Convergence : Book One of The Blending

Rating:
Summary: I dare you to try it!
Review: From what I've heard readers say so far, The Blending is probably my best work to date. Even my youngest son, who doesn't usually read fantasy, went out and BOUGHT a copy of the second book after reading the first. If you read it and DON'T like it, feel free to email me with your criticisms and complaints. Now, how many other writers make that offer? (Don't answer that; for all I know there are hundreds or thousands.) Seriously, though, I'm told people are having trouble finding bookstores which carry these books. Amazon.com, though, isn't one of them, so please help support a needy writer. Thank you Sharon Green

Rating:
Summary: One of the best fantasy books ever! - A must read!
Review: Sharon Green is one of my favorite fantasy authors. Her latest book, Convergence, is her best work to date, and I found it hard to put it down to eat or go to sleep. In this new fantasy world, unconnected to those of her previous stories, five magically talented individuals with uncommon strength but who are in bad personal situations are forced by the state to demonstrate their magical abilities for the purpose of forming a Blending that will stave off a prophesied takeover of their world by four ancient, powerful tyrants who had once enslaved the world and would do so again. But to qualify, the five protagonists not only have to overcome a series of tests that one must pass or probably die, but also the intrigues of two or more corrupt factions in high power, as well as the attempts by selfish, greedy and callous relatives and acquaintances to exploit them for their own personal gain. It was quite fascinating to see the two woman and three men overcome various inhibitions caused by their previous life situations and to come together, develop friendships with one another, and help each other when one or more of their former relatives or acquaintances tried to force one of them back into the previous life that they had. I'm quite happy to see Sharon Green mostly leaving a common and now tiresome motif found in nearly all her previous books - a powerfully talented, self-centered and close-minded female protagonist unjustly tries to stave off the efforts of a talented, good-natured man to overcome a bad personal situation she is in and to make friends and then love between them. In Convergence, only one of the females is similarly represented, and as she is the nominal narrator of the story and does not seem to hold this attitude anymore in her asides to the reader, which are said to be made at a future time in relation to the story's end of this first book of the series, I have hopes that this will not be dragged out in the rest of the series. I am eagerly looking forward to the next book in this series and expect it will be as enjoyable as the first. Ron Ebert [e-mail]

Rating:
Summary: A very entertaining story with strongly developed characters
Review: I've been a fan of Sharon Green for some time, and she just keeps getting better. In this novel, she shifts the point of view, fully developing each of her five main characters. The introduction of the first person in several places really adds color and makes the book impossible to put down. It's a story full of magic, danger, romance and excitement to please even the daintiest of palates. If you read it, you'll be hard-pressed to wait for the next one in the series! Also, if you enjoyed this novel, you might try The Far Side of Forever, also by Sharon Green. It's a bit less developed, and obviously an earlier work, but just as entertaining.

Rating:
Summary: One of the best books I've read!!!
Review: This is one of the best books I've ever read! It's definitely a page-turner, has a great plot continued throughout the rest of the series, and has wonderful characters. Aside from the fact that Sharon Green describes the characters having tea a lot more than most American authors I've read, this is one of the best examples of fantasy fiction. Thanks to Sharon Green for writing this book and all the sequels!

Rating:
Summary: Not sure on this one
Review: I'm not sure if I'll go on to read the rest of this series. The concept is intriguing and the characters are interesting, but the whole thing was repetitive (everything had to be viewed from all five characters' points of view, down to conversations you had to read through two or three times to see all sides of them) and had a slightly overblown-fantasy feel--as someone stated in a review above, it does occasionally feel like bad fanfiction. Still, I liked the characters and had genuine sympathy for them in many cases, plus I do like the magical aspect--though again, that got rather overblown-fantasy-esque at the beginning of the book, where there was either too much exposition explaining the complex magical government system, or the reviled expositionary trick of characters making statements to other characters about things they already knew for the benefit of the reader. I'll likely read the rest...but I'll get them from the library rather than buying them next time.

Rating:
Summary: Lack of depth... but still enjoyable.
Review: Note: This is a review of the entire series.

With that said, The Blending. Where to start? Let's start with the good things.

The characters were very likeable people. Even the villains were likeable in that they were good villains. Everybody gets time to tell his or her piece of the story, so the story isn't limited to the view of only one character (though Tamrissa Domon, Fire magic, is the one writing this).

The magic was very cool. I liked how people didn't necessarily have powers for fighting (say, like in your standard fantasy novel) but instead commanded the elements to make their lives easier. It was sort of like their version of modern conveniences.

