The First Bright Thing

By: J.R. Dawson

Narrated by: Petrea Burchard, Tim Campbell

Short-listed, Golden Crown Literary Awards, 2024

If you knew how dark tomorrow would be, what would you do with today?

"This is the magic circus book that I have been looking for all my life."―Seanan McGuire, New York Times bestselling author of Every Heart A Doorway

"With earnestness that matches the author's poignant story, narrator Petrea Burchard introduces listeners to the Circus of the Fantasticals."—AudioFile

Ringmaster—Rin, to those who know her best—can jump to different moments in time as easily as her wife, Odette, soars from bar to bar on the trapeze. And the circus they lead is a rare home and safe haven for magical misfits and outcasts, known as Sparks.

With the world still reeling from World War I, Rin and her troupe—the Circus of the Fantasticals—travel the midwest, offering a single night of enchantment and respite to all who step into their Big Top.

But threats come at Rin from all sides. The future holds an impending war that the Sparks can see barrelling toward their show and everyone in it. And Rin's past creeps closer every day, a malevolent shadow she can’t fully escape.

It takes the form of another circus, with tents as black as midnight and a ringmaster who rules over his troupe with a dangerous power. Rin's circus has something he wants, and he won't stop until it's his.

A Macmillan Audio production from Tor Books.

©2023 J. R. Dawson (P)2023 Macmillan Audio

Critic reviews

"This is the magic circus book that I have been looking for all my life. It's compelling and brilliant, and made me cry on a public street. I cannot recommend picking up a ticket for Windy Van Hooten's Circus of the Fantasticals highly enough."—Seanan McGuire, New York Times bestselling author of Every Heart A Doorway

"J.R. Dawson welcomes us to a time-traveling circus of magical outcasts, forged by love into family. A celebration of artistry and wonder as essential talismans we wield against despair—and with which we triumph against it. Spanning ages and continents, where history repeats its cycles of darkness, Windy Van Hooten’s Circus brings with it hard-won light. I, for one, am here for the show."—Travis Baldree, New York Times bestselling author of Legends & Lattes

"Trains leap across continents, trapeze artists fly through the air, and three women desperately hurl themselves through time and against the dark tides of history. This book takes the reader on an audacious, bittersweet journey, underpinned by the magic of theatre and the alchemies of grief and love. A masterpiece of the fantastical and the human."—Freya Marske, author of A Marvellous Light

I can't say enough good things about this book!

I can't say enough good things about The First Bright Thing by J.R. Dawson! It's a fantastic (and fantastical) story and the perfect release for Pride Month.

Near the end of World War I, The Spark released something supernatural into a small part of the population. We don't know what caused The Spark or how people were chosen, only that suddenly some people could teleport or change appearance or create illusions from thin air. Now, several years later, the war has ended and the Sparks have a traveling circus where they show off their magical abilities while using them to help people. But, through her own powers, the Ringmaster learns that the Great War wasn't the last war, and something terrible is on the horizon. Meanwhile, the competing Spark circus, helmed and used for evil by the Circus King, is getting closer and poses an even more present danger.

The story is just out-of-this-world, and the queer representation is a beautiful way to celebrate people being who they are and loving who they love. This book is one of my favorite releases of the year (and heck, right now, it's the frontrunner for best book of the year, period). I hope there will be a sequel so we can spend more time with all the Sparks I came to love ❤️

It was ok

The story itself was good & the narrators definitely made it come to life! I just found it hrs to get into. A bit too much inner dialogue. Pretty slow for me.

Great book- highly recommend

Love this book, the story, the wrap up at the end. Refreshing because so different than what I’ve read before. The 5min sample was weird and I almost didn’t purchase because of it, but I’m so glad I did. The narrators were very good.

Like a balm to your soul

This book reminds us that humanity has faced darkness time and time again, but that hope is always a choice. I needed this book. You need this book.

The First Bright Thing is like the embodiment of “history repeats itself,” but Dawson shows how it doesn’t just have to be the bad that is carried forward. The characters wrestle with their pasts, with an unfair and scary world, with discrimination, and with their own futures. They are forced to face the many evils of this world including war, abuse, genocide, and our own mistakes.

But what makes this story special, more than any I’ve read in the last few years, is that at the end of the day Dawson concludes with the idea that, in a world of darkness, we can choose to light the way. That the darkness of this world cannot erase who we are. Our queerness, our faith, our culture, our values, our love, all the things that make up our souls, those things are so much more than the hate and darkness that try to snuff them out.

I can’t recommend this book enough.