Prophecy

The Blending #5

by Sharon Green

The Chosen Five--wielders of elemental magic--have defeated their betrayers and are returning to the city behind a legion of their followers. Tamrissa, fierce lady of Fire; Rion, noble lord of Air; Vallant, brave captain of Water; Lorand, clever master of Earth; and Jovvi, passionate sorceress of Spirit have so far successfully met the challenges set by those who would prevent the Five from their rightful throne. But the struggle is not over yet. Still barring their way are the sinister usurping Five, an invading army and a peasant rebellion. The battle has never been more desperate, nor the stakes so high. But nothing can stop the forces of Fire, Air, Water, Earth, and Spirit when they unite behind the greatest power of all...the power of Destiny.

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

416 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1999

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

[LemontreeLime · Rating 2 out of 5]

you know, i forced myself through this series out of a sense of obligation to see how it played out. The last book started out well and suddenly petered out at the wrap up. And by the end I was SICK as @$%*! of the endless bickering of two of the main characters, one of which was the irrational main narrator of annoying italicized introductions who couldn't seem to emote her way out of a wet paper bag. GAHHH why did i buy these back in the 90s and why did i assume i should read them now?? I could have been reading trashy romance novels instead.

[zjakkelien · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's such a pity. The magic in these books is really cool, and obviously I've enjoyed the series enough to finish it. But it could have been so much better...
Once more, almost the entire book is filled with misunderstandings and conflicts between Tamrissa and Vallant. Of a very annoying kind, I might add.
Facing the opposing blending is somewhat of a disappointment. The opposing blending refuses to blend, and, being honorable, the 'good' blending can't blend either. Really. How does someone come up with such idiocy? In what way is it dishonorable to blend, when the whole point of contention is which blending is the strongest one? Pff, I suppose it seemed such a good idea at the time, since it allows the group to split up once more. Can't have a book without repetition after all... Yes, that's what happens again, they all pretty much go through the same thing, and it has to be described in detail each of the five times.
Despite all of this, I did enjoy the book enough to finish it. It's got some good ideas, the magic is cool, the blendings are cool. But it could have been so much better...

[Jules · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was the worst. Lots of casual sexual assault, using magic and potions to create slaves, a ridiculous fist fight and Deus ex machina after Deus ex machina. I had to force myself to finish which I deeply regret. This nostalgia foray is happily over and I look forward to reading a book that doesn't cause my eyes to glaze over.
Also, almost (if not all) of the 'evil' blending were victims of abuse, incest, trauma, etc which felt like an extension of the 'all nobles are amoral and evil' motif.

[Catsalive · Rating 4 out of 5]

I haven't read anything else by Sharon Green, just this series, & I can't help wondering if she treats her readers as idiots elsewhere. Every little thing must be over-explained, & then we'll have another damned cup of tea!

The constant misunderstandings between Vallant & Tamrissa reach a thundering crescendo, unfortunately, SPOILER they haven't been buried under the foundations. As a group, this Blending are not very bright, but perhaps they are fairly normal, except for their whopping great powers, of course. They certainly have some inane ideas, AND people are going to let them be in charge of the country.

I do love the punishment meted out to members of the Gandistran nobility, those still around to receive it, anyway. It has a certain cosmic irony to it that soothes my fevered brow. Is this what my strange fascination with this story boils down to, a little poetic justice? Whatever it is, I love the ideas & dislike the plodding delivery; I will continue on to the next book; & I'll probably read the whole lot again one day. As if there aren't a thousand unread books awaiting my attention - re-reads, sigh!

[Xa · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author's excessive use of ellipses is borderline infuriating. I often find myself mentally rewriting the close of each chapter to exclude them. (Happily, if you just take them completely out there isn't much to change and you still have the same effect.) Seriously, Green: NINE instances of elliptical usage in a two-page span? Let some other punctuation have a chance. There are lots of great ways to punctuate a novel. (There were 12 on two-thirds of a page. Now THAT was excessive.)

Otherwise I enjoyed the series for the most part. I'm curious about the second series, so I'll have to think about checking it out.

[emily · Rating 2 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.

[EngIIrockz · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am tired of reading about tea. Getting tea. Drinking tea. Finishing tea. Longing for a restorative cup of tea. Enough! By the time our lovers-at-odds finally worked it out, I did not care any longer. With that said, there are some interesting ideas here and like-able characters — it’s just not that well written.

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

I'm done, I've read them all! This final instalment of the Blending series was as fun to read as the previous ones:) Now I might consider reading "The Blending Enthroned", even though the reviews I've read so far are a bit disappoiting...

[Aelfwina · Rating 1 out of 5]

After skimming (more than reading) this thing, I came to one conclusion: life's too short to read bad books.

[Tori Pfau · Rating 1 out of 5]

Finally finished this series. I can't believe I slogged through 5 books to get to an ending that feels rushed and incomplete, as well as a cliffhanger to a followup series. I do like how the plot focus changed throughout the series, but overall I felt like I spent way too long trying to get through this series with minimal payoff in the end.

