Changing Fate

Fate #1

by Elisabeth Waters

"Will attract fans of Anne McCaffrey and Andre Norton... A sparkling addition to any fantasy collection. Four stars!" -Mercedes Lackey

Akila uses her wits and her shape-changing abilities to save her brother Briam when their home is besieged. But that leaves them both on the run, with Akila trying to keep them safe, while Briam finds more trouble to get into. When he is chosen as year-king in the city of Diadem, Akila struggles to save his life, finding help in the most unexpected places.

Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult, Fiction

ebook

First published April 1, 1994

About the author

Elisabeth Waters sold her first short story in 1980 to Marion Zimmer Bradley for The Keeper's Price, the first of the Darkover anthologies. She then went on to sell dozens of short stories to a variety of anthologies. Her first novel, a fantasy called Changing Fate, was awarded the 1989 Gryphon Award. Its sequel is Mending Fate, published in 2016.

She currently writes short stories and has edited the Sword and Sorceress anthology series, which ended with Sword and Sorceress 34.

She has also worked as a supernumerary with the San Francisco Opera, where she appeared in La Gioconda, Manon Lescaut, Madama Butterfly, Khovanschina, Das Rheingold, Werther, and Idomeneo.

Reviews

[Malia · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the book I recommend to people who are not sure they like to read sci-fi/fantasy. It is a short quick read with engaging characters and an intriguing plot. It is one of my top ten favorite books.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

A surprisingly little known YA lit fantasy about shape shifting. Very well done, very interesting. Wish the author had written more.

[Stephanie Herron · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this story. Very well written and an interesting and unusual way of saving the day in the end.

[Van Volchitsa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was recommended to me by a childhood friend, and now I know why we are still such good friends after 16+ years! 😄

This book is 214 pages of pure fantasy-reader's delight! I wish more modern writers would create such well-rounded works. Since this book is pre-Twilight and pre-ACOTAR (it was published in 1994) we get a glimpse of what some of our more modern fantasies will become. We have a strong female lead that loves her family and would do anything to protect her people, even if that means leaving home and making a new path for herself. She's sensible, competent, and has real flaws, fears, and dreams that make her approachable to other characters. When she's faced with adversity she perseveres and looks for a solution beyond her comfort levels, even if she knows that she will likely stumble along the way. In the end, she accepts that happiness can come in many different forms and finds a budding love along the way. Even with the absence of what we consider to be "traditional" villains, we see instead imperfect people, with their own beliefs, making less than perfect choices that affect others around them: sometimes in fatal ways.

I adore an FMC that isn't some god-gifted savant or prodigy, and the dusting of a possible romance with a thought-to-be adversary is always well received in the background of a fantasy-adventure that spans different kingdoms and cultures. My only despair with this novel is that is simply isn't long enough! (But, if it were longer, then it wouldn't be such a wonderful little fairytale all wrapped up in a bow.) 🙂 If Mercedes Lackey gave it four stars, how could I give it any less?

Changing Fate (1994), to my pleasant surprise, is accompanied by its sequel, Mending Fate (2016).

[Otis Campbell · Rating 4.25 out of 5]

Changing Fate is a right entertaining, old-school fantasy yarn from Elisabeth Waters—who cut her teeth writing for them Darkover books—and it's a mighty fine choice if you like your magic mixed with some heavy family duty. The story follows a gal named Akila (or Acila, depending on which kin is asking) who is secretly a shapechanger, which is a big no-no since the locals look down on that kind of thing worse than a wet dog on a Sunday rug. When her family's home place gets besieged by a bunch of troublemakers, she has to use her critter-shifting tricks to bust her twin brother Briam out of harm's way. The two end up running wild through the woods, with Akila trying her level best to keep 'em alive while her thick-headed brother keeps tripping into one mess after another, culminating in him getting picked as some kind of "year-king" in a fancy city called Diadem. Now, this book won a fancy award back in the day, and it’s easy to see why, because it’s got a real smooth, classic rhythm that feels like an evening spent listening to a good storyteller on the porch. Briam can be a mite frustrating to watch, since he's got about as much common sense as a bucket of rocks, forcing his sister to do all the heavy lifting and shape-shifting just to keep his neck out of a noose. But watching Akila navigate that high-and-mighty city and figure out who her real friends are is a whole lot of fun. It ain't a terribly long read, making it a sweet little fantasy snack to enjoy when you're done with the daily chores.

