Customer Reviews

Being a Green Mother

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

This is the only review I will write for the entire Incarnations of Immortality series because the review will be about the same for each book.

The series is uneven most of the time, with philosophy thrown in with annoyingly cute humor and cliches. This book is the worst of the lot. It goes on and on about this quest, following the exact same formula as in all the other books. The only thing that changes is the point of view depending on what character is highlighted.

It's boring. It's a waste of time. The only good thing about this book (and all the rest) are the interesting concepts about Death, Time, Fate, War, Nature, Evil, and Good. The premise is okay, but the storytelling is awful. Read one book and consider yourself done.

After being introduced to the wonderful nature (pardon the pun) of Orb in the fourth book, it was wonderful to come back and revisit her and really get to know her in this fifth book of the Incarnations of Immortality series. Of particular interest is what happened to her shortly after Mym left... which is the setup for book #2 (Norton's love, Orlean) and the last book.

As with all of the other books, Satan is there to cause mayhem in her life as he continues to champion the cause of evil. When Orb meets and starts to fall in love with a man named Natasha (his father wanted a daughter) she is warned by all of the incarnations that Satan might have a hand in it and to be on her guard.

This book is very good, and you see how all of the Incarnations are related to each other in one way or another... including Satan, the Incarnation of Evil.

This book dragged a little during the middle part. The beginning was interesting and the last 3rd of the book was very well done.

The character that assume the office of the Incarnation of Nature is name Orb. She is the Daughter of Niobe from bk 3. A beautiful gifted singer that is destined to "maybe marry evil". Orb leaves home at the age of 18 to pursure a singing career and she soon begins a trek for a particular song called the "llano", which is a song so powerful that it can manipulate nature itself.

Orb meets a number people during her quest. The 2 most significant is Mym, her first true love that become the Incarnation of War in book 4, and a Mysterious singer named Natasha.

What Orb dosen't realized is that her quest is actually training to become the Incarnation of Nature.

Like all IOI books, Satan plays a strong role, epecially when a new person becomes an Incarnation. New Incarnations are so inexperienced that Satan likes to manipulate them to gain advantage in the War over good and evil. Satan has a particular interest in Orb.

I found Orb's "quest" a little to drawn out. The book did finish very strong setting up book 6 for a very interesting read. As a teaser, Natasha spells what backwards?????

Being a Green Mother is the 5th book in the Incarnations of Immortality. If you've not read the previous 4 books, the storyline and family ties may confuse you a bit. I have always felt that this series screams paganism at top volume. Perhaps the author did not mean for it to be so, but Orb, with her abilities and gifts, best exemplifies what every pagan wishes to be able to do.

The availability of the Incarnations series for me left a lot to be desired. You see, I read "On A Pale Horse" (Death), followed by excerpts from "Wielding A Red Sword" (War), the only two I had a chance of reading. So, when "For Love Of Evil" (Satan) came available, I jumped at it, even though it was out of order. Thus, when I finally got the chance to read the other 3 (including "Being A Green Mother" [Nature]), I knew how they ended. But I still enjoyed them greatly. As the series continued, I found that Anthony referred back to earlier episodes more and more. This is fine if you read from #1 to #6 in order, but if not, it can make things a little confusing. Luckily, Anthony's writing style made it easy for me to understand the basics of what was happening, preserving the flow of the book at hand, without giving away too much when I went back and found the other books. Enjoy!

Like the previous four volumes in this series, "Being a Green Mother" deals with a human taking on the role of an Incarnation. While the plot of this novel becomes fairly predictible, the characters are interesting. Anthony's imagination certainly comes to the fore in this novel, incorporating, Jonah the Whale, Jezebel and the band that played in "On a Pale Horse"

Again, like the previous novel, it appears that Anthony intends to unite all the Incarnations together by family or relationship ties. Orb, the daughter of Niobe, is revealed as the mother of Orlene (fathered by Mym) who becomes the lover of Chronos. (I did find the resolution of the relationship between Mym and Orb to be unconvincing.)

Again, like the previous novel, the final showdown between the title character and Satan approaches the level of total destruction -- something not seen in the first three novels. It also becomes clear that more novels will be required -- the ending is a SERIOUS cliff-hanger! (If not entirely believable!)

An enjoyable entry in this series.

I see there are great differences in opinions on this book -- I enjoyed the other four in this series but had to struggle through this one. I assume, since this was the fifth of the series, it was the fifth written. As I read the book, I had the feeling that Mr. Anthony had gotten to the "Let's get this overwith!" point with this one. Not near as much to think about, or to be intrigued by as there was in On A Pale Horse or Bearing an Hourglass.

Personally I found this book to be the most enjoyable to read out of 7 in the Incarnations of Immortality series. This book was very well written, had a great storyline, and amazing characters that I fell in love with from the beginning and never stopped loving to this very day. Let the soap opera of deities continue as Piers Anthony weaves a masterpiece of imagination and intrigue. 5 out of 5 and nothing less for this novel.

The readers of this series already know that there was a prophecy between Luna and Orb. The prophecy was that 'One might marry Death and the other Evil'. When Orb and Luna were young they met some gypsies that talked about the Llano(a musical song that is supposed to do good)and how they were searching for it. From then on, Orb committed her life to finding the Llano. When Orb has no reason to stay at home she leaves her mother, Niobe, and goes in search of this mystic song. Orb travels around the world looking for the Llano. She joins a traveling circus so she can go all around India. Then it ends and she goes to visit Luna. She ends up joining and band that travels around for the Llano.Then one day Orb was in a trap and Natasha rescued her. Then she met Natasha and fell in love with him. His voice was a match for hers. One day Niobe went to tell her daughter,Orb, that she was being offered the chand to be the green mother. Was Natasha working for Satan or was he Orbs true love?

This book is the worst Piers Anthony has ever written. The plot is shallow and disjointed, three of the lead characters have no names, the female lead is written with startling ineptitude, and the storyline is absolutely nothing new compared to the other books in the Incarnations of Immortality series. There are only two possible reasons to read this book. 1: You are trying to finish off the series. 2: You are an aspiring writer who wants the confirmation of reading something by a published author that could have been done by a twelve year old with a typewriter and a sick mind.