Green

By: Jay Lake

Narrated by: Katherine Kellgren

Length: 16 hrs and 53 mins

Publisher's summary

She was born in poverty, in a dusty village under the equatorial sun. She does not remember her mother, she does not remember her own name, her earliest clear memory is of the day her father sold her to the tall pale man. In the Court of the Pomegranate Tree, where she was taught the ways of a courtesan and the skills of an assassin, she was named Emerald, the precious jewel of the Undying Duke's collection of beauties. She calls herself Green.

The world she inhabits is one of political power and magic, where Gods meddle in the affairs of mortals. At the center of it is the immortal Duke's city of Copper Downs, which controls all the trade on the Storm Sea. Green has made many enemies, and some secret friends, and she has become a very dangerous woman indeed.

Acclaimed author Jay Lake has created a remarkable character in Green and evokes a remarkable world in this novel. Green and her struggle to survive and find her own past will live in the readers mind for a long time.

©2009 Joseph E. Lake, Jr. (P)2009 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Lively and thought-provoking...Lake effectively anneals steampunk with geo-mechanical magic in an allegorical matrix of empire building and Victorian natural science." ( Publishers Weekly)

• 2009 Recommended Reading (Locus Magazine)

good but looses its self in the middle

Would you consider the audio edition of Green to be better than the print version?

I have not read the print version.

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

better than the middle of the book where it lost its self

Have you listened to any of Katherine Kellgren’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Just as good as always

green

not a fan of this story. not really a great plot. it was well read tho. just seemed a little unexciting.... sorry
this was a story I read about a year ago, I reread just now and have to say I found it much more exciting. I had been reading a couple of super exciting books at the time and this was different. this has a very interesting series of ideas and entanglements that are quite intriguing. quite enjoyable.

I really wanted to like it....

The first part of the story is intriguing, with Green's journey in her training as a concubine and an assassin. However, as many have stated, after the first half of the book (which really could have been the conclusion of the first story in itself) the story takes these wild and unexpected twists and turns. Normally, I would delight in this style of story telling, but the new introduction of gods and goddesses and magic, etc felt like a completely different story than what we first read. It is as if Green's story was first written as a short story, then picked up again at a later time and added to. It really didn't work for me. The inclusion of her bells from childhood, her grandmother, Endurance, were simply not enough to tie the two halves together.
I had no problem with her sexual journey and explorations. It is simply a part of this poor, unfortunate girl's life. I just couldn't invest myself in Green once she left the Pomegranate Court, and so lost interest in the entirety of her story.

Wanted to love it.

I thought I had found a gem hidden away on Audible, because I love nothing better than a strong-willed heroine, but alas, I never finished this. I found this through Katherine Kellgren's narration, and she does a fantastic job here, and the story was very well done and maintained my interest for quite a while before I gave it up. Maybe the issue was that it dragged out a bit longer than I had hoped. It starts with the heroine as a child, and so much happens over such a long period of time that when I realized she was only 12 I was a bit shocked. I put it down with every intention of finishing it, but I just never got around to it.

Good but not great

Would you listen to Green again? Why?

Nah... While it was interesting to see the resolve unfold, it was a little too realistic to me. I like my fantasy books to be totally magical, distant and full of imagination. This one read like a story of a girl growing up in India. Even down to the detail of the Pardeens and an ox becoming a God. It all sounds like Indian culture and beliefs. Not that this is good or bad, it just didn't arouse my imagination very much.

Would you be willing to try another book from Jay Lake? Why or why not?

Nah... First impressions and all, there is just too much available out there.

What about Katherine Kellgren’s performance did you like?

Performance was good.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Not the whole thing. Some parts yes but other parts dragged on a bit, especially in the beginning.

From a women's point of view. From a child to wome

Sold as a child she fought to free herself and all children. Well written good transitions from conflict to conflict. No sudden drop at the end.

