Customer Reviews

The Changeling Sea

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One of Patricia McKillip's lesser-known works, "Changeling Sea" is reminiscent of her rare short novel "Something Rich and Strange," as both deal with the sea and its pull on human beings. Thankfully this book will soon be reprinted by the excellent imprint Firebird books; it's an enchanting short novel full of vivid images and characters.

Peri's father was drowned, and her mother lives half in a dream world. Peri herself scrubs floors for a living, and remains embittered against the sea that stole her parents both in body and in mind. One night as she is weaving hexes to cast into the sea, she encounters Kir, a young prince with an obsessive longing for the sea. He asks her to put a mysterious message in with her hexes, and she agrees. A sea-dragon with a gold chain around its neck surfaces not long after she tosses the hexes into the ocean, and a passing mage named Lyo tries to take the chain for the fishermen -- except he accidently turns it into hundreds of tiny flowers.

Soon strange things begin to surface from the sea, just after Kir and his father leave for a distant island. Peri encounters the sea dragon pulling itself onto the land, and sees it transform into a naked young man who strongly resembles Kir. A years-old web of magic, love, revenge, and sea-longing must be unraveled before Kir can find peace, and Peri can find love.

One of the enchanting things about Patricia McKillip's novels is their simplicity. Though we have some of the essential trappings of typical fantasy -- wizards, dragons, mermaids, kings and princes and plenty of magic -- they are used in a very diffeent manner than most readers will be used to. The plotline is deceptively simple, and has the feeling of being far more complex than it is. Several plot elements can be guessed ahead of time, but this does not detract from the storyline.

As always, her prose is full of magic; the descriptions are lush and beautiful, even the descriptions of the sea-dragon. In such cases as the description of the sea-lady, they are exceptional, even for McKillip. At the same time, this dreaminess is balanced out by the homey atmosphere of the inn where Peri works. The dialogue ranges from poetic, almost songlike, to chummy and amusing.

Peri is an unusual heroine: she isn't pretty, sweet-natured, powerful, or anything unusual but kind and angsty. McKillip repeatedly emphasizes that, unlike Cinderella, Snow White or similar floor-scrubbing protagonists, Peri has calloused knees, perpetually messy hair, and a nose that she perceives as being too big. Yet she is entrancing to some of the male characters, and respected by all of them. Lyo is reminiscent of the "Riddlemaster" character Rood, with his offputting wit and uncanny clear sight. Kir drips angst and unhappiness, especially since he seems unable to love anything or anyone on the land. The unnamed sea-dragon/youth is almost babylike in his trust and eagerness to learn.

"Changeling Sea" is an exceptional story, full of magic, romance, and a small cast of exceptionally-developed characters. One of the finest fantasies out there, and one that should be read the moment it is reprinted.

Despite the age reccomendations on this book (9 to 12), McKillip's story is a wonderful fairy tale for any reader, as are all of her other works.
The Changling Sea is an excellent combination of fantasy and reality - the balance of hard working villagers and magical beings from another world make this story not only enchanting, but lovely in its realism.
Fans of McKillip will of course love this story. For children and adults who have never read her: this is a great place to start.

No matter the age of the reader, Patricia McKillip has always astounded with her power to draw us into her intricately crafted worlds seemingly without conscious effort. Her prose, always beautiful, paints such gorgeous pictures in our heads that it is impossible not to be engaged as soon as we pick up the page.

The Changeling Sea follows the life of a small young woman named Periwinkle (but everyone just calls her Peri) as she deals with the realities of a father taken by the sea and a mother who does nothing but grieve for him. From the very start, introduced to this unlikely heroine as she scrubs floors at a local Inn, we cannot help but be charmed by her. Even better, as the tale goes on, despite her lack of concern for what others think, this woman not only catches two princes but also becomes the focal point in a web of intrigue, mystery, enchantment, and power. That she ends up finding new resources of power within herself intrigues and delights us; for a change, and unlike most fairytale characters, this girl is neither beautiful nor classically sweet, and yet she still ends up with a happy ending.

Despite its age, this classic will never grow old. I recommend it to anyone, as a great intro to fantasy and as an evocative fairy tale that bends the definitions in enchanting new ways.

