Readercon Review
Kay Kenyon is back from Readercon. She blogs the convention here. And here she is being blessed by Locus‘ Charles Brown, alongside Paolo Bacigalupi.
Kay Kenyon
MIND MELD: Interesting Areas of Scientific Research
The latest Mind Meld is up at SFSignal. This one asks, “There is a lot of scientific research being performed across a wide array of disciplines. So much that it can be difficult to keep up with it all. What current avenue of scientific inquiry do you believe people should be paying attention to, and why?”
Answers are from Kathleen Ann Goonan, Nancy Kress, Michael S. Brotherton, Nina Munteanu, and Jennifer Ouellette, as well as our own Kay Kenyon and Alexis Glynn Latner. I am particularly struck by Kathleen Ann Goonan’s comment that, “…our system of education needs to have a scientific basis. It does not now. It is so dreadful because it was created to ready immigrant children for factory work. Be on time, follow directions, don’t talk, do what we tell you to do. One obvious negative outcome is that we do not begin to teach reading until children are far older than the optimal age for doing so.”
Also worth mentioning: Earlier on SFSignal, John DeNardo has taken it upon himself to review as many of Chris Roberson’s Celestial Empire stories as he can get his hands on.
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Kay Kenyon in the Wenatchee World
I love Kay Kenyon. In the past two days, I’ve been talking with a journalist at a major newspaper about “big idea” science fiction and with a major chain buyer about women who write science fiction (as opposed to fantasy), and I’ve been involved in a discussion of cover art with both said buyer and SFSignal, so how could Kay Kenyon’s name not come up in all of this? Beautifully written, mind-expanding sensawunder with cover illustrations to match.
Kay is interviewed by The Wenatchee World this week. And – lo and behold! – she’s talking about all three of these topics too! Speaking about the protagonist of A World Too Near,she says, “hes, he’s almost an antihero, in a way, because he has some bad-boy qualities, and he’s thumbing his nose to some extent at the status quo. Although I meant to suggest that he’s becoming seduced by the grace and the monumental scope of the Entire — and he’s in this dilemma of loving this new world, but realizing that he was too co-opted by it last time around. The last time he was there, he was a prince of the Demon City, if you will, and he has this guilt about that. Yet he can’t help himself that he loves it still. And that need to have redemption from past actions, and the love of the Entire — I think they fight with each other and make for an interesting internal story.”
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A Place of Demons and Wonders
John Joseph Adams interviews Kay Kenyon on Sci Fi Wire about her latest book, A World Too Near.Kay describes her lead, Titus Quinn, as a “former starship pilot, and, against his will, former prince of a demon city. [It’s also] about Titus coming back to a place of demons and wonders–a pocket universe called the Entire–to redeem himself and save a lost daughter. The redemption involves a kind of labor of Hercules, the sort of mythic thing you can never really expect to pull off. He has to bring down a 100,000-year-old castle belonging to the masters of the universe.”
Hey, I’d read that (if I hadn’t already)!
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A World Too Near – Fascinatingly Complex
Paul Di Filippo reviews Kay Kenyon’s A World Too Near: Book Two of The Entire and The Rosefor SciFi.com’s Sci Fi Weekly. He found the book suffered from “middle volume syndrome”, so affixed a minus to it’s A grade, but he points out that it does a few things “brilliantly right.” As he says: “First off, all the characters continue to be fascinatingly complex…… Also, every minor character is endowed with exceptional depth and reality. Secondly, the artificial universe known as the Entire remains a great conception and playground for adventure.”
His conclusion? “But I’ll certainly be back for the next installment, hoping for more aspects of the Entire to emerge.”
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Editors’ Choice – The Official SF Site Best SF and Fantasy Books of 2007
SFSite has released their Editors’ Choice – The Official SF Site Best SF and Fantasy Books of 2007, and Ian McDonald’s Brasyltops the list at number one. They say, “Wrap your head around this book if you want to see what truly ingenious science fiction can look like.”
Meanwhile, Kay Kenyon’s Bright of the Skymade their “The Near Misses and Honourable Mentions.”
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City Without End takes Silver Spectrum Award
A huge congratulations to Stephan Martiniere, whose cover illustration for the third book in Kay Kenyon’s ongoing space opera quartet entitled The Entire and the Rose, the forthcoming City Without End, just won the Silver Spectrum award in the book category. All of Stephan’s covers in this series have been amazing. Book one, Bright of the Sky,made the Spectrum annual the year it was released, and we’re hearing good things about A World Too Near– which just hit shelves this week. (For a look at these two covers side by side, see Kay’s website.) And now, unveiled here for the first time, the winning cover of City Without End. This is my favorite of the three “Entire” pieces, and maybe one of my favorite Martiniere illustrations ever.
What do you think?
Meanwhile, long as we’re talking about The Entire and the Rose, I’ve just spotted some very thoughtful, articulate (and spoiler ridden) reviews of Bright of the Sky and A World Too Near up at SF Reviews. Of book one, they say, “If what you crave in your SF is a fresh and dynamic approach to world-building, wed to epic storytelling with believably flawed heroes and vividly imagined alien cultures, and you’re frustrated that nobody seems to be bloody doing it, odds are you’ve been skipping over the Kay Kenyon novels every time you go to the bookstore.” Meanwhile, looking at book two, they say, “…it must be said that at the end of the day, this series, exciting as it’s turning out to be, is in many ways pure fantasy formula — just tricked out in the most gorgeous production values imaginable. But who cares if it’s formula as long as the entertainment value is blowing your doors, right? A World Too Near is sweet, splendid entertainment. Kay Kenyon will have you solidly hooked with this series, and if you’ve never had her name down on your reading list before now, it’s way past time you added it.”
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Kay Kenyon on the Road
Kay Kenyon (Bright of the Sky,A World Too Near)is back from RadCon. Here is her report.
Missed seeing Kay? Then you can catch her at one of these:
ConDor, Feb 29-Mar 2, San Diego, CA.
OmegaCon, Mar 13- 16, Birmingham, AL
A Book For All Seasons, Saturday, Mar 22 1:00-3:00, Leavenworth, WA, signing.
Read It Again Books, Monday, Mar 24, 6:30 p.m.
11 Palouse St, Wenatchee, WA (509) 662-2093, signing
University Bookstore, Apr 9, 7:00 p.m., Seattle, WA, signing with Louise Marley also known as Toby Bishop of Airs Beneath the Moon fame.
Readercon, July 17 – 20, Burlington MA
World Fantasy, Oct 30 – Nov 2, Calgary, AB Canada
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Kay’s New Website
Kay Kenyon has a totally revamped website, rebuilt around her Entire and the Rose series. Check it out here. And if you like what you see, drop by her livejournal and let her know. As she says, the new site features:
- Inside views of the Universe Entire (Universe Extras)
- How to get signed copies of Bright of the Sky in trade paper.
- Full color artwork of the series covers by the phenomenal Stephan Martiniere.
- Where Kay will be showing up around the country.
- Sample of Kay’s e-newsletter.
2nd Starred Review in PW for Kay Kenyon’s Entire & the Rose
Publishers Weekly has given a starred review to Kay Kenyