Green-Jay Lake

Green
Jay Lake
Tor, Jun 2009, $26.95
ISBN: 9780765321855

The stranger who bought her from her father the farmer named her Emerald. The child does not know her birth name or recall anything about her mom; she only remembers her father selling her and the stranger taking her from the family farm to the home of the immortal Duke of the Pomegranate Tree where he has ruled over the city of Copper Downs and the Storm Sea for centuries. At the court, she will be trained as a consort and an assassin.

Over time, Emerald as she becomes an adolescent insists stubbornly Green is her name. She becomes the best assassin but decides she deserves much more than to be a courtesan killer for an evil duke. She rebels; which turns the city violent as even the meddling Gods intervene. As the world order changes, Green tenaciously clings to her childhood dream since being sold; to go back to the farm to learn her roots.

GREEN is an exciting somewhat simplistic action-packed fantasy. The uncomplicated story line will still fascinate readers due to the resoluteness of the title heroine as she fearlessly sets forth on adventures that change a world though all she wants is to leave as she knows what she wants and risks all to achieve it. Fans will root for the courageous yet obdurate Green, as she mulishly fights to go home even though that means turning a city upside down.
Harriet Klausner