Warren Rochelle’s second novel, Harvest of Changelings, is about a group of outcast children who find solace in each other and strength in their burgeoning magical powers. There is a world of magic in the novel that lies parallel to our own world, and these worlds are fundamentally linked in spite of their dramatic differences. There is a war between Good and Evil, with really good goodguys and really bad badguys, and there are magic amulets and iron nails and black and white witchcraft. The lineage of the novel is clear, as is the debt it owes to earlier works of fantasy fiction. But for all that is familiar with a Harvest of Changelings, the total experience is singular and captivating.
The novel’s greatest distinction is the care with which its characters are drawn. The focus of the story lies squarely on four special children, each of whom comes from a uniquely broken home and has at least a small amount of fairy blood in their veins. Malachi is half-fairy, and the most fey of the four. He lost his mother when he was an infant, and he is constantly teased at school. Total bummer for sure, but the other kids have it worse. Russell is beaten by his father, and he is perceived both by himself and others to be slow. Jeff was repeatedly raped and abused by his father, and his mother ran out on them both. Hazel is the last of the four children, and her burden is more subtle than the others’. She was taken in by her grandparents after the death of her parents, and though they mean well, her grandparents are incapable at some fundamental level of providing her with the care and nurturing every child needs.
Other major characters include Ben, who is Malachi’s father; Jack, their family friend; Father Jamey, a Catholic priest; and Thomas, Jack’s son, a black witch and pawn of the evil faeries. There are lesser characters scattered throughout the story as well, each depicted with admirable clarity and given as much depth as the size of their roles will allow.
Great care is taken to render all the major characters human, even those like Thomas who have made it a point to destroy as much of their humanity as they can. Anyone who has had their heart broken, or suffered a moment of doubt and insecurity, or tried their hardest and failed anyway, will recognize something of themselves in the characters. And ultimately these readers will be uplifted, because the protagonists do learn from their mistakes, and they do grow, and only those who choose it are bound by the negative cycles of their past.
This cast of thousands is successful primarily because of the calculated method with which the prose is crafted. The story jumps from perspective to perspective in rapid succession. Each transition helps add to the web of knowledge that connects every part of the story and gives weight to the setting, the action, and the characters. Journal entries and transcripts of radio and television broadcasts are intercut throughout the other, more intimate and character-oriented segments. These documentary style “artifacts” lend a sense of context and authenticity to the story even as they color (and are colored by) what the reader knows of the characters.
But these are realizations that come primarily after reflection. The screws begin to tighten on page one, and the stakes are constantly on the rise. Fans of fast-paced, character-driven fantasy will find it well worth their time to ferret out a copy.
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