Harvest of Changelings [Hardcover]

Warren Rochelle (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 28, 2007

Although the familiar themes of fantasy are present in this novel, the characters are not princes or sorcerers but ordinary people with seemingly ordinary lives. Ben Tyson, a librarian, met and loved Valeria, a fairy woman; but her death left Ben to raise their child, Malachi, alone. The two of them lived a fairly ordinary life until Malachi turned 10 and began to manifest previously unknown powers. Now the lords of Fairy have called home the changelings they left in the universe generations ago, waking up long-dormant DNA and changeling blood. More than a straightforward fantasy novel, this tale’s underlining current deals with people that are different—physically, mentally, and in their choice of lifestyle. The fairy children are seen as outsiders to mainstream culture, and as they become aware of each other they must unite to overcome the apathy and prejudice of humans, as well as the evil Fomorii, before it is too late.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. Rochelle (The Wild Boy) delivers an excellent traditional fantasy that draws on centuries-old Celtic fairy lore. Fairies, notably infertile among their own, have long interbred with humans, often leaving behind orphaned or abandoned children who never fit in and who develop magical powers and magical vulnerabilities, seeking self-knowledge as they evade their enemies, the evil Fomorii. A crisis is brewing. Librarian Ben Tyson, who lives in Garner, N.C., is concerned about his son, Malachi, whose late mother was fey. Like other half-fairy children, Malachi must heed a strange destiny. The book's strength lies in the sensitive characterizations and the texture of its contemporary reality. Some Wiccans may be upset by depictions of black witchcraft (though Rochelle is clearly aware of white witchcraft), but otherwise this should be a book with wide appeal, as it touches so sensitively on basic emotions, recognizable by anyone who remembers childhood. (May)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Ben Tyson was an ordinary man with an extraordinary wife, Valeria, a Daoine Sidhe, until the Fomorii, enemies of Faerie, killed her, leaving Ben to raise their son, Malachi. Ten years on, Malachi's fairy powers manifest, but because he is only half fairy, he cannot control them. Ben determines to get Malachi to Faerie and enlists neighbor Jack and Father Jamey to help. Meanwhile, the latent powers of Malachi's contemporaries Russell, Hazel, and Jeff also develop, and the four constitute a tetrad of earth, air, water, and fire mages. Meanwhile, Jack's son Thomas embraces powerful black magic. As magic becomes visible, ordinary people panic, and the tetrad race to reach the nearest Faerie gate before Thomas and the Fomorii. The sensory details of the North Carolina primary setting and the multifaceted characters come alive in Rochelle's hands. Faerie, on the other hand, is hardly explored. The chapters' focuses shift among eight primary and a few supporting characters, making for a jumpy, sometimes cloudy narrative. Still, this is an absorbing fantasy full of sympathetic characters. Hutley, Krista
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Golden Gryphon Press (May 28, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1930846460
• ISBN-13: 978-1930846463
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 6.6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,377,069 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Love on the border between the worlds, February 12, 2008

By 

Jonathan Ward "jward" (Virginia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Harvest of Changelings (Hardcover)

I storm through a lot of books in a week, but this one brought me up short. It builds a detailed and haunting picture of the place where the mundane and magical realms intersect. A father's love for his son opens a path to a wild and wonderful land. This book is well worth your time.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A fantastic novel about a single father's efforts to save his half-fairy son., September 2, 2007

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Harvest of Changelings (Hardcover)

Harvest of Changelings is a fantastic novel about a single father's efforts to save his half-fairy son. Ben Tyson was an ordinary librarian when he met a Daoine Sidhe woman, Valeria. Valeria's untimely death left Ben ill-prepared when his son Malachi began to manifest his fey powers, but without the control a full-blooded fairy would have. Desperate to help Malachi through a gate to Faerie before these powers kill him, Ben searches for information on where such a gate can be found, but only learns that the next date a gate can be opened is Halloween. Dragon sightings and a resurgence in witchcraft mysteriously appear, even as additional descendants of changelings are also called upon to return home. Yet mysterious, shadowy evil forces in both the mortal and the fey worlds seek to prevent the return of fey kindred; Ben and Malachi are caught up amid the clash of good and evil forces in this enchanting adventure of the bridge between two realities.

