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Green Universe #2
Der stumme Gott
Die Assassine und ehemalige Kurtisane Green hat es geschafft: Sie konnte sich aus der Sklaverei befreien und lebt nun ruhig und zurückgezogen - bis erneut ihre Dienste gefordert werden.
Green soll es mit mehreren Gottesmördern aufnehmen: mächtige Magier mit dem Ziel, die Welt von allen göttlichen Wesen zu reinigen. Auch auf die Liliengöttin, der Green einst die Treue schwor, haben sie es abgesehen ...
Green soll es mit mehreren Gottesmördern aufnehmen: mächtige Magier mit dem Ziel, die Welt von allen göttlichen Wesen zu reinigen. Auch auf die Liliengöttin, der Green einst die Treue schwor, haben sie es abgesehen ...
464 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 8, 2011
21 people are currently reading
760 people want to read
About the author
Jay Lake
238 books253 followersJay Lake lived in Portland, Oregon, where he worked on multiple writing and editing projects. His 2007 book Mainspring received a starred review in Booklist. His short fiction appeared regularly in literary and genre markets worldwide. Jay won the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer, Endeavour Award, and was a multiple nominee for the Hugo and World Fantasy Awards.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 51 reviews
October 29, 2011
Three stars might be the lowest rating I've ever given a Jay Lake book. But I have a good relationship with Jay, and I think he expects me to be honest in my reviews and not just give extra stars or say nice things just because we've chatted on Livejournal and I've interviewed him for my website. And if I'm being honest ... ENDURANCE didn't work for me as well as its predecessor GREEN. I think I've delayed writing this review for as long as I have (Goodreads tells me I finished reading the ARC I was graced with back on September 29) because I've struggled with putting into words exactly why the book didn't work for me.
It's not Jay's prose, which is as strong as ever. Jay is fantastic at creating a sense of place in everything he writes. Without the dense descriptive verbiage other fantasy writers employ, Jay makes the locations of ENDURANCE as important as the characters. Whether Green is lingering in the hills above Copper Downs encountering ghosts and wild-women, stalking the streets of the city, wreaking havoc in the Textile Bourse or resting in the nascent Temple of Endurance, her surroundings play as much a role in what happens as the people around her do. Striking the balance of enough description without overdoing it is, I think, a bit harder in a first person narrative and Jay pulls it off. Likewise, the characters themselves stay in character; returning characters feel familiar, new characters fit in appropriately. Any change in personality is a logical progression from what the characters experience.
No, I think my slight disappointment with the book boils down to two problems:
1. It just feels like a "middle book." Like most first books, GREEN wrapped up very well even while leaving questions about Green's future open to sequels. ENDURANCE starts strong from that point, re-establishing who Green is, where she is, and what has passed since the first book ended. Jay parcels out pertinent information from the previous book when it's necessary (easy to do with a narrator who is clearly telling the story from a removed-in-time vantage point) without resorting to the dreaded "info-dump" (the potential problem of a first-person narrator). But plot strands intended to be resolved in the concluding volume of the trilogy are introduced part-way through the book and as a reader I was almost immediately aware that not all of these plot strands could, or would, be resolved in the immediate volume. While I was satisfied with most of the action of the book (as I'll discuss in a moment), I still couldn't shake that feeling that the book doesn't stand completely on its own. It nagged just enough to bring my enjoyment of the book down a touch.
2. I realized that while I feel for Green and the situation she finds herself in, I didn't really like her in this book. Being privy to her internal monologues made me want to slap her upside the head and tell her to wake up and pay attention and stop being so obstinate. Now, on one level this is a good reaction to have -- I'm a fan of those moments in a book where the reader recognizes some danger the main character doesn't, I think it heightens tension and there were moments in this book where the tension was palpable for this very reason. But there were a large number of moments where I felt that Green was just choosing to ignore lessons I thought she'd already learned (for instance, about giving unconditional trust to strangers just because they seem nice, or about assuming you know what someone else's motivations are just because it's what you'd do). The danger of her situation, the hard decisions she has to make -- I understood all of that, none of it was lost on me, and yes I do get that sometimes, in tense situations, we forget lessons we've obviously learned. But this feeling lingered throughout the book for me, and that's not a great thing when the entire book is from that character's POV.
Now, from those two comments one might walk away from this review thinking I hated the book, so let me be clear: 3 stars means I liked the book, I just didn't love it. In addition to the aforementioned strong prose and sense of place and characters, the main action of Endurance propels along at a great pace. The plot of the Godslayers coming to Copper Downs, and Green once again being co-opted by godly powers to save the day, is a compelling one and Jay sweeps us along with it. We the readers realize what is going on long before Green does, and that ratchets the tension up even further: will SHE figure it out in time. And of course, as with the end of book one, the final series of confrontations are BIG, dramatic, explosive, borderline insane.
