Green by Jay Lake
Published by Tor Books
ISBN: 0765321858
This new book is based on a previous short story written by Lake. The original story (with a lot new material added) takes up the first 150 pages. Green isn't at all like Lake's Mainspring and Escapement. The world is younger and much less sophisticated. There's no undercurrent of Roman Catholic religiosity or its morality. Green offers in-your-face assassin fantasy filled with action, grit, and sex. It's certainly some of the best new fiction in 2010
Straightforward Fantasy Plot
Green takes place in a young world, filled with warring nations, teeming and raucous cities, cultures, savage races, and prehistoric gods. Unlike Lake's previous novels, Green is written in the first person, from the standpoint of a young girl who subsequently grows up. She narrates the story from the vantage of old age, looking back on her life. Her commentary is frequently humorous, and as a person, she's hard to dislike. She points out her own mistakes, while telling her story in a matter-of-fact manner.
Bought as a child and raised to be the concubine of a king, Green rebelled against those constraints. She rejects the name Emerald, given to her by that monarch, and she takes the name "Green." Instead of consort, she becomes an accomplished assassin, returning to the land of her birth, killing all those who offend the "death-right' of that nation. She becomes a "Lily-blade." As a blade, Green becomes feared and revered, all before the age of twenty.
The Characters in Green
Green is fairly young to be such a powerful character, but Lake somehow pulls it off. Unlike Kylar Stern (Night Angel), Pazel Pathkendle (Ruling Sea), or Neb (Lamentation and Canticle), Lake's teen "superwoman" seems more believable. She's isn't invulnerable, suffering injury and setbacks. She's defeated on occasion, but survives to fight again.
And Green's hero-ship isn't sudden. Lake starts with her as a child and carefully molds her into the fighter that she becomes. He also doesn't make her voluptuously beautiful. Oh, she's pretty enough to turn heads, until she intentionally scars her own face to avoid concubinage, at once both intriguing and repellent. Green's is a complex character and gripping story.
After nearly being forced into concubinage, a cute word for forced prostitution, it's hard to blame Green for her gradual slide into homosexuality. Lake's novel gives repeated titillating scenes portraying her enjoyment of other women, usually fellow assassins, and ironically, a man at the end of the novel. Whether the sexual scenes are added to sell books or to flesh out Green's character is difficult to ascertain. The graphic content rarely dips into the obscene, but there's certainly more of it than is Lake's previous work.
As a standalone novel, Green has a lot to offer. Lake's world-building, his use of crazy-cool new races and ancient culture, his excellent use of first person and characterization all combine to give his fans and new readers a fast-paced story that builds quickly, maintains a page-turning pace, and ends well. It certainly adds a little twist at the end, so that Lake can write a sequel, but it's a solid standalone, too. Readers will enjoy Green certainly as much as his other recent work, probably even more so.
Other Reviews by Ben Lingenfelter
Ben Lingenfelter - As an intinerant writer, I've found freedom to write and learn about a variety of topics. That fits me perfectly. I've been an English ...
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