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Karloff's Circus (book 4 of The Accomplice series) by Steve Aylett
01/05/2004 . Source: Phil Jones 
pub: Gollancz. 128 page enlarged paperback. Price: £ 9.99 (UK). ISBN: 0-575-07089-7). Buy from Amazon US - Buy from Amazon UK
nb: US titles may only be available from Amazon US, and UK titles from Amazon UK. check out website: www.orionbooks.co.uk
Bizarre, no bear with me, bizarre yet somehow beautiful. Dark almost depressive in overtone but what a use of language.
The plot, if you can describe it as that, is again surrounding Barny and Sweeney's forces attempts to get to him. The town has been transformed with the arrival of the Circus of Heart's Shell in the town square. It brings with it the circus leader, Karloff, and a demented soulless crowd of clowns. Also, Fang's acrobatic zombie family, 'The Flying Dead Brothers', arrives with the circus and Fang has the dilemma of whether to rejoin them or stay with his friends and Barny.
Dietrich, having escaped from hell, has concluded that humanity is more evil than any mythical fright. Gregor is thrown in the deep end and is signed up to have a boxing match in the circus with a slob demon. Can he possibly survive?
This is the fourth and possibly last book of the 'Accomplice' series and loosely follows on from the last book, 'The Velocity Gospel'. 'Accomplice' is a strange fictional place full of weird characters and abstract locations. If you read any of Steve Aylett's books before then you'll know what to expect. If not, then you will enter a world that is full of highly imaginative and extremely weird, and sometime grotesque creations.
Aylett does something very odd. His writing is almost synthersegic. Taking a huge vocabulary, mixing them together like plasticine then beating it to a pulp. The man is a genius or a mad man depending on your point of view.
The main character, Barny, is weak, an almost anti-hero. Even the bad guys have a regard for the useless. You are drawn in by their universal multi-dimensional oddness. By default or accident you really like these people/demons/walking attacking Steinway pianos. There is a depressiveness which bubbles up in Aylett's writing. His use of language is well...strange.
The thing is it works, don't ask me why but it does. The prose is full of delightful similes, textures and colour. This, though, just adds to the layers that start with his language use and approach to sentence manipulation. He uses sentences and grammar not as building blocks, but as integral objects that are as important as the story he is trying to convey to the reader.
The book itself is fast-paced although it requires concentration as you can afford to miss anything. It has an almost improvised feel to it. The surreal nature and style of the book disorientate the reader, but hang on in there. There is a wealth of detail, satirical writing and a huge amount of humour to be had. The boxing match had me chortling away to myself for starters. This is a very strange, but worthwhile ride you just have to hang on.
I'll warn you now this is not going to be everyone's cup of tea. If you can find a copy of one his book's then pick it up and have a read. It's unnecessary to read the previous books, but I think it would help to get a feel for these wonderful characters and locations.
This final book, like 'The Velocity Gospel', is worth the effort. It does take some time to get into Aylett's writing style, but the hard work pays off as you're rewarded with a very original series of books.
Phil Jones
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