So there's a lot to recommend ENDURANCE. And your reaction may be different in terms of the book feeling like a middle book and in terms of how you feel about Green by the end of it. I will say this, in closing: even though I found myself not liking Green very much by the end of the book, I still want to see how her story resolves when Jay releases KALIMPURA. She may not be likable, but she is compelling. And Jay Lake has earned my trust as an author.
It's not Jay's prose, which is as strong as ever. Jay is fantastic at creating a sense of place in everything he writes. Without the dense descriptive verbiage other fantasy writers employ, Jay makes the locations of ENDURANCE as important as the characters. Whether Green is lingering in the hills above Copper Downs encountering ghosts and wild-women, stalking the streets of the city, wreaking havoc in the Textile Bourse or resting in the nascent Temple of Endurance, her surroundings play as much a role in what happens as the people around her do. Striking the balance of enough description without overdoing it is, I think, a bit harder in a first person narrative and Jay pulls it off. Likewise, the characters themselves stay in character; returning characters feel familiar, new characters fit in appropriately. Any change in personality is a logical progression from what the characters experience.
No, I think my slight disappointment with the book boils down to two problems:
1. It just feels like a "middle book." Like most first books, GREEN wrapped up very well even while leaving questions about Green's future open to sequels. ENDURANCE starts strong from that point, re-establishing who Green is, where she is, and what has passed since the first book ended. Jay parcels out pertinent information from the previous book when it's necessary (easy to do with a narrator who is clearly telling the story from a removed-in-time vantage point) without resorting to the dreaded "info-dump" (the potential problem of a first-person narrator). But plot strands intended to be resolved in the concluding volume of the trilogy are introduced part-way through the book and as a reader I was almost immediately aware that not all of these plot strands could, or would, be resolved in the immediate volume. While I was satisfied with most of the action of the book (as I'll discuss in a moment), I still couldn't shake that feeling that the book doesn't stand completely on its own. It nagged just enough to bring my enjoyment of the book down a touch.
2. I realized that while I feel for Green and the situation she finds herself in, I didn't really like her in this book. Being privy to her internal monologues made me want to slap her upside the head and tell her to wake up and pay attention and stop being so obstinate. Now, on one level this is a good reaction to have -- I'm a fan of those moments in a book where the reader recognizes some danger the main character doesn't, I think it heightens tension and there were moments in this book where the tension was palpable for this very reason. But there were a large number of moments where I felt that Green was just choosing to ignore lessons I thought she'd already learned (for instance, about giving unconditional trust to strangers just because they seem nice, or about assuming you know what someone else's motivations are just because it's what you'd do). The danger of her situation, the hard decisions she has to make -- I understood all of that, none of it was lost on me, and yes I do get that sometimes, in tense situations, we forget lessons we've obviously learned. But this feeling lingered throughout the book for me, and that's not a great thing when the entire book is from that character's POV.
Now, from those two comments one might walk away from this review thinking I hated the book, so let me be clear: 3 stars means I liked the book, I just didn't love it. In addition to the aforementioned strong prose and sense of place and characters, the main action of Endurance propels along at a great pace. The plot of the Godslayers coming to Copper Downs, and Green once again being co-opted by godly powers to save the day, is a compelling one and Jay sweeps us along with it. We the readers realize what is going on long before Green does, and that ratchets the tension up even further: will SHE figure it out in time. And of course, as with the end of book one, the final series of confrontations are BIG, dramatic, explosive, borderline insane.
So there's a lot to recommend ENDURANCE. And your reaction may be different in terms of the book feeling like a middle book and in terms of how you feel about Green by the end of it. I will say this, in closing: even though I found myself not liking Green very much by the end of the book, I still want to see how her story resolves when Jay releases KALIMPURA. She may not be likable, but she is compelling. And Jay Lake has earned my trust as an author.
February 6, 2013
I liked Green and I really liked Endurance as well. While in Green, Green was struggling to make her way thru her enslavement as a courtesan in tranining before exploding into the world outside, in Endurance she was busy picking up the pieces of her actions in the first novel while actively trying to evade responsibility for those actions. In doing this she could be petulant, egotistical and narrow-minded in pursuing her goals.
Green is far from a perfect person. She was sold into slavery as a child and raised with no contact with the world outside her compound. First schooled to be the mistress of the Duke, and later schooled to be an assassin, she's been used and mislead for as long as she can recall. She trusts very few people, and she even has reservations about many of those in which she has any trust at all. She's smart, fast, strong, sexual, sexy and deadly, and she's feared by her enemies and her allies alike. All that add's up to a very interesting character, who's getting herself into or finding herself in trouble and usually finds herself having to open up a extremely potent can of kick-ass to get herself out of it. And she can cook too!
