Customer Reviews

Changeling

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

 

 

Before I go ahead, a caveat: This is NOT a compilation of both Changeling and Madwand. It is only Changeling. That said, you'll probably be better served buying the two from a used-book store (the good Mr. Zelazny is passed away, so I don't much care about enriching whomever owns the copyrights at this point). It's unfortunate iBooks has decided to start milking the great man's work for every dollar by no longer offering compilations of at least two novels.

This is perhaps the most fun for any fan of Zelazny to read; it lacks the density and breakneck pace of Creatures of Light and Darkness and Lord of Light or the tiresome rehashing of his later Amber books. The blend of science and technology is never done better. Hand this to a kid who thinks there's nothing in wizardry beyond Harry Potter.

This is a modest fantasy/adventure featuring a burgeoning sorcerer and an overachieving master of technology who have been switched at birth. Pol Det is the inheritor of Randoval, the lordly castle of a magical kingdom in another dimension, and Mark Marakson is the genius of engineering and technology. Old Mor, a wizard from the magical realm, switches these two as babies, hoping to avert a recurrence of the cataclysm that has so often ravaged his world. In the technological realm, Pol is a guitarist, a detached dreamer who never seems to fit in. In the magical world, Mark's mechanical inventions frighten and anger a community that associates science with destruction. Only the beautiful Nora seems to understand Mark's passion, skill, and frustration. Will these two young men ever discover the secret of their linked destinies? If so, will they become fast friends or mortal enemies? And what role will be played by the mysterious thief who has purloined some valuable figurines, and the hidden caverns full of sleeping dragons?

Overall, this is a modest entertainment with a fascinating setup that too-quickly deteriorates into just another tale of spells and dragons and talismans and so on. Zelazny's fiction is notable for its experiments in form as well as substance, and this book shows every promise of being much more than it finally turns out to be. He effectively defines the process used to work magic spells, he creates characters with a little more than just one flat dimension, he pits his magician against technological forces that go well past swords and catapults, and manages to surprise us more than once, but still doesn't quite deliver the kind of masterpiece we feel the story merited. We expect more from Zelazny, and we almost think we are going to get it, but around page 80 or so, he abandons subtleties like character study and opts instead for the more prosaic quest-for-powerful-weapons-to-defeat-the-bad-guy material. From that point
on this book is pretty average, almost as though the author tired of struggling to keep his story innovative and original and just went ahead with standard dragons-and-sorcerers fare. This is not to say that fantasy fans won't enjoy it; this reader's disappointment rather stems from the recognition of just how close Zelazny came to revolutionizing the whole form, before frittering the opportunity away.

This is the story of Pol Detson, the evil wizard's son who was sent to Earth of prevent him going in the footsteps of his father - an evil wizard who was killed when the whole populance rose against him.

Now the inheritance of Castle Rondoval - with its secrets and the monster army slumbering underneath - is waiting for the right wizard.

However, the baby who was brought into the world instead of Pol, Mark, is a champion of forces far removed - the forces of mechanical progress. And though he is no wizard, still he enslaves the people and holds them in a mechanical grip of death.

Now Pol is returned to this world to come into his inheritance and fight for the spirit of his world ...

Zelazny's book is the first part of the Wizardworld book, so be warned. That aside, this is a great book, both symbolic and filled with action and even a little drama.

I would say however, that as one of Zelanzy's early works it is quite different to the Amber series - more subdued perhaps - as if Zelazny was still searching for the right way of writing.

In Rondoval Castle (home of monsters), a coalition of peasants, centaurs, and the forces of light kill the evil sorcerer Det, who has dabbled with forces best left alone. Det leaves behind a son, and the master wizard Mor speaks out to save him, for he doesn't share the sins of his parents. In an attempt to bypass future conflict, Mor walks a golden path between realities and switches Det and Daniel Chain, the son of an engineer in a world much like ours.

Seventeen years later, Pol is a musician who doesn't get along well with technology, when Mor appears again. It turns out Daniel is a crazy smart inventor, and his ideas are viewed by the villagers as 'machine-demons'. They drive him off, and he finds an ancient teaching computer on Anvil Mountain, and goes all mad scientist seeking vengeance. Mor wants Pol to save his homeland from the ravage of technological armies, and is prepared to restore his heritage.

Fast forward... Pol is also hated by the same villagers who hate Daniel. Will the two changeling 'brothers' end up fighting, or will they unite and drive the small-minded superstition from the world of magic?

I liked this story of tech, magic, and morality, though I could also see where Zelanzy skirted the deeper issues. Three and half stars, rounded up.

If you don't have this book find it. It's great! Everything you love about Zelazny can be found in this book. The characters and the two worlds they come from are fleshed out with amazing clarity. The only problem I had with this book is, it's a real quick read but that really doesn't detract from the overall wonderousness of the story.

A good wizard, a bad wizard, and a child, and a castle of power to be inherited. A climactic battle involving the former pair leads to the child being taken to Earth to survive. He grows up there, and eventually comes back and ends up battling for his heritage.

The son, Pol, approaches this from a technological background, so there is a clash of magic and technology.