The Juggler

3.5 stars, Metaphorosis reviews

Summary
Born a peasant, Beran sees a juggler perform at a local fair and decides to become one himself. His drive for perfection sees him make an unfortunate deal with the devil.

Review
The Juggler is an odd book that never quite finds its place. Unlike many of Morressy's other books, this is not straight second world fantasy, but historial, Earth-based fantasy. It's an effective character portrait of a young man making his way, but eventually shifts into a morality play.

The actual deal with the devil is oddly underplayed. Beran has little real need to make the deal, and we don't really see enough of what drives him to do it. Once he does, the deal itself doesn't really make impact on the story (though Beran's new skills do). When he at last reconsiders, the mechanism through which he considers himself free doesn't really hold much weight.

While Morressy clearly was set on making as accurate a portrait of the times as he reasonably could, I found the Earth setting something of a distraction, and frankly felt the story would have been better off in a setting less relentlessly tied to Christian beliefs and values. The resulting mix is neither simple historical fiction nor straight fantasy, though it's much more the former.

It's interesting to follow Beran through his trials, and he's an engaging character, but he soon becomes a somewhat distant one, and the book a slightly more intellectual than emotional experience. Interesting, but not as intriguing as Morressy's Iron Angel trilogy.