To begin with, the main character, Peri, is not really a Cinderella. She may scrub floors, but Ms. McKillip uses Periwinkle to draw her readers into the story. She is so ordinary and so natural, that readers can easily identify with her. And in the end when she turns out to possess a special magic within herself, readers feel a little more special as well. After having fallen in love with the unreachable sea prince, she neither "lives happily ever after" nor dies as a star crossed lover. Instead she goes on to discover that princes aren't the only catches worth landing. This novel is not only fascinating to read, but it provides a setting for self discovery as well. The style is appropriate for any age of self discoverer.

The Changeling Sea is a truly beautiful book to read. It is only 160 or so pages and can be read in about 2 hours, but the story will stay with you for a long time afterwards. It is told from the point of view of Periwinkle, or Peri, a poor fisher's daughter. Her father was lost one day in his boat and her mother sits by the window all day, looking out at the sea. Peri works at the inn and lives in the house of an old woman who taught her spells and hexes and then vanished one day.

Peri's life is fairly boring until one day she sees a dark horseman down by the sea at night. The next day, she meets the prince, Kir, at the old woman's cottage. She realizes that he was the horseman and he tells her that he used to talk to the old woman too. She tells him that she wants to hex the sea for stealing both of her parents and he asks her to deliver a message for him when she does. The message is a ring with the king's initials in it and several locks of hair. Peri is curious, but she does tie the message to one of her hexes when she throws them into the sea with a curse. Suddenly, she sees a great golden dragon rise out of the sea in front of her with a gigantic golden chain around its neck. She is naturally frightened and tries to get away.

The next day all of the fisher folk are talking about the dragon; they want the gold chain. That much gold would be enough to make them all rich, they say. Soon strange things begin to happen to the fishermen though. They are caught in strange fogs, and see mermaids where others see only fish or sharks. Confused and scared, they decide to get a magician to take the gold chain off for them. Some phony magicians come and go, and then one day, Peri meets Lyo. He slips on her newly sponged floor and washes to a halt right under her nose. She can see the magic in his strange color-shifting eyes, and becomes convinced when he dries himself off with a wave of his hand.

When Lyo understands what they want him to do, he asks Peri to row him out in her father's boat. They reach the dragon and Lyo sings him children's songs until he can get close enough. Then he takes the chain off. But before anything else happens, the chain turns into periwinkles and Lyo vanishes.

Meanwhile, Kir has told his secret to Peri as they become closer. He thinks his mother lives in the land under the sea. He wants to go back, but the sea won't let him in.
One night, Peri stands at the shore and wishes aloud that Kir were "a little more human." The next thing she knows, the sea dragon comes ashore and turns into a man at her feet. He doesn't know many words, so Peri begins to teach him. Meanwhile, Lyo has somehow found out what is really behind Kir and the sea dragon and the gold chain, at least partially, and is trying to help them all.

Eventually, Lyo tells the king what his son really is, and brings him to Peri's cottage where he meets his other son. As it turns out, the king knew Kir's mother before he married and had a son. Somehow at birth, the two sons were changed. Kir was brought onto land, and the other was taken under the sea and chained. Kir is becoming more and more desperate, so they agree on a final course of action. I won't give the ending away, but Peri discovers an unknown talent, the fishermen get their gold, Kir gets back where he belongs and so does the sea dragon, now called Aidon.

The romance in this book is very sweet and, in some cases, unexpected. It was a beautiful, but bittersweet book to read, like many of McKillip's are. I thought the writing was great and the characters were really well developed, even at 160 pages. It had that familiar dream-like quality, but it did have a pretty happy ending. I would recommend this book to everyone. This is one of my favorite books ever; it will bring a tear to your eyes and a smile to your face. Go read it!

