Change [Mass Market Paperback]

Ann Maxwell (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1, 1996

Hiding the supernatural talents that separate her from the rest of the human race, Selena Christian is rescued from a hostile planet Earth by rebel-spy Mark Curien, who takes her to the psychic planet of Change to face the truth about herself. Original.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

First published in 1975, this gripping tale takes readers to a future world where paranormals are feared and hunted down because of their telepathic abilities and their earlier contacts with "aliens." Maxwell fans will be sure to want this one.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 254 pages
• Publisher: Pinnacle (August 1, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786002948
• ISBN-13: 978-0786002948
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,124,303 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars wonderful read, June 13, 2002

By 

M. Cookson (Colorado Springs) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Change (Mass Market Paperback)

This is really a great read. The spine of the book calls it a futuristic romance, but I'd actually call it a science fiction book with maybe a little more romance than usual. The author pays a great deal of attention to the alien culture of the Changelings, the beings Selena spends a lot of time with, and to Selena's own abilities.

Selena is a Branlow mutant: she has incredible telepathic abilites and heightened senses. Her inner struggle was fascinating to read about. Because of what she is, she needs physical contact more than most people, but she's spent her life avoiding getting close to people. Instead of trying to get close to the people in the colony she's been taken to, she spends most of her time with the animals. Mark Curien was the first person in a long time who she's been able to touch without feeling like a freak, but she thinks he betrayed her. She doesn't want him to teach her how to use her abilities to their fullest extent, so she goes to the planet Change, to accomplish the same thing in a much more dangerous way.

The alien races in this book were very interesting, although I had trouble picturing them in my mind. One of the main failings of this book is that the author doesn't describe things well enough. In spite of that, however, I really enjoyed this book. I've read Timeshadow Rider and her Dancer books, and it's this book and all of those that led me to believe that I could enjoy futuristic romance. However, I was disappointed, because there are very few books with that label that are like this. The science fiction elements are actually important and work well with the romantic elements.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful sci-fi romance, December 31, 1999

By 

Cathie Bliss (USA, New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Change (Mass Market Paperback)

Ann Maxwell does a great job creating characters that have strong personalities. I love the strength of the heroine, Selena Christian. You are not going to find a heroine that melt into the arms of the first man who treats her badly. This book is a great combination of Science Fiction and Romance. My husband, a die-hard science fiction fan, loved this book. I have already had to replace my copy. I love this book, and hope you will enjoy it also. If you find this book enjoyable, I recomend some of her other books: Timeshadow Rider, Fire Dancer, Dancer's Luck, and Dancer's Illusion. All of Maxwell's science fiction romances are unique, compelling, and entertaining.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Out of Print for a Reason, January 26, 2004

By 

Silmarwen (Huntington Beach, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Change (Mass Market Paperback)

Selena Christian has spent her whole life concealing her talents from ordinary humans. When she was a young child, her parents helped her, but after their untimely death, Selena was left to fend for herself on the streets. Through luck or happenstance, Selena grew up to a be a beautiful young woman, but then she was caught and imprisoned. Left alone in a small cell with nothing to do and no one to talk to, Selena was anxious and eager when Mark Curien first started visiting her. Before long, Mark's visits were the highlight of Selena's day and she told him everything. After all, what did it matter if she confessed to be exactly what they said she was, she was as good as dead anyway. Then Mark stopped coming and Selena discovered that he was a lawyer for the prosecution and would be her enemy in her trial. Selena determined to hate Mark for as long as she was alive, even after she discovered that he was a spy and saved her life by transporting her off of Earth to a faraway planet called Change.

Change was the last hope for most humans with psychic powers, but Selena did not let herself relax her guard among her fellow paranormals and resisted making friends. She allowed them to study her and test her reactions in exchange for a home of her own and a chance to work with her beloved horses. But when a strange alien with powerful abilities lands on the planet, no one knows what to do. Only Selena, with her talent with animals, dares to approach the creature and return with it to its home planet. There she discovers the creatures she has been dreaming about all of her life and must find a way to save them or leave them to slowly die out on a brutal and barren planet...

I was quite disappointed in this book because I love romance books with a science fiction/fantasy plot and this one sounds good on the surface, but isn't. From the first page I had a hard time liking Selena as a character. She is very hard, strong willed and has little or no softness to her, I cannot understand why Mark fell in love with her at all, unless it was for her physical beauty. Mark and Selena spend a good 2/3rds of the book apart with hardly a mention of the other so there is not a lot of romance in the book. Also, it seemed that the author wasn't quite sure which plot line she wanted to focus on - the conflict between the ordinary humans and paranormals, the challenge of working with a whole new race of aliens, Selena's discovery of her powers, etc. They were all jumbled together and kind of thrown in as if the author didn't have on any single line and was looking for a filler. For these and other problems, I can honestly say that there is a reason why this book went out of print!