Hungry for More...Review of Commitment by Athanasios

This review is going to be a bit of a conundrum for me. I've read "Mad Gods" by Athanasios before and was thoroughly impressed with his spin on ethereal ideas like the melding of religion and reincarnation. He tends to have a more down to earth mind set and a common sense idea of what each should be. I was expecting when I started reading "Commitment" that I would get a continuation of where I left off with "Mad Gods" but Adam makes few appearances in this book and I struggled with a little bit of disappointment since I'd grown rather fond of his character. You see, Adam has choices to make that have everything and yet nothing to do with his ultimate destiny however, "Commitment" is more about healing. I can't be disappointed with this part, if I had been through what Adam had, I would need time to heal as well and no one could begrudge him that.



Athanasios shows a descriptive power when it comes to emotion of which few are possessed. He can really make you feel it; every heartache, every frustration and anger, every heartbreak, every moment of joy and every flash of relieved understanding, he knows how to break those emotions down and make them every bit as real for the reader as they are for the character. This is no small accomplishment and I issue my congratulations for this right now.



Now however, he's ended "Commitment" in such a way as he left it wide open for a third novel. When am I going to see Adam as he grows and learns, makes his choices and accepts his place and fate? He's already made a few determinations when it comes to who and what he is, when will he accept that and the determinations he's made? And how will he react when he starts to live the rewards and consequences of those determinations? Athanasios, you've shown an aptitude for writing about the correlation between choices and consequences and I want to see Adam take the next steps. Show me what you've got.



Now, onto the star rating because it's unavoidable. This is where I find myself in a conundrum because I'm adamantly unwilling to give three stars. "Commitment" is worth more than that both as a story and as a point of view. I also can't give five stars because there were some graphically written scenes that I found slightly off putting in the storyline. I'm going to settle on a happy medium and give four stars and then sit back and wait for the third installment in this (and there had better be a third installment...consider yourself duly challenged, Athanasios) and see where it takes the characters.



To find "Commitment" visit here on Amazon and here on Smashwords.