World of Wonders was my least favorite book of the Deptford Trilogy. While the main character, Magnus Eisengrim, led an interesting life, the conversational style in which he tells his life story left a lot to be desired.

Eisengrim is known by many names and aliases throughout the tale. As a child, he travels with a Canadian freak show, called World of Wonders. As a young adult, he goes on to play vaudeville theatres in Europe and eventually plays a stunt double in a traveling troupe of actors back in his home country. All this experience leads him to becoming one of the worlds most popular Magicians.

The story line is intriguing, but the details are hefty and the exciting moments are few and far between. I stuck with the book, and I will admit that the last 100 pages or so were more interesting than the ones preceding them. Im happy to have finished the trilogy, and would still highly recommend the first two books, Fifth Business and The Manticore.

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The third installment of the Deptford Trilogy tells the story of a child who is kidnapped by a carnie and survives to become a world-famous illusionist. Davies takes risks with the narrative, using long monologues and copious notes from a friend of the illusionist to tell the story. Themes explored include truth, memory, freedom of choice, and the consequences of our actions. Despite a few errors of fact (strange, given the author was a journalist), the novel is an interesting exploration of these themes and is sure to captivate readers with its strange story and references to out-of-the-way knowledge and skills.

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