Fantasy Book Club discussion

So you've finished Part 3: Intersections and are ready to discuss. Here are a few questions to get the ball rolling. I credit "O, the Oprah Magazine," for these discussion points.




1.) By now you've no doubt realized the novel frequently changes narrative perspective. How does this transition shape your reading of the novel and your connection to the characters and the circus? Why do you think the author chose to tell the story from varied perspectives?

2.) To follow up, the narrative also follows a nonlinear sequence—shifting at times from present to past. How effective is this method in revealing conflict in the novel?

3.) What role does time play in the novel? From Friedrick Thiessen's clock to the delayed aging of the circus developers to the birth of the twins—is time manipulated or fated at the circus?

Before I get started on the questions, I must say I'm impressed by how the story is progressing. In the previous section we saw how the challenge was affecting those outside the main conflict. In this section we see how those some people impact the main actors.

1. The perspective changes help us see both how the development of the challenge affects others, and how others affect our hero and heroine. It also provides us with the experience that Herr Thiessen provides Celia of the circus - the view from outside, that we cannot see when we are immersed in the experience.

2. The non-linear sequence begins to create some foreshadowing that did not exist at the beginning if the book, for which I am quite glad. At this point, we know things are less stable and controlled, so some foreshadowing fits. The time shift also provides some texture, as memories hinted at in the future are explained in a later chapter.

3. To me time is used as an element to illustrate the effort to control events. However, it is bigger than us, and playing with it brings about its own problems, as we saw with Tara. Also, it is clear that Alexander and Celia's father have manipulated time, although we don't know to what extent. However, they have become less than sympathetic characters due to their actions.