Pantomime

Lam (Dragonfall) revises and relaunches the first fantasy in their Micah Grey trilogy, originally published in 2013, for a fun, Victorian-styled picaresque set in a fairy-haunted circus. Intersex debutante Iphigenia “Gene” Laurus runs from his aristocratic home to avoid gender corrective surgery. Taking the name Micah Grey, he joins a traveling show and trains as an aerialist on the trapeze and tightrope. Soon, he realizes that most circus folk are hiding something and that his arrival at the circus was no mere accident. While preparing for the season’s grand finale show, Micah must also dodge a private detective and investigate his own curious link with the Vestige technology of the vanished Alder people. Lam crafts complex characters whose flaws and foibles manage to be more endearing than off-putting. Though the climax feels somewhat rushed as Micah’s destiny comes into focus, the conclusion points intriguingly toward his next adventure. It will be exciting to see this reach a whole new set of fans. Agent: Juliet Mushens, Mushens Entertainment. (Sept.)