If I had a complaint about the book at all, it was with the frequent moments of 20/20 hindsight where Green stepped out of the current story to regret doing this or not doing that was disruptive to the flow of the story. Don't tell me that you screwed up...surprise me two chapters later.
That minor gripe aside, read Green then read Endurance, but don't let her get anywhere near your china cabinet if you want it to stay intact, but do let her into the kitchen to make some curry for dinner.
Green is far from a perfect person. She was sold into slavery as a child and raised with no contact with the world outside her compound. First schooled to be the mistress of the Duke, and later schooled to be an assassin, she's been used and mislead for as long as she can recall. She trusts very few people, and she even has reservations about many of those in which she has any trust at all. She's smart, fast, strong, sexual, sexy and deadly, and she's feared by her enemies and her allies alike. All that add's up to a very interesting character, who's getting herself into or finding herself in trouble and usually finds herself having to open up a extremely potent can of kick-ass to get herself out of it. And she can cook too!
If I had a complaint about the book at all, it was with the frequent moments of 20/20 hindsight where Green stepped out of the current story to regret doing this or not doing that was disruptive to the flow of the story. Don't tell me that you screwed up...surprise me two chapters later.
That minor gripe aside, read Green then read Endurance, but don't let her get anywhere near your china cabinet if you want it to stay intact, but do let her into the kitchen to make some curry for dinner.
October 4, 2012
A decent book, I generally liked it though I also think that _Endurance_ suffers in comparison with the first volume in this series, _Green_. Why? The best answer (though there are others) to me is the lack of the strong narrative tool that so dominated the first part of _Green_, namely that of the girl with no name, taken from her homeland, her entire world becoming that of a single courtyard and the attached building (for the most part) and a succession of teachers that come to see her, most cruel or at least petty. Even those I noticed that went on to dislike the book admit that the opening narrative structure of _Green_ was excellent. Perhaps done before – Harry Potter, Ender’s Game – to one degree or another, but let’s face it, when done well, it is powerful stuff. Nothing like that exists in this sequel.
Perhaps relating to my point above this book is messier, filled with conspiracies, plans within plans, a rogue’s gallery of enemies that Green (the character) collected in _Green_ (the book), some perhaps working together, all while making all new enemies. Even people she thinks are allies become, eh, either less than reliable or worse, really enemies also and powerful ones at that. To an extent the book felt like cleanup (of sorts, not that everything got tidied up) from the first book in the series. Though I liked how choices in this setting have consequences (if not blowback) the messy, conspiratorial world got to be a bit much for me at times, hard to follow at times.
That brings my next point. Once again the author has a single point of view the entire book. Though the problems I had with the ending of _Green_ are to me answered, the single point of view model showed serious limitations; namely, for most of the book Green is puzzling out who hates her and why and what the motivations of the various actors around her are. It is clear much of the book she doesn’t have all the information and that is fine – to a point – but again and again she puzzles out why someone is in Copper Downs or which of her old enemies is the most deadly. It got a little repetitive and I think the author would have had a better pace if other points of view were brought in.
Related to that idea, one thing that bothered me was that if Green wasn’t there to see the action of a particular character or characters, the reader didn’t know what happened. Sure, one could see results, but scenes that might have been very interesting never get explored because Green wasn’t there. Not a huge problem for me but again is a lesson for me in the limitation of a single point of view format.
A final complaint is that Green is pregnant the entire book. Fine, to a point it is interesting how she explores how this affects her body (and more to the point, her fighting and moving styles) but it started to stretch credulity for me how she could get involved in that many falls and that many fights and not have a miscarriage. I am no doctor but…well, it bothered me a little. Perhaps the gods favored her, which if so, fine, the character certainly had the attention of many deities in the book.
Ok, enough complaints. The strengths; the way gods and the various levels of divinity are handled in this setting is good. The gods are original and the various types of divine beings, from avatars all the way up to titanics is interesting. I do like how they are both an integral part of the setting and of the story. Too often in fantasy stories the gods and their roles, at least at first, can seem somewhat shoehorned in, but in this volume they are a vital part of the plot, some using humans, some being used by humans (and with the deities in question perhaps being aware, perhaps not).
The author refrains from really using any non-human race except for the cat-like pardines and they get better explored in this book, showing refreshingly that not every member of their race thinks alike and also how they may have multiple motives with some fairly three-dimensional characters. I also like how their relationship with souls and the world of the gods is quite different from the humans in the book.
The character Green herself continues to grow and show some real signs of maturity, of not always leaping before she looks, of how to be more tactful, of how to be better at politics, and how to know when to use force and when not to. Far from perfect as a tactician and strategist (and deliberately written as so), I do buy the concept of her growing up and into her role.
