In Review: Being A Green Mother by Piers Anthony

Released 10-12-87           313 pages

Publisher: Del Rey Books

Format: Hardcover

ISBN 978-0345322227

Finally the story of Orb is revealed along with a major curveball. Thus far each book as interweaved the incarnations more and more and  book five in the series is no exception.  Orb, the aunt of Luna, daughter of Niobe, and mother of Orlene is gifted from birth with the ability to conjure music, this ability later helps her qualify to become Gaea, one of the few incarnations where the candidate must already have amassed near-Incarnation level power to take the position.

Orb has lived an extremely colorful life, between the circus and the rock band, which makes for a really rich story, but her prophesized marriage to Satan and her love for a man named Natasha take center stage as he teaches her things that no other has before him. He teaches her a song that can destroy everything, a song that she needs to be Gaea, one that she has sought her entire life and that knowledge comes with a price. Questions arise about  if she could love evil, and the answer shocks her a little, though it shouldn’t shock readers who have read all of the series. Satan has never come across as evil.

With the series coming to a close, this is the perfect ramp up to the finale.  Piers Anthony masterfully ties the strings of more story arcs while still managing to make the audience desire more. As all the books have been, this one can stand alone, but the reading experience is greatly enriched by reading it in order in the series. Unlike the other novels, in this one Orb does not assume the job until much later in the novel. And the cliffhanger ending is so good and unexpected that I'm not even mad that the novel ended that way.