A magical, moving, and completely original story, peopled with quirkily charming characters. Unlike most fantasy novels, this isn't about wielding swords and spells to save the world, but about the power and wonder of both magic and human relationships. Peri is a likable, offbeat heroine, and the choice she makes regarding the three men who come into her life, the magician, the prince, and the sea dragon, is believable and heartwarming. All the characters, even the most minor ones, have their own lives and agendas, bringing to life the vividly imagined setting of a fishing village on the edge of enchantment. Dialogue is sometimes poetic, sometimes funny, but always well-phrased. The balance in this book between the little moments of daily life and the beauty of magic and feeling reminded me of movies like The Secret Garden and John Sayles' The Secret of Roan Inish.

I am so glad they reprinted this book. For years it was out of print and incredibly hard to find.

I found this book when I was in 5th grade, and read my copy till it fell apart. If I had a spare day, I would just sit down and read it, wrapping myself in its words like a warm blanket. I still read it once a year.

This book really saved me as a kid. It taught me that even though I was young, and poor, and hurting, I had the world at my feet. It gave me the courage to stand up and take on the world.

Patricia McKillip's The Book of Atrix Wolfe was the first fantasy book I ever read (in French). Years after that, I am still hooked on her books.
The Changeling Sea is at heart a fairy tale: two princes gets swapped at birth and none of them is happy with the situation, until a young girl starts meddling. It displays all of McKillip's strengths: strong characterization (every character from Carey and Mare at the inn to the sea-woman herself are wonderfully drawn, and behave convincingly), a plot that, while being vaguely familiar, is still fresh enough to make you read on, and finally, McKillip's hallmark, her style, as ethereal and beautiful as the sea itself.
Buy it, read it, and then go and buy all of McKillip's other books.

This is a storyline with a unique plot, although I did find some flaws within the story that made this somewhat difficult to read. This is the first Patricia A. McKilip book that I have read and so I am not sure of her writing style as of yet, however the characters were rather empty. If she didn't state plainly that one character was in love with another, by the story surrounding them, I wouldn't have known. The protagonist is even distant as well and reading this story felt like taking a peek at snipets of the lives of others and drawing my own story from what I saw and coming to my own conclusions. This is common in books for young adults however, and being an adult reader used to epic novels, I don't know if I would be fair in faulting it for that. The character dialog was also hard to follow and at times it was hard for me to tell who was speaking. This is makes for a very choppy read at least to me.

This is still a special story that should have been written in novel form and not short story from, as there is som much more potential for it. Peri is the main character of the story and The Changeling Sea begins by describing her hatred for the sea that stole her father's life and captured her mother's soul, spellbinding her. Peri is an unkempt teen who works at the local bar/inn scrubbing the floors and keeping the inn clean. She never dreams of adventure or excitement at all, only wanting to one day escape the sea that so destroyed her life. Peri, no longer receiving the affection and caring from her mother, spends many nights at a village elder's home. The old woman looks after Peri and teaches her spells and hexes. Then one day the woman is gone, no where to be found or heard from again. Most likely lost to the sea, Peri thought. She had had enough of losing people she cared for to the sea and decided to hex it. The story builds from here with adventures of the Prince who becomes her friend and a lost sea-dragon and his mysterious appearance and trying to find answers as to his sudden apparition. She receives help from a mage and works at putting everyone's life together again, fitting in all of the pieces of the puzzle. At the end of the story she succedes in putting the pieces of her own life together as well.

I would reccomend this book for the young adults who have minds capable of seeing and reading between the lines where an adult's can't with a fantasy such as this. Although the story is a little slow throughout the telling, and the tale is implanted with a constant need to "just finish" the story so that one can see what is really happening, this is still a unique story and it is enjoyable. A collector of her works shouldn't pass this book up.

I'm still at a complete loss as to why I had never heard of this book before. The storyline is delightfully complex for as short as it is. The descriptions are lush and beautiful, but not so much as to bore. As a new English teacher, I plan on using this book for my classes during our study of fantasy-based romance. The characters are deep and very profound, and it would be an excellent read for people of all ages. Don't be deterred by how thin and short it seems, it's length doesn't make it any less powerful. I, myself, am extremely picky about what I ready and even more so when I'm reading anything with romance in it. I prefer a strong central female character, which Peri truly is, and of course a strong male central character who isn't questionable in his morals. This book checked all the blocks for my standards and I've put it promptly among my favorites.