The Fourth Circle [Hardcover]

Zoran Zivkovic (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 2004

At long last, the brilliant first novel from World Fantasy Award winning author, Zoran Zivkovic is being published in English. The Fourth Circle takes the reader on an amazing journey from frescoed medieval monasteries to Buddhist temples to different planets to a paralyzed scientist's bedroom in London to the edge of black hole at the far reaches of the universe to a place not all the dissimilar from 221 B Baker Street. Zivkovic's masterful voice cradles the reader safely from one place to the next and in the end deposits the reader carefully at the singular spot in which all the storylines coincide. The Ministry of Whimsy edition of The Fourth Circle concludes with an afterword by Zivkovic about the travails of writing his first novel, translating it into English, and then finding a publisher for it. All while war in Zivkovic's native Serbia surrounded him. "In its rich tapestry of prose and compositional skills, as well as in its imaginative leaps and intellectual sophistication, The Fourth Circle must be considered, so far, as the author's masterpiece, an acclamation that extends well beyond a mere appreciation of Zivkovic's own and singular work." --SF Site.com "Zoran Zivkovic is a subtle, intelligent, wonderfully inventive writer who brings a fresh point of view, an idiosyncratic angle of attack, to everything he produces. He is one of the finest writers currently at work in the 'New Europe.' Read him and celebrate." --Michael Moorcock

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Time and space are fluid and perspectives are intriguingly alien and off-kilter in this cosmological first novel from Serbian author Zivkovic. Built from multiple intertwined plots fleshed out in short chapters rich with impressionistic images, it attempts the difficult feat of conveying a parallel world through the experiences of characters largely unaware that alternate realities exist. Two principal story lines—one involving a Buddhist techno-whiz who creates a female computer program, the other concerned with a medieval novitiate who witnesses the mystical resurrection of a master whom he believed dead—anchor a narrative that also admits episodes in which Archimedes, Stephen Hawking, Nikola Tesla and other scientific luminaries find ways to slip the bounds of the time-space continuum and inadvertently travel to a common meeting place. Sherlock Holmes, Dr. Watson and Conan Doyle all make appearances in the final chapters to deduce a dizzying, if talky, rationale for what exactly is going on. Zivkovic does a superb job of communicating the befuddlement, confusion and awe of individual characters as they wrestle with mysteries that exceed the understanding that their time, place and intellectual capacity permits. He also suggests a coherent cosmic blueprint that incorporates the novel's many episodes yet still remains intriguingly beyond full comprehension. Not all the mysteries are laid bare at the novel's somewhat abrupt end, but readers will enjoy the tale's epistemological gymnastics and the interplay of real and imaginary personalities.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Four great scientists--Archimedes, van Ceulen, Tesla, and Hawking--gather at an ancient Buddhist temple deep in a jungle to meet computer scientist Srinavasa; his sentient computer program Rama; and the latter's child, sired by an ape. Elsewhere, a radio telescope awaits a specific signal, spherical beings go about their lives, the pack travels to see mysterious presences during the month they call Thule, and a medieval artist's assistant embarks on a journey into what he perceives as the circles of Hell. Then Sherlock Holmes receives a mysterious note--a perfect circle--and must join forces with his nemesis Moriarty to close the Fourth Circle. As the prologue, which is also the ending, informs us, Holmes' task is not one of obtaining answers but one of asking new questions and making contact across the varied worlds of the novel. Zivkovic distinguishes the book's discrete narratives stylistically and links its semicircular development back to itself seamlessly, opening the door to speculation about what happens next, which turns out to be a perfectly satisfactory conclusion. Regina Schroeder
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Nightshade Book; Limited edition (February 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1892389665
• ISBN-13: 978-1892389664
• Average Customer Review: 2.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,328,737 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A masterful weaving of multi-story threads, April 7, 2004

By 

Peter Williams (Pasadena, CA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Fourth Circle (Hardcover)

Zoran Zivkovic is a writer of astonishing talent. After having read his superb "Library" novellas in the VanderMeer/Aguirre-edited "Leviathan 3" anthology, I was eagerly awaiting this release from NightShade. And I was not disappointed.

I won't attempt to give a plot synopsis here, especially as plot, per se, is not the salient feature of The Fourth Circle. What is prominent is Zivkovic's mastery of the multiple character perspective, i.e., the manner in which he develops his characters (there are many) and gives each a distinctive voice. That, and the way he wraps the varied story threads into a finally cohesive, yet mysterious whole.

The narrative, however, kept me at a slight remove from total involvement in the story, which leads me to give it four stars rather than five. Quality fiction, regardless.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Dazzling writing, but rather disappointing novel, December 21, 2004

By 

J. N. Mohlman (Barrington, RI USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Fourth Circle (Hardcover)

It's rare that one finds a disconnect between the talent of a writer and the quality of his story. As a general rule, one expects that a gifted writer will produce great novels and vice versa. Unfortunately, in the case of "The Fourth Circle" the reader is treated to a novel that is supremely well written, but which is somehow empty at its core.

Told through seemingly unrelated narratives that are parsed out over seemingly random intervals, "The Fourth Circle" is an ambitious attempt to offer a cosmogony, a structure and perhaps purpose for the universe. While taken as individual units, each story is beautifully structured and written, but as a whole the book is somehow less than the sum of its parts, which is ironic given its lofty ambition.

The ultimate problem is that there is no comprehensive denouement; the reader is drawn into the story of a pregnant artificial intelligence, Sherlock Holmes' last case, the life of alien six armed beings and more, but ultimately the links between these narratives, which define the whole structure of the novel, are lacking. Whether this is because Zivkovic is being intentionally enigmatic or because he just wrote himself into a corner is uncertain, but I think most readers would agree that the payoff, such as it is, is severely lacking.

Which is a shame, because as I have stated above, Zivkovic is a writer of great talent. His phrasing and word selection is impeccable, and he is a master of capturing the mood. From levity to disgust to a sense of otherworldly wonder, his work is imbued with emotion. Moreover, each individual vignette stands nicely on its own, with a particularly impressive entry detailing the exploits of a medieval painter and his humble assistant. Unfortunately, as I have stated above, such laudable accomplishments are not sufficient to make a book with this multi-linear approach work. In the absence of an overarching cohesion, these are just short stories printed out of order.

Nonetheless, I don't want the potential reader to dismiss "The Fourth Circle" out of hand. As I have stated, the author's writing is superb and makes for an enjoyable diversion, and while the novel may fall short, it's complex structure and grand design is at least worth consideration. I wouldn't buy it in hardcover, but checking it out of the library or buying in paperback may well prove worth the time for the adventurous reader.

Jake Mohlman

1 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars The Circle is more like a small arc, October 29, 2004

By 

Robert Gorman (Chicago) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Fourth Circle (Hardcover)

While well written (the prose that is) this is one of the emptiest novels I have ever read. It has no meaning, no depth and in a nutshell is no fun. The author states that after writing the first sentence, he "didn't have the slightest idea what would follow." Well there are a lot of words well strung together, but no meaning. Save your time, don't bother with it.