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Popular Library, 1975. Mass market paperback, 1st edition. Prolific romance author Maxwell's first science fiction novel. From the "Earth was the enemy and ESP the ally as the human race battled for survival."
224 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1975
About the author
Ann Maxwell
39 books71 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.
(1)romance author
aka Lowell Charters, Elizabeth Lowell, A.E. Maxwell individually and with co-author/husband Evan Maxwell and Annalise Sun.
Ann Maxwell has written over 60 novels and one non-fiction book. There are 30 million copies of these books in print, as well as reprints in 30 foreign languages. The novels range from science fiction to historical fiction, from romance to mystery to suspense.
Writing as Ann Maxwell, she began her career in 1975 with a science fiction novel, Change. Since then, seven of her nine science fiction novels have been recommended for the Science Fiction Writers of America Nebula Award; A Dead God Dancing was nominated for what was then called TABA (The American Book Award).
In 1976 Ann and Evan (as A. E. Maxwell) collaborated with a Norwegian hunter and photographer, Ivar Ruud, on The Year-Long Day, a nonfiction work that was condensed in Reader's Digest and published in four foreign editions and three book club editions. In 1985, the first A. E. Maxwell crime novel featuring a couple called Fiddler and Fiora was published by Doubleday. The Frog and the Scorpion, received a creative writing award from the University of California. The fourth book in the series, Just Enough Light to Kill, was named by Time magazine as one of the best crime novels of 1988.
Ann and Evan (writing as Ann Maxwell) have published four suspense novels, the most recent of which is Shadows and Silk. These novels appeared on nation-wide bestseller lists.
In 1982, Ann began publishing romances as Elizabeth Lowell. Under that name she has received numerous professional awards in the romance field, including a Lifetime Achievement award from the Romance Writers of America (1994). Since July of 1992, she has had 30 novels on the New York Times list. Her most recent book is BLUE SMOKE AND MURDER.
(1)romance author
aka Lowell Charters, Elizabeth Lowell, A.E. Maxwell individually and with co-author/husband Evan Maxwell and Annalise Sun.
Ann Maxwell has written over 60 novels and one non-fiction book. There are 30 million copies of these books in print, as well as reprints in 30 foreign languages. The novels range from science fiction to historical fiction, from romance to mystery to suspense.
Writing as Ann Maxwell, she began her career in 1975 with a science fiction novel, Change. Since then, seven of her nine science fiction novels have been recommended for the Science Fiction Writers of America Nebula Award; A Dead God Dancing was nominated for what was then called TABA (The American Book Award).
In 1976 Ann and Evan (as A. E. Maxwell) collaborated with a Norwegian hunter and photographer, Ivar Ruud, on The Year-Long Day, a nonfiction work that was condensed in Reader's Digest and published in four foreign editions and three book club editions. In 1985, the first A. E. Maxwell crime novel featuring a couple called Fiddler and Fiora was published by Doubleday. The Frog and the Scorpion, received a creative writing award from the University of California. The fourth book in the series, Just Enough Light to Kill, was named by Time magazine as one of the best crime novels of 1988.
Ann and Evan (writing as Ann Maxwell) have published four suspense novels, the most recent of which is Shadows and Silk. These novels appeared on nation-wide bestseller lists.
In 1982, Ann began publishing romances as Elizabeth Lowell. Under that name she has received numerous professional awards in the romance field, including a Lifetime Achievement award from the Romance Writers of America (1994). Since July of 1992, she has had 30 novels on the New York Times list. Her most recent book is BLUE SMOKE AND MURDER.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
August 30, 2010
I loved the characters, especially the aliens..I just wished she wrote a squeal to this book, it ends leaving you wonder what happened later...I have reread at least 5 times now and it never gets old....
June 9, 2019
The concept was interesting, but the characters felt flat.
June 9, 2025
This was an interesting mix of paranormal and Sci-Fi.
Selena Christian has spent the majority of her life alone and lonely. Her abilities make her an outlaw to Earths reigning government. When she is finally captured and imprisoned, she is befriended by Mark Curien, she might actually fall in love with him.
But it happens he is the prosecuting attorney, and she has no faith in here defense attorney. But there is a plot to rescue her and ship her to Paran, another world where a colony of mixed normals and parans (paranormals exist). The plan works and she meets her first alien, Rynlon whose ships she is on. Feeling betrayed by Mark, who is a good guy after all, she isolated herself with the Earth animals that were brought to Paran, specifically horses and wolves.
In an emergency the Rynlon shup was requested, and they abandoned their research of lifeforms on another planet, but they have the one in captivity that they were studying closeup. Selena finds that her paranormal abilities let her communicate with the animal, a highly intelligent animal, that she names Shimm. She makes a decision that it should be returned home, and she will go with it. Thus, her trip to Change. There she finds a huge band of the animals and learns that they can undergo a process that might or might not change their mental prospective, thus there are Changelings or Lucents. They have natural predators, as well as their planet itself which is destroying itself.
Selena is told that the Earth government, headed by a man named Tien, will be attacking Paran. They are evacuating those they can to the Rynlon home world and the rest to the wilds of Paran. Unfortunately, there are spies among the settlers and troops that have been sent to kill and destroy.
Selena offers Paran to the inhabitants of Change, if their food source will grow there, if they will help.
All the problems are not solved by the end of the book, but there is an opportunity for success and a HEA.
Selena Christian has spent the majority of her life alone and lonely. Her abilities make her an outlaw to Earths reigning government. When she is finally captured and imprisoned, she is befriended by Mark Curien, she might actually fall in love with him.