Never once in the story was there a lack of challenges, twists and turns to keep the characters and the reader busy. Most of the main characters have someone coming after them to bring them back to their former lives (poor Lorand. All he had there was Hat trying to bum money off him) and they would have to come up with new ways to escape, test their new powers, or test their growth as people. If they'd been a little younger, I'd call it a coming of age story.

I rather like the creation of new names and titles. I think it gives fantasy novels a certain flare to give the characters fantasy vocabulary. I liked Dom and Dama in the place of Mr. And Mrs./Miss. But... there's a character named Hat. I just can't get over that, it makes me scream laughing.
Now the bad. After reading this series, the following words will drive you to murderous rage: Puredan, blond, bathhouse, tea.

Puredan is something of a spoiler, so I won't go into it. I don't mean this as a discrimination against blonds. I like blonds. But this thing is, the five main characters are all blond (yeah, yeah cover picture. Ignore it) and they mention someone's blondness on almost every page of the book. It's like Flowers in the Attic in that way. As for bathhouses and tea, whenever they're sitting around, they're drinking tea. I can think of only one scene in book one that involved booze and frankly it was on of my favorite parts. Not because they got drunk and acted stupidly, (which did happen) but because it's one of the first scenes where the characters really begin to interact with each other. It's sweet in a crude way. And they take baths all the time. In detail.

Furthermore, while the characters are likeable, they have a bit of one-dimensional... ness to them. The good guys are almost pure good. They don't have a shred of malice in them, and some of them went through some pretty painful stuff. The villains are all pure evil; the nobility are all peasant-hating, uppity jerks. It's rather stereotypical. Even the romance is a little flat. Tamrissa and Vallant are quite cute together, but you will get to a point where you want them to shut up and stop fighting. Rion and Naran remind me strongly of Fredric Henry and Catherine Barkley in A Farewell to Arms. They don't use each other's names... just love... As for Jovvi and Lorand, you'll be constantly scratching your head, puzzled as to why these two hooked up.

The writing will remind you of a bad fanfiction work at times. Like when the same thing happens to all five people in five different chapters. The fireball gets tiring REALLY fast. If you got rid of some of the useless events and dialogue (like the bathhouse scenes... I hate repetition of dialogue), you could have reduced the five books to a trilogy.

All in all, though, the story was cool and not nearly as shallow as it seemed once you discovered the corruption that lies right under the surface of Gan Garee and indeed the whole empire. Book five brings everything to satisfying fruition after endless testing and trials and revelations. It's good, fun, sometimes fluffy reading. If anything, you'll probably keep reading to see people get what's coming to them. I finished the whole series in about a week and a half. If a kid you know is making the transition from young adult to adult books, this would be great for them. I give The Blending four stars.

Rating:
Summary: Bogus!
Review: When I first bought this, I was excited to possibly find another fantasy series....but....this was one of the worst books I have ever read! Actually, I can't even say I read it because I never finished it. Not finishing a book is rare for me, and usually when I start reading a book and I'm not fond of the story, I WILL try to read a little more to give it a chance. But "Convergence" starts the same story over again, five times--each one told by a different pathetic character. "Tamrissa", the "in-between" narrator, was so annoying it made me sick. Once the characters began to (sort of) get along, I just put the book down--I couldn't stand it any more. How can fictitious characters be so irritating?

Rating:
Summary: Oddly addictive
Review: This Blending series is oddly addictive, despite the stilted dialogue and repetitive plot. My friends and I kept buying them to find out what happens next - and then phoning each other up to laugh over some of the writing. (For example, in book 3, one of the characters says that "My love remains the same, but the boring insect of doubt eats away at the heart of that love...") Still, we kept buying them. Maybe it's the magic system, which we found interesting.

Anyways, if you like light fantasy, you may enjoy this series (but you may feel a little guilty about doing so!).

Rating:
Summary: Great light Fantasy Reading
Review: Sharon Green's "The Blending" was a pretty good book if you're into light Fantasy. Do not expect complex characters, plot or a well-developed world because you won't find that here. However if you only have a couple hours and want to read an amusing and emotionally-engaging Fantasy, this book will work. After reading it I am planning on buying the other books, although my preferences lean towards sprawling worlds and epic adventures more in line with, Brooks, Jordan, Willams and Modessitt, sometimes I just want to curl up in a ball and skim through something in a short space of time. The character's although one-dimensional are likeable, the villians (also one-dimensional) are odious, there's minimal sex, and plenty of good old-fashioned romance, as well as the basic five elemental magic set-up. You won't love it. But you'll like it. And if you are tired of chasing 20 different characters through a gigantic world and just want a straightforward story, this book is for you!