2013 read #103: Killing with the Edge of the Moon by A. A. Attanasio.

Killing with the Edge of the Moon by A. A. Attanasio
153 pages
Published 2005
Read from August 10 to August 11
Rating: ★½ out of 5

My only previous exposure to Attanasio's work was The Last Legends of Earth, a full-blooded and flamboyant novel in the best '80s post-New Wave style, and one of my favorite novels of all time. I liked it so much that I was startled to learn earlier this year that it was the fourth book in a tetrad. Immediately I began looking for copies of Radix, the first volume in the series, but it's out of print and can't be had for love or money. (Okay, so it can be had for a lot of money, some $60 for a used copy on eBay, but I don't want to read it that badly.) The other two books in the series can be obtained via inter-library loan, but now that I know which book is first, I'm a bit of a stickler for making sure I read them in order.

What I loved best about Last Legends was Attanasio's confident, luxuriant command of language. The rococo four-dimensional storyline contributed a great deal to my regard, but Attanasio's vocabulary stands out in my memory: the guy seemed to know the perfect word to fit each need, which, all those years and many many books ago, impressed me very much.

Imagine, then, my disappointment with Edge of the Moon. It's rendered in the tuneless, artless prose of an amateur who thinks a whole lot of himself and his talent. The words fall like cans of corn from a ripped shopping bag. Here's a random sample: "She carefully disengaged from his embrace, stood, and looked around at her sunny surroundings." Clumsy, adjective-thickened scene setting -- letting the audience see the wires and artifice, as it were. I've read worse prose, sure. Most fantasy and sci-fi is probably just as bad, if not more so. But I expected so much better from this guy.

The story itself is reheated faery fare -- usually something I'm into, but this lacks the magic, no pun intended. Slapping your fairies into leather jackets and motorcycles and updating their repertoire to include "speed-metal" raves does not make them more interesting; on the contrary, it makes them seem more dated and clichéd than if you had used the classic lore uncut. "The Girl Who Ruled Fairyland, For a Little While" this ain't. There's also a fleeting hint of old weird Americana in the early goings, but it evaporates as soon as it appears, more's the pity. Honestly it feels like Attanasio said to himself, "Hey, that urban fantasy romance stuff is pretty popular right now, I bet I could dash one off and make a little fortune" -- and then failed to even make the romantic element particularly interesting. All in all there isn't much to rejoice in, here. Unless you count the fact that I only wasted my time with a novella, rather than a full-strength book.

Incidentally, my library has an awful lot of these mediocre yet overpriced small-press SF novellas. I'm guessing libraries are the only entities that get suckered into ordering these things; no one else, I hope, paid $27.95 for this damn book. But still, it's odd how many of these things are on the shelves, considering how many classics and staple titles are absent.