The Night Circus

A Novel

By: Erin Morgenstern

Narrated by: Jim Dale

Length: 13 hrs and 40 mins

Publisher's summary

The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not. Within the black-and-white striped canvas tents is an utterly unique experience full of breathtaking amazements. It is called Le Cirque des Rêves, and it is only open at night.

But behind the scenes, a fierce competition is underway - a duel between two young magicians, Celia and Marco, who have been trained since childhood expressly for this purpose by their mercurial instructors. Unbeknownst to them, this is a game in which only one can be left standing, and the circus is but the stage for a remarkable battle of imagination and will. Despite themselves, however, Celia and Marco tumble headfirst into love - a deep, magical love that makes the lights flicker and the room grow warm whenever they so much as brush hands.

True love or not, the game must play out, and the fates of everyone involved, from the cast of extraordinary circus per­formers to the patrons, hang in the balance, suspended as precariously as the daring acrobats overhead.

Written in rich, seductive prose, this spell-casting novel is a feast for the senses and the heart.

©2011 Erin Morgenstern (P)2011 Random House

Critic reviews

" The Night Circus made me happy. Playful and intensely imaginative, Erin Morgenstern has created the circus I have always longed for, and she has populated it with dueling love-struck magicians, precocious kittens, hyper-elegant displays of beauty, and complicated clocks. This is a marvelous book." (Audrey Niffenegger, author of The Time Traveler's Wife)

"Self-assured, entertaining debut that blends genres and crosses continents in quest of magic…. Generous in its vision and fun to read. Likely to be a big book—and, soon, a big movie, with all the franchise trimmings." ( Kirkus Reviews)

"Debut author Morgenstern doesn't miss a beat in this smashing tale of greed, fate, and love... a giant, magical story destined for bestsellerdom. This is an electric debut on par with Special Topics in Calamity Physics." ( Publishers Weekly)

Alluring

This book pulls you in and keeps you reading. The atmosphere is enchanting and amazing. The characters are so well written that you feel you know them. Night Circus is one of the best books I've read. I kept making time to finish it and am likely to listen/read again very soon.

Starts slow but get good

If you could sum up The Night Circus in three words, what would they be?

Funny, echanting, memorable

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Night Circus?

The ending of how they were able to stay together without one of them having to die

Have you listened to any of Jim Dale???s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Jim is the best in the business. He brings life to every character

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

nope

Any additional comments?

The twins were my favorite in the book.

More magical with every time I listen

This is my favorite book! I even have a tattoo inspired by.
If you're a fan of magic challenges and romance you need to listen to this book.

Germantown performance

Other worldly

This book was amazing, the author uses words to bring the circus to life in a way that I haven't encountered before. Loved the book and the narrator.

A magical adventure!

Would you consider the audio edition of The Night Circus to be better than the print version?

The audio version of this book was wonderful because Jim Dale is such a talented reader. He can bring to life a wonderful tale with his voice. The challenging part was following the changing time frames, a task that would have been easier with a printed book to refer to.

What did you like best about this story?

I really liked the premise of the story combining magic with the

What about Jim Dale’s performance did you like?

Jim Dale has a magical voice and I loved hearing him read a magical tale again. His skill with character voices is unmatched. i enjoyed every minute and felt it came to an end way to soon.

Probably better as an audio book than a traditional book.

Someone had recommended this book but I happened to be looking for an audio book. I picked this because it was narrated by Jim Dale. He also narrated the Harry Potter books and is fantastic. I think he actually made this book more interesting. I think it might have been difficult to get into as a regular page turner.

Fun and easy, excellent writing and a great story!

What made the experience of listening to The Night Circus the most enjoyable?

It was so new and different. I really had no idea where it was going and how it would end. There so many ways it could go and it was a blast trying to guess what would happen next.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Night Circus?

When Marco reveals himself to Celia.

Any additional comments?

Great story that's a romance and more. I don't like books where the author seems to scream, "I'm a great writer! Look at all the beautiful words I've written...look how many I use to describe every last detail of every scene". This author is great...and does have a vivid imagination but, it doesn't bog down the action. I never felt like I needed to skip ahead to the action like I do with some books in the fiction genre.
It was just a really unique story. I really hope they make a movie out of this...it would be excellent!

astonishing

I loved this book, the narrator was spectacular and the story was breathtaking read it!

Completely unexpected!!

Had trouble getting into the story, but I kept listening because the narrator is incredible, his voice pretty much made it come alive. It became impossible to stop and at the end, I realized I loved it

ok book

it was an alright story performed well. My issue is that 'he said', 'she said' is repeated so often instead of using any variance of language. It started to really get on my nerves about half way through. The writer really needs a better editor.