I do want to read the third volume in the series and plan to buy a copy when it comes out. I think if you liked _Green_ you will in general be pleased but will also probably have the same problems that I did. I don’t think the problems are enough by any means to ruin the book but I do wish they had been better addressed.
Perhaps relating to my point above this book is messier, filled with conspiracies, plans within plans, a rogue’s gallery of enemies that Green (the character) collected in _Green_ (the book), some perhaps working together, all while making all new enemies. Even people she thinks are allies become, eh, either less than reliable or worse, really enemies also and powerful ones at that. To an extent the book felt like cleanup (of sorts, not that everything got tidied up) from the first book in the series. Though I liked how choices in this setting have consequences (if not blowback) the messy, conspiratorial world got to be a bit much for me at times, hard to follow at times.
That brings my next point. Once again the author has a single point of view the entire book. Though the problems I had with the ending of _Green_ are to me answered, the single point of view model showed serious limitations; namely, for most of the book Green is puzzling out who hates her and why and what the motivations of the various actors around her are. It is clear much of the book she doesn’t have all the information and that is fine – to a point – but again and again she puzzles out why someone is in Copper Downs or which of her old enemies is the most deadly. It got a little repetitive and I think the author would have had a better pace if other points of view were brought in.
Related to that idea, one thing that bothered me was that if Green wasn’t there to see the action of a particular character or characters, the reader didn’t know what happened. Sure, one could see results, but scenes that might have been very interesting never get explored because Green wasn’t there. Not a huge problem for me but again is a lesson for me in the limitation of a single point of view format.
A final complaint is that Green is pregnant the entire book. Fine, to a point it is interesting how she explores how this affects her body (and more to the point, her fighting and moving styles) but it started to stretch credulity for me how she could get involved in that many falls and that many fights and not have a miscarriage. I am no doctor but…well, it bothered me a little. Perhaps the gods favored her, which if so, fine, the character certainly had the attention of many deities in the book.
Ok, enough complaints. The strengths; the way gods and the various levels of divinity are handled in this setting is good. The gods are original and the various types of divine beings, from avatars all the way up to titanics is interesting. I do like how they are both an integral part of the setting and of the story. Too often in fantasy stories the gods and their roles, at least at first, can seem somewhat shoehorned in, but in this volume they are a vital part of the plot, some using humans, some being used by humans (and with the deities in question perhaps being aware, perhaps not).
The author refrains from really using any non-human race except for the cat-like pardines and they get better explored in this book, showing refreshingly that not every member of their race thinks alike and also how they may have multiple motives with some fairly three-dimensional characters. I also like how their relationship with souls and the world of the gods is quite different from the humans in the book.
The character Green herself continues to grow and show some real signs of maturity, of not always leaping before she looks, of how to be more tactful, of how to be better at politics, and how to know when to use force and when not to. Far from perfect as a tactician and strategist (and deliberately written as so), I do buy the concept of her growing up and into her role.
I do want to read the third volume in the series and plan to buy a copy when it comes out. I think if you liked _Green_ you will in general be pleased but will also probably have the same problems that I did. I don’t think the problems are enough by any means to ruin the book but I do wish they had been better addressed.
December 16, 2011
I have a love/hate relationship with the "Green" series.
On one hand, the author does a great job of developing an interesting story line (albeit starting off very slowly at times) and having plenty of great characters. I enjoy where the story has gone and look forward to where it will lead in the next book.
On the other hand, I've never been a big fan of the author's attempt at depicting Green's sexuality in the book. Most of these scenes would have been better suited to have had less detail. No matter how good the rest of the writing is, when the character starts referring to her vagina as her "sweet pocket", that just takes me out of the story. And it isn't even that I have an issue with a male author trying to write about sexual feelings and actions from the viewpoint of a female character. It just isn't well done. Some scenes, like while Green is training near the temple and has a bath with one of the females, did not of benefit the story at all. There are ways to express the character's sexuality without awkwardly trying to describe it blow-by-blow, so to speak.
This has been going on since the first book of the series, so I kind of just accept it at this point and move on.
What really bothered me, especially in the beginning of the book, is that the narration keeps alluding to future things. So she'd say something, like, "In the years to come, I would learn that lesson well," or "Looking back, I see now that...." You get the idea. It's just annoying. And it isn't like, at the end of the book, we eventually catch up to this "Future Green" who is telling the story. The rest of the narration feels very closely tied to the events as they unfold, so these "reflections on the past" just need to be left out...
That all being said, this was an enjoyable story. I'd certainly recommend the series to others.
On one hand, the author does a great job of developing an interesting story line (albeit starting off very slowly at times) and having plenty of great characters. I enjoy where the story has gone and look forward to where it will lead in the next book.
