 BOOKS, FANZINES AND OTHER GOOD READS... Changeling's Return by Travis Edward Pike Otherworld Cottage Industries “Hopefully, you’ll already be familiar with Travis Pike. If not, Travis has been making music since the early Sixties and interest has been recently revised by the release of ‘Watch Out Woman’ / ‘The Way That I Need You’ (from the soundtrack of the movie, ‘Feelin’ Good’) on State Records, plus a reissue of ‘If I Didn’t Love You Girl’ on Mousetrap Music. Later in his career, he became more involved in the film industry and began working on ‘Changeling’, initially as a rock opera but eventually evolving into a screenplay, the text of which was published as a book in 2017 alongside a CD of music intended for the project. Although the screenplay generated interest, it’s not the best way to read a story, so Travis has now adapted the tale into a novel, which elaborates many of the themes and ideas from the screenplay and gives much more depth to the different characters. The novel tells the story of Morgen, a talented youg rock singer whose career is on the verge of international success. However, a car accident leads to a mystical experience and he finds himself in the village of ‘Morningstone’ where he becomes acquainted with esoteric folklore and symbolism before returning to the ‘real’ world, where he is inspired to create a new album reflecting the awakening that he experienced. The novel goes on to tell how he perseveres |
to fulfill his destiny, despite objections from his record company bosses and those who are unwilling to accept his vision. It’s a great story and it includes a lot of almost-paganistic values relating to man’s relationship with nature and the need for a balance to be reached before mankind’s greed and supposed ‘progress’ damages the world beyond repair. In so many ways, it’s a message that is even more important now than when Travis initially began work on this project. Morgen is an intriguing character, not without his flaws but strong enough to be more than believable. I’m sure that if this story ever makes it to film, Morgen could inspire a great performance! The only criticism I have to mention is that the text is sometimes overloaded with too many technicalities and details, which can disrupt the flow of the story...I have a feeling that Travis, whose background is more as a screenwriter rather than a novelist, wrote this with stage-directions in mind, but it’s not a terrible fault and certainly doesn’t distract from the story itself. In addition to the novel, Travis has also released a new CD of updated songs from the original ‘Morningstone’ project, including several new tracks. I’ll be including a separate review over in the record reviews section, so you can check that out now, but I will say that the CD gives a good indication of the musical ideas that are an integral part of the novel. If you can hear the album in conjunction with reading the novel, it certainly adds futher depth. I’m more than happy to recommend this book, both for the fact that it’s a great read that delivers plenty to think about, but also for Travis’ exuberant enthusiasm which, if you follow his work, is nothing less than infectious. I’m so glad that this guy is still out there and sharing his creative energy !” Andy Pearson |
