Ariel (Change, #1)

Nov 30, 2012 Cynthisa rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy_ie_magic, z_mmxii

Read the "restored" reissue (2009) edition. I found the protagonist, Pete, a compelling character -- a 20-year-old loner wandering post-apocolyptic America-- an honest and original young man finding his way in the big, strange world of adults and serious consequences. (He cries alot, oddly. But that touch of anti-machismo perfectly suits him. So rarely do male authors let their male lead characters just have a good, honest cry!) This should be unsurprising, considering the author wrote this at 1...more

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Jul 07, 2012 Indrani rated it 3 of 5 stars

When the apocalypse comes, it will be not with a bang, but a whisper. And it will change everything...

Boyett concerns himself with the world after, and in this story, a boy and his unicorn. It is an adolescent coming-of-age story, and would read well to the 14 - 18 crowd, as its author admits.

What can I say? The ending is as inevitable here as it was in Peter Pan, and in some ways was poorly-handled. While some might suggest that the sex was graphic, having worked with teenaged boys, I can say...more

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Jan 24, 2012 Sarah rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

“As the author says in his afterward, this is the kind of book that first-time readers of a certain age (teenager/early 20s) will love. I can totally see what he means by that. It's a coming-of-age novel, in a world where dragons and manticores live, where our modern technology has died, and where Pete and his unicorn Ariel fight to survive.

There's a lot here that people could really get into. The fantasy aspect is solid, with sword-and-sorcery popping up everywhere. And there's also a good dea...more “As the author says in his afterward, this is the kind of book that first-time readers of a certain age (teenager/early 20s) will love. I can totally see what he means by that. It's a coming-of-age novel, in a world where dragons and manticores live, where our modern technology has died, and where Pete and his unicorn Ariel fight to survive.

There's a lot here that people could really get into. The fantasy aspect is solid, with sword-and-sorcery popping up everywhere. And there's also a good deal of postapocalyptic/dystopian adventure for those who like that.

After a necromancer (who's really more of just an evil warlock/gangster) sets his sights on Ariel, Pete and company decide to end it once and for all, meeting up with other survivors of the Change. There is adventure, there is survival, and there is a bit of romance...if you can call it that.

(Without trying to be too spoilery, I have to write this paragraph:)
A lot of people complained about the ending, and I can see why they did, but it seems like that ending is what fits this story. There are warnings throughout the novel about what has to happen - Pete is a human male, and certain bonds have to be more important than others in order to become an actual adult. Not everything gets to be wrapped up in a pretty package, and some things have to be put aside, no matter how painful it might seem. Personally, I feel that the ending made the entire story STRONGER and more meaningful. "Happily Ever After" doesn't mean much when it's clear that such a thing no longer exists.

I can see how the author might feel that this work is rougher than others (it was his first novel), and how there are some rough patches, but all in all, the enthusiasm of the storyteller was what drove the story to completion. It's not perfect, no, and there are odd moments where the pacing is bizarre and there are flashbacks for no apparent reason, but all in all it was a solidly delivered story that I enjoyed reading, "bad" ending or no.

I truly enjoyed Ariel, and I think any teenager interested in fantasy should give this one a shot.(less)

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Nov 27, 2011 Adam rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Don't read too much in the number of stars I gave this novel. The fact of the matter is, having finished this almost a week ago, I'm still not quite sure what to think of it.

In fact, I'll go one step further. I could easily justify any number of stars for this book: (*mild spoilers abound, particularly in the poorer reviews*)

5 stars: A brutal, but sympathetic, look at innocence, growing up, friendship, and sex that has the good fortune to sit on top of a rollicking post-apocalyptic action-adve...more Don't read too much in the number of stars I gave this novel. The fact of the matter is, having finished this almost a week ago, I'm still not quite sure what to think of it.

