Incarnations of Immortality, 5: Being a Green Mother

Rating:
Summary: Yet, Another Wonderful Read in the IOI Series
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: Being a Green Mother
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: The Weakest Link
Review: I was not as impressed with "Being a Green Mother" as I have been with the previous four novels in this series. I cared very little for Orb (the title character), who really should have been further developed. The peripheral characters were more interesting, and carried most of the book. The story line is intriguing in the beginning, but through most of the middle of the book, I found myself struggling to stay engaged. "Being a Green Mother" does pick up towards the end, but doesn't manage to save the work entirely. The magic in this particular novel is WAY over the top, even for those who are familiar with Anthony's other works, and readers may find it frustrating. If you are new to this series, I would not suggest beginning with this episode of the saga. Synopsis: Orb is gifted with a rare ability to entrance people with her music. Music is her passion. As a child, she hears a piece of music that she simply cannot resist, and longs to posses it. Little does she know that the song is one of the most powerful weapons of magic to have ever been created, and her pursuit of it will lead her into a prophecy that she has long ignored. While searching for this rare and beautiful song, Orb finds that her power is suited to the office of Nature. In fact, she has been nominated as the next Incarnation of Nature, and unless she accepts her fate, and learns to wield the power of Nature accordingly, the world as we know it just might end.

Rating:
Summary: An improvement over the previous entry. . .
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: My favorite of the entire series
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: If Only I Had Read Them In Order...
Review: 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!

Rating:
Summary: A necessary book, but the least interesting of the series
Review: 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?????

Rating:
Summary: At least I've now read all in this series --
Review: This is the fifth (and, for a time, the last) book in the "Incarnations of Immortality" series (Piers Anthony later wrote two more, good books, on "good" and "evil" in the series). The whole series takes place in a version of our reality where magic holds equal status with science, and each major aspect of reality - death, time, fate, war, nature, good, evil - is run by an ex-mortal who has, by choice or chance, inherited the job of running that aspect.

"Being a Green Mother" tackles the aspect of nature. The writing is fast-paced and flawless, but the plot gets very weird at times, and there is not much depth to this book, unlike "On a Pale Horse" (death) or "Wielding a Red Sword" (war). I am glad that Anthony went on to write two more, better books for this series, as this would not have been a good way for the series to end.

Rating:
Summary: the series just gets worse
Review: 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.