I’m just going to cut to the chase here and confess my extreme disappointment in this book, and indeed, in the progression of this “trilogy.” If my review of Intrigues, I said:
The story was slow, tedious, and it involved long descriptions of a made-up sporting event that reminded me of Quiddich (at least in terms of how little I wanted to read long passages about it).
I’m afraid this sums up my impression of Changes as well, especially because the “trilogy” is not yet over. That’s right — there will be a fourth book in this series. A fifth? A sixth? I can’t say, but definitely a fourth.
This series may have lost me. I have been a fan of Mercedes Lackey in the past, but there’s something missing from these books — and I don’t just mean a conclusion. She does tend to spend a lot of time dealing with society, politics, and relationships, and it has never bothered me before. In fact, those are usually some of my favorite parts, but in this series I am not feeling a particular connection to the characters, not even Mags. I did in the first book, when he was rescued from slavery in a mine, but since then he has become someone different, and many of his changes are kind of brushed away by the idea that his companion shielded his mind early on. To me, this feels like it goes beyond the role of the companion (as established in her other books), and it actually makes heralds less interesting. Makes them seem more like a tool of the companions, and less their own people.
The romance in this series is just plain awful. This is yet another thing I normally enjoy in Lackey’s books (except for the fact that she has a horrible tendency to skip important moments in a relationship), but I have no idea why Mags is with Amaline (sp? audio version) nor why Bear is interested in Leena (sp? audio version). All I know is the book tells me it’s so — I don’t feel it in the least.
But despite all that, I might have given this series an overall 3-star “eh, read it if you like Lackey” rating if it had just done one thing for me: ENDED! The end of this book reminds me so forcibly of the end of book 2 that I might as well not have read this at all. The people are still having the same problems, and spinning the same wheels. They learned nothing new about their enemy. At the end of book 2, they capture an agent and he dies before saying a word. At the end of book 3, they capture 2 agents and they die before saying a word. Come to think of it, at the end of book 1 they capture an agent, and he dies without saying a word.
Anyone annoyed yet? I am. I can’t honestly recommend this series any longer, not even to Lackey fans, and I’m not at all sure I will finish. I might *IF* book 4 is really the last book and if I have nothing better to read.
Rating: 1/5
Title: Changes
Author: Mercedes Lackey
ISBN: 0756406927
Published October 2011