Changeling (Otherworld) [Mass Market Paperback]

After reading Witchling, I wasn't sure I wanted to carry on with this series. It had a wonderful premise and some promising characters, but was bogged down in heavy exposition that often detracted from the story. However, I was lucky enough to win an ARC of Changeling from Ms Galenorn, and was happy to find the second book in the series a vast improvement.

Middle D'Artigo sister, Delilah, is a shapeshifter who turns into a tabby in times of stress. By day she works as a private detective, and it's this job that brings her into contact with Zachary Lyonnesse of the Rainier Mountain Puma Pride. His pride are embroiled in a battle with a clan of werespiders, who may or may not be connected to the demons trying to invade earth. Delilah reluctantly takes the case and she and her sisters, Camille and Menolly, soon find there's much more to it than meets the eye.

With the info-dumping about the sisters and the Otherworld out of the way, Galenorn's writing shines. Delilah is a charming heroine, vulnerable but brave. Moreso than Camille, we really get a sense that Delilah is trapped between two worlds - the Faerie and the Human - by her mixed blood. In her relationships and love life, she is honest and thoughtful, and always true to herself.

We have sinister new villains in the form of the werespiders, far creepier than the demons of Witchling. The entire book is pervaded by an atmosphere of insidious fear as the sisters learn the extend of the werespiders' power and influence. We also get a better grip on the politics of the Otherworld and the royal struggles there that have isolated the sisters on Earth.

If there is a flaw in the book, it's Galenorn's obvious favouritism of Camille. Even though she's not the narrator of this story, she seems to get more page time than Delilah, and her every move, kiss and change of outfit is documented in loving detail. I like Camille more in Changeling than I did in Witchling, but she does tend to take over the action to a slightly irritating extent.

That aside, Galenorn is building a truly compelling world of Faerie and Human love, war and magic. And since my favourite sister, Menolly, is up next, I'll be sticking with the series for a bit longer.

This is the first book I have read by this author. I was very pleasantly surprised. Changeling is the middle book in a trilogy that follows the lives of three half-human, half faerie sisters who live "earth-side" due to being banished and work for the OIA (Otherworld Intelligence Agency). I have ordered the first book Witchling and pre-ordered the third book Darkling. The first sister is obviously a witch, the third a vampire, and the second sister, who this book is about, a changeling whose "were-form" is a tabby cat. The three sisters live together in a three storey victorian house with a Maggie, a baby gargoyle and Iris, a house sprite. This book pretty much has it all. It holds your attention with a great story line, makes you laugh, there's plenty of action but also many warming moments with the interplay between the sisters and other characters. The story line starts with Delilah, the changeling, investigating the recent deaths of members of the Rainier Puma Pride which is just the start of a whole series of adventures involving demons, a dragon and a powerful immortal, the Autumn Lord.

3 sisters, one a witch, one a were, one a vampire. Come from OW (Other World) to Earthside to battle the evils over here, at the same time trying to sort out their own lives.

This is the story of the middle sister, Delilah (as an aside, I didn't think the name suited her and it always slightly surprised me to read it - I much preferred the nickname Kitty) whose other nature is that of a tabby cat. Delilah's story joins the overall arc of the trio's fight in the war being held largely in the OW, but they are dealing with the not insignificant overspill Earthside.

Many of the characters from Camille's story in Witchling are still here, which is a bonus as the story arc can continue to build, having spent time being established in the earlier book. There is no satisfying sense of conclusion here, as part of any trilogy tale, Galenorn has left herself room to resolve more than Menolly's story in the next volume. So at the end of the book the reader is left wanting more - sometimes a dangerous position for the author to be in as it can lead to a feeling of lesser satisfaction with the book just read. This certainly happened to me here, as even in Delilah and Chases' story there was much left unresolved. I would have liked to see a more definite conclusion as to where their relationship was heading in this book, which is told from Delilah's perspective after all. I can't help feeling it is going to be less satisfying finding out from Menolly how things get on, and indeed might detract from her own tale. That said, seeing Camille and her men again only added to the richness of this story, so maybe I'm a bit conflicted on that one.

The big bad here is identified early, and brings on the action and movement forward in the piece. What I think I enjoyed most are that all three sisters really are different from Earthside humans (they are half human half fae), even while they would like to fit in Earthside. Their attitudes to sex and monogamy, for example, are different from the Western norm, and these outlooks are an intrinsic part of the character. Delilah may see some flaws to her outlook, and perhaps regret how this may affect Chase as a FBH vs supernatural but she is not interested in changing that facet of her nature.

There is a lot of intrinsic humour here, as Delilah transforms into her tabby self without control from time to time - the story starts with some burr butt trouble, and her Yule decoration rampage is hilarious. The fight scenes are well described, if brief and perhaps overpopulated so that it was hard to stay in focus with the character, but I did like the teamwork involved throughout the book very much.

Overall, I liked it. Funny, supernatural tale. Not as fulfilling as I would have liked as a story in it's own right, but I'll certainly be reading Menolly's story to see how it all concludes.