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Published Mar 2022
0 pages
Genre: Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Speculative, Alt. History
Paperback Original.
Publication Information
A circus takes down a crime-boss on the galaxy's infamous pleasure moon.
Hunted by those who want to study his gravity powers, Jes makes his way to the best place for a mixed-species fugitive to blend in: the pleasure moon where everyone just wants to be lost in the party. It doesn't take long for him to catch the attention of the crime boss who owns the resort-casino where he lands a circus job, and when the boss gets wind of the bounty on Jes' head, he makes an offer: do anything and everything asked of him or face vivisection.
With no other options, Jes fulfills the requests: espionage, torture, demolition. But when the boss sets the circus up to take the fall for his about-to-get-busted narcotics operation, Jes and his friends decide to bring the mobster down. And if Jes can also avoid going back to being the prize subject of a scientist who can't wait to dissect him? Even better.
"Wong's intimate, joyful space opera debut hooks readers from the outset with its blend of action, magic, and queer romance...The worldbuilding is just alien enough while still inviting readers in, and it's a pleasure to witness the world through the lens of its progressive social dynamics. It's a thoroughly enchanting adventure." - Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"A three-ring extravaganza, combining a coming-of-age with Jes's desperate race to save his new family from a corrupt mastermind. Readers will get caught up in Wong's debut novel and find themselves wanting to run away to the circus with Jes. Highly recommended." - Library Journal (starred review)
"A slow-burning queer romance that feels authentic and sweet." – Booklist
"The Circus Infinite is an action-packed tale of found family set against a finely wrought canvas of different genders, cultures, and sexuality. Jes's journey of personal discovery is as fascinating as it is heart-warming. This one is sure to both entertain and enlighten the reader." - Ginger Smith, author of The Rush's Edge
"Khan Wong has made the book for which so many of us have been yearning! The Circus Infinite is not only a gripping science-fiction tale set in a lushly imagined universe teeming with fabulous aliens, extraordinary powers, and political drama, but also a story that celebrates our real, lived spectrum of gender and sexuality. To top it all off, it revolves around a circus, the perfect manifestation of outsider community, artistic expression, and a sense of wonder. The Circus Infinite renews faith in the power of science fiction to represent our world even as it lifts our imagination beyond it." – Justin Hall, editor of No Straight Lines
"Khan Wong gives us an adventure that reaches all the right hard-hitting space fantasy notes while protecting a tender heart of inclusivity and respect. Featuring an ace protagonist, the consent dynamics of the book are particularly adept. The Circus Infinite explores the nuances of gender and sexuality while punching you in the gut with soaring feats of gravity and interrogations that will make you gasp out loud." – TJ Berry, author of Space Unicorn Blues
This information about The Circus Infinite was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Khan Wong has published poetry, played cello in an earnest folk-rock duo, and been an internationally known hula hoop teacher and performer. He's toured with a circus and produced circus arts shows in San Francisco, where he also worked as a grantmaker with a public sector arts funding agency.
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