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CHANGELING
by Yasmine Galenorn
Berkley, June 2007
304 pages
$6.99
ISBN: 0425216292


Buy in the UK | Buy in Canada

Sisters Camille, Menolly and Delilah continue their work for the Otherworld Intelligence Agency while stuck in the human realm. Camille is a witch, Menolly is a vampire and Delilah is a feline shape shifter so their family life is not necessarily quiet or peaceful. Their magic is not perfect and they each have minor magical flaws as they are of mix parentage – half human and half Faerie. Each has their own strengths and weaknesses as well as their own roles within the supernatural world.

Delilah’s day job is as a private investigator, which provides a good cover for some of the activities required by the Otherworld Intelligence Agency. She is hired by Zachary Lyonesse to investigate a series of deaths. Zach is a were-puma and several people in his pride have been killed. He believes Delilah, being part Faerie herself, will be able to discover things the police have missed.

Delilah ropes in her sisters to help. They quickly discover that the situation is even more dire than they imagined. Not only are were-pumas being killed, humans are as well. There is evidence of strong and dark magic at the scene of some of the crimes. Then someone attempts to bug their conversations and track their movements. The sisters believe that demons are responsible for these deaths. Camille, Menolly, Delilah and their supernatural contacts must risk their lives in order to keep the demons from taking over human society.

According to the story line in CHANGELING, as Delilah, Camille and Menolly are part Faerie, they do not need to be monogamous. While they occasionally date humans – the only species that is monogamous – they tend to date their own. This way no one is harmed by their sexual independence. The premise that all supernatural creatures and beings are sex maniacs is a stereotypical plot device that has become trite. Rather than an author using originality, plotting and detail to write his or her story, he or she uses the forbidden to titillate the audience.

It would be nice to read a fantasy novel involving the supernatural where the author does not begin channeling soft porn in the middle of the narrative. While CHANGELING does have a slightly more in-depth plot than other books in this post-Anita Blake genre, it still relies on sex and non-conventional relationships to keep the reader hooked.

This book also relies on the characters’ sex drives to keep the story line moving even though these scenes detract from the plot. Readers who do not like gratuitous sex should avoid this book. In CHANGELING, the sex scenes do not improve the storyline and merely serve as filler.

CHANGELING does have a decent storyline but its reliance on the forbidden and its lack of depth and development makes this book much less enjoyable than it could be. If this book showed any hint of originality or creativity, I would view CHANGELING much differently. As it does not, I find it difficult to think of anything positive to say.

Reviewed by Sarah Dudley, June 2007

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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)


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