Cirque

by Terry Carr, Stanislaw Fernandes (Illustrator)

Millennia in the future, Earth has become a backwater planet, ignored by others in the galaxy. Its one jewel is Cirque - the city on the Abyss, a city of love and harmony, with inspiring religious rites.

But in the Abyss there lives the Beast, formed from the castoff hates of the Cirquians: a beast whose body is refuse, whose mind is black as sin. Feeble weapons are no match for the Beast.

And now, after centuries, it's climbing out of the Abyss to claim its own...

Genres: Science Fiction, Fantasy, Fiction, Science Fiction Fantasy

223 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1977

About the author

Carr was born in Grants Pass, Oregon. He attended the City College of San Francisco and the University of California, Berkeley from 1954 to 1959.

Carr discovered science fiction fandom in 1949, where he became an enthusiastic publisher of fanzines, which later helped open his way into the commercial publishing world. (He was one of the two fans responsible for the hoax fan 'Carl Brandon' after whom the Carl Brandon Society takes its name.) Despite a long career as a science fiction professional, he continued to participate as a fan until his death. He was nominated five times for Hugos for Best Fanzine (1959–1961, 1967–1968), winning in 1959, was nominated three times for Best Fan Writer (1971–1973), winning in 1973, and was Fan Guest of Honor at ConFederation in 1986.

Though he published some fiction in the early 1960s, Carr concentrated on editing. He first worked at Ace Books, establishing the Ace Science Fiction Specials series which published, among other novels, The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin and Rite of Passage by Alexei Panshin.

After conflicts with Ace head Donald A. Wollheim, he worked as a freelancer. He edited an original story anthology series called Universe, and a popular series of The Best Science Fiction of the Year anthologies that ran from 1972 until his death in 1987. He also edited numerous one-off anthologies over the same time span. He was nominated for the Hugo for Best Editor thirteen times (1973–1975, 1977–1979, 1981–1987), winning twice (1985 and 1987). His win in 1985 was the first time a freelance editor had won.

Carr taught at the Clarion Workshop at Michigan State University in 1978, where his students included Richard Kadrey and Pat Murphy.

Reviews

[Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

Terry Carr was a famous editor in the field, but did produce a few books of his own. This was his best novel, a trippy little high-concept piece that's well-plotted and pretty well developed. Carr was not a great wordsmith, but I think Cirque still holds up pretty well.

[Britt K · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved this adorable little book. I wish books were still written like this 🥲

[Emily Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

The title plays a key part in this short tale and was what caught my eye when I went on my hunt. Earth is our home planet and to most of its inhabitants the center of life, so the idea of a city on Earth being a “Mecca” for the universe probably not a far stretch, but Earth being “Has-Been” is not a very pleasing idea. Carr takes “Has-Been” as a negative term and alters it, showing the positive aspects with the term. As instead of a “Has-Been” being the wino on the street corner begging for spare change to being the wise mentor that everyone is looking for. This plays out through out the story. At the beginning negative aspects are shown, the whining , complaining, the shaming and loss of hope; all things that you see now happening everywhere. Seeing it now, you may feel disgust, pity or even anger at someone for acting as such, but are we any different from them? This book takes that and sets it in a future time. A time when Earth is most definitely no longer the center or even graced with the very thought of being known as a random place found in a history book, much less in the Galaxy.

That being said lets us look deeper: the characters. Instead of the tedious creation of several different characters to represent the faucets of the human psyche, he creates one character with multiple personality. Now that is what I call being efficient not to mention it brings out the theme of mental disorders and their effects on society.

[Michael Boersma · Rating 4 out of 5]

Picked this gem up at a thrift store because of its cover and I absolutely loved it. Don’t understand how it only has 44 reviews (45 now) while it does have a Dutch translation… This also made me want to buy it even more. There had to be a reason for that.

I absolutey adored this book. Never a dull page. Interesting philosophical concepts regarding time, experiencing things through anothers eyes vs experiencing things yourself, and xenophobia/fearing what you don’t understand.

The apex scene was extremely powerful, I could really feel the misery in a creature that was being tortured for being something that they really werent. Being punished for being misunderstood.

Also the focus on “experiencing the present” because it will inevitably lead to the future really resonated with me. To quote Alton Techniksson: “Every day is the heart of all time”

This was a wonderful book.

[Joachim Boaz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Full review: https://sciencefictionruminations.com...

"Nominated for the 1978 Nebula

Terry Carr’s third novel Cirque (1977) takes the form of a religious allegory filled with a mosaic of characters that each represent a different psychological profile. These allegorical representations of the populace inhabit the city of Cirque, that surrounds the Abyss, a vast and [...]"

[Phil · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice little book about a town (Cirque) on 'backwater' Earth far in the future. Cirque's claim to fame is the yawning abyss in its midst that has become a source of religious worship. Cute ending and some interesting ontological issues are raised. Lack of character development along with a plodding plot leads only to 3 stars.

[Rodzilla · Rating 3 out of 5]

Strange little book. It doesn’t really fit into any speculative fiction categories except maybe the metaphysical. I can’t strongly recommend it, because I suspect many won’t like it. And yet I’m glad to have read it.

[Ubik 2.0 · Rating 2 out of 5]

aggiornamento vecchio libro letto chissà quando

[Stephen Rowland · Rating 1 out of 5]

Dull, shallow, and ultimately nauseating.

[Dorie · Rating 4 out of 5]

An original, imaginative and engaging story. And what a story. The development of the characters and world building is well done, and they mesh together well and convincingly. The unusual and weird world perfectly fits the idea of The Abyss, and this was my favorite part of the book. Learning about the Abyss. Well done.

[Alien · Rating 4 out of 5]

Earth is in the boondocks and is rarely visited any more. Its center is the city Cirque, that formed around a bottomless pit.

This is a strange little book that I liked quite a bit. There is not much happening. The end was even stranger and for me as an atheist it was ambivalent. I am not sure what the author wanted to express with it