Convergence

The Blending #1

by Sharon Green

In a world of magical adepts, every 25 years the five greatest talents must be brought together. For only this powerful union of strangers can prevent the prophesied return of the Evil Ones who enslaved the land. As one, they must stand against the odious treachery of past masters--and confront a fearsome depravity that hungers for their world.

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Romance, Magic, Science Fiction Fantasy, Adult, High Fantasy

448 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published November 1, 1996

About the author

Born and raised in Brooklyn, NY. Attended New York University and graduated with a B.A. in 1963. Married in 1963, had three sons, divorced in 1976. Raised the sons, Andy, Brian and Curtis, alone in New Jersey. Worked for AT&T as a shareowner correspondent, then as an all-around assistant in a construction company, then sold bar steel for an import firm. Left that job as assistant sales manager. I've been writing full time since 1984.

Hobbies: knitting, crocheting, Tae Kwon Do, fencing, archery, shooting, jigsaw puzzles, logic problems, math problems, not cooking.

Don't do my own research, since if I did I'd stay with that and never get any writing done. I usually can finish a novel of about 120,000 words in about three months.

Reviews

[V. Briceland · Rating 4 out of 5]

Let's first talk about the elephants in the room. Sharon Green's Blendings books, of which Convergence is the first, are about as eptly written as the average internet slash fan fiction.

Green has created five main characters—one representing each of the four elements of the natural world, and a 'spirit' element thrown in as a wild card—all of whom are hot and beautiful and in their mid-twenties and yet about as emotionally mature as a slow twelve year old. Green's Blending books follow the same pattern throughout, so that each character encounters from his or her perspective exactly the same obstacles as his comrades. The fire protagonist will have an argument with her parents, for example. Then the water protagonist will do the same in the next chapter, followed in the following three installments by spirit, air, and earth.

Then the earth protagonist will face a trial. So will the fire protagonist. Next, the spirit protagonist will have her trial. So will water and earth.

The fire lady will take a bath. Then in the next chapter, the earth fellow will take a bath. Then the spirit lady will take a bath. Then the air and water dudes take a bath. Next up—five chapters in which they all have a cup of tea and ruminate about the trials, the arguments, and the baths.

Green uses this unremitting template for five books. FIVE BOOKS, PEOPLE. Plus three sequels after that! That's a lot of repeated conversations and situations.

Her characters have absolutely no subtleties whatsoever. Her protagonists are extremely noble and good and perfect, save for one flaw apiece that she'll hammer at again and again. Her villains are so ridiculously, sublimely, mustache-twiddlingly evil that her protagonists have no qualms whatsoever about assaulting these lowlifes with insults and attacks upon the slightest acquaintance (and then wondering later on why they're so friendless).

The sex scenes are so awkward and unerotic that one has to wonder if the author has ever indeed had sex, read about sex elsewhere, or has actually known anyone who's engaged in sex.

Finally—and perhaps most damningly—the author has a tendency, when inspiration flags, to have her protagonists drink tea. There's a lot of tea flowing in this book, and apparently the magical capabilities of her protagonists are matched only by the vast retention and capacity of their bladders.

And yet. . . .

The repetitiveness and goofy artificiality of the Convergence series has won it a place of affection in my heart; it's one of my favorite fantasy series to re-read. Though it's very much the worst kind of excess given a utterly unchecked hand, there's a lush sumptuousness to the book that's difficult to ignore. Green's sadism has a zest that's great fun to watch develop over the course of the series. And her obvious enjoyment of the glacial plotting (by the end of the first volume, a mere three days and several hundred pots of tea have passed) reveals depths of self-indulgence so remarkably bottomless that it's like a literary first visit to the Grand Canyon. All one can do is gawp, and marvel at the sheer majesty.

Are the books of The Blending exquisite writing? Good lord, no. Are they fun? Amazingly so, when approached by readers who can relish the unintentional camp comedy of their overwrought drama. I've reread these books a half-dozen times, and they'll always have a fond spot in my heart.

[Therese Deppe · Rating 1 out of 5]

I have a rule. I don't read books that I feel the need to edit. There are wording and sentence structure errors that make me crazy and distract me from reading this book. I found myself reaching for my red pen and wanting to cross out and reword clunky description and passive voice errors that should be above the published author (where was her editor??) The characters are kind of flat and the dialogue seems rather forced. The magical concepts seems to be interesting enough. But I fear that I have to put this book down and devote myself to other reading projects. This is just not worth my time.