Better listening experience than a story

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

It was ok. If it was possible to search the book and remove all the sex references it would have been a much better listen.

Has Green turned you off from other books in this genre?

Not really

Which character – as performed by Katherine Kellgren – was your favorite?

Green

Did Green inspire you to do anything?

Nope

Any additional comments?

The performance was well done. This actually made up for the mediocre book contents. The baseline story is interesting enough, but sex content of the book was horribly done. If you can step aside from the amateur level of those particular parts, the book does have some interest. I would say that the author does not reflect the growth of the main character very well. The inner voice of the 3-4 year old child has as much complexity 13 years later. Normally, I don't write reviews. The content is either acceptable or not. In this particular case, its clouded, and I felt some comment was deserved and would be helpful to those looking to purchase.

Wondering meaningless Details

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

The story has to many details that don't add to the story. Half of this story could have been edited out.

Would you ever listen to anything by Jay Lake again?

No. I was planning on listening to the sequel whoever this is so disappointing.

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Katherine Kellgren?

Perhaps a full cast production.

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

I am disappointed I was looking for an fantasy audiobook. There is a lot of decription of the different cities but somehow It never pulled me in.

Redundant and Boring

I was really looking forward to reading this book. I like fantasy books with a strong female character. However I had a very hard time liking Green. There was no character development, the supporting characters were flat and I felt like there was no cohesion with the story line. The first part of the book describing Green's childhood was ok, but the rest went on and on and on. If I heard Green say one more time "What would Endurance do?" or "I want to go home.", I think i would scream. There are much better books out there. Try Mya by Richard Adams or the Kusheil series.

Nauseating!

Nauseating, gross, disgusting, sick, violent, pointless, these were among some many words I used while listening to this horrible audiobook. I rarely say this about a book but this book was awful. I kept thinking it would get better if I just gave it a chance. Nope, worse actually. As I continued on, I became even more grossed out, in fact, I even made vomiting motions as certain screens were described. I wanted to take a shower when I was finished with it just to try to wash away all the terrible things this book bombarded me with.

Where did I go wrong when picking out this book to listen to? The description sounds pretty cool, right. Girl pulled from poverty to become a powerful female force to be reckoned with. Sounds like my type of book. Unfortunately not. Although, Green may truly be a force to be reckoned with, she is a terrible character. She has no soul, only revenge in her heart. It never felt like she grew, only became a more skilled fighter and slightly less irritable.

Accompanying her revenge, she also has frequent meaningless sex with multiple women, including a women who resembles more of a panther than a human – those sex scenes were often the ones that induced the vomit motion I mentioned earlier. I don’t particularly have a problem reading about sex but these scenes involved a 15 year old girl having sex with older women, as in the narrator used granny voices for these women type of old. Gross – so no my thing.

This book is not just about sex, there is plenty of violence and killing in it as well. Green is trained to be a fighter at an early age and as she grew older her training is further developed to the point where at 15 she can fight with some of the best female fighters/killers. The author goes to great lengths to develop her character and allow of years to pass as she improves on her skills. As a result, it was easy to believe that Green was capable of doing all the things.

The author does create a very elaborate world and the details are often intricately written. My interest was piqued at the beginning of the book and I could very much envision myself in the character’s shoes. However, that was only in the beginning. The only compliant I can give this book is that the author created very detailed characters, countries, and experiences.

Katherine Kellgren was the narrator for this book and I normally love her narrations. Not this one. I don't know if it was the author's writing just could be masked by her wonderful voice or what. The granny voices for Green's sexual partners really did me in, just gross - bleh. Excuse me, I just through up in my mouth a little.

After awhile, Green became physically exhausting for me. There was no good, no joy, no substance, no anything that would have redeemed this story. There were many times where I was wanted to stop listening and if it hadn’t been for my 2012 book challenge goal, I would have stopped. No way was I going to let this book take up so much of time and not finish it. Overall, I deeply regret making this purchase and cannot recommend this book.