Pantomime by Laura Lam

Series: Micah Grey #1

(Angry Robot originally published this book in 2013.)
Length: 386 pages
Genre: Fantasy/speculative fiction
★★★★

Pantomime, the first book in a trilogy, follows Micah Grey as they learn what it means to be themself in terms of gender, sexual, and personal identity. Set in a steampunk world of forgotten magic and varied cultures, Pantomime tells a fantastical story featuring an intersex character.

Gene lives the cushy, if unsatisfying, life of a young noble. While she has been raised as a woman, Gene is both male and female – a secret known only to her parents and elder brother. When she uncovers her parents’ plan to have her undergo surgery without her consent, she flees home. Presenting herself as a man named Micah, she joins R.H. Ragona’s Circus of Magic with hopes of becoming an acrobat. Micah trains alongside a girl his age, Aenea, and her older acrobatic partner, Arik, who Micah replaces when Arik retires. Micah cultivates a romantic relationship with Aenea and a friendship with male clown Drystan, though he can’t dismiss the feelings he also has for Drystan. Micah and his new friends enjoy the life that comes with being a circus performer, while also keeping a wary eye on the circus ringmaster, an abusive man whose failures with money may lead the circus to ruins. Chapters alternate between Micah’s life with the circus and Gene’s life shortly before running away. Low on action, Pantomime’s tension stems from Micah’s concerns about his secrets being revealed and his family tracking him down.

The world of Pantomime channels the Victorian age particularly well through the excitement and imagery of the circus. Lam infuses fantasy elements by referencing a magical civilization long since vanished. The incorporation of penglass (the origin and purpose of which is unknown), vestige (rare artefacts infused with magic), and the myth of the Kedi (intersex people believed by one cultural group to be the only complete being) gives hints of what might come in the remaining books of the trilogy. Vivid circus life plus hints of a grander, more magical world create a rich setting in which to set Micah’s story.

What sets Pantomime apart from other young adult fantasies is its centering of Micah, the intersex protagonist exploring his gender identity and sexuality. (In the summary above, I used the pronouns to which Micah answered at that part of the narrative. Micah presents himself as a man in the present timeline. Lam has stated that Micah is genderfluid, though that is not confirmed within this volume.)  Micah begins to learn what it means to be himself, and learns to understand the signals his body sends and the feelings he experiences. Although Micah is intersex, some universality exists between their experience and that of non-intersex teenagers’ experiences. Lam balances both Micah’s unique experiences and the universal experience of teen identity. The first person narration helps to avoid othering Micah’s experience. A self-contained story, Pantomime leaves the door open for Micah to further explore and develop his identity.

**The next paragraph contains spoilers for the conclusion.**

One flaw of Pantomime’s lies in the conclusion. A change of pace in the last 30 pages creates an abrupt ending in which which Aenea dies seemingly for the purpose of spurring Micah forward.

The Bottom Line

Despite the ending, Pantomime remains a valuable read for its compassionate portrayal of an intersex, genderfluid character within a fantasy world.

Discussion Questions

The review above and the questions below were written for my course on young adult fiction (that’s why the review is a departure from my usual style :P). My book circle selected three books on the theme queer fantasy. Some of my questions reference Of Fire and Stars because that was the first book we read for the circle. You could modify those questions to compare to other books with a fantasy setting or queer characters. These questions were written with teen readers and/or librarians in mind.

1. Have you ever attended a circus? How was your experience similar or different to Micah’s? Would you ever be interested in joining a circus? What kind of role would you want?
2. How does the worldbuilding in Pantomime compare to the worldbuilding in Of Fire and Stars?
3. Is Ellada an analogue for a real country? Which one? What cues in the story made you think that?
4. The plot sees minimal conflict until the last 30 pages of the book. How did you experience the book’s pacing? Would you written anything differently?
5. What purpose did Aenea’s death serve? Could that purpose have been served in another way?
6. How do some of the archetypal characters – the acrobats, the ringmaster, the clowns, etc. – compare between Pantomime and other circus stories you may have read or seen?
7. How did the intertexts at the beginning of each chapter affect your reading experience? Did any particularly appeal to you?
8. How do the cultural attitudes towards sexuality manifest differently between Of Fire and Stars and Pantomime? What are the pros and cons of each books’ approach?
9. The author has stated that this book is #ownvoices for bisexuality representation, but not intersex or genderfluid representation (source). Would you consider Pantomime to be good or bad in terms of intersex or genderfluid representation? Why? Would you answer differently for bisexuality representation? With growing acceptance and understanding of the necessity of #ownvoices stories, (how) can readers evaluate whether they’re reading a good representation of an identity that’s not their own?
10. The author has stated, “Micah is genderfluid, intersex, and bi, so that right there looks at physical sex, gender identity, and sexual orientation” (source). Pantomime does not use this terminology. Why do you think that might be the case? Is there any value in using specific terms in fiction?
11. The original blurb for Pantomime did not mention that Micah was intersex, making it sound like Gene and Micah were two different characters. Lam supported that impression when promoting the book, speaking of Gene and Micah as though they were independent (source). Some early readers did not realize Micah and Gene were the same person. How might this impression have made for a different reading experience?
12. Lam’s approach to marketing Pantomime evolved around the publication of the second book. She has stated, “It would have been nice if it was clearer that it starred an intersex protag” (source). The blurb now reveals, “Gene is both male and female […] She flees home, dressed as a boy”. Which approach do you think is the better decision – concealing or revealing the fact that Micah and Gene are one person?
13. What role can cover art play in influencing readers? (Consider the original cover art, on the right, vs. the cover art of newer editions, above.)