3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Needs Polish, but a worthwhile journey, not a children's book., May 20, 2007

By 

Joe Sherry (Minnesota) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Harvest of Changelings (Hardcover)

In Harvest of Changelings Warren Rochelle introduces the reader to a modern day fairy tale. Or, perhaps that should be a modern day faerie tale. Ben Tyson is a librarian from Garner, North Carolina. In the prologue (set in 1981), Ben met and loved a fairy named Valeria. She loved him back and together they had a son named Malachi. When Malachi was still an infant Valeria was murdered by the Formoii, an offshoot branch of faerie intent on destroying Valeria's Daoine Sidhe faerie. The first chapter moves ahead ten years and it is now 1991. Malachi is ten years old and beginning to exhibit his magical heritage which Ben has not mentioned or prepared him for.

Harvest of Changelings uses Ben Tyson as a framing device for the story. Excerpts from Ben's journals are used to give an adult perspective which gives shape to the story Rochelle is telling. But, while the story is told mostly through Ben Tyson's eyes, Harvest of Changelings is not about Ben. Harvest of Changelings is about Malachi and three other children who are discovering their identities as magical beings in a mundane world and dealing with the ever increasing threats against their safety.

This is a different kind of faerie tale. While the prologue sets up the idea of a war amongst the faerie, the first third of the novel (or more) is little more than a coming of age story. The prologue, which is very much out of place with the pacing of the rest of the novel, is necessary because it tells us what we need to know about these children and their powers. The reader will not spend chapters wondering what exactly is going on here. Unfortunately, the reader will spend chapters wondering when exactly Rochelle is going to get to the point. The early chapters, or viewpoint segments as there are only eight chapters in the 300+ page novel, introduce Malachi, Jeff, Russ, and Hazel to the reader and they each have their own story which needs to be addressed. The construction of the novel in this manner makes sense, but it is frustrating because the prologue tells us a war is coming but the reader must then face page after page of bad parenting, misunderstanding teachers, and outcast children finding out who they are.

With that said, once these children do find out what they can do, Harvest of Changelings starts rolling. The danger starts to build, the viewpoint of a black magic user begins to hint at the stakes introduced in the prologue, and when strange events begin to happen around the children, in the town, and in North Carolina at large, the novel becomes more imperative. Now the reader begins to truly care about what is happening and now we wonder where Rochelle is taking the novel.

The fact that Harvest of Changelings focuses on children does not make this a children's book. There is darkness here and it isn't the darkness of Harry Potter. This is adult darkness, adult violence, and adult themes. It only gets darker before daylight.

What is the bottom line here? Warren Rochelle has created a very interesting and compelling look at a world where faerie is just outside our perception and knocking at the doors of our reality. This is not a perfect creation. If we turn too quickly some of the construction still clunks a little bit. There are rough edges here. The pacing is a bit off. With all that said, Harvest of Changelings is a worthy entry as a modern day fantasy where the light is in hiding and the darkness is barking down our door.

Harvest of Changelings is a interesting story and well told. There are flaws, certainly, but not enough to suggest that this should be avoided. Rather, this is a good introduction to an author who is working with some good ideas and just needs some more polishing on the execution of those ideas. Certainly, Harvest of Changelings is worth the time spent reading the novel. This novel is not enough to create Warren Rochelle as a brand where every publication is met with eager anticipation (not as, say, The Atrocity Archives did for Charles Stross). It is enough, however, that when the last page is turned and the cover is closed we can sit back and know that we enjoyed the journey Rochelle guided us through.

Reading Copy provided courtesy of Golden Gryphon Press.

-Joe Sherry