The Night Circus

　　時間是1886年，一個神祕的巡迴馬戲團在各國引燃一股風潮。陳設裝置只有黑、白二色，前所未有，Le Cirque des Reves取悅它所有訪客，一次又一次，觀眾著迷於大小帳篷裡的神祕把戲、沿著環狀步道漫步、就著營火，觀賞璀璨煙火，天明也捨不得離去。

　　儘管也有空中飛人、算命師跟雜耍家。這個夢之馬戲團呈現的絕不是一般場景。一切的核心，其實是兩個年輕魔術師的交會，Celia－魔術師的女兒，與Marco－法師的學徒。在導師的意志下，這兩個魔術師必須進行一場死亡對決，用上他們最極致的法術與想像力，以及他們所深愛的一切……　 (文/薩蘭嘉德)

　　In 1886, a mysterious travelling circus becomes an international sensation. Open only at night, constructed entirely in black and white, Le Cirque des Reves delights all who wander its circular paths and warm themselves at its bonfire.

　　Although there are acrobats, fortune-tellers and contortionists, the Circus of Dreams is no conventional spectacle. Some tents contain clouds, some ice. The circus seems almost to cast a spell over its aficionados, who call themselves the reveurs - the dreamers. At the heart of the story is the tangled relationship between two young magicians, Celia, the enchanter’s daughter, and Marco, the sorcerer’s apprentice. At the behest of their shadowy masters, they find themselves locked in a deadly contest, forced to test the very limits of the imagination, and of their love...

　　A fabulous, fin-de-siecle feast for the senses and a life-affirming love story, The Night Circus is a captivating novel that will make the real world seem fantastical and a fantasy world real.

　　★本書中譯版《夜行馬戲團》由皇冠出版。

作者簡介

艾琳．莫根斯坦Erin Morgenstern

　　艾琳是美國麻州人，畢業於史密斯學院，主修戲劇。她在十二歲那年讀史蒂芬?金，二十一歲才開始讀J. K.羅琳。她身兼作家、畫家、多媒體藝術家等三重身分，洋溢濃厚童話風格的幻想故事，是她最愛的創作主題。文字無法精確描述的，艾琳就畫下它；畫筆無法描摹的，她就把腦中的畫面轉化為優美生動的文字。

　　《夜行馬戲團》的創作靈感來自《愛麗絲夢遊仙境》，這部初試啼聲之作一推出即在出版界掀起風潮，首刷印量更高達十七萬五千本，並售出三十餘國版權。各大媒體紛紛拿艾琳與J. K.羅琳、尼爾．蓋曼等名家相提並論，認為她將為「成人也能看的幻想故事」再掀高峰！

　　艾琳目前仍定居在麻州。

　　ERIN MORGENSTERN is a writer and multimedia artist who describes all her work as being “fairy tales in one way or another.” She lives in Massachusetts.