4.0
A Change of Place
ByPublisher Description
Return to the Aurora Award-winning, cozy romantic fantasy Night's Edge series and the rich and atmospheric world of Marrowdell
Spring in Marrowdell is a time to celebrate. Life stirs, the air warms, and Jenn Nalynn and Bannan Larmensu couldn't be happier. But spring is also fraught with change, and nowhere is this truer than the edge, where the Verge, the magical realm of dragons and sei, touches that of snow and roads. The spring equinox marks the final turn before Marrowdell’s sun starts to dominate the sky and Jenn, turn-born and sei, feels the pull to cross to the Verge.
Marrowdell’s river floods, and Jenn knows she is needed at home, but deep within the Verge a perilous force is calling her away from all she loves. For the house toad’s mighty queen has waited for the first equinox with the powers of a turn-born in the edge, and now she is ready to make her move against it.
Caught up in plots they cannot understand, Jenn and Bannan find themselves separated, and to reunite they will have to outsmart the queen herself. But even if they can foil her plan, will Marrowdell still be there when they return?
Spring in Marrowdell is a time to celebrate. Life stirs, the air warms, and Jenn Nalynn and Bannan Larmensu couldn't be happier. But spring is also fraught with change, and nowhere is this truer than the edge, where the Verge, the magical realm of dragons and sei, touches that of snow and roads. The spring equinox marks the final turn before Marrowdell’s sun starts to dominate the sky and Jenn, turn-born and sei, feels the pull to cross to the Verge.
Marrowdell’s river floods, and Jenn knows she is needed at home, but deep within the Verge a perilous force is calling her away from all she loves. For the house toad’s mighty queen has waited for the first equinox with the powers of a turn-born in the edge, and now she is ready to make her move against it.
Caught up in plots they cannot understand, Jenn and Bannan find themselves separated, and to reunite they will have to outsmart the queen herself. But even if they can foil her plan, will Marrowdell still be there when they return?
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4.0
“3.5 stars, Metaphorosis reviews
<strong>Summary </strong>
For decades or more, Marrowdell's house toads have collected white stones to build a throne for their queen. Now, at last, she's making her presence felt. And she's angry.
<strong>Review </strong>
I didn’t feel as drawn into this book as I did the preceding ones. Partly, there’s a fair amount that’s not clearly explained – e.g., the climactic fight with the key villain is resolved more by elision than by actual description. There’s a big fight and then … it’s over, and it’s not really clear why.
I think, though, that the principal problem for me was the the central relationship between Jenn and Bannan has turned – at least in my perception – from sweet to treacly. Where in the first book it was a breath of fresh air to find a relationship that was happy and optimistic, the determinedly even keel of it all – and the lovers’ recurring joy in finding each other again – has started to wear on me. They never, ever fight, and they just love each other to pieces – on every page. In a similar vein, it’s bothered me more and more over time that so many individuals, and particularly non-humans, fall over themselves to bow at Jenn’s feet, do her bidding, and bind themselves to her service. And, while mostly Jenn, it’s not <em>just </em>her – humans just seem to draw servitude and loyalty from non-humans (and some humans). I’d have liked to see at least one case where a human said, “You know, toad? I’m going to dedicate my life to serving you.” It’s very reminiscent of Sira’s relationships with Morgan and everyone else in Czerneda’s https://reviews.metaphorosis.com/reviews/series/trade-pact/ universe, where it was equally a flaw.
There’s a feel of something missing throughout this book, particularly with reference to a key character who’s a bit of a black box. It was only in reading the acknowledgements at the very end that I learned that, in addition to https://reviews.metaphorosis.com/review/a-dragon-for-william-julie-e-czerneda/ , there’s another novella between this book and https://reviews.metaphorosis.com/review/a-play-of-shadow-julie-e-czerneda/ , named <em>A Pearl from the Dark,</em> that apparently explains all this. I <em>strongly</em> recommend reading <em>A Dragon for William</em>, since it deals with characters and places that are key to this one – while they appeared to be an offshoot when I read the novella, they are clearly not. That seems to be true for <em>A Pearl from the Dark</em> as well, and I wish I’d known of its existence – apparently available only in a collection of Czerneda’s short fiction, which I somehow also missed.
All that said, I’m still enjoying the series. I do plan to track down the <em>Pearl</em> novella, and look forward to the forthcoming <em>A Shift of Time</em>. At the same time, I do rather hope that that will be the last book in the series Much as I enjoy the world, I don’t know how much more of Jenn and Bannan I can take.
<strong>I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review.</strong>”
About Julie E. Czerneda
Julie E. Czerneda is a biologist and writer whose science fiction has received international acclaim, awards, and best-selling status. She is the author of the popular "Species Imperative" trilogy, the "Web Shifters" series, the "Trade Pact Universe" trilogy and her new "Stratification" novels. She was a finalist for the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer. Her stand-alone novel, In the Company of Others, won Canada's Prix Aurora Award and was a finalist for the Philip K. Dick Award for Distinguished SF. Julie lives with her husband and two children in the lake country of central Ontario, under skies so clear they could take seeing the Milky Way for granted, but never do. You can find her at www.czerneda.com.
Other books by Julie E. Czerneda
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