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Green  By  cover art

Green

By: Jay Lake
Narrated by: Katherine Kellgren
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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)

What listeners say about Green

Average customer ratings
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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Gods, Cat People, Female Assassins, Whips--

--and Necrolocutors, temples, ships, self-mutilation, violence, love, and more!

The fantasy world that Jay Lake depicts in Green is vivid enough, with gods, myths, different cultures, races, and sentient species. It's a medieval world in which some cultures use some steam and gunpowder, a religious world in which people may become gods and gods may answer prayers or even be killed, a magical world of ghosts and spells to extend life. The themes, concerning the relationship between gods and believers, the mixture of good and evil in human beings, and the difficulty of making the world a better place, are interesting. And Lake has created a strong protagonist in Green, a narrator of conscience and empathy who honestly tells the story of her lonely childhood and youth being trained into a mistress/spy but struggling instead to choose her own path in life. Green abhors the violence she must often use and discovers how difficult it is to act solely for oneself without causing unexpected harm.

The first half of the story is absorbing, as Green details her training in the Pomegranate Court of the Factor's House, but in the last third things get, perhaps, a little too frenzied, fabulous, and divinely influenced. The conclusion ties up the immediate story well enough but also leaves things open for future volumes in Green's autobiography.

Some listeners have objected to the lesbian love that plays a significant (though not overly graphic or frequent) role in the novel. Given Green's education, experiences, and personality, I find it appropriate (and even moving), though her interest in whipping and being whipped seems a bit far-fetched and excrescently kinky.

Katherine Kellgren gives a strong reading, just as she does for Bloody Jack, full of understanding and compassion, modified for different characters, and enhancing the story's exciting, scary, tender, or sad parts. But she has such a distinctive voice that at times I thought "Katherine" rather than "Green."

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23 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Wonderful, Pushing the Envelope

There is nothing more annoying than a protagonist who is whiny, weak and indecisive. This book is none of that. The way a young girl is shoved into an adult world can be unsettling if you are a sensitive person, but this is life on the streets in all its brutal reality.
As for "god possession" and "no such thing as sin", this is Sci-Fi not bible literature, what did you expect?
Its actually a fairly short book, I was hoping for more, but that's how it is with all great stories. The author did a great job of wrapping things up. If you want a long book read Robert Jordan, that will put things in perspective.

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19 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars

Beware! Book goes downhill in part 2.

There are two parts to this audio book. The first got my attention and held it - which takes Green up to age 12 - and goes along with the description of the book. When I started listening to part two, the book goes down hill due to repeated lesbian acts, molesting minors, people being possessed of gods, and stating "there is no such thing as sin". I wish the description of the book would have included this information (especially since it is a dominant theme in part two) - I wouldn't have wasted my time with it.

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17 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars

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.

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16 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars

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.

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8 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

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.

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7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

NOPE, JUST NO.

Any additional comments?

I made it through about 1/4 maybe it was a 1/3'd of the way, right at the Temple of the Lily goddess. Green is a 12/13 year old girl at this point and is sexually abused. I'm sorry - at that age ANY sexual description - action - writing is ABUSE. I made it through the abominable physical beatings in the first part of the story, becoming less inclined to finish the book and then --- the temple. NOPE, I'm done.

As far as Katherine Kellgren's performance, she read well, too well. The older women of the temple became even more disgusting in their acts of abuse with Green because of the voice given them by Kellgren.

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

I wouldn't listen to this with your grandma.

If you could sum up Green in three words, what would they be?

trials, training, revenge

What was one of the most memorable moments of Green?

spoiler alert... the death of the Ghost King guy

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

The catwoman, her name escapes me at the moment.

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

I listen to the while working, so I finished it in two work days,

Any additional comments?

This is a book I added at random. I think this book falls into the category of an epic, by the true definition not by the more recent overused one. Lots of interesting characters, travel, vivid details of landscapes, etc. I loved that. The numerous sexscenes seemed oddly out of place to me, but they didn't offend me or anything. The part where the wicked priest says "The boy had the ass of an angel" was a little awkward but whatever. I'll probably read the other two books.

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

This is probably my favorite series ever!

Any additional comments?

This book is about a bad ass girl who grows into a woman during this series. The plot is amazing and the stage is phenomenal. I can't say enough about this series, so I won't. I have hundreds of audio books from Audible, so don't take it lightly when I say this is my favorite. Get it. Listen to it.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Green is/was the new Metatropolis Universe

When I began listening to this book I kept thinking of Metatropolis and that whole Universe. I think if Jay Lake was still alive he could have adapted this story to that Universe which would have given a whole new dimension to Metatropolis.

This is a good story as a stand alone story and if you want there are more books in the series. However, I haven't read them at this time and may never.

Here we have a story of a young girl who was sold to a stranger and was forced into a world where she didn't fit in. She was conditioned and trained in many skills except critical thinking. This story follows this young girl into womanhood with all her misadventures leading her to critical thinking!

I really enjoyed this story and again I kept thinking Metatropolis with how that story will never be completed with Jay's passing. Which means after book three this one will not be completed either. You are missed Jay!

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3 people found this helpful