The other thing is I'm always being TOLD, not shown things about these characters and the points that the writer is trying to impress upon her audience seems almost sermonistic and not really the stuff of which classic fantasy novels are made.

She seems to be trying way too hard.


The cover art is pretty though...

[P.J. · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is a conflict for me. It's decent. The characters are JUST shy of being Mary Sues. However, the preachiness at the end ruined it for me. Didn't finish.

They're all high level characters in a world of level 1 plebs. They're all stunningly beautiful with big breasts or broad shoulders. It's sickening, but tolerable.

I was hooked after I started reading about the magic system. I'm a sucker for the mechanics of anything and always interested in new ways to express magic. Also, the writing style was new to me, so it was worth an investigation.

The author has a real obsession with bath houses. It gets tiring. Yes, we know that after a long day, people usually enjoy a good bath. It's almost voyeuristic.

This book was on its way to being a 3/5 until I got about 80% of the way through. Then, Mrs. Green got on her soapbox. She has one character berate another for his "backwards" morality because he has a problem with someone being a courtesan. It's not so much that the author defends the courtesan, it's that it doesn't feel like the characters talking to each other. It feels like the author is talking at the reader. It's COMPLETELY preachy. I didn't finish the book after I read that page.

[emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

when i was fifteen, i thought this series was the shit. the writing wasn't great, but hey, the sexy parts were good, so it didn't matter that the plot was like swiss cheese sliced superthin, right? looking back, the fact that the sexy parts *are* the best parts of these books is pretty telling. the premises of the plot and characters aren't bad, and there are some parts that are actually interesting, but overall the series is repetitive and predictable, and probably not worth the time it'd take to get through all five.

UPDATED TO ADD: also, thinking back, a much older and wiser me now calls total shenanigans on the fact that oh, yes, the main 5 must all sleep together ~~for magic~~ ...but only with the people of the opposite sex. wtf? i'm shipping vallant/rion from here on out and nobody can stop me. also jovvi/tamrissa is practically canon and i knew that back when i didn't even know what shipping was. SO THERE.

another goodreads reviewer put it best by saying that these books are awful, but they're like crack. once you start, you cannot stop reading them. and from a fantasy writer's perspective i have to say, it's clear sharon green put a ton of thought into the rules of her magic, and what you could or couldn't do with it.

[Meg · Rating 1 out of 5]

Quite possibly one of the worst books ever in my opinion. But I did learn one good lesson from it. When in doubt, drink tea. I trashed my copy of this years ago and I still remember that.

[Michael N. · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book... its about 50 pages long and then duplicated 5 times over substituting fire for water, earth for fire, and so on. Five times mediocre is pretty awful.

[Suzanne · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked this book a lot better when I read it in high school.

The story is set in an entertaining world of magic and intrigue, but the plot itself is poorly organized and the writing is not all that compelling. The 5 part narrative structure was interesting at first, but got tedious quickly and was never really used to its full potential. Instead of hearing 5 different stories, the reader gets 1 story told 5 times...in almost exactly the same way each time. Still, if you're comfortable skimming and skipping a few pages here and there, it's not a bad story.

I think the best way to sum up how I feel about this novel is that I thought about giving it 2 stars...but then I thought about reading the next one too.

[Catsalive · Rating 4 out of 5]

18/4/23: This is the first book in the series where, believe it or not, the heroic Blending of Prophecy converge, & begin to learn how to use their powers, & drink a lot of tea. These books are problematic in many ways but I enjoy the overall story, particularly the developing of the power & discovering new ways of using it. The author treats the reader as a simpleton, the action is repetitive, the characters have the emotional depth of teenagers, & oh! that awful dialect of Vallant's, it is so annoying. The good guys all have personal problems to overcome so they can save the world & be ever-so-noble; the bad guys, the noble class, are all perverts, sexual sadists & misogynists.

I couldn't possibly say it any better than this reviewer already has. I too find the series childish and repetitive, & yet I continue to re-read them at intervals because the overall story is strangely fascinating.

cover blurb:
In a world of magical adepts, every quarter-century the five greatest talents must be brought together. For only this powerful union of strangers can prevent the prophesied return of the Evil Ones who once enslaved the land.

Lorand is of Earth, a simple farmer called to the city. Tamrissa is Fire, sacrificing her home to escape an undesired marriage. Clarion is Air, an aristocrat flying free for the very first time. Spirit is the talent of Jovvi, the beautiful, sensuous and knowing ex-courtesan. And Vallant is Water, a sailor who aches to return to the sea.

As one, they must stand against the odious treachery of past masters - and confront a fearsome depravity that hungers for their world. As on they must triumph... or as one they die.

http://www.bookcrossing.com/journal/7...

[Dralore · Rating 1 out of 5]

I almost gave it two stars, just to give kudos to the author for somehow managing to get this published.

The book starts out with a little historic prologue - this country is ruled by a group of five people, one for each of the elements (Earth, Air, Fire, Water, Spirit), and was once enslaved by a group of four (all the elements minus Spirit). The main five characters (who you know are going to end up the rulers by the end of the three books because there are five, and they're all of different elements), are a mixed bag. A sort of mixed bag. But they're all going to town to prove that they're awesome magicians. See, every so many years, every high level magic user is rounded up and forced to take these tests or die. Sounds cool right? Yeah. That's what I thought. It could've been cool, if it were written with decent descriptions. And every character didn't go through the exact same situation (BUT SEPARATELY), so it's like reading everything FIVE TIMES.

But first you get introduced to the narrator. She's a haughty, high-strung young woman/girl of indeterminate age who is gorgeous (you'll get used to this, because ALL of the characters are "gorgeous"). She was abused by her previous old-man spouse and doesn't trust anyone. You might forgive her for this, except she's the most helpless creature on the planet, and honestly just downright hateful at times, and you'll want to tell her to shut up. She narrates between chapters up to a point, and when the narrations finally end, you'll be so glad. I skipped through even the first one.

The Air guy is a haughty rich young man, who is probably in his twenties but has been kept suckin' on mama's teat up till now. Now, thanks to the other characters, he learns about sex, and then can't stop propositioning the two women of the group. He's not very likable, otherwise you might sympathize at points. But not the point where he thinks he's in love with three different women at once.

The Water guy...normal. He's a ship captain.
The Earth guy...thinks monogamy is for everyone. Also, he's a farm boy.
And the Spirit girl is just taking these tests so she doesn't have to be a courtesan in a whore house where the owner was trying to keep them all enslaved to her by keeping them from having enough money to get away.

Also, all the men are well-built with blond hair and blue eyes. All three of them. :\ The only reason I even remember, is because it's expressly mentioned at one point when the narrator is fawning all over the ship captain and his PARTICULAR shade of blue eyes.

The first third the book covers "everyone leaves home." This isn't bad, because everyone's situation is actually a bit different.
The second third of the book covers "everyone is taking their test" which is just terrible, because it's the same thing, over and over again, five times. FIVE.
Then there's a little interlude where everyone tries to get into everyone's pants. This is arguably the best part of the book, because there's more description in the sex scenes than there is in how the characters look. And it's honestly a relief to not have to read something five times in five only slightly different ways.
The third section of the book covers "everyone goes to compete"...which is the same thing, over and over again, five times.

At some point in here, you learn that people burn themselves out if they try to handle too much power (a common fantasy trope). And so everyone who failed the initial test died. And that the government of the country is made up of nobles who are all evil and want to keep their power to themselves. But this is a super special prophecy year they're in, so they might have to turn power over to some commoners. The corrupt government scenes are pretty boring. It's a bunch of guys, who all look exactly the same (brown hair, brown eyes), talking about the prophecy, and how they hope it won't be fulfilled, and giving stats on all the people that have died/passed that week.

I was actually reading it up until the third section of the book. When it started repeating itself over and over, I actually threw the book down I was so disgusted with it.

This book could've been good. It had a decent concept (where the concept was obviously fleshed out), but there are almost no descriptions worth mentioning, the pacing is absolutely terrible, the repetitions made me fall asleep...

Save yourself the hours of tedium, and find something else to read. Unless, of course, you're looking to fall asleep.

