Ned thinks his life is exceedingly boring and mundane thanks to his very overprotective father but on his 13th birthday everything changes - in the most magical way. He finds himself part of the troupe of the most gorgeous, intriguing circus , charged with finding a girl whom together with himself, will save the magical and mortal world. I loved this book! Ned's amazing engineer powers are just wonderful and I'm looking forward to meeting many of the other characters in later books - especially Ringmaster Benissimo and Ned's best friend, the huge but cultured ape, George. A fun read that should keep Harry Potter lovers spellbound.