In fact, I'll go one step further. I could easily justify any number of stars for this book: (*mild spoilers abound, particularly in the poorer reviews*)

5 stars: A brutal, but sympathetic, look at innocence, growing up, friendship, and sex that has the good fortune to sit on top of a rollicking post-apocalyptic action-adventure novel.

4 stars: A fun, pull-out-all-the-stops swords and sorcery novel! The author is trying too hard in places to be deep (but the afterward indicates he's aware of this), and while he succeeds only rarely, one can forgive this because it features a group of samurai hang gliding from the world tradecenter in order to mount an assault on the necromancer-controlled empire state building.

3 stars: A reasonably entertaining adventure novel, with some serious momentum problems. Both times I tried to read it I got seriously bogged down in the middle, due to the disappearance or death of a few beloved characters and a lack of momentum towards the finale. I'm ultimately glad I finished it because there is much to like about the finale and ending, but the journey (particularly the second half) could have been more engaging.

2 stars: Um, unicorns aren't really my thing. I did like a lot of the characters, particularly Malachi Lee. (Although, his story arc, while well foreshadowed did not do the character justice.) Beyond that? Some good action, and the setting of the post-change east-coast is treated well, but there was a severe lack of development for some key characters (Shaunessy and the Necromancer for two...)

1 stars: What the #$%^ Stephen Boyett? I don't care *how* thoroughly you foreshadowed it, the ending is an unsatisfying mess. (and I *DON'T* mean, it should have had a happy ending, it just should have had a DIFFERENT ending.) AND Malachi Lee is one of the most poorly treated characters in the last 50 years of fiction.

So, there you have it. My attitudes about this book are complicated and poorly suited to a value-based review. Did I enjoy it? Not really...is it worth reading? Maybe. Am I glad I persevered and finished it? I suppose so yes. (less)

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May 16, 2011 Lars J. Nilsson rated it 2 of 5 stars

This is by no means a bad book. Only, I probably approached it incorrectly. The author does mention himself, in the edition I have, that it is probably best suited for 13-18 year olds. And that makes sense, it reads like a teenage book. A teenage book with quite a lot of violence and sex though.

So the fact that it is fairly easy to figure out how it going to end, that the setup is largely cliche might not mean so much in the end.

I did like some of the characters, and some of the pacing. Also, he...more

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Dec 30, 2010 Karissa rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book looked really interesting and I have read good things about it so I decided to give it a go. It was an enjoyable read, although there are a few things in the book which irked me a bit. This book was originally released in the early 80's and this is a re-release of it.

This story takes place in the post-Change world of the United States. The Change happened one day and suddenly all electricity/technology stopped working and magical creatures began roaming the earth. Humanity was left to...more This book looked really interesting and I have read good things about it so I decided to give it a go. It was an enjoyable read, although there are a few things in the book which irked me a bit. This book was originally released in the early 80's and this is a re-release of it.

This story takes place in the post-Change world of the United States. The Change happened one day and suddenly all electricity/technology stopped working and magical creatures began roaming the earth. Humanity was left to survive in any manner possible in this post-apocalyptic type of world. Pete is living day to day when he stumbles upon a unicorn with a broken leg. He takes the time to fix her leg and dubs her Ariel. A year later Pete and Ariel are still traveling together; only someone is after Ariel's power and Pete and Ariel only have one choice...to destroy the necromancer that wants to hold Ariel captive.

This book moves at a fairly brisk pace and kept my interest. The relationship Pete and Ariel have, as well as the relationship of other characters with their familiars, is very interesting and much of the story pays attention to this. I also found it interesting that there is so much focus on Pete struggling with keeping his virginity, if he loses it then him and Ariel can no longer be companions. Enter a young woman (Saughnessy) who tempts Pete more than she should.

While Pete and Ariel are very well-developed characters, the characters surrounding them could use some work. The evil necromancer is fairly faceless and we never get to learn his thoughts on anything. Even the young woman that travels with Pete is rather 2-dimensional; you never get to understand her or hear why she wants to travel with Pete or Ariel.

