Customer Reviews

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5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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.

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!

Selena Christian is a woman who has learned to survive being different. When finally caught she is tried and sentenced to death. Snatched from death and sent to a planet of exile, Selena's only thought is for revenge. The call of an alien sentience changes her life and the path of mankind forever. This book kept me riveted. I was so into this book that I missed my flight-- twice! My copy is so tattered and torn that most of it can no longer be read. It's long overdue for a reprint. This time I'll stock up with more than one copy!

As an avid Ann Maxwell fan, I was pleased to come upon this science fiction romance. Ms. Maxwell was writing this genre ahead of its time and I hope she will again write in this genre. Strong character/plot development leaves you engrossed in the not improbable hysteria of a futuristic Earth and some of its "talented" citizens. The heroine is in a constant state of "change" and deals with it. No wimpy heroines for Ms. Maxwell and only a fantastic read for her fans!

After the first two chapters, I was unable to set the book down. After I finished the book, I was lustful for more. The first couple of chapters are there to get you acquainted with the characters and a futuristic story line. Then the story takes off just as fast as the "Changelings" in the book. I loved the characters, especially the very angry but loving Selena. This is just a terrific read, well written and well thought out and it seemed to consume me the more I read.

Most of Lowell's science fiction books were written many years ago and are being reprinted. They were written as science fiction, not romance, although all of her books have romance. CHANGE is my favorite of her science fiction. I do wish she had time to write more science fiction, but I also love her romance and suspense.

Selena Christian is a woman who has learned to survive being different. When finally caught she is tried and sentenced to death. Snatched from death and sent to a planet of exile, Selena's only thought is for revenge. The call of an alien sentience changes her life and the path of mankind forever. This book kept me riveted. I was so into this book that I missed my flight-- twice! My copy is so tattered and torn that most of it can no longer be read. It's long overdue for a reprint. This time I'll stock up with more than one copy!

I wanted to like this book because I like romance and sci-fi/fantasy, but this book fails at both because it is neither. It either has too much sci-fi and not enough romance, or has some crappy romance thrown into a sci-fi.

The most important thing in a romance is characters that the reader can fall in love with and live through. That does not happen in this book. The characters are all unlikable people, especially Selena whom I actually wanted to die because she was a typical too stupid to live character. She did everything to sabatage her own life by refusing to CHANGE!!! Talk about being misnamed. She refused to see anyone elses point of view and no matter who it would hurt she just had to have her own way. What a stinker. And any story where the "lovers" are apart more than they are together can never be a romance. The sci-fi did not interest me in the least, I did not like the aliens or the politics. There was nothing at stake that I cared about and therefore I hated the book. About half way through I started skimming ahead and became more and more dissapointed.

The first chapters were a great setup but then it was all downhill from there. It would have been better if the characters had grown up and changed a little but being so stuborn they just refused to behave like sensible human beings.