Chinese Circus — Mike Mitchell

Spinning plates in a Chinese Circus. A tangled bricolage of the human condition; points of meaning only found in the spinning and delicate balance. As bricoleur, I spin for the reader six novellas of mystery, alternative history, fantasy, science fiction, and actual facts on which each story rotates. Six plates under one speculative tent. Lives in the balance, the balance under attack, the attack wobbling toward its own destruction, or salvation. The plates are already spinning. To keep them from slowing and eventually falling, I invite you to step on stage and jump from one to the other and back again, adding to their centripetal energy your own, in order to uncover what meaning they have to offer. Let the circus begin! A sneak preview of each spinning plate: The Citizens Bureau: The United States in 2050 and bureaucracy has evolved to its best or worst. What goes around comes around. 29 Virtues: An Island Kingdom off the coast of present-day France; Kingdom leadership wobbling on a precipice amidst romance and mystery. The Netsuke Project: A Japanese bio-tech firm holds the future of humanity in the balance. One reticent research professor must decide whether to add her pivotal insight. Medallions: United Nations Special Ops team grapples with their new cascading powers while tangling with a deadly foe at every turn. Shawnash 7: Top Secret Native American Guardian Force faces a challenge that began thousands of years ago and could cause recent indigenous peoples' rights successes to spiral out of control. Casting Bread: Nano-tech wunderkind achieves catastrophic heights and disappears to a new life. Can he escape the boom and bust whirl of the world's revolving door this time?