Mark Siegel's debut novel, Echo & Narcissus, is a dark fantasy tale melding magic, drugs, and rock & roll, all while traveling a hell-bound road to the apocalypse. The story begins with the star-crossed paths of two street kids looking for something to fill the emptiness of their lives. It turns out that playing rock & roll together is the closest either one of them will ever come to fulfillment. With their lives becoming inseparable, even as they take on a magical cross-country journey from New Orleans to Los Angeles to Las Vegas, they learn they will only find their paths to fulfillment by overcoming the impossible. Echo must have Narcissus (Max) fall in love with her, while Max must learn how to love someone other than his self-destructive self.
      Like an author incorporating the vampire mythos into their fiction, or elves, or any other established trope in the fantasy realm, Siegel has the advantage of having established expectations for his characters. While other fantasy devises often seem tired and played-out, Echo & Narcissus reads like a flame chasing a trail of gasoline. Siegel's characters are strong and fleshed out, almost to the detriment of the big ideas of his story. Upon seeing his reflection, Max not only carries the swagger and confidence of his mythological forefather, but also acts to reflect the glaring image of modern society: drugs, degradation, sexual immediacy, and irreverence for morality. Echo remains puritanical in comparison, needing Max's love more than her own voice or identity.
      At certain points in Echo & Narcissus I wanted to learn more of the apocryphal happenings and magic and dark figures hiding within the book's shadows. These moments were fleeting, however. The melodic rhythm of Siegel's writing kept me reading on, making me want to know what would happen to his characters. One way this novel (beautifully illustrated by Frank Wu) could have been more complete is if Siegel allowed his characters to soak up more of their surroundings, for them to explore those shadows in even more detail. The tale covers a lot of ground in its slim 247 pages. I can imagine future Mark Siegel novels being robust and full of energy along the same lines as the works of Neil Gaiman or Tim Powers. For anyone interested in reading a possible future A-list fantasy writer, Echo & Narcissus is highly recommended.

                ::Glen Krisch::


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