On the other hand, I've never been a big fan of the author's attempt at depicting Green's sexuality in the book. Most of these scenes would have been better suited to have had less detail. No matter how good the rest of the writing is, when the character starts referring to her vagina as her "sweet pocket", that just takes me out of the story. And it isn't even that I have an issue with a male author trying to write about sexual feelings and actions from the viewpoint of a female character. It just isn't well done. Some scenes, like while Green is training near the temple and has a bath with one of the females, did not of benefit the story at all. There are ways to express the character's sexuality without awkwardly trying to describe it blow-by-blow, so to speak.
This has been going on since the first book of the series, so I kind of just accept it at this point and move on.
What really bothered me, especially in the beginning of the book, is that the narration keeps alluding to future things. So she'd say something, like, "In the years to come, I would learn that lesson well," or "Looking back, I see now that...." You get the idea. It's just annoying. And it isn't like, at the end of the book, we eventually catch up to this "Future Green" who is telling the story. The rest of the narration feels very closely tied to the events as they unfold, so these "reflections on the past" just need to be left out...
That all being said, this was an enjoyable story. I'd certainly recommend the series to others.
November 26, 2011
Endurance by Jay Lake
This is one of those butt kicking female protagonist stories I enjoy so much. Green is a god ridden sell sword seemingly bent on self destruction.
This book stood alone quite well. I do want to read Green now though, the precursor to this book. This was an excellent action adventure fantasy with a terrific understory. Green is hell bent on stopping child slavery and the abuse of women.
She finds her self immersed in god activities and her complete distain for any kind of humble attitude is fun to read. Kicking butt and taking names is her normal game plan. The characters were very colorful and varied. The scene set by Copper Downs was extremely well crafted. You could almost smell the sewers and the cinnamon.
I have not read a Jay Lake book before but I will be now.
I highly recommend it.
This is one of those butt kicking female protagonist stories I enjoy so much. Green is a god ridden sell sword seemingly bent on self destruction.
This book stood alone quite well. I do want to read Green now though, the precursor to this book. This was an excellent action adventure fantasy with a terrific understory. Green is hell bent on stopping child slavery and the abuse of women.
She finds her self immersed in god activities and her complete distain for any kind of humble attitude is fun to read. Kicking butt and taking names is her normal game plan. The characters were very colorful and varied. The scene set by Copper Downs was extremely well crafted. You could almost smell the sewers and the cinnamon.
I have not read a Jay Lake book before but I will be now.
I highly recommend it.
August 12, 2013
Angry pregnant fifteen-year-old lesbian assassin accidentally overthrows governments, argues with gods, and accidentally creates new religions while killing everyone in her path.
This is not a bad thing. :)
This is not a bad thing. :)
March 16, 2019
A few things....
Green is 6 months pregnant out GETTING DRUNK! Tf is wrong with you girl!?!? Probably haven’t ever heard of fetal alcohol syndrome huh?
Jumping rooftops and shit that she clearly should not have been doing....questionable judgements coming from someone who is dead set against harm coming to her child. So it’s ok if you do it but no one else?
Wouldn’t necessarily call Osi and Iso woman haters since they would help a female in need (a least that’s what they say) but it made me mad when they said they would have to go through extreme purification if a woman’s breath even lands on them. Dicks.
At least Green showed sense in not going off to start a war until after she gives birth.
And finally, I get that being a young woman she would have very natural feelings and would want to experiment (did a heck of a lot in the first book). I also get that her hormones are going crazy since she’s pregnant (I’ve had 3 pregnancies myself) but why is she always thinking ab having sex with every female she interacts with!?!? It’s getting old and why is Jay Lake still writing her that way??
I like the plot for the most part though Green has been leaning more and more on others around her, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but I’d like for her to keep her original badassery.
Green is 6 months pregnant out GETTING DRUNK! Tf is wrong with you girl!?!? Probably haven’t ever heard of fetal alcohol syndrome huh?
Jumping rooftops and shit that she clearly should not have been doing....questionable judgements coming from someone who is dead set against harm coming to her child. So it’s ok if you do it but no one else?
Wouldn’t necessarily call Osi and Iso woman haters since they would help a female in need (a least that’s what they say) but it made me mad when they said they would have to go through extreme purification if a woman’s breath even lands on them. Dicks.
At least Green showed sense in not going off to start a war until after she gives birth.
And finally, I get that being a young woman she would have very natural feelings and would want to experiment (did a heck of a lot in the first book). I also get that her hormones are going crazy since she’s pregnant (I’ve had 3 pregnancies myself) but why is she always thinking ab having sex with every female she interacts with!?!? It’s getting old and why is Jay Lake still writing her that way??
I like the plot for the most part though Green has been leaning more and more on others around her, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but I’d like for her to keep her original badassery.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 1, 2018
I wonder how I ever got along with the protag from this series — well enough to have completed the first book! She is annoying, reckless, rude, manipulative, and as if that wasn’t enough, she also thinks she is better than everybody else! Should I explain it all away by saying that is how teenagers are? I don’t think I should!
