Kay Kenyon, noted for her science fiction world-building, has in this new series created her most vivid and compelling society, the Universe Entire. In a land-locked galaxy that tunnels through our own, the Entire is a bizarre and seductive mix of long-lived quasi-human and alien beings gathered under a sky of fire, called the bright. A land of wonders, the Entire is sustained by monumental storm walls and an exotic, never-ending river. Over all, the elegant and cruel Tarig rule supreme. Into this rich milieu is thrust Titus Quinn, former star pilot, bereft of his beloved wife and daughter who are assumed dead by everyone on earth except Quinn. Believing them trapped in a parallel universe - one where he himself may have been imprisoned - he returns to the Entire without resources, language, or his memories of that former life. He is assisted by Anzi, a woman of the Chalin people, a Chinese culture copied from our own universe and transformed by the kingdom of the bright. Learning of his daughter's dreadful slavery, Quinn swears to free her. To do so, he must cross the unimaginable distances of the Entire in disguise, for the Tarig are lying in wait for him. As Quinn's memories return, he discovers why. Quinn's goal is to penetrate the exotic culture of the Entire - to the heart of Tarig power, the fabulous city of the Ascendancy, to steal the key to his family's redemption. But will his daughter and wife welcome rescue? Ten years of brutality have forced compromises on everyone. What Quinn will learn to his dismay is what his own choices were, long ago, in the Universe Entire. He will also discover why a fearful multiverse destiny is converging on him and what he must sacrifice to oppose the coming storm. This is high-concept science fiction written on the scale of Philip Jose Farmer's Riverworld, Roger Zelazny's Amber Chronicles, and Dan Dimmons' Hyperion.
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Review
Riveting. . . . Kenyon's deft prose, high-stakes suspense and skilled,
thorough world building will have readers anxious for the next
installment. -- Publishers Weekly, Starred Review, February 19, 2007
A fascinating and gratifying feat of world building . . . promises to be a
grand epic, indeed. -- Booklist, April 1, 2007
Reminiscent of the groundbreaking novels of Philip K. Dick, Philip Jose
Farmer, and Dan Simmons. -- Library Journal, March 8, 2007
Effortlessly blends science fiction concepts and world-building
with fantasy story telling to create a unique and intriguing whole.
-- SFSignal, February 23, 2007
From the Author
I wanted to create a world that's fun to be in--where you can
ride a giant gas bag creature over the endless plains of the Entire, dive
into a silver river that takes you to the center of the universe, and ride
a train without wheels that's loaded with aliens. But it isn't all
adventure. The story will disturb you at times, and make you cry at others.
I love an emotional story and think it's so fun to deliver that in SF. I am
especially thrilled with the Stephan Martiniere artwork that Pyr gave me
for this book, my most ambitious project yet.
ride a giant gas bag creature over the endless plains of the Entire, dive
into a silver river that takes you to the center of the universe, and ride
a train without wheels that's loaded with aliens. But it isn't all
adventure. The story will disturb you at times, and make you cry at others.
I love an emotional story and think it's so fun to deliver that in SF. I am
especially thrilled with the Stephan Martiniere artwork that Pyr gave me
for this book, my most ambitious project yet.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I picked this up at random from a bookshop, and was pleasantly surprised to find a a wonderful new voice (at least to me) in scifi/fantasy. The story has an immediately engaging narrative, unlike many other novels that set out to do "world-building". The characters are both likeable and interesting, and there are never so many players on the stage that you forget who's who.
The two universes that Kenyon creates, the rose and the entire, are fascinating. The Rose is our universe, in the near future, but most of the action takes place in the Entire, a place like no other I've read about. It has that tangible quality, that sensation that you could really get out and look around that only gifted world-builders are able to bring to their creations.
The main character of the novels, Titus Quinn, falls in love with the Entire, and the reader does do. It is a spectacular place, that is very much its own, and feels very fresh. As Titus Quinn is a human from our universe (the Rose), we are able to explore the Entire from a new-comers perspective, which is infinitely more approachable and engaging than feeling you need to have a dictionary, atlas, and history manual next to you while you read about a new place.
The plot, which revolves around the intersection of these two universes is engaging and epic in scope, but maintains a very human quality. For some reason it reminds me watching the star wars movies for the first time, that same sense of exploring a completely new world, but through engaging and approachable characters and narrative, so that wonder is never overwhelmed by confusion or alienation.... Read more ›
The two universes that Kenyon creates, the rose and the entire, are fascinating. The Rose is our universe, in the near future, but most of the action takes place in the Entire, a place like no other I've read about. It has that tangible quality, that sensation that you could really get out and look around that only gifted world-builders are able to bring to their creations.
