Bright of the Sky (Entire and the Rose, Book 1) (Hardcover)

~ (Author)
Key Phrases: small girl, deep room, sleeping lord, Dai Shen, Titus Quinn, Zai Gan (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. At the start of this riveting launch of a new far-future SF series from Kenyon (Tropic of Creation), a disastrous mishap during interstellar space travel catapults pilot Titus Quinn with his wife, Johanna Arlis, and nine-year-old daughter, Sydney, into a parallel universe called the Entire. Titus makes it back to this dimension, his hair turned white, his memory gone, his family presumed dead and his reputation ruined with the corporation that employed him. The corporation (in search of radical space travel methods) sends Titus (in search of Johanna and Sydney) back through the space-time warp. There, he gradually, painfully regains knowledge of its rulers, the cruel, alien Tarig; its subordinate, Chinese-inspired humanoid population, the Chalin; and his daughter's enslavement. Titus's transformative odyssey to reclaim Sydney reveals a Tarig plan whose ramifications will be felt far beyond his immediate family. Kenyon's deft prose, high-stakes suspense and skilled, thorough world building will have readers anxious for the next installment. (Apr.)
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From Bookmarks Magazine

Bright of the Sky, Kay Kenyon's seventh novel, took critics by surprise. Compared to works by Frank Herbert and Philip Jose Farmer, this impressive first installment in a planned four-part series won them over with its riveting plot, vividly imagined alternate universe, and exotic alien denizens. Titus Quinn is a charming anti-hero, fully fleshed-out and likable; Kenyon's secondary characters are also convincing and memorable. One critic felt that some narrative jumps were confusing, and the Washington Post compared Kenyon's early chapters on 23rd-century Earth to "a kind of retro (1950s) view of the future," but these were considered minor complaints. With elegant prose and a solid grounding in real-life physics, Kenyon has conjured a spellbinding, action-packed planetary romance.
Copyright © 2004 Phillips & Nelson Media, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 453 pages
• Publisher: Pyr; First Edition edition (April 17, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1591025419
• ISBN-13: 978-1591025412
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.2 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #808,993 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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• This is item 1 in The Entire and the Rose Series.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Please don't avoid this book because of HK review!, June 18, 2007

By	M. Daly (Chicago, IL USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is a brilliant piece of SF/F writing and does not deserve to suffer simply because HK reviewed it in "her" usual, incoherent style. The two professional reviews give a good summary of the plot, so I'll just comment on why I enjoyed the book so much:

Kenyon's characters are so vivid that I found myself attached to even minor characters, wondering what happens to them after they leave the stage. There are only a handful of writers whose characters I've actually had dreams about, writing further adventures for them in my head, after I finish a book. Kenyon is one of those writers, and I can't wait to read the subsequent installments in the series.

The characters are the stars for me here, but I must mention how fascinating the world is that Kenyon has created. The two parallel worlds are revealed gradually to the reader throughout the course of the book, but even from the first scenes they feel solidly real. They make sense because Kenyon adds the kind of telling details that bring them alive most subtly and completely for me. Both worlds come complete with nuanced social and political stresses: corporate greed and executive dogfights, difficult family dynamics, political power struggles, clashes between cultures, xenophobia, and lots more. It sounds like a lot for one book, but the strands are so skillfully built and intertwined that the reader's knowledge builds in an apparently natural way. From the first, wrenching scene in the Rose (future Earth) universe--where we encounter an entire ship at the mercy of technology so complex that only one person on board is capable of fully understanding, much less controlling it--to the first scenes in the Entire universe--where we witness a summary execution by one of the powerful and terrifying Tarig--Kenyon sets up fascinating and illuminating parallels between the two parallel worlds.

The plot is complex and surprising also. The pace is never dull, yet events are allowed the proper time to build believably and achieve resonance for the reader. Kenyon doesn't pull any punches, and the consequences of the characters' decisions are sometimes brutal, adding increasing depth to the plot and characterization as the book progresses.

Entirely enjoyable. Highly recommended for those who enjoy both SF and Fantasy worldbuilding and want something complex and engrossing.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Kenyon's Best to Date, April 26, 2007

By	The Doctah "Thomas" (Quincy) - See all my reviews

I have followed Kenyon's writing career closely and have read every one of her novels. There's no question that Bright of the Sky is her very best work yet. It is everything that you expect from her work (beautifully crafted characters that you really care about, a plot and story that holds you attention from the first page to the last and last, but certainly not least, a milieu and "world" that is utterly believable even in its most fantastical aspects) and it is everything that you expect from any science fiction/fantasy story. This truly is one case in which the blubs on Bright's cover can be believed -- there isn't anyone on the science fiction scene these days who does it as good as Kenyon.

One of the structural aspects of this book that I found particularly interesting was the seamless interweaving of traditional "hard" science fiction with a fascinating fantasy overlay. I don't often see this done well (or at all), but Kenyon has managed to do it in a way that makes perfect sense in the context of the story line.

Bright is a grand adventure undertaken by people whose reality seems to leap off the pages. The off-earth forays of Titus Quinn take place in an almost magical and mysterious world, but one whose structure and purpose (when you find out what that is) make perfect sense. This world (the "Entire") is populated with some of the most interesting and intriguing characters (recognizable humans whose lives are patterned from glimpses of an ancient Chinese cultrure) and critters (you'll have to read Bright yourself) that I have come across in my reading. The world-building is just delightful.

Bright is apparently the first book in a 4-book series so there are some story elements that remain loose at the end of this first book. But the story of Bright, itself, is complete and concluded in this first book. I was left with the usual reaction at the end of a 1st book -- "What happens next?" In addition to that anticipation, though, I also got a nice sense of satisfaction that many of the important questions raised and conflicts posed in Bright were resolved (even though that resolution set the stage for what must come next in Volume 2 and subequest books).

All in all, this was a delightful read and, as I noted above, the best work that Kenyon has done to date. This is one that is worth the hardcover price -- you're probably going to hear people talking about this one and I think you're going to want to read it.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Space opera at its best, April 26, 2007

By	Louise Marley "Louise" (Pacific Northwest) - See all my reviews

It's so nice to have fun reading science fiction again! Kenyon's story is big and sprawling and colorful, and yet the story is so accessible, with memorable characters and good, but not esoteric, science. I love this adventure/romance/thriller of a book, to say nothing of the fact that the cover itself is worth the price. Kay Kenyon and Stephan Martiniere (the cover artist) make a great pair, and bode well for the future of this kind of sf.