There were other issues that made this a difficult read, such as the copious amount of foreshadowing. If only she had known…if only she had done that…and so on! Aptly placed and lightly done foreshadowing is always welcome but this book didn’t have it.
The only part that made me laugh:
though five centuries past this had been the very pinnacle of architectural taste in Copper Downs.
A good education never went to waste. If I did die here, at least I would have the comfort of knowing I’d passed on amid high style.
The only part that stayed with me:
I wondered how it had been for the miners, back in the morning of the world. Had they broken open the crust of the world only to find a population of haunts and legends already awaiting them? Or had they brought their fears with them on first creating the Below?
Some readers might like the endless descriptions of everything that was around the protag at any given time but I didn’t!
So, there. If I do read the next one in the series, I wouldn’t be reviewing it.
Also reviewed at:
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FB
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 31, 2019
It seemed like green was running around the city pretty much the whole book.
January 14, 2020
Another 7out of 5! It's a Jay Lake novel, of course it's 7 out of 5! Besides the usual recommend to everyone for whom a love of rich poetry and prose is instilled in them.
February 8, 2012
After reading Green, I couldn’t wait to find out what happens to her next…
drey’s thoughts:
Oh Green. Trying to stay quiet in the High Hills outside Copper Downs doesn’t work when people come looking for you. And when even the ghosts tell you to go back to the city, well, what other choice is there? So off she goes, back to Copper Downs.
And what does she find there but Selistani? Lots and lots of people from her homeland, including the Prince of the City, Surali of the Bittern Court – the same Surali who caused her exile from Kalimpura, and the Lily Blades. Knowing that something’s up but unsure of what, exactly, Green takes to skulking the streets. And learns that in addition to the Selistani, god-killers are in town, the god Blackblood wants her unborn son, and her god Endurance now has a stable and priests.
She should’ve just stayed in High Hills. But then who would fight for the Gods who protect women and children?
There are plots within plots, and Jay Lake weaves them masterfully. Green is tugged and pulled in so many directions, it’s almost a miracle she finally realizes what the end game is. But she does, and you cannot help but root for her as she scrambles to put her pieces in play. Still the underdog – a Gods-blessed underdog, but underdog nonetheless – Green has to use every scrap of her wits to save those who matter to her. And learns that even she cannot save them all…
When can I have more?
drey’s thoughts:
Oh Green. Trying to stay quiet in the High Hills outside Copper Downs doesn’t work when people come looking for you. And when even the ghosts tell you to go back to the city, well, what other choice is there? So off she goes, back to Copper Downs.
And what does she find there but Selistani? Lots and lots of people from her homeland, including the Prince of the City, Surali of the Bittern Court – the same Surali who caused her exile from Kalimpura, and the Lily Blades. Knowing that something’s up but unsure of what, exactly, Green takes to skulking the streets. And learns that in addition to the Selistani, god-killers are in town, the god Blackblood wants her unborn son, and her god Endurance now has a stable and priests.
She should’ve just stayed in High Hills. But then who would fight for the Gods who protect women and children?
There are plots within plots, and Jay Lake weaves them masterfully. Green is tugged and pulled in so many directions, it’s almost a miracle she finally realizes what the end game is. But she does, and you cannot help but root for her as she scrambles to put her pieces in play. Still the underdog – a Gods-blessed underdog, but underdog nonetheless – Green has to use every scrap of her wits to save those who matter to her. And learns that even she cannot save them all…
When can I have more?
March 22, 2015
I enjoyed this book immensely, although the first book, Green, was by far my favorite of the two. Endurance has just as much detail, action, and unique characters as Green, yet it is somewhat lacking in the passion, strength and overall decadent display of various emotions that makes up Green herself. Green spends so much time throughout the book doubting herself, questioning her motives, and basically being in-decisive about everything going on around her, while in the first book she conquered her doubt and demons with an iron-like will. I do understand this change in attitude to a point, for in this novel she is pregnant, older and more mature then the person she was in the first one. I was, however, just a bit disappointed because I fell in love with the warrior-like, almost emotion-less woman that is Green. However, the plot, the suspense and the list of awesome characters, human, deity or other, was just as satisfying and fulfilling, and there will be one more book in the series which I am very excited to obtain in order to witness the conclusion of Green's adventures. A few people said this is a stand alone book, yet I highly recommend reading the first one before you attempt Endurance, you will have more appreciation and sympathy toward the events, places and their inhabitants if you read that one first!
May 5, 2015
Endurance is a plottier book than Green, and it didn't work quite as well for me. I don't dislike it, but it's easier to talk about the things that bugged me than the things that worked.
First, Green is (has always been, really) the sort of short-tempered, brash, short-sighted heroine that the urban fantasy genre is full of, and my patience for that archetype is thin. She leaps to conclusions, picks fights, makes dumb choices, and generally blunders through the plot, surviving only because she has powerful friends. This didn't bother me as much in the first book probably because she had very little control over her life, and her decisions made sense as reactions to the restraints people tried to put her under. Here, she's just regrettably sixteen.
Second, the narrator is Green-in-the-future, telling the story with foreknowledge of how it ends, and she drops an awful lot of hints that rather spoil the twists in the plot. I don't always hate this device, but it did not work for me here. It was much less interesting to get to the various reveals, because I'd already figured them out. (Especially the one about which god claimed her kid. I hope I wasn't supposed to be surprised by that.)
It was still an engaging book, with a neat cosmology and generally interesting characters. I just look forward to something a little deeper in the follow-up.
First, Green is (has always been, really) the sort of short-tempered, brash, short-sighted heroine that the urban fantasy genre is full of, and my patience for that archetype is thin. She leaps to conclusions, picks fights, makes dumb choices, and generally blunders through the plot, surviving only because she has powerful friends. This didn't bother me as much in the first book probably because she had very little control over her life, and her decisions made sense as reactions to the restraints people tried to put her under. Here, she's just regrettably sixteen.
Second, the narrator is Green-in-the-future, telling the story with foreknowledge of how it ends, and she drops an awful lot of hints that rather spoil the twists in the plot. I don't always hate this device, but it did not work for me here. It was much less interesting to get to the various reveals, because I'd already figured them out. (Especially the one about which god claimed her kid. I hope I wasn't supposed to be surprised by that.)
It was still an engaging book, with a neat cosmology and generally interesting characters. I just look forward to something a little deeper in the follow-up.
November 18, 2011
Sequel to GREEN sends her back to Copper Downs to become embroiled in multiple related schemes to kill off some gods. She finds her work hampered by being pregnant--and because she has no sense of humor whatsoever the morning sickness, vomiting and strange cravings make her really, really annoyed and so add a humorous level to the tale. The author fancies himself a Stylist, but looking past (skipping, whenever possible) the pointless and pace-slowing literary flourishes, there's a lively and reasonably coherent tale with lots of action, mystery, widespread destruction and character interaction. One or more sequels are clearly intended.
As with the previous book, the author is very lucky in his cover illustration.
Money quote (and no, not characteristic of Green's usual fierce and snarky tone): "Unfortunately for him, the Rectifier grabbed his parrying wrist on the blocking swing and tore his shoulder out of its socket. Disarmed, the man went down howling." [301]
As with the previous book, the author is very lucky in his cover illustration.
Money quote (and no, not characteristic of Green's usual fierce and snarky tone): "Unfortunately for him, the Rectifier grabbed his parrying wrist on the blocking swing and tore his shoulder out of its socket. Disarmed, the man went down howling." [301]
July 15, 2014
Continuing off where "Green" left off, "Endurance catches back up with Green and the man characters that frequent her life, whether she wants them there or not. The only issue I have with Endurance is the same I had with "Green", probably more so, as you would think would have learned a thing or two from her mistakes, but I suppose not. Green's stubborn headedness is still very much a turn off, yet is what sets this book and perhaps her whole story in motion. The need to be her own person, although commendable and natural; get's her into so much trouble by way of how she asserts her independence. The back of my mind I am saying, "learn Green, LEARN! Where is the damn character development?!"
Jay Lake, although a great writer, tends to drag on his descriptions and explanations a lot more then is needed. All and all, not bad book, but not extraordinary either.
Jay Lake, although a great writer, tends to drag on his descriptions and explanations a lot more then is needed. All and all, not bad book, but not extraordinary either.
January 21, 2012
Après avoir remplacé un Dieu par un autre, Green espère couler des jours tranquille loin de l'agitation de la ville, surtout dans son.. état...
Mais le pouvoir des dieux fait des jaloux, et les ennemis ne sont pas toujours ce qu'elles croient.
La série continue, et c'est vraiment très orienté sur des intrigues théistes (plutôt que religieuse : il ne s'agit pas de guerre de religion, mais de guerre théologique et mythes, voir de genre). J'ai même failli au milieu du livre l'abandonner, écoeuré par des infodumps mystiques trop long et inintéressant. Mais après, le livre redémarre en trombe.
Du coup, je garde une impression mitigée du libre.
Mais le pouvoir des dieux fait des jaloux, et les ennemis ne sont pas toujours ce qu'elles croient.
La série continue, et c'est vraiment très orienté sur des intrigues théistes (plutôt que religieuse : il ne s'agit pas de guerre de religion, mais de guerre théologique et mythes, voir de genre). J'ai même failli au milieu du livre l'abandonner, écoeuré par des infodumps mystiques trop long et inintéressant. Mais après, le livre redémarre en trombe.
