The arrival of a millipede-like alien tourist in Cirque, Earth's last city and its only claim to fame in a universe that has passed it by, heralds a rebirth for the city on the Abyss and the people who inhabit it. This novel was a complete chore to read. Weighing in at an anemic 187 pages I felt I could have read the book in two days; unfortunately, it took me four days as it was truly a soporific experience of which I hope I never have to reexperience. It is a novel that has very few redeeming features. Riddled within the pages of this not so well imagined far flung distant future are characters that are diaphanous and formulaic throwbacks of science fiction that belongs to the 1970's and backwards beyond. The plot is terrible and woefully tedious; it is simply about a creature, one that turns out to be a furry tentacle, escaping from the abyss that the city of Cirque encompasses. Let me save you the bother, the creature is a physical manifestation of all the sin that washes from the city of Cirque through the ridiculously named River Fundament. It escapes, is hunted down, manages to evade its would be killers, and finally blossoms forth into a thing of beauty and wonder. This novel had the worst, and I mean the worst plot, of any science fiction novel I have ever read. It is one of those novels that some small band of science fiction aficionados will tell you is worth a read, but trust me, it truly is one to be avoided.

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