The main character of the novels, Titus Quinn, falls in love with the Entire, and the reader does do. It is a spectacular place, that is very much its own, and feels very fresh. As Titus Quinn is a human from our universe (the Rose), we are able to explore the Entire from a new-comers perspective, which is infinitely more approachable and engaging than feeling you need to have a dictionary, atlas, and history manual next to you while you read about a new place.
The plot, which revolves around the intersection of these two universes is engaging and epic in scope, but maintains a very human quality. For some reason it reminds me watching the star wars movies for the first time, that same sense of exploring a completely new world, but through engaging and approachable characters and narrative, so that wonder is never overwhelmed by confusion or alienation.... Read more ›
9 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I've been meaning to read and review Kay Kenyon's Bright of the Sky since it was released last year. But other titles always found a way to come along, forcing me to push it back on more than one occasion. Still, when the novel made it to a variety of top scifi books' lists at the end of 2007, I knew that I needed to sit down and give it a shot.
Hopefully this review will encourage SFF readers to do the same, for Bright of the Sky is a very good read! Kenyon produced a fascinating blend of science fiction and fantasy, something that should appeal to fans of both genres.
Titus Quinn is a former star pilot now living as a recluse. Most people believe that Quinn lost his mind during an accident, though he swears that the accident transported him to a strange world. He has no memories pertaining to how he was able to return, yet he's convinced that his wife and daughter are still trapped in this parallel universe. When, against all odds, evidence of the existence of this universe is accidentally discovered, Titus Quinn accepts to "scout" this new world for the corporation that abandoned him, secertly hoping to find his missing wife and child. What he unearths, however, threatens the existence of everything he holds dear and forces him to reconsider his plans.
The worldbuilding is the most enthralling facet of Bright of the Sky. The exotic milieu Kay Kenyon created is known as the Entire, while our universe is called the Rose. It's a five-armed radial world which exists in a dimension without stars and planets. Spreading over the Entire is a lid of plasma that ebbs and flows. Living under this fiery canopy known as the bright is a panoply of quasi-human species, some of them copied from Earth, as well as various alien beings.... Read more ›
Hopefully this review will encourage SFF readers to do the same, for Bright of the Sky is a very good read! Kenyon produced a fascinating blend of science fiction and fantasy, something that should appeal to fans of both genres.
Titus Quinn is a former star pilot now living as a recluse. Most people believe that Quinn lost his mind during an accident, though he swears that the accident transported him to a strange world. He has no memories pertaining to how he was able to return, yet he's convinced that his wife and daughter are still trapped in this parallel universe. When, against all odds, evidence of the existence of this universe is accidentally discovered, Titus Quinn accepts to "scout" this new world for the corporation that abandoned him, secertly hoping to find his missing wife and child. What he unearths, however, threatens the existence of everything he holds dear and forces him to reconsider his plans.
The worldbuilding is the most enthralling facet of Bright of the Sky. The exotic milieu Kay Kenyon created is known as the Entire, while our universe is called the Rose. It's a five-armed radial world which exists in a dimension without stars and planets. Spreading over the Entire is a lid of plasma that ebbs and flows. Living under this fiery canopy known as the bright is a panoply of quasi-human species, some of them copied from Earth, as well as various alien beings.... Read more ›
By K.C. May
Format:Kindle Edition
This was the first book by Kay Kenyon I'd read, and while I found the beginning a tad confusing, I pressed on out of curiosity. The story was about a man, Titus Quinn, who'd accidentally been thrust into another "place" with his wife and daughter after an accident with their spacecraft, and who'd returned to Earth some years later with a bizarre tale that nobody seemed to believe...until another team discovered the other place was real. Quinn returns to find out what happened to his wife and daughter, to discover that he isn't welcomed back. Descriptions were confusing and minimal, so it was hard to picture things happening as I read, but the story was engaging and well-worth reading.
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I am an avid fantasy reader and have been disappointed recently by how obvious and bloodthirsty the genre is becoming. This, however, is a great book and very meaty indeed. It does take some getting used to simply because the plot is not as heavily signposted as with some books. By the end I was hooked. There are two protagonists and Kay Kenyon writes well from both points of view. The "baddies" are satisfyingly malevolent and oblique and whilst being hooked I have absolutely no idea what road the next book is going to take.
I would higly recommend the book and have only not given it 5 stars because it did take some getting into.
I would higly recommend the book and have only not given it 5 stars because it did take some getting into.
5 of 11 people found the following review helpful
By Robert
Format:Hardcover
I stuck through three chapters, but in the end I started skipping forward and then just gave up. The concept is of your typical hero in parallel universe/strange world. Nothing wrong with that. But my problem was that the characters really did not stand out. It felt almost like a childs book where what the author says is what the character is. The strange world was not that interesting either. I am sorry I paid for this book and I cannot recommend it.
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