Being a Green Mother

Lore & Background

Being a Green Mother centers on Orb Kaftan, a musician whose magical abilities manifest whenever she sings or plays music. She searches for a mystical piece of music called the 'Llano', described as 'the most potent magic known'. She meets Morton, another musician on a quest for the Llano; after falling in love and marrying Morton, he reveals himself to actually be Satan in disguise.

Reader's Guide

Orb becomes Gaea, the incarnation of Nature, but loses control of her powers, destroying the world in the process. Another incarnation, Chronos, agrees to reverse time and undo the destruction, and Orb is forced to marry Satan. The book concludes with Satan destroying himself, losing his struggle with God as depicted across the other books in the series. Reception was mixed: David Langford criticized the characters and plotting, while Andy Sawyer noted the book explores difficult concepts but comes across as 'an exercise in allegory by a writer whose prolific inventiveness overweighs any actual logic in his stories'. Other critics called it a 'nice capstone to tie together the rest of the series into a satisfying conclusion' and a 'strong conclusion to the [series]'.

Did You Know?

• Orb's magical abilities manifest whenever she sings or plays music.
• The Llano is considered 'the most potent magic known' in the novel.
• Morton, Orb's love interest, is revealed to be Satan in disguise.