[Burt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Everyone knows a little magic. Maybe it's enough that you know how to make the earth sprout a little more green. Maybe you can light the hearth with a little concentration instead of flint and tinder. Maybe you can freeze enough water to make ice cubes. This is the life of a Low - the rank and file citizen of the Empire. The Empire makes good use of its citizens, and virtualy everyoine has some small talents.

It's the Middle and High talents that you have to watch out for.

Those who are suspected of being Middles or Highs are called by the Empire to be tested. All are taken, one way or the other. Those who do not become Middles cannot survive the testing process. For the survivors, there are yet more things ahead.

The series is based around a blending of magicians who have proven to have the talents possessed my middles. The five of them each specialize in one of the elemental aspects of magic: Earth, Water, Air, Fire, Spirit. They are a motley crew, mostly commoners with only one laughable lord amongst them. In order to survive the trials, their society, the other blendings, and occasionally each other, they must find a way to work together or be destroyed in the power schemes of other blendings seeking more influence within the Empire.

The story is long - I still have yet to finish the five book series (I'm stalled at Book three). I someday hope to finish it, but at this point I'd have to start all over again. However, what really got me about the series was the world and society crafted by Sharon Green. It has a rich history, unique places, well defined systems of magic and a underlying sense of mystery and wonder that makes you want to uncover more of the world, peeling back the layers of intrigue to get to the real reasons things are the way they are. The downside is that this is the kind of fantasy that is romance heavy. There are moments where it simply derails so that characters can have sex with each other and incite jealousies and passion plays. This is only a pitfall insofar as you can tolerate romance though, and far from a deterrent from reading the books.

[Rhapsody · Rating 1 out of 5]

As a rule, I never get rid of books, even if I thought they weren't great. This series was an exception. Maybe I'd be more OK with it now since I've read some romance since then and the love scenes wouldn't take me completely by surprise, but I tend to doubt it. I did really like the setup; a group of very very different people with strong magical abilities in different elements are brought together as a team for a competition. After that though, it just got hideously contrived. The number of women to men more or less matches up and basically you have that number of romantic plot lines going. The characters themselves were pretty underdeveloped. Even the writing was shoddy, switching between third and first person, even first person from various characters.

Part of me wants to try it over, now that I've gained some exposure to romance. But it was just so bad I don't know if I could stand it.

[Shanna_redwind · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. Somehow it was exactly what I wanted to read. But, that said, I understand those who only gave it one star. Since I rate books solely on personal enjoyment, this whole series got high marks. But, to give it such high marks I did have to forgive the same glaring problems that those who did not enjoy the books. I was willing to do this, and those who enjoy intriguing magic systems and interesting (if sometimes infuriatingly dense) characters, and are willing to forgive the problems will likely enjoy the book.

I admit that I did skip over the sections from the bad guy's perspective, but I tend to do that in most books.

[Kat · Rating 1 out of 5]

Don't judge these books by the cover (the Blending series); the covers (at least the 1st edition American paperback covers) are actually the best part. Very pretty! I'd suggest just browsing the covers and spending precious reading time on something better.

[Madam Claire of Whistley Woo · Rating 2 out of 5]

This series took way too long for anything to happen.

[hh · Rating 2 out of 5]

reread 7 dec 2014. because finals.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

Magic and the basic elements combined with a little romance? Ripped through this series and was sad when I finished the fifth book. Guess I needed a little magic in my life this winter.

[✘✘ Sarah ✘✘ (former Nefarious Breeder of Murderous Crustaceans) · Rating 4 out of 5]

A completely unexpected good read! Once I started this book I simply couldn't put it down, can't wait to read the other instalments in the series!

[Stacey]

I read this years ago as an impressionable teen and loved it. I hunted it down to revisit the experience and........ You already know where this is going. So many problematic scenes, dialogue and ideas, for any time. The worst part is this is written by a woman, and she does a lot of the patriarchys work for them with the descriptions of women so beautiful that the men "must" have them, and won't take no for an answer. A lot disparaging stuff about courtesans, and a man exerting his will even though that's not what she wants. Describing stupid people as ugly and horselike. A domineering mother. A female instructor and contestant have a whole discourse on how she hates hernslbecause she's pretty and she won't have any talent. All the villains are female. It was hard to read and realise so much of this would have permeated my brain and added to burgeoning internal mysogyny I already had.
To be fair, there are redeeming moments. Women standing up for themselves, which is then ruined by the male gaze and how beautiful she is being so brave. Another woman challenges a man's conceptions about the woman he claims to love being a courtesan and it not being right. He wants to marry her and take her away from "that life" even though she has made it abundantly clear she is happy there. He comes to realise he is wrong. The toxic masculinity of the male characters...... It goes on and on. However once I cringed and realised each instance for what it was, a book written in what the writer must have thought was a romantic style for the time, I enjoyed the story of 5 characters being tested for High positions in a magic ruled empire. The writing itself is rather awkward and strange sentence constructions are often derailing. The concept is good, but not terribly well executed.