[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.

[Loz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reread continues. Popcorn of drama and chaos and raunch and outrage and much magic. On to the the followup series!

[Tamzin Dunn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the series and was even willing to reread the same scene from 5 different people view, which was really annoying as I was interested in the characters. However after battling on the ending was rather lacking in thought and wisdom which has been theme though out the books. After all their trails the final seated 5 do the very same thing to a huge group of people without any second thought. Disappointing....

[Ann · Rating 1 out of 5]

I knew this book was poorly written going into it. Not only had I read it decades ago, but it's also the fifth in a series, and the shoddy writing was evident throughout. I won't bother to comment on the poor quality in general. Instead, I want to talk about the disturbing use of sexual violence in the book. Almost every female antagonist, both those working against our heroes and those working against the Five, is raped, and often gang raped, as part of various revenge schemes or part of a calculated punishment. This in itself was upsetting (and repetitive. It's as if the author couldn't think of any other way to torture women). But the truly disturbing part was the tone. There was an underlying tone,something I couldn't quite put my finger on, that almost suggested that the women deserved it for being horrible people. (I'm not disputing that they were horrible people, especially since noone in the book had anything approaching nuance or complicated motives.)In the aftermath, the women were depicted as either wallowing in whining and self-pity (barely a day later everyone is scornful and unsympathetic when a virgin is still upset that she was gang-raped the day before) or shown as essentially shrugging it off as just one more thing to fuel an already insane obsession with destroying the ones she views as responsible in a reaction that read to me as more petty and vindictive than a more realistically angry and betrayed reaction. It upset me.

The assumption that all of the nobles were horrible people who deserved to be enslaved because "even if you didn't do anything, you also didn't stop it" was not high on my list of good endings either. If it's been shown over and over that none of the peasants or high ranking merchants knew it was going on, why should every single noble have known? When Rion finds out he's not nobly-born he's relieved because nobles are scum. He was raised as a noble however, which implies that the nobles are scum not because of their actions or how they were raised, but simply because they were born to certain parents, which is uncomfortably close to racism for me.

[Cathleen Ash]

In the first book of Green's Blending series, we meet the characters who will embody the five magical elements: earth, air, water, fire and spirit. Every year, the society has a challenge and blendings come from all over the world to beat the Five currently on the throne. The problem with this group is that they are all new to their powers, to travel, to everything!
They have to leave their homes, learn their power, AND learn to work together. It's amazing they succeed at anything. But they must, and quickly, because there's a lot more going on - and a lot more at stake - than the challenge for the Five.
Green is fantastic at dialog, character, and plot. She engages the reader in her believable world and traps him/her on the edge of the seat - waiting to see what befalls the characters as they wind through an intriguing but followable plot. Fantasy at its best.

[Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this was a terrific ending to the series. I was anticipating the end of the noble 5, but not all that happened with the "5", or is that "6". I enjoyed it enough that I am looking forward to reading the next chapter in the story, the Blending Enthroned trilogy. I actually think the story was told much better in the later books, without so much repetition. The Prophesy wrapped up the story in an exciting way, and one I hadn't anticipated. I also want to comment that I love the style and way that the characters were portrayed on the covers of these books.

[Alice · Rating 5 out of 5]

Conclusion to the Seated Blending

Lots of emotions, relationships, danger and contrast between the two groups of Blendings. This is a excellent series with a fantasy World containing echoes of the political and personal manipulations that are occuring in reality nowadays. This book wrapped up with resolutions to the relations of Spirit and Earth, Air and Sight, and lastly with much difficulty Water and Fire. Definitely Water has trouble mixing with Fire as that went on way too long. Nevertheless the series is excellent.

[Clarice · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well... most everything got settled in this book, which I'm happy with. Most plot points got resolved, some new little plot points were created for series number two, but I think I'm going to not read those ones just yet. Enjoyable for what it is, but there were definitely a few created conflicts that were annoying as anything. I know this is a fantasy, but some of the interpersonal relationships were rather unrealistic. Then again, I have to keep in mind what I'm reading. :)

[BookAddict ✒ La Crimson Femme · Rating 3 out of 5]

Finally! We get to the end of this struggle. This series set off several interesting paranormal type dreams for me. I enjoy Ms. Green's simplistic underdog fighting "the man" theme. It's clear who is good and who is evil. Sometimes these are the more enjoyable reads.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

Full review here:

http://jamesgenrebooks.blogspot.com/2...

While the first climax isn't very exciting, the real climax that follows is quite well done, setting up the follow up trilogy.

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

See comment on Book 1. Endings are bittersweet so I had to give the last book one less star . . . .

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

5th in ser, really good!

[Renée Fontenot · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a great series, but it sure is a lot of books. I would like to see it in two compendiums.

[K.L. · Rating 4 out of 5]

soooooooo.... the purpose of Naran becomes clear! Nice ending to the series.

[Morgan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Started 6/11/15
Rec by Andy