Changelings

Melissa Murray

A debut collection of short stories from an Irish writer better known for her theater work. Changelings is what it advertises—a book of stories about people (and, occasionally, the odd nonhuman) going through changes. The stories here range from science fiction to that morass known as “eighties fiction,” the plotless look at a character or characters with whom no one who actually reads books can identify; as you might guess, this makes the book inconsistent. When it is good, though, it does what it does and it does it well. You'll find yourself skimming some of the stories, but it's worth picking up for the ones you don't.