In a nutshell, The Troupe is about a young man, George, with a preternatural ability on the piano, who gets into a vaudeville theater so as he can spot when a certain troupe comes through; the one run by his father.
Only they aren't an ordinary troupe of performers. They sing, and seek out, fragments of the First Song, the song sung by the Creator to bring forth the universe. They are chased by the Wolves, who seek to destroy the world by stilling the music, and who are out to destroy the song as well.
I haven't had a difficult to put down book on my bedside cabinet for some time, but The Troupe certainly qualified as such. Bennett creates a plausible, smooth universe and populates it with incredibly dense characters. The plot is never sedentary, and snaps around a couple of twists sharp enough to give you whiplash.
As with most page-turners, this is about the people as much as it is about the plot, and Bennett's five characters are fragile, multi-layered, and are as twisted as the story. In many ways, I'm reminded of the HBO series 'Carnivale'.
A definite 'recommended'.