Du coup, je garde une impression mitigée du libre.
November 3, 2012
I am on the fence about this book. The first half was dry and boring setup. The second half was alot better, but the first half took away from my enjoyment of the story as a whole. Also, the author kept throwing in phrases like "I learned later in life" and "As I would one day find out" that felt awkward and misplaced. The book was not written as a retrospective story, and the retrospective phrases were annoying. Take those out and improve the pacing in the first half and I would have loved it.
September 20, 2013
Why only 3 stars after having given Green 5? For several reasons: this second part of Green's tale was a little too action-packed for me. It seemed every other page was some intense battle, which got old after the first half of the book. Green was all about setup and character and establishing place and people and goals: it was a story of growth. Endurance, instead, was plot driven, which doesn't make it bad, by any means, because I did enjoy it, it just wasn't as good as it's first. I did enjoy the bittersweet ending and look forward to what holds in Green's next chapter...
December 14, 2011
There are a few things I really love about Jay Lake's work--his prose, worldbuilding, and character arcs--all of which are present in Endurance. Once again Green gets herself entangled in the affairs of the gods, and despite her best efforts to hack and slash and theorize her way free, she only ends up even more enmeshed. I'm not quite sure how he does it, but his writing voice is half-wry, half-lyrical, and all Green.
August 15, 2013
Rating: 3.75* of five
New Review! I'm continuing my Jay Lake Pre-Mortem Readathon at Shelf Inflicted with the second Green Universe book, ENDURANCE--and it's even better than GREEN was! This man is clearly a sorcerer to make me, misogynstic anti-fantasy me, like these books.
There can be no other explanation. Dark arts and malign spirits must be involved.
New Review! I'm continuing my Jay Lake Pre-Mortem Readathon at Shelf Inflicted with the second Green Universe book, ENDURANCE--and it's even better than GREEN was! This man is clearly a sorcerer to make me, misogynstic anti-fantasy me, like these books.
There can be no other explanation. Dark arts and malign spirits must be involved.
April 21, 2015
I enjoyed this, though maybe not so much as the first book. It seemed as though Green just sort of wandered from one thing to the next for about three quarters of the book, and then everything sort of fell into place. Still enjoy the world and Green's resistance/reaction to it, but the story was a bit weaker for me here.
October 6, 2012
Loved the first book, "Green," and how it carried you through the main character's life so vividly and seamlessly. "Endurance" picks up where the last book left off. This series is one of those rare kind of stories that you can disappear into another world and feel immersed in the picturesque detail of the writing.
February 26, 2013
Green is so friggin' ANGRY at everybody and everything. It's incredibly monotonous. There's absolutely nothing likable about her, this time around. Like in Green, she's incapable of looking at another woman without lusting after her and wishing they were knocking boots. I just couldn't enjoy the story because of how bitter Green is about everything.
February 3, 2016
There was a lot of good here, but the resolution on this one was just as disappointing as it was in Green (first book in the series). He's definitely getting better at telling stories, but with such poor endings, I'll probably skip over his stuff for a while before trying him again.
Full review post coming soon...
Full review post coming soon...
March 22, 2016
i didn't enjoy this book as much as Green. I feel like it was so political and hard for me to follow all the plots, counter plots, plots-within-plots etc. I also feel like her pregnancy was fastforwarded in this book and the timeline is atrocious for that. This book has a sort of different feel to it than Green.
October 25, 2015
A Book 2 of 2 Endeavour read. And what a doozy. Kind of an original mythological gritty fantasy. And exhausting. Stylistically weird and oddly paced. Definitely the kind that will have a mixed reaction. I'm still not sure what I thought of it. But it ended well-ish.
didn-t-finish
February 10, 2012I couldn't remember how the first book ended, so the beginning of this one was a little confusing, plus just not interesting enough for me to want to finish it while dealing with all my school stuff.
April 21, 2012
This is a dramatic improvement over the first volume Green and produces a powerful fantasy exploring the need of any society to achieve some degree of equality between he sexes.
http://opionator.wordpress.com/2012/0...
http://opionator.wordpress.com/2012/0...
September 16, 2014
3.5* rating
I appreciate the frank and matter-of-fact inclusion of bisexuality, and the strong female protagonist, as well as the array of interesting characters. A little heavy on the non-stop violent action, just like Green.
I appreciate the frank and matter-of-fact inclusion of bisexuality, and the strong female protagonist, as well as the array of interesting characters. A little heavy on the non-stop violent action, just like Green.
April 11, 2014
Jay Lake does a wonderful job with delving in to the expanding philosophies/religions of the various characters he has created. It doesn't hurt that this is overlayed onto a mystery/action-thriller plot.
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