[Karissa · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the first book in the Fate series. There are three books in this series, but they deal with different generations of characters. I really enjoyed this fantasy novel. It features strong female characters, is beautifully written, and was very well done.

I enjoyed that this story wasn't a straight “good vs bad” theme, but had a lot of characters that were just struggling to do what they thought was right in their current situation.

There is some neat magic in here and I enjoyed the world as well. This was a pretty quick read and it looks like the sequel follows the next generation of characters. Things do tie up nicely here and I enjoyed it a lot.

Overall this was an incredibly well done fantasy story with an old school feel to it. The story ties up nicely and I would recommend to those who enjoy beautifully written fantasy with strong female characters.

[Colleen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was exceptionally well written! I enjoyed the characters down to their flaws. The matriarchy, including women soldiers. I hope Elisabeth Waters wrote more novels!

[Melynna · Rating 3 out of 5]

The good -- I was interested throughout and sometimes found it hard to put down. It was a really fun little read. If you just take it as harmless escapist literature, you'll probably really enjoy it. It's an interesting plot idea, I guess.

The bad -- you can tell what's going to happen practically from page one. Okay, not quite that bad, but you get the idea. The narration isn't really bad, but a lot of the dialogue is, especially coming from the brother of the protagonist. Also, he's made out to be really stupid, which I just found simplistic and irritating considering his role in the book. Also, I hate it when the main character makes decisions based on bad logic and rationalization but it's supposed to come off seeming really smart, and that happened a lot.

Overall, I'm glad you told me about it, Amy. It was a fun read.

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've read this book several times over the years.

It starts out somewhat like an annoying romance, and somehow I tend to get fooled and put it down again without re-reading, so I don't find myself re-reading it often enough to remember beyond the initial big magic moment, but the story develops beyond that. Persevere and it becomes an adventure/intrigue story with some interesting characters.

Shapechangers, magic spells, hidden agendas ... . Good stuff.

[Sineala · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decent secondary-world fantasy about a shapeshifting girl and her brother who inadvertently ends up being the Year-King; she has to figure out how to save him from his fate. It was fun and readable, though I wouldn't say there was anything particularly innovative as fantasy goes. It's very much in the MZB or Lackey style, so if you like them you might as well give this a try.

[Ashley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am so happy I received this as my first - first reads book. I absolutly loved this book and the story. Waters had me entranced within a few pages and I felt connected to Akila. As far as shapeshifter stories go this was a wildly great ride. I highly recommend this for anyone who enjoys a book where the heroine is the creator of her own destiny.

[Text Mess · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of those favorite books from teenhood. I guess I no longer have it... but I was reminded about it yet again when I saw a picture, taken back in 2001, of this book sitting on my bookshelf. Gotta get my hands on it again. I think I pawned it off on Mary who didn't like it half as much as I loved it. But she's wrong about a lot of things. Like this book.

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good YA Fantasy read. Really good female protagonist. The main character is a girl with shapeshifting capabilities. Her castle is under siege after father dies. She and her brother run away. She keeps her powers a secret but uses her shapeshifting to get her brother out of trouble. Lots of adventure. Cover they show here is looks like crap. The original cover is better.

[Liana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow! Amazing! This book pleasantly surprised me with its charming story and clever sneakiness. :) It was hard to predict what the story was trying to do at certain times... Some scenarios were more obvious to predict than others, BUT STILL... It's like the story was contently 'changing its own fate' to fool me every time I had a good guess! I love stories like that. :)

[Carien · Rating 4 out of 5]

need to get hold of this book and reread it for a proper review.

[Katariina]

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