This book was absolutely enchanting from cover to cover. Talk about being catapulted into another culture, another world! What a cornucopia of characters: The Dastardly Di Cho; the plucky and headstrong Mipeng; Miao, the blue-blooded circus master; brutish boar Uncle Bo and flimsy flag-pole Auntie Mo, not to mention our eponymous hero Haoyou! Set-pieces were made vivid by the sparky but unobtrusive details and richness of language: the initial terrifying flight of Haoyou's father; the drama of the Mighty Khan; the terrible episode of Chiggis' fateful / fatal flight. The central metaphor wasn't laboured but it was increasingly clear that it was the adults (with their droning insistence on Duty and Obedience) who stifle the spirit of childhood and trap its impulse for flight. Incidentally, the Jade Circus' travels reminded me of Angela Carter's magic-realism novel 'Nights at the Circus' - the central character of which, as I remember, has wings. Best read so far!

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