There is a lot of unfettered violence and a lot of action in this book. Those with a weak stomach might want to skip it; to be fair I don't think that the violence was made unreasonably gory...Boyett tries to stay true to what the resulting gore would actually be given that people's limbs are removed with swords quite often. I enjoyed the inclusion of the Japanese mentality to fighting with all the samurai sword action, those scenes were a lot of fun.

The ending of the book left me disappointed. I thought the choices that Pete made were kind of sudden and un-called for; but I will not mention any more to prevent spoilers.

There were a few things that bothered me about this book. The first was Pete's use of a blowgun to drop enemies immediately; it just isn't very realistic. In the Afterward Boyett says that he now realizes this. The second thing that bothered me was the lack of people. Pete travels through vast quantities of land without barely seeing anyone, which could happen. But then he goes through big cities without seeing many people. I realize if electricity/technology stopped some people would be killed in car accidents, plane crashes, etc...but a vast majority of humanity would probably be okay. I am wondering where they all went. Also since it has been six years since the Change, wouldn't you think humanity would be re-forming organizations and communities? There is a small community (300 people) talked about in New York, but other than that there doesn't seem to be much organization at all. I just found these aspects to very unbelievable and this lowered my opinion of the story, because it was so fundamental to the story.

Overall I enjoyed the story. It is a bit long and some parts are hard to find believable, but it is well written with some awesome action scenes. Boyett's idea of a post-apocalyptic world forced by a fundamental change in the laws of physics is interesting, but flawed at points. Will I be reading "Elergy Beach", the sequel to Ariel? Probably not. I just didn't love the world enough to continue reading about it.(less)

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Dec 08, 2010 Alan rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Fans of the mash-up

Recommended to Alan by: I was a teenager, and still unicorn-friendly, the first time; 'nuff said

Just another story of a kid and his foul-mouthed unicorn, at least these days... but when it originally came out back in 1983, Ariel was a small treasure, a groundbreaking step in the reimagining of fantasy tropes that has since become such a major industry, and I loved it. The 2009 edition has only been slightly retconned (retroactively updated for continuity); Boyett explains why that is, in a brief Author's Note and an extensive Afterword (which is, to my mind, a major selling point of this e...more Just another story of a kid and his foul-mouthed unicorn, at least these days... but when it originally came out back in 1983, Ariel was a small treasure, a groundbreaking step in the reimagining of fantasy tropes that has since become such a major industry, and I loved it. The 2009 edition has only been slightly retconned (retroactively updated for continuity); Boyett explains why that is, in a brief Author's Note and an extensive Afterword (which is, to my mind, a major selling point of this edition).

I approve of Boyett's restraint, even if he does spend some time second-guessing it later. A novel is an artifact in time that is best seen in the context of its time, not unthinkingly updated to conform to modern sensitivities which are themselves merely a snapshot of evanescent norms. (This is the kind of thing Connie Willis parodied in Remake (see also) , where minimum-wage grunts digitally airbrush the cigarettes out of old movies, and it's sharply distinct from what Boyett himself is doing here when he takes ancient myths and puts his own stamp on them.) And it's no excuse to wait until after the author's dead to begin making changes, by the way; there is at least one "editor" whose new editions of deceased sf authors' works are automatically on my do-not-read list, precisely because of his propensity for such meddling.

But that's beside the point, really. Ariel is the work at hand, and it stands on its own as a thing of (rather profane) beauty, a post-apocalyptic fiction in which the apocalypse is not nuclear, not biological or nanotech, but magical... "the Change" being that singular point when Magic returned to the world, shouldering aside (most) technology without apparent effort. Guns don't work; cars don't work; electricity doesn't work... and magical creatures have returned to the world.

