence of Memory "Hold on to yourself--this is gonna hurt like hell." --Sarah McLachlan