[Scheherazade · Rating 4 out of 5]

There has been way too much silliness about the amount of tea imbibed in this book. The characters in this book drink tea the way that we drink coffee. Tea seems to be the social Drink of this world. But it does not dominate the book in any way and I don’t find it disruptive to the plot.
I have given this book 4 stars because it does not stand alone. It ends on a cliffhanger basically so that you are forced to buy the next book in the series and I’m sure the next one will end the same way. I’m already on the second book.
I am however really enjoying the books. I don’t find the plots/ the five points of view which actually expand into more points of view later on, confusing in any fashion.
I enjoy the cozy fantasy style. The tension is not too much to handle. I like the characters and I like the hints of romance. These books are certainly not YA, but they are not overly spicy. A good balance.
I say, read them, enjoy them, and stop fussing about the tea .

[Char · Rating 4 out of 5]

I remember reading this book many years ago and liking it. I did enjoy this reread as well. The one flaw I found with this book, however, is the repetition. By the end it's not so bad, but in the beginning when the characters are all describing the same scenes from different points of view, in the bath house for example, or the lead-up to the testing, it got really old really fast and I found myself skipping through much of the description and dialog. Otherwise, however, the magic system is interesting and the character development made me like most of the characters and want to see what happens next to them.

[Fantasy Reader · Rating 1 out of 5]

Will not be continuing series. Repetitive story telling. Having to read 5 times the same thing with a slight alteration of the action is not interesting. The female/male relationships we not satisfying. Along with not a lot of real differences in character thinking on a whole. I'm talking about the monologue/self talk dialogue in all the characters felt similar as well as unhealthy, and distorted in someway or another. They didn't feel like separate characters when they complained/agonized over problems because of the writing style.

[Merlyn's Shadow · Rating 3 out of 5]

Oh this book. It is truly... bad. The writing isn't great, every chapter ends with . . . . and seeing every event from every character's POV gets tiring.

And yet... I love it, in fact I love the whole series. Maybe it is because I remember how 15 year old me felt reading them for the first time (I was so drawn into the world and the characters somehow spoke to me), or maybe it is to remind myself that there are much better books out there now. Whatever the reason, I reread the whole series every 5 years or so. We all need old comfort books, and these are some of mine 🖤

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have read these books before and I will do so again. I really enjoy this series by Sharon Green, with it's interesting take on elemental magic and it's look at politics and class-ism. There is some repetitiveness in the story, what with multiple points of view, which is why this book gets a four instead of five stars. But the story to me is overall engaging enough and I enjoy the characters enough that I keep coming back to this story.

[Nathaniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m honestly shocked I never picked this up earlier. I confess that, to my soured grown-up insides, this is less thrilling (a bit too repetitive, as others have commented), but, dude, I would’ve devoured this as a teen. Highly recommended for newer Fantasy readers looking for excellent world-building with a heavy dose of horniness.

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this series when I read it as a teenager, but it wasn't awe-inspiring even then. That probably tells you something. At that point in my life, the sex (omg it makes ther magik stronger lololol!) held my interest enough to read the whole series. These days, I probably wouldn't waste my time and would look for something else with more substance.

[Colin Letch · Rating 2 out of 5]

Fun story, but about 200 pages too long. Seeing five characters go through the same events was neat at first but by the end I was groaning each time I had to read about yet another character experiencing the same events that the others just experienced.

[Chelsea · Rating 3 out of 5]

This series is so bad and trashy and yet I read it when I was like twelve and have a soft spot lol.

[Tuesday Wang · Rating 3 out of 5]

The magic system is quite good. Otherwise, drink tea and take baths!

[Loz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reread. Interesting series.

[Danielle]

Did not finish, too many characters to keep track of