Pete Garey survives the Change and its anarchic aftermath well enough, but it's not until he meets Ariel that he really acquires a purpose. That purpose is quixotic, perhaps--it's no accident that the book he's reading to Ariel while on the road is Cervantes' Don Quixote--but it's of a piece with the rest of the post-Change world. For, just as James Tiptree Jr., said, "Passing in any crowd are secret people whose hidden response to beauty is the desire to tear it into bleeding meat." And there are people in Pete and Ariel's world who see unicorns as just a horse with a valuable horn.

Boyett's not the most prolific of novelists, and Ariel is not really that long a book; I recommend savoring it well, before going on to the more recent followup (I hesitate to call it a sequel), Elegy Beach. But if you've ever wanted to know why that glowing creature was standing on a tumbledown freeway overpass in your dream, here's the place to start looking.
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Feb 16, 2010 Jennifer Connolly rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: reviewed, 2009

If you like SM Stirling's Change novels, you'll probably like Ariel as it seems Stirling cribbed heavily from this book in order to come up with his own "Change".

There are just as many inconsistencies in Boyett's book about how the Change works, but it is mostly easy to ignore. What's nice is it isn't loaded with all of the remarkably favorable coincidences that appear in Stirling's Dies the Fire (and presumably his other Change books in that same series, that I refuse to read).

Boyett's book is...more

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Dec 20, 2012 Aryn rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction, owned-by-parentals, science-fiction-fantasy

I'd recommend this book for mature-ish 15/16 year old boys. It's gory and sex-filled. However, it reads better if you think of Pete as a 16 year old boy rather than a 20 year old. It doesn't quite qualify as Young Adult, but it comes close. Pete is a good Young Adult hero, what doesn't make it Young Adult is the length, sex and gore. The writing style even puts it at borderline Young Adult.

I'm pretty sure I just read a 400 page metaphor for a boy going through puberty; either that or it's a 400...more

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Oct 07, 2010 Alisa rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: end-of-the-world, urban-fantasy

Okay...this book was...different. First off, I absolutely, totally adore end-of-civilization-type novels where most of humanity is killed off in some sort of plague/disaster, and the survivors wander the desolated streets, trying to scavenge supplies. I don't know why this scenario hits such a chord with me, but there really is no other type of fiction I find so...appealing. Ariel has lots of this. Unfortunately, civilization is destroyed in a completely illogical way that makes no sense. Everyt...more Okay...this book was...different. First off, I absolutely, totally adore end-of-civilization-type novels where most of humanity is killed off in some sort of plague/disaster, and the survivors wander the desolated streets, trying to scavenge supplies. I don't know why this scenario hits such a chord with me, but there really is no other type of fiction I find so...appealing. Ariel has lots of this. Unfortunately, civilization is destroyed in a completely illogical way that makes no sense. Everything is life as usual, until suddenly (literally in the blink of an eye) everything is Changed. Most of modern life suddenly doesn't work. No phones, cars, electricity, ipods, guns...all of that just ceased to work. Instead, magic and mythological beasts suddenly DO exist, so that we have dragons and unicorns wandering the streets, and necromancers summoning demons. So far, so good. I like this premise; there's a lot of really cool stuff that could happen.

But there's no logic to this author's world. Wristwatches work, but bicycles don't. Nearly everyone in the world dies, but why? Why would this Change cause such a mass die-off? There's still plenty of food and supplies in all the stores, and the danger of mythological beasts eating you seems pretty nil - in the main character wanderings across the former States, he meets only two creatures outside of human control...and one of these becomes his own companion.

Which brings us to the unicorn. Maybe I'm just too cynical for stories about unicorns...but I didn't like the unicorn character! Without giving away too much, I saw the ending coming a million miles away. A boy and his unicorn...now honestly, how is that going to end well?

Also, I'm amused by the cover. The original cover was a golden-bright typical fantasy cover with a boy and his unicorn displayed in the center. Very garish and "happy", with no hint of the desolation of a destroyed and decaying New York City. Weird. This cover, on the other hand, is all about the dark gritty end-of-the-world-ness - but despite the unicorn being a MAJOR character, she isn't anywhere on it. Heh. (less)

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Dec 10, 2009 paula rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: adult-fiction, young-adult

Postapocalypse with unicorn. Ok, I'll bite, especially since I've been hearing about this book from people like Cory Doctorow ever since it was reprinted earlier this year. Apparently little Cory's imagination got rocked by Ariel when he was an adolescent.

And I could see that. Written by a nineteen-year-old boy in 1983 or so, Ariel features a classic love triangle: a beautiful, accomplished, perfect untouchable blonde who for some reason hangs around with our weedy twenty-year-old protagonist; a...more Postapocalypse with unicorn. Ok, I'll bite, especially since I've been hearing about this book from people like Cory Doctorow ever since it was reprinted earlier this year. Apparently little Cory's imagination got rocked by Ariel when he was an adolescent.

And I could see that. Written by a nineteen-year-old boy in 1983 or so, Ariel features a classic love triangle: a beautiful, accomplished, perfect untouchable blonde who for some reason hangs around with our weedy twenty-year-old protagonist; and an argumentative little brunette who - for some reason - hangs around with our weedy twenty-year-old protagonist. The blonde is a unicorn, but that sort of just makes her even more of a Dorothy Stratton figure. To put it in early 80's terms.

The action is well-scripted, and there's a lot of it. The world-building is not too excessive. Exposition is handled pretty well. The book is certainly readable all the way to the end. If there are echoes of The Stand and other post-ap fictions... well, I'm not sure you can write 400 pages of postapocalypse without hitting some of the same scenes. I just read Maurice Gee's Salt, as original a story as you'll find, and there were TONS of familiar elements in that book.

But the boyish wish fulfillment of the main character's relationship with his two women is utterly impossible to take. He treats the brunette abysmally from the moment he meets her, and yet, at the end of the book, there she is taking off her pants for him. The young man's virginity is a factor in his relationship with the unicorn, and day after his deflowerment, she rejects him and goes cantering off. But this is ok, because she has somehow lost her sparkle. The formerly spotless, noiseless, gorgeous beast is now dirty and lame as she crashes clumsily through the forest.

In an Afterword, the author says that he gets a lot of criticism for letting his main character end up with the human girl. I'm going to criticize him for letting his human girl end up with that main character. Gentlemen, I recognize that it can be something of a journey for you, finding out that under her white gown and lip gloss, Princess Leia was a cokey little drunk with body image issues. But that doesn't mean that the rest of us are lining up, just waiting for your standards to dip.

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Oct 20, 2009 Erin rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Part fantasy epic, part post-apocolyptic science fiction, part bildungsroman, part American road trip. A cross between The Last Unicorn, The Neverending Story, and The Stand. The protagonist's voice didn't ring true to me at first, but I was hooked by his relationship with the unicorn Ariel. Maybe I should have put bildungsroman first, actually; Pete goes from "annoying little shit" to "person I would probably tolerate", but despite my personal dislike for him, I enjoyed reading about his growth...more

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May 01, 2013 Mike (the Paladin) rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy

Interesting little book. It's an odd sort of dated post apocalypse (if you can call it an apocalypse) book. The "Change" took place a few years ago and the story depends on a world where libraries still have card catalogs...smoking is more common..the Trade Towers still stand and a few other things.

I found the story, "okay". It was a little disappointing with lightly drawn characters who often behave in an illogical manner (view spoiler)...more

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Apr 25, 2013 Rena McGee rated it 4 of 5 stars

Finding out that Ace had done a reprint of Ariel was a gleeful sort of shock. It’s a very, very hard book to find used copies of, and has always been a long time favorite. I was in fifth grade when I first read it. Those of you familiar with the sex and violence in the book may gasp in horror now. I’ll give you a minute. (No, my parents never knew that some of the books I was reading at that age tended to have a lot of sex and violence in them. To mom and dad, it was fantasy and therefore freaki...more

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Feb 04, 2013 Madnessabides rated it 3 of 5 stars

More like 3 and a half stars... when cracking open a book where a unicorn plays a major role I really didn’t know what to think - I am not sure I remember reading much about unicorns, ever (a bit of an oversight on my part, I’m sure). But then again, when opening up this book, I think I did sort of know what I expected, and there this book succeeds. Seriously, a post-apocalyptic unicorn road trip novel - who even reads such things? Well, now, at least, I can say I have! It was an entertaining li...more

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Mar 24, 2010 Aaron Delay rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Wow. I had never heard of this book until I stumbled onto it's sequel "Elegy Beach" in the library and suddenly I was in a world of unicorns and magic. The idea of "Ariel" is that for whatever reason (it's never really explained which I love) the world suddenly stopped being real. Technology, weapons, electricity and just about everything man created that moved, whistled and beeped no longer works.

Guns don't work. You can load it and fire it. Nothing happens. The titular character of this book...more

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Feb 22, 2011 Bryan rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: ebooks, fantasy

Here's some good news and bad news about this book

1a) Good news: The author included a wonderful afterword to this electronic edition. It dealt with everything that needed to be discussed about this novel - its successes and its weaknesses

1b) Bad news: The afterword covered every single topic that I was going to include in this review. If I say anything whatsoever, I'll be stealing from the author himself!

2a) Good news: It's a fun novel dealing with a post-apocalyptic Earth blasted back to medie...more

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May 22, 2011 Gina rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A solid fantasy book (or maybe technically sci-fi since it's set in a dystopian future?), this was a nice change of pace from my usual reading habits. I like the idea of the fantasy genre, but it generally doesn't give me enough in the way of innovative plots and creative characters. Ariel was different enough to keep my attention.

An added bonus was the use of a unicorn as the "supporting actress". As a child, I was like many girls, clamoring for unicorn stories and proud of the unicorn posters...more

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Jan 12, 2013 Joshua Palmatier rated it 3 of 5 stars

Ariel originally came out in 1983, but was re-released in 2009 because Steven R. Boyett wrote a sequel to it called Elegy Beach. I wasn't aware of it until the re-release, which is a surprise because I like post-apocalyptic novels, and one that has fantasy overtones would have caught my attention. I can only assume that it just didn't cross my path in all of those years. In any case, I bought this immediately after seeing it.

The basic premise is that something caused a Change in the world, alter...more Ariel originally came out in 1983, but was re-released in 2009 because Steven R. Boyett wrote a sequel to it called Elegy Beach. I wasn't aware of it until the re-release, which is a surprise because I like post-apocalyptic novels, and one that has fantasy overtones would have caught my attention. I can only assume that it just didn't cross my path in all of those years. In any case, I bought this immediately after seeing it.

The basic premise is that something caused a Change in the world, altering the laws of nature (physics) and suddenly electricity and guns don't work and the creatures of fantasy and myth begin roaming the lands. Pete is a survivor of the initial Change, and five years after that fateful day, he runs across a wounded unicorn he names Ariel. The two become Familiars, bonded to each other, and learn to survive in the post-apocalyptic world together. But a necromancer wielding power in New York has discovered the unicorn and wants the power of its horn for himself, and so the hunt is on.

I thought the book was good, but not stunning. Part of the problem was that there have been other books out since its initial release that have similar ideas and plots. If I'd read this when it was originally released, it likely would have come across as incredibly original and I'd have loved it. As is, it probably suffers a little from the time displacement. That doesn't mean it wasn't fun. I enjoyed the main character, and once the plot got going, I enjoyed the action. It was certainly an entertaining read, and I haven't read anything that has dealt with a post-apocalyptic fantasy is quite this way. But some of the post-apocalyptic tropes are here, such as the run-in with cannibals, etc. Once the main plot dealing with the necromancer in New York begins, though, it settles down into its own story and isn't about the world as it is after the Change and is more about the characters. And that's where it gets good (and is worth reading).

My main problems with it are with the slow start and with a little bit of the world itself. The book doesn't really begin until Pete and Ariel travel to Atlanta, but there's a long section of the book dealing with them wandering from Florida up to Atlanta. Some of this is how Pete meets Ariel and is establishing how they come to terms with each other, but all of that could have been worked in as backstory once the main plot started. The worldbuilding issues could also have been fixed easily. My main question is what happened to all of the people? The Change itself didn't kill anyone. Things just . . . stopped working, leaving everyone alive, and magical creatures started to appear. So . . . why are there so few people left now? There's no real explanation for how everyone ended up dying. I assume starvation, rioting, the usual, but there's no real mention of this. And if that were the case, there still seems to be plenty of undamaged property and resources left lying around. Now, some questions being left unanswered are fine (such as what exactly caused the Change in the first place), but some things needed to be fleshed out a little more, in my opinion. I didn't quite believe the world set-up as it was presented, but it could have been solved relatively easily with a few simple explanations. (For example, it could have been established that the Change made some people simply vanish, as if they'd flickered out of existence, or whatever.)

The ending also felt rushed. I thought it could have been developed more, which would have made what happens in the end more emotionally dramatic (and traumatic). I pretty much figured out how the book was going to end long before I got there, so it wasn't a surprise, but it still could have had more power than it did.

Now, the author does bring up the issue with the slow start and the rushed ending in his afterword to the novel, admitting that he agrees with those critiques. But this was how it was originally written, with only minor changes (and a few additions of originally cut scenes). He could have changed it, but I agree with him that if he had, it would have been a completely different book, and that wasn't the intent. He's grown as a writer since this was first published, and I certainly feel that I've grown as a writer since my first book hit the shelf. I know there are issues with that first novel (and all those that come afterwards), things that I would never do if I wrote the novel now, but as the author say in the afterword, that's who he was then and I agree that readers just have to accept that and take it for what it is.

So, overall, a good book. I'll definitely be reading the sequel (which is set 30 years after the Change), but it's not something I feel the need to pick up and read immediately. It doesn't involve the same characters, only the same world, so the urgency to "find out what's happened" isn't there. But I'll definitely check back on this world eventually.(less)

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Jan 08, 2011 Mintwitch rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: fans of fantasy, urban fantasy, speculative fiction

Recommended to Mintwitch by: John Scalzi

A post-apocalyptic love story about a young man and his unicorn. Boyett published this novel when he was only 21 years old, and it shows: while the novel is well-written, the story has a few small continuity issues and stalls out in parts. Nonetheless, it's a startling achievement for an author who was only 19 when he wrote the novel. The protagonist is as young as his creator, though, which makes the relative immaturity of both interesting instead of frustrating.

Readers of S.M. Stirling's Chang...more

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Sep 15, 2011 Sabrina rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: book-club, fantasy-and-sci-fi

A fun read, particularly if you don't think too much about the plot and characterization and just go with it. I did enjoy Ariel's personality. I mean, how often do you get to read about a talking unicorn with a penchant for peppermint candy?

Once I reached the author's note and realized the book was written when he was 19, several problems I had with it were explained. My two biggest peeves were: "What happened to all the people?! They should be SOMEWHERE! Or their bodies at least!!" and the endi...more

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Aug 12, 2011 Jeffrey rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy, library-copy

I started this book thinking that it was yet another author trying to capitalize on the success of what S.M. Stirling has accomplished with his "Dies the Fire" series of books. Now, having read the Afterword and actually looking at the publication date I can see that this book well predates that series, and may well have been the inspiration for the series.

Structurally it is quite clear that this is a debut novel. The pacing is dramatically different in the beginning than it is in the end. At th...more

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Aug 08, 2011 Jacob rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: powells_sf_group

While this book has its flaws, it was written by the author when he was nineteen years old, and for a book written by a 19-year-old it's pretty good. Even then I have trouble recommending it because it would appeal most to younger people for whom certain scenes are too sexual.

Although some of the ideas are interesting, such as the setting in which one day most technological items suddenly stop working and magic and magical beasts become real, the last third of the story is weak. The main bad guy...more

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Jan 24, 2010 Tensy rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction

If I had read this as a young teenager, I would have loved this novel. It is a perfect coming of age story for 12-16 year olds who don't question the inconsistencies in the novel's world building and love ninja/sword play adventure stories. Frankly, my favorite part of the book was the Afterword written by the author for the 2000 edition. Any aspiring writer should definitely read these last few pages. It describes how a 19-year-old Boyett came to produce and publish his first novel. I laughed a...more

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Feb 20, 2012 Richard rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Richard by: http://Borderlands-Books.com

Shelves: bookclub, classic, fantasy, fantasy-magic

A brilliant and memorable setup, executed adequately but not with much depth or insight.

The Change is the shift of the laws of nature from the science we deal with to a magical reality, albeit one a number of glaring inconsistencies. The book was written in the early 1980s, long before today's mash-up of terrorist bogeymen and lurking environmental catastrophe — the cultural nightmares of the time centered on nuclear holocaust, instead, and Boyett's magical apocalypse serves a similar purpose.

Th...more

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Dec 19, 2010 Ethan Clark rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy, the-bad

Let me note that I only got to the halfway point of the story, but from what I read I judge this book to be a pathetic excuse for an apocalyptic novel. The whole premise of this story is that all electronics and guns have stopped working and magical creatures are springing up all over the place, in a fashion similar to The Day The Earth Stood Still. But is that really worthy of an apocalyptic scenario? Did the people really have to abandon their cities and ships after this sudden "Change"? It se...more

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Oct 16, 2012 Andy rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: from-library

Another book in the post "Change" genre after all the power has gone out. This one is more fantasy though as one of the main characters is a unicorn. I was not expecting that at all (and it's not a spoiler ;-)
The first part of the book I kept thinking "I'm reading a book with a unicorn in it? I can't take this seriously" but I kept reading. There were some pretty major plot jumps and some sections seemed to finish rather quickly. I think I'd have liked the book more if I hadn't read it right aft...more

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Mar 01, 2010 Brian rated it 1 of 5 stars

There are numerous little problems with this novel that could be mentioned, and Boyett describes many of them himself in the afterword section of this edition. There is however one really BIG problem that I was never able to avoid or ignore as a reader.

This story is about an annoying teenager and his friend Ariel, a Unicorn. Ariel begins the story as a baby Unicorn, speaking with a little girl’s voice. Later, she grows up speaking sarcastic insults and snide commentary with a woman’s voice. All...more

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Feb 14, 2011 Lurple rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Ariel was one of my very favorite books as a young teen. I'd borrowed it from a friend, and after giving it back I searched for it for years (many years) until I finally found a used copy.

The good news is that it's finally been reprinted (and apparently has some new material that was omitted from the original), and you can purchase it fairly inexpensively in paperback or ebook formats. The reprint happened because the author finally wrote a sequel, almost 20 years later.

The book stands the test...more

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Mar 09, 2010 John rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A nicely executed novel* mixing a post-apocalytpic (but not ruined) environment with traditional fantasy elements.

There's a major opportunity here to explore this universe and the general idea of The Change a lot more. Without necessarily revisting the major characters of Ariel, there are still a lot of stories to be told. It seems like the perfect medium for a book of short stories or even inviting other famous authors to write w/in the loose boundaries he's set up. I can almost envision a Wor...more

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title link	preview: Ariel
avg rating	preview: Ariel Goodreads rating: 3.64 (910 ratings)
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BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6421522-ariel?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1348767344l/6421522.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6421522-ariel?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]Ariel by Steven R. Boyett[/url]

Ariel (Change #1)

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