THE MOON'S WIFE

Surpassingly curious, dramatically uneven fiction from the author of such diverse offerings as Kingdom of the Grail (historical), Wyvern (pirates and sorcerers), and The Lost Legends of Earth (science fiction). Bookkeeper Siggy Lindo suddenly experiences a new dimension in sexual awareness, culminating with overwhelming involuntary orgasms. Oddly, the seizures coincide with the rising of the moon- -when Siggy hears the voice of the moon-god asking her to marry him! Terrified of going mad, she checks into a psychiatric hospital, where she finds that she now possesses a ``glamour,'' and can both see and touch the spirit world. The moon-god, meanwhile, assumes the flesh of a mindless fellow-patient, Daniel Schel. Convinced at last that Daniel is all that he claims to be, Siggy flees the hospital with Daniel's help. Later, Daniel's witch allies educate Siggy in magic, since, when she masters her full powers, Siggy must make a pivotal choice between futures: seraphic (a revolutionizing ``good'' technology) or elven (a cleansing of the Earth and a return to a primitive idyll). The witches won't say which side they adhere to—Daniel is weakening and must soon return to the moon—but if Siggy chooses wrong, she will die. Enormously hard-working, and persuasive up to a point. But having introduced competing plot elements, Attanasio loses focus and control, and the narrative meanders off into inconsequentialities; even the showdown takes place offstage. Frustrating.