There are so many interesting characters and concepts here. The illustrated man is not all he seems and many of the performers are held in a strange and subdued captivity. Jim borders a little more onto the dangerous and darker side and it’s this side of his nature that draws him to the carnival and brings him to the attention of the strange performers. Will and Jim are the two main characters. The author definitely has his own style but as soon as I’d become accustomed to this I was totally drawn into the story. The prose are almost poetic at points and strangely evocative. Fantastical is probably the best description that I can come up with.

A fight for life in fact.įirstly, a note on the author’s style of writing. Then, on one such evening, the carnival comes to town and the boys become involved in something much more sinister than they ever imagined. The type of boys who are usually up to a bit of mischief, albeit harmless, creeping out of their bedroom windows of an evening when their parents think they’re tucked up safely in bed to go and play in places they shouldn’t really be and to conjure magical adventures. It’s the story of two young boys, living in a fairly typical town. What a strange and whimsical fashion to choose your books and yet it feels oddly appropriate with this particular novel. I wanted to read this book for a number of reasons, it’s on my classics list, it’s on my RIP list, I’ve also read plenty of good things about it but, in fairness, and bizarrely the real thing that kept bringing this to my mind, was one of the Harry Potter films, and I can’t remember which one, but it starts with the Hogwart’s choir singing ‘Something Wicked This Way Comes. Just finished reading Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury which I really enjoyed.

Something wicked this way comes author