Reviews

Changer: A Novel of the Athanor by Jane Lindskold

cloudsinthecupboard's review against another edition

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adventurous medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

puddentame's review against another edition

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4.0

Surprised at how well I liked this book. Compared to American Gods it is a simple story but I liked it better.

jkfugitt's review against another edition

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4.0

A very nice and interesting book about what if King Arthur's court were a bunch of immortals concealing their living selves as normal people in the present and having to deal with another immortal that is trying to discover the reason behind the deaths of his family. Very good book.

stavigjc's review against another edition

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2.0

I got this book at a book exchange and I thought it was an interesting idea. This book was rather confusing in the beginning with trying to keep all of the characters/what characters they had been in the past. The idea of the book is a good one, but the execution was a little off for me. I felt like the story dragged on for a while and then it wrapped up very quickly in the end. While it was a good read, I don't know if I would recommend the book.

coyoteblue's review against another edition

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adventurous hopeful medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot

5.0

mburnamfink's review against another edition

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4.0

Changer is an urban fantasy with an interesting idea that is an enjoyable read, if not quite a classic. The athanor, an immortal race of beings with supernatural powers live among us. Their presence in history is the source of myths and legends. Changer, one of the oldest athanor, is living as a coyote in New Mexico when an unknown adversary kills his mate and all but one of his pups. He seeks the aid of Arthur Pendragon (yes, that Arthur Pendragon) in gaining revenge, which brings him into contact with a plan by Loki to overthrow the reign of Arthur and the current policy of non-interference in human affairs.

Changer is pleasant enough on a chapter-by-chapter basis, but the overarching plot has a lot of threads and sidetracks, including South American eco-radicals, Merlin's second head, the king of the seas, and Sasquatches tired of living on the fringes of society. The closest comparison is American Gods, but American Gods is about mythological figures who are people, and Changer is about people who happen to be mythological figures. The four star rating has a bit of rounding up, but hey, a fun book is a fun book.

evakristin's review against another edition

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2.0

This book started with a really good and interesting idea: The characters from myths and legends are real, and some of them still live among us. I’m sorry a story with so much potential didn’t occur to a better writer.

Jane Lindskold does a lot of things right, but she also does a lot of things wrong. To me, the worst fault was that she is awfully long winded. Sentences like “The King comes down to the kitchen, dressed casually in khaki trousers and a cotton button-down shirt, and finds Eddie seated at the counter watching the news and eating a bowl of cold presweetened cereal.”, makes it take forever to get to the point. How about “The King comes down to the kitchen, and finds Eddie eating breakfast.”? I suppose she is trying to make it more believable that her mythological characters live in our modern world by adding details like this, but to me it just got tiring to read.

I think this story could be told, and told better, with half the amount of words. With this never ending up building, the ending was a resounding anti-climax that left me feeling like “That’s it? Ok. Whatever.”.

rainstormdragon's review against another edition

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adventurous informative inspiring mysterious medium-paced
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
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