But it happens he is the prosecuting attorney, and she has no faith in here defense attorney. But there is a plot to rescue her and ship her to Paran, another world where a colony of mixed normals and parans (paranormals exist). The plan works and she meets her first alien, Rynlon whose ships she is on. Feeling betrayed by Mark, who is a good guy after all, she isolated herself with the Earth animals that were brought to Paran, specifically horses and wolves.
In an emergency the Rynlon shup was requested, and they abandoned their research of lifeforms on another planet, but they have the one in captivity that they were studying closeup. Selena finds that her paranormal abilities let her communicate with the animal, a highly intelligent animal, that she names Shimm. She makes a decision that it should be returned home, and she will go with it. Thus, her trip to Change. There she finds a huge band of the animals and learns that they can undergo a process that might or might not change their mental prospective, thus there are Changelings or Lucents. They have natural predators, as well as their planet itself which is destroying itself.
Selena is told that the Earth government, headed by a man named Tien, will be attacking Paran. They are evacuating those they can to the Rynlon home world and the rest to the wilds of Paran. Unfortunately, there are spies among the settlers and troops that have been sent to kill and destroy.
Selena offers Paran to the inhabitants of Change, if their food source will grow there, if they will help.
All the problems are not solved by the end of the book, but there is an opportunity for success and a HEA.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 9, 2023
It's slow going at best and -- for the third read -- quite boring. I'm not sure how she ever managed to get this published. No way it would get published these days without major changes. (grin)
So, I'm going to drop it off at one of the local used/new book stores where they will evaluate it and donate the value to one local schools.
So, I'm going to drop it off at one of the local used/new book stores where they will evaluate it and donate the value to one local schools.
August 11, 2018
Good in parts, tremendously cliched in others.
April 16, 2020
Liked the first few chapters. Then; it seemed like the author had no ideas beyond the initial concept.
May 29, 2022
A fun Sci-Fi novel!
December 3, 2014
synopsis:
selena has psychic abilities and has kept them hidden her whole life, because those with extra abilities are scorned on earth. she is imprisoned, and receives regular visits from mark, whom she thinks that she is in love with. when it comes time to her trial, she discovers that mark is the prosecutor, and she has told him everything. selena hates mark with everything in her, but mark is a spy, and has come to earth to round up any lingering psychics. he makes sure that selena is sent to the planet where everyone lives peacefully together. selena is tested, and given charge of the animals when it is discovered that she has an affinity with them. she contacts mark, and is blasted because she exposes him and his team to the earth troops. while selena is wallowing in her misery, a mysterious creature is captured, and selena immediately bonds with it. when the creature wants to take selena to its home planet, she goes, in spite of mark's protestations. selena learns and earns her great psychic power with the creatures, and the creatures in turn help the people of the planet when it is under attack from the humans.
what i liked: i liked the sci-fi aspect of the story, as well as mark and selena. selena was so closed off emotionally as well as psychically, that her bonding with mark was such a departure for her, and the pain she felt when she was "betrayed" several times was truely heartfelt. selena's connection with the animals was nice.
what i didn't like: the feeling that the psychic abilities were part of a game. you reached this ability plateau and then had to level up.
selena has psychic abilities and has kept them hidden her whole life, because those with extra abilities are scorned on earth. she is imprisoned, and receives regular visits from mark, whom she thinks that she is in love with. when it comes time to her trial, she discovers that mark is the prosecutor, and she has told him everything. selena hates mark with everything in her, but mark is a spy, and has come to earth to round up any lingering psychics. he makes sure that selena is sent to the planet where everyone lives peacefully together. selena is tested, and given charge of the animals when it is discovered that she has an affinity with them. she contacts mark, and is blasted because she exposes him and his team to the earth troops. while selena is wallowing in her misery, a mysterious creature is captured, and selena immediately bonds with it. when the creature wants to take selena to its home planet, she goes, in spite of mark's protestations. selena learns and earns her great psychic power with the creatures, and the creatures in turn help the people of the planet when it is under attack from the humans.
what i liked: i liked the sci-fi aspect of the story, as well as mark and selena. selena was so closed off emotionally as well as psychically, that her bonding with mark was such a departure for her, and the pain she felt when she was "betrayed" several times was truely heartfelt. selena's connection with the animals was nice.
what i didn't like: the feeling that the psychic abilities were part of a game. you reached this ability plateau and then had to level up.
December 27, 2022
Another from my paperback bookshelf that used to get lots of rereads. It reminds me a bit of Marty Steussy's Forest of the Night - sci-fi, strong, independent female main characters, sentient cat-like aliens, and while the actual stories are very different they have a lot of the same kind of feel to them. I would think if you liked one you'd like the other, but don't yell at me if I'm wrong. Change has a background romance, but it's VERY background, and while I am happy with it, the book would have been fine without it too - I mean, giant sentient cat creatures, who needs romance? :p
March 11, 2008
So, the copy I have has the original cover which made three or four people grin at me and make comments about old-school pulp sci-fi.
Not a bad story all told, a little silly and a couple of things sort of contradict themselves, but they're easily enough overlooked, so mostly it's worth reading.
Not a bad story all told, a little silly and a couple of things sort of contradict themselves, but they're easily enough overlooked, so mostly it's worth reading.
February 12, 2014
I enjoyed this early work of Ann Maxwell. It was sci fi with romantic elements. The characters were well developed and the world unique.
February 19, 2014
One of my favorite books when I was growing up...still love it.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews