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Changewinds #3
War of the Maelstrom
The Magic of the Changewinds.....
could alter the shape of every man and beast in Akahlar.
The Evil of The Inner Hells....
could take this power away from the Storm Princess, and place it in the destructive hands of the horned demon Klittichorn.
The Savagery of Ultimate War....
could be the only hope for all worlds.
could alter the shape of every man and beast in Akahlar.
The Evil of The Inner Hells....
could take this power away from the Storm Princess, and place it in the destructive hands of the horned demon Klittichorn.
The Savagery of Ultimate War....
could be the only hope for all worlds.
360 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published September 1, 1988
3 people are currently reading
192 people want to read
About the author
Jack L. Chalker
132 books356 followersBesides being a science fiction author, Jack Laurence Chalker was a Baltimore City Schools history teacher in Maryland for a time, a member of the Washington Science Fiction Association, and was involved in the founding of the Baltimore Science Fiction Society. Some of his books said that he was born in Norfolk, Virginia although he later claimed that was a mistake.
He attended all but one of the World Science Fiction Conventions from 1965 until 2004. He published an amateur SF journal, Mirage, from 1960 to 1971 (a Hugo nominee in 1963 for Best Fanzine).
Chalker was married in 1978 and had two sons.
His stated hobbies included esoteric audio, travel, and working on science-fiction convention committees. He had a great interest in ferryboats, and, at his wife's suggestion, their marriage was performed on the Roaring Bull Ferry.
Chalker's awards included the Daedalus Award (1983), The Gold Medal of the West Coast Review of Books (1984), Skylark Award (1985), Hamilton-Brackett Memorial Award (1979), as well as others of varying prestige. He was a nominee for the John W. Campbell Award twice and for the Hugo Award twice. He was posthumously awarded the Phoenix Award by the Southern Fandom Confederation on April 9, 2005.
On September 18, 2003, during Hurricane Isabel, Chalker passed out and was rushed to the hospital with a diagnosis of a heart attack. He was later released, but was severely weakened. On December 6, 2004, he was again rushed to hospital with breathing problems and disorientation, and was diagnosed with congestive heart failure and a collapsed lung. Chalker was hospitalized in critical condition, then upgraded to stable on December 9, though he didn't regain consciousness until December 15. After several more weeks in deteriorating condition and in a persistent vegetative state, with several transfers to different hospitals, he died on February 11, 2005 of kidney failure and sepsis in Bon Secours of Baltimore, Maryland.
Chalker is perhaps best known for his Well World series of novels, the first of which is Midnight at the Well of Souls (Well World, #1).
He attended all but one of the World Science Fiction Conventions from 1965 until 2004. He published an amateur SF journal, Mirage, from 1960 to 1971 (a Hugo nominee in 1963 for Best Fanzine).
Chalker was married in 1978 and had two sons.
His stated hobbies included esoteric audio, travel, and working on science-fiction convention committees. He had a great interest in ferryboats, and, at his wife's suggestion, their marriage was performed on the Roaring Bull Ferry.
Chalker's awards included the Daedalus Award (1983), The Gold Medal of the West Coast Review of Books (1984), Skylark Award (1985), Hamilton-Brackett Memorial Award (1979), as well as others of varying prestige. He was a nominee for the John W. Campbell Award twice and for the Hugo Award twice. He was posthumously awarded the Phoenix Award by the Southern Fandom Confederation on April 9, 2005.
On September 18, 2003, during Hurricane Isabel, Chalker passed out and was rushed to the hospital with a diagnosis of a heart attack. He was later released, but was severely weakened. On December 6, 2004, he was again rushed to hospital with breathing problems and disorientation, and was diagnosed with congestive heart failure and a collapsed lung. Chalker was hospitalized in critical condition, then upgraded to stable on December 9, though he didn't regain consciousness until December 15. After several more weeks in deteriorating condition and in a persistent vegetative state, with several transfers to different hospitals, he died on February 11, 2005 of kidney failure and sepsis in Bon Secours of Baltimore, Maryland.
Chalker is perhaps best known for his Well World series of novels, the first of which is Midnight at the Well of Souls (Well World, #1).
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
March 30, 2024
This series just got worse and worse, and it already needed a shovel to get lower than where it started.
This is a special kind of trash that is almost impressive in its pride at being utter garbage. It's like Chalker was forced to write this after losing a bet. Democracy was almost ok with book burning after reading this.
Chalker was a pretty good writer, too (in my opinion, at least). Reading this after reading one of Chalker's better books is like catching Santa sodomizing your dog.
In all honesty, I literally had a laughing fit at one point during this book because it's just so unbelievably, shockingly, stupid and repulsive that I think I lost my mind for a few minutes.
This might be the only book series that is a dumpster fire with every volume that I still finished because it's such a train wreck that I literally couldn't turn away.
Kudos to the audiobook version narrator for not dying of shame or joining a nunnery after reading this.
This is a special kind of trash that is almost impressive in its pride at being utter garbage. It's like Chalker was forced to write this after losing a bet. Democracy was almost ok with book burning after reading this.
Chalker was a pretty good writer, too (in my opinion, at least). Reading this after reading one of Chalker's better books is like catching Santa sodomizing your dog.
In all honesty, I literally had a laughing fit at one point during this book because it's just so unbelievably, shockingly, stupid and repulsive that I think I lost my mind for a few minutes.
This might be the only book series that is a dumpster fire with every volume that I still finished because it's such a train wreck that I literally couldn't turn away.
Kudos to the audiobook version narrator for not dying of shame or joining a nunnery after reading this.
March 23, 2020
I really like Chalker and have read dozens of his novels. The Changewinds is one of his better trilogies, albeit one with lots of 'triggers' that will probably irk many people. As we know from the earlier volumes, two young and 'ditzy' teenage girls are transported into a parallel universe (not really, but close enough) and fall into some rough company. Basically, two wizards are at loggerheads both trying to get the girls; one to simply kill them, and one to hopefully save them, but the girls do not know what is going on really.
The first two volumes set the stage for the last book nicely and the ending is about what you might expect after numerous twists and turns. Chalker is not shy to have his characters discuss many social taboos, and in this trilogy engage in multiple conversations about sexuality, gender, revolution, class and political systems in general. There are also of course mind/body transfers and issues of subjectivity that populate almost all of his novels. Good stuff!
The first two volumes set the stage for the last book nicely and the ending is about what you might expect after numerous twists and turns. Chalker is not shy to have his characters discuss many social taboos, and in this trilogy engage in multiple conversations about sexuality, gender, revolution, class and political systems in general. There are also of course mind/body transfers and issues of subjectivity that populate almost all of his novels. Good stuff!
March 8, 2021
I have never been so offended by a book in my life. Not only is this book loaded with depictions of and jokes about rape, every female character spends the majority of their time on screen obsessing over their weight, calling themselves fat, obsessing about the weights of the other female characters, and so on and so forth. To give you an idea, you cannot go more than three pages without a woman's weight being mentioned. One scene where a character fixates on her weight goes on for a whopping NINE PAGES. The fantasy and worldbuilding elements aren't very interesting to begin with, but they end up being effectively nonexistent as they are overshadowed by this constant fixation on the weights of the female characters. The dialogue is utterly asinine and the writing style is more juvenile than some things I've seen written by actual children. I absolutely cannot believe this author is a winner of multiple awards and a two time Hugo nominee if this is the kind of garbage he writes. Don't read this book.
July 15, 2022
Derde boek in de Changewinds trilogie en dus logischerwijs ook het laatste deel. Die reeks is mijn eerste kennismaking met Jack L. Chalker, maar ik was er op voorhand redelijk zeker van dat het hier bij ging blijven. Het begon allemaal best nog wel aardig en het concept is leuk, maar Riders of the Winds werd pas helemaal op het einde terug interessant. Ik keek dan ook niet meteen uit naar War of the Maelstrom, want dit werd opeens een heel wat stevigere zit qua aantal pagina’s.
En dat leek me redelijk nefast te zijn voor een schrijver waarbij ik het gevoel had dat zijn eerste twee boeken gerust één boek had kunnen zijn. Ach, in ieder geval schiet hij in het derde deel wel wat in een stroomversnelling. Misschien zelfs wel net iets te hard, want de lang verwachte climax met Klittichorn en de Storm Princess is wel erg snel voorbij. Verder blijven de hekelpunten uit de vorige boeken overeind. De dynamiek tussen Charley en Sam blijft nogal hoekig en er wordt wel erg veel focus gelegd op het feit dat Sam zo dik is. Langs de andere kant is het wel interessant om te lezen hoeveel belangrijke thema’s Chalker anno 1988 toch besprak. Lesbische relaties, de commentaar op politieke thema’s, maatschappijkritiek, … Het passeert allemaal (soms erg kort) in de reeks en dat is op zich wel een intrigerend uitgangspunt. Alleen jammer dat de uitwerking zelf soms erg pover is en dat Chalker vooral lijkt te schrijven om maar zoveel mogelijk pagina’s te vullen. Elk hoofdstuk moet minstens 25 pagina’s bevatten en het voelt soms alsof hij zich echt in alle bochten moet wringen om aan dat aantal te raken.
En zo komt er een einde aan de lotgevallen van Charley en Sam. Een ietwat onverwacht einde met dat Sam zichzelf opoffert, maar uiteindelijk komt alles toch wel goed. Charley is nog altijd kwaad dat ze dik is, maar dat terzijde. Chalker moest en zou dat natuurlijk nog een laatste keer vermelden...
En dat leek me redelijk nefast te zijn voor een schrijver waarbij ik het gevoel had dat zijn eerste twee boeken gerust één boek had kunnen zijn. Ach, in ieder geval schiet hij in het derde deel wel wat in een stroomversnelling. Misschien zelfs wel net iets te hard, want de lang verwachte climax met Klittichorn en de Storm Princess is wel erg snel voorbij. Verder blijven de hekelpunten uit de vorige boeken overeind. De dynamiek tussen Charley en Sam blijft nogal hoekig en er wordt wel erg veel focus gelegd op het feit dat Sam zo dik is. Langs de andere kant is het wel interessant om te lezen hoeveel belangrijke thema’s Chalker anno 1988 toch besprak. Lesbische relaties, de commentaar op politieke thema’s, maatschappijkritiek, … Het passeert allemaal (soms erg kort) in de reeks en dat is op zich wel een intrigerend uitgangspunt. Alleen jammer dat de uitwerking zelf soms erg pover is en dat Chalker vooral lijkt te schrijven om maar zoveel mogelijk pagina’s te vullen. Elk hoofdstuk moet minstens 25 pagina’s bevatten en het voelt soms alsof hij zich echt in alle bochten moet wringen om aan dat aantal te raken.
En zo komt er een einde aan de lotgevallen van Charley en Sam. Een ietwat onverwacht einde met dat Sam zichzelf opoffert, maar uiteindelijk komt alles toch wel goed. Charley is nog altijd kwaad dat ze dik is, maar dat terzijde. Chalker moest en zou dat natuurlijk nog een laatste keer vermelden...
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 19, 2017
3.5 Stars for the series. This trilogy was a bit of a hot mess, touching on a bizarre number of social, theological and self image issues, woven into a pretty good typical fantasy story (i.e.heroine with special powers destined to save the world). I found myself annoyed by some of the characters at times, but in the end, I couldn't help genuinely caring about them and their fates. Overall, I enjoyed the series, particularly the 3rd book.
May 14, 2017
Good trilogy! Interesting characters and world. I think I'll miss the characters and remember parts for quite a while.
I am by no means a member of the PC police, but there were times when I found myself shaking my head wondering why the author went in certain directions, but overall I found the series very enjoyable, unique, and hard to put down.
I am by no means a member of the PC police, but there were times when I found myself shaking my head wondering why the author went in certain directions, but overall I found the series very enjoyable, unique, and hard to put down.
April 25, 2018
This whole series feels like buildup that never pays off.
The end of the second book felt like it should have been the end of the first, and this feels like it crammed two books into one. I remembers when I was on the last 100 pages and feeling like nothing got accomplished. Character development seems to be rushed, and this is largely concepts with no substance.
The end of the second book felt like it should have been the end of the first, and this feels like it crammed two books into one. I remembers when I was on the last 100 pages and feeling like nothing got accomplished. Character development seems to be rushed, and this is largely concepts with no substance.
Read
April 17, 2024Skimmed through just to see where it was all going. Slightly better than the first two simply because it has an ending, but it doesn't redeem those first two. It actually makes parts of them worse in retrospect.
I like the goofy looking covers, though. The human-faced Shadowcat on this one is especially funny.
I like the goofy looking covers, though. The human-faced Shadowcat on this one is especially funny.
Read
October 23, 2025Completes the trilogy which began with "When the Changewinds Blow" and "Riders of the Winds". The magical Changewinds descend upon the land of Akahlar. They can take away the power of the storm princess and place it into the demon Klittichoru, laying open the possibility of all-out war.
January 25, 2018
This is a typical Chalker novel - fun, simple, and filled with adventure. Don't expect epic Tolkien-like world development or beautiful prose and you'll enjoy reading it.
May 25, 2018
Our protagonists don't have many choices, a point that Chalker was making about historical societies. They manage to muddle thru and it's been long enough since my first read that I had forgot the ending. An interesting reread, but it's a tad dated in places.
April 30, 2010
I hated this series. I kept hoping it would get better, but it never did.
January 9, 2012
Grade C+. Book Cw3.
January 7, 2014
the end of a trilogy that makes magic and fantasy something that is life changing.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews