 Otherworld Cottage Industries, 250 pp. (2019) Where do ideas come from? Whether writer, singer, painter, or filmmaker, this is the question artists get asked all the time. And if they are completely honest, the answer is they don’t know. Some ideas are random thoughts, some spring from encounters with strangers that evolve into something more, and some arrive fully formed in the artist’s consciousness, as if someone or something injected it directly into the recipient’s brain. And yet, to quote from the movie Babe (1995), “ideas that tickled and nagged and refused to go away should never be ignored. For in them lie the seeds of destiny.” This is the conundrum faced by Morgen, the main character in Travis Edward Pike’s novel, Changeling’s Return (2019). As the lead singer of the hot new rock band Beantown Home Cookin’, the sky seems the limit for Morgen and his bandmates. At least until the stormy night after a concert, when Morgen takes an impulsive joyride in the English countryside, and skids off the road into a ditch. The morning after that cold, wet night, Morgen follows a signpost to Morningstone, a secluded village where the natives appear more like mythical creatures come to life, than humans, the sort that help artists create their greatest works. Before long, Morgen finds himself unconsciously participating in ancient rituals filled with music, dance, and a not-unwelcome ritual marriage to Laura, a beguiling local beauty. Regaining consciousness in a speeding ambulance, Morgen clings to his subjective memories even as he tries to sort out his current objective reality. Laura is an enigma. Is she human, goddess, muse, or all of the above? |
Did he dream her? Does that even matter? All Morgen knows as he recalls his mystical, musical experience, is that he feels compelled to share it with the world. But to do so, he must first convince himself, and then Beantown Home Cookin’, skeptical manager Rodney, and all the record label powers-that-be, of the veracity of his vision. Is he pop singer or prophet? Did he have an out-of-body experience, or has he become delusional? And is the 21st century ready for the musical enlightenment he wants to share? Slowly, but tenaciously, Morgen convinces his doubters that it’s worth a try. Author Travis Edward Pike draws on Western pagan mythology, Joseph Campbell’s The Hero’s Journey and the works of Robert Graves, to makes his case that the environmental crisis threatening us in this century will require us to reembrace our roots and adopt a way of life more grounded in the rhythms of Nature. It is a heavy message for a narrative to bear, but Pike manages to pull it off. He does this by keeping the story grounded in the day-to-day realities of the music industry, and all the machinations it takes to produce an album, the commercial and social factors considered in determining what songs are right for a final LP, and the complicated ways publicity and the music press work together to make a band a household name. Pike knows that world and brings it to life while keeping one eye on reality, and the other on Morgen’s vision. He has created a fantasy that on film promises to be as visually exciting as it is enlightening, and with an equally stimulating soundtrack album, it may not wait long to find its audience. Morgen himself is a likeable person to follow through this narrative. He has an agreeable everyman persona and never comes off as self-absorbed. His friendship with Rodney is based on business but there is a mutual admiration expressed between the two. Linda makes a strong impression as the leader of the talented chorus line backing Beantown Home Cookin’s stageshow, as does the ethereal Laura, part muse, part spirit guide, and part love interest. In the end, Morgen and his group bring his vision to life in one monumental concert performance in an abandoned English abbey, giving his all to put the music out there, even as Travis has put decades into creating this master work for us to read, hear, and possibly, someday see. Will it inspire people to act responsibility in concert with Nature? That is the question all artists face when they release their work for public consumption and it can only be answered by its audience. For my money, Changeling’s Return is a work worth a read and a listen. It might just influence your mind ... or plant the seed of a new idea that tickles and nags and refuses to go away and allows the cycle to continue. Reviewed by Richard Rothrock, Screewriting Instructor, Motion Picture Institute, Troy, Michigan (2009-2019), author of Sunday Nights With Walt: Everything I Know I Learned From “The Wonderful World of Disney, (Theme Park Press, 2017). |
