Harvest of Changelings

by Warren Rochelle

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.

Genres: Fantasy

320 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2007

About the author

Warren Rochelle lives in Crozet, Virginia. He retired from teaching English at the University of Mary Washington in 2020. His short fiction and poetry have been published in such journals and anthologies as Icarus, North Carolina Literary Review, Forbidden Lines, Aboriginal Science Fiction, Collective Fallout, Queer Fish 2, Empty Oaks, Quantum Fairy Tales, Migration, Clarity, Innovation, The Silver Gryphon, Jaelle Her Book, Colonnades, and Graffiti, as well as the Asheville Poetry Review, GW Magazine, Crucible, The Charlotte Poetry Review, and Romance and Beyond. His short story, “The Golden Boy,” was a finalist for the 2004 Spectrum Award for Short Fiction.

Rochelle is the author of five novels. The Wild Boy (2001), Harvest of Changelings (2007), and The Called (2010),were all published by Golden Gryphon Press. The Werewolf and His Boy, originally published by Samhain Publishing in September 2016, was re-released from JMS Books in August 2020. His fifth novel, In Light’s Shadow, was published by JMS Books in September 2022. His first story collection, The Wicked Stepbrother and Other Stories was published by JMS Books in September 2020. His second collection, To Bring Him Home and Other Tales, was published in September 2021, by JMS Books. A third collection, The Great Forest and Other Love Stories was published by JMS Books in November 2024.
A stand-alone story, “Seagulls,” was released by JMS Books in September 2021.

A second stand-alone story, “Susurrus,” was published by JMS Books in November 2022

Reviews

[Beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

I heard this author on a panel at a SF convention, and later heard Julia Rios interview him on an Outer Alliance podcast, and I was intrigued by Rochelle's version of fairies.

The writing is sometimes awkward or pedestrian, but other times it swept me along. Point of view ("POV") changes frequently--usually several times per chapter. The POV person is listed in boldface at the head of each section, which helps avoid confusion, but I think fewer POV switches would have been better.

What really got to me in this story are the children. I found the four main child characters' personalities more developed than most of the adults', and they were more appealing also. That and the fairy aspects of the story, particularly the fairy-world, were my favorite bits and kept me reading the story.

I also appreciated Rochelle's detailed and respectful handling of various religions including Catholicism, and both 'white/good' and 'black/evil' Witchcraft.

I'm going to try the next book in the series to find out what happens, and because I think and hope the author's writing gifts will grow.

[Debdanz · Rating 2 out of 5]

this was a lazily written and poorly edited book, but it was set in MY library so that was fun! the main character was a reference librarian at the southeast regional library of WCPL in garner, nc! and that is where i work.

[M.W. Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this text, although I found it a bit of a slow read. I blame myself for this: I came to the novel like I do so many other fantasy novels. I was looking for a plot driven text, with lots of action. This is not that text. This is a well crafted character driven text.

[Warren Rochelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed writing this book and feel it is successful in doing what I set out to do.