A. A. Attanasio

Blew my tiny mind with its high concept and epic span when I first read it back in, as they say, the day, blew it again this time because of the sheer storytelling skill - this is like Iain Banks crossed with Guy Gavriel Kay, to give a woefully inadequate sense of what it does. Massively mind-boggling science fiction melded with a deep love of storytelling, which enables the author to skilfully draw the reader across a tangled plot spread over thousands of years and multiple settings, all show more contained within a planetray system that is both a disassembled starship and a trap for a particularly nasty and malevoelent enemy that preys on the long-extinct but newly-ressurected race of humans who are bait in the trap. The complexity of the worldbuilding and the story is actually kind of stunning. Self-contained, by the way, I haven't read any of the other Radix books - which is weird considering the way this exploded in my head - with no trouble. I think one supporting character comes from the previous books. A love story at its heart, too, which is nice. show less

If you're a lazy reader, then stop right here. AA Attanasio isn't going to be your cup of tea.

However, if you like having your mind blown, your world expanded, your characters lusciously developed over time, having many sub-plots coalescing and finally cascading into each other like an impromptu orgy and love looking up words you've never read before or an author who can invent them - then please, by all means. Continue reading...

In no way, would I dare write spoilers in this review. Why? show more Well, if there is one thing AA Attanasio delivers, it's a memorable journey you will not likely forget anytime soon. I can honestly say that he's written the only stories and characters that have compelled me to become more. More than me. From a young age, when I spent summers in libraries, he helped push the limits of my thinking mind and invited me into a world, many worlds, all types of places and universes that I had always hoped exist - but wasn't quite sure if they did?

There are moments, when reading this sci-fi/fantasy classic that you have to wonder - has the author walked right into the body of someone? A troop of someones? Why, you wonder? Well, that's how vivid his fluid writing is. You're utterly convinced he's stepped right inside his character's life, head, body, and mind. All to reveal his soul. It's fictional poetry.

Truthfully, this isn't just a review for Radix. It's a review for all of his books. With each one, you may not be certain if the same author wrote them all? In fact, there was a point in time when I thought he had betrayed me and my curiosity and walked away from his books. Only to return, to realize his range is just simply outta control. Just like his genius.

Beneath all of the harshness and reality-building, are beautiful core truths. The type of stuff that never goes away. The things that speak to us, as a reader to our cores. He never just delivers a tale, a story, an epic. Although certainly, that would be enough. He delivers different ways to transcend, to be awake, to become enlightened, to understand power, truth and love.

There just might be a real Merlin, after-all. :) show less

The most interesting prehistoric fiction I’ve read. Adventurous, but with a great deal of speculation about prehistoric society and religion. The last Neanderthal -- although he does terrorize the new humans who have tried to eradicate his people (except for the ‘witches’ who protect the Old People for their spirituality) – is a sad and sympathetic character. Indeed there are no bad guys but greyscale and damaged people. Anyone who wants a high status for prehistoric women won’t show more need to avoid this book. It’s lovingly written, descriptive and evocative. Both interesting and involving. Five stars, and I’ll certainly follow him into other books. show less

Welcome to hell. No, not the hell of reading another one of my book reviews, or the hell of hearing Jennifer Lopez's latest song, but the hell that is Satan's fiery domain. For here a demon named Dren is looking for salvation and redemption and must escape the underworld and save a single soul to pass on to the heavens above.
I'm a huge fan of 'The Crow' whether it be the original movie, the graphic novel, memorabilia, or whatever...it doesn't really matter as I'm intrigued and drawn to it show more all. Admittedly, a few of the movies were terrible, I never cared for the tv show and some of the literature has been somewhat lacking. However, one of the better literary offerings, if not the best, is 'The Crow: Hellbound' by A A Attanasio.
I had never read any of Alfred Angelo's work before this novel and since then have only tasted his wares a couple of other times, in the Crow anthology 'Shattered Lives & Broken Dreams', but I hold firm in my belief that he is one of the most talented writers whose work I have ever read. Of course, that opinion is very much backed up in this book where the characters, the pace of the story, the overall bleak and suffocating atmosphere and the story itself are absolutely spot on in relation to what he is trying to accomplish in the novel. At times the atmosphere generated in this novel was so evil that I had to put the book down and gather myself for a few moments. I only ever recall doing that once before, reading about the Holocaust, but never have I had to pull away from a work of fiction before. Such is the depth of the writing, in the choice of words, that it's as if the writer is a perfectionist who wrote and rewrote every page until he reached the point of having the perfect choice of words...nothing less sufficing.
At first this doesn't seem like a Crow novel but more like a demon possessed book, forged of evil and filled with blasphemies and eternal darkness. As the story progresses and Dren leaves hell the story arcs into the human world and the world of The Crow, without ever leaving it's sulphuric soaked roots, where good and evil meet for the battle over a human soul. That battle is a fascinating one and even if you don't believe in heaven and hell Attanasio will drag you kicking and screaming into a world where, for a while at least, you surely will believe. show less