The Eleutians are dying out, one female at a time. To save their species, the powerful Alchemic Clan conscripts women from parallel worlds, altering them into the perfect breeding stock. Kitlyn, a retired circus equestrian broken in both body and spirit, awakens on a strange world in her own much-younger body. She has been transformed into a Made One, but the gift of youth and the promise of a new life come at a terrible price. Rafe, the Wolf Clan’s warrior champion, vows to find the cause of the species’ decline. He’s certain the Alchemics’ bid to save the Eleutians is but a thin veneer masking a dark purpose. That vow becomes hard to keep with the threat of an inter-clan conflict and the arrival of the proud Made One named Kitlyn. To save herself and those like her, Kit must carve a dangerous path in this new reality and make a choice that may cost her her freedom, her life, and the life of the Eleutian warrior she’s come to love.
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REVIEW
Altered is an interesting fusion of different elements in one novel. If you love fantasy and science fiction, you’ll be ecstatic to find a mixture of these elements here, together with an irresistible world-building.
Altered’s premise is enough to keep me absorbed throughout my reading journey. But the exquisite world-building and interesting characters made me even more eager to go deeper into the story.
An intriguing concept.
The story starts with a 58 year-old disabled and scarred, Kit, who fell into a cliff to her death while trekking with her sisters. But instead of dying, she was transported into a parallel universe, Eleutia, as her younger self without the scars and disability that she got from an accident.
Eleutia is dying — with the female population is going extinct. With the failure to breed more of their species because of the lack of female Eleutians, the powerful Alchemic Clan started recruiting women from another worlds. They are altering these women to be a perfect “breeding stock” and they call them the Made Ones.
An overall delightful read.
I actually didn’t quite expect the premise of the story (for someone who doesn’t really read synopsis lol). It was a good surprise. Both the concept and the author are new to me. It’s definitely worth a shot!
If you are into parallel worlds, mixture of fantasy and sci-fi elements, and a good slow-burn romance, you’d definitely like this book.
Disclaimer: I received an eARC in exchange for an honest review in participation for a blog tour organized by Xpresso Book Tours. This doesn’t affect my opinion of the book in this review in any way.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Vicki Stiefel
Vicki’s fantasy romantic suspense series, The Afterworld Chronicles, launched with Chest of Bone, followed by Chest of Stone and Chest of Time. She is currently pounding the keys on her series’ fourth novel, Chest of Fire, and the first in a new series, The Made Ones Sags: Altered.
Her mystery/thrillers include Body Parts, The Dead Stone, The Bone Man, and The Grief Shop, a Daphne du Maurier prize winner. All feature homicide counselor Tally Whyte. All are available as ebooks.
She co-wrote (with Lisa Souza) and photographed the 10 Secrets of the LaidBack Knitters. With her late husband, William G. Tapply, she ran The Writers Studio workshops in creative fiction.
Vicki taught fiction writing and modern media writing at Clark University.
She loves both a well-crafted sentence and unlocking the doors of a student’s imagination.
She grew up in professional theater and planned to become an actress, with a bent for song and dance. She didn’t. Instead, she’s been a professional photographer, a high-school teacher, a hamburger slinger, a scuba-shop manager, and an editor.
She’s Blake’s and Ben’s mom, her favorite role of all.
Her passions include scuba diving and fly fishing and knitting; photography and movies; vinho verde and bourbon (not together!); Maine lobster and chocolate (also not together!); and musical comedy scores, which she sing in the shower, unfortunately not an Equity venue; and a fascination with people in all walks of life. .
Erika is a freelance content writer and illustrator from the Philippines. Aside from her love of arts and reading, she loves taking photos, coffee, cats, and fairies. She’s into fantasy, historical fiction, and contemporary, and anything young adult genres.