The Changeling The Changeling

The Changeling

A Novel

    • 3.9 • 262 Ratings
    • $14.99
    • $14.99

Publisher Description

“Mesmerizing . . . a dark fairy tale of New York, full of magic and loss, myth and mystery, love and madness.”—Marlon James, author of the Dark Star trilogy

NOW AN APPLE TV+ SERIES STARRING LAKEITH STANFIELD • ONE OF TIME’S 100 BEST FANTASY BOOKS OF ALL TIME


Winner of an American Book Award, a Locus Award for Best Horror Novel, a British Fantasy Award for Best Horror Novel, a World Fantasy Award for Best Novel • Nominated for a Shirley Jackson Award, an International Dublin Literary Award, a Mythopoeic Award for Literature

When Apollo Kagwa’s father disappeared, he left his son a box of books and strange recurring dreams. Now Apollo is a father himself—and as he and his wife, Emma, settle into their new lives as parents, exhaustion and anxiety start to take their toll. Apollo’s old dreams return and Emma begins acting odd. At first Emma seems to be exhibiting signs of postpartum depression. But before Apollo can do anything to help, Emma commits a horrific act and vanishes. Thus begins Apollo’s quest to find a wife and child who are nothing like he’d imagined. His odyssey takes him to a forgotten island, a graveyard full of secrets, a forest where immigrant legends still live, and finally back to a place he thought he had lost forever.

NAMED ONE OF PASTE’S BEST HORROR BOOKS OF THE DECADE • NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY The New York Times • USA Today • The New York Public Library • NPR • BuzzFeed • Kirkus Reviews • Book Riot

“The thriller you won’t be able to put down.”—O: The Oprah Magazine

“Intense, riveting . . . The story is a long, slow burn with a lingering sizzle.”Los Angeles Review of Books

“A modern-day tale of terror rooted in ancient myth and folklore, brimming with magical revelation and emotional truth.”San Francisco Chronicle

GENRE
Fiction & Literature
RELEASED
2017
June 13
LANGUAGE
EN
English
LENGTH
448
Pages
PUBLISHER
Random House Publishing Group
SELLER
Penguin Random House LLC
SIZE
9.2
MB

Customer Reviews

Prairie_Dog ,

Modern Horror Story with Ancient Roots

“The Changeling” is a 2017 horror novel by Victor LaValle and now is the basis for a series of the same name on AppleTV+. The novel follows the life of Apollo who is a book dealer living in New York City. Apollo meets and eventually marries a librarian named Emma. Soon they become parents to their first child, Brian.

This is where things begin to go seriously and horribly wrong. As the title would suggest, the focus of this darkness revolves around the baby Brian.

The supernatural aspects of this story are a combination of those of several cultures, strangely different yet similar. Interestingly, these are set in the very modern world, and in an intensely urban environment. This all seems to add up to more than the sum of its parts. As the plot builds, it carries the reader on to the stunning conclusion.

Ciana C. ,

What did I just read?

I’m not sure what I just read, but I suppose it could be considered a fantasy drama thriller. The main discussion of the novel is this idea that fairy tales are not stories for children, but rather cautionary tales for adults. The book started as a normal story and has taken a fantastical turn into the unbelievable featuring mysterious disappearances, witches, baby hunters, and Norwegian trolls. The characters are literally caught between two worlds and are constantly being forced to take on other worldly, superhuman powers to protect their loved ones. There was a whole lot of action and even more questions, some of which were never answered. I wanted to read this book before I stared watching the show, and now I’m very curious to see how they are going to make sense of this odyssey-like tale, and hopefully make the connections the book forgot.

Jdlg12 ,

Changeling

I read the book after watching the first couple episodes of the TV show. The book is good not great. While it is an easy read it just wasn’t quite what I was expecting. A good book but I can’t say it’s something I would read twice.

More Books Like This

Abide with Me Abide with Me
2013
Screamscapes: Tales of Terror Screamscapes: Tales of Terror
2013
Forest of Shadows Forest of Shadows
2017
Horrors Next Door Horrors Next Door
2021
314 Book 3 314 Book 3
2014
Direct Descendant Direct Descendant
2016

More Books by Victor LaValle

The Ballad of Black Tom The Ballad of Black Tom
2016
Lone Women Lone Women
2023
The Devil in Silver The Devil in Silver
2012
The Best of Richard Matheson The Best of Richard Matheson
2017
The Tor.com Sampler The Tor.com Sampler
2016
A People's Future of the United States A People's Future of the United States
2019

Customers Also Bought

The Book of Accidents The Book of Accidents
2021
The Hollow Places The Hollow Places
2020
My Heart Is a Chainsaw My Heart Is a Chainsaw
2021
The Hunger The Hunger
2018
The Twisted Ones The Twisted Ones
2019
Survivor Song Survivor Song
2020