Prelude to a Change of Mind: The First Book in the Lands of Nod

Robert Stikmanz
Dalton Publishing (2007)
ISBN 097407036X
Reviewed by Regan Windsor for Reader Views (5/07)

Meg Christmas awoke on her familiar cot, in the seasonal cabin she shared with her father, but the warbling sounds and the strange beings around her were not familiar.  Nor was the horrid ache of the fever that enveloped her.

Meg begins to heal, through the powers of the tittering thrm’m (elves) that surround her body, providing nourishment and healing hands.  As she floats between consciousness and unconsciousness she tries to sort out the reality she finds herself in.  Although she feels safe with these curious little creatures, she is uncertain of the things Jack, a dvarsh (part human, part thrm), is saying to her and is uncomfortable with his high sexual energy, evidenced my the constant stroking of himself as her talks to her.  He begins to explain the lineage of the creatures around her including himself, and that evolution-wise there is compatibility.  As he then states “when you are more recovered we’ll ready to do some serious mixing,” she asks if he is planning on raping her.  He explains that she misunderstood him, that it is the elves he is referring to and begins to explain how he always messes things up, reassuring her that when his cousin Ekaterina arrives she will be able to explain everything.

As Ekaterina begins to explain things to Meg, she begins to feels the burden of their expectations.  Drawn to her vibrations, they came foremost to rescue her, secondly to mate (something they can only do in this dimension), and ultimately to fulfill their desire to save the world as Meg knows it.  To do so, however, they need to “mix” and Meg presents abilities that make her a prime candidate.  Her world was destroying itself, but was she ready to have a baby with an elf (thrm) to help save it?

“Prelude to a Change of Mind” is a fascinating tale of dimension-leaping beings on a mission to spread the intellectual, spiritual, and emotional ideals of the thrm’m in order to save the physical world.  A combination of science fiction, fantasy, and folklore, it has an intellectual edge that will satisfy a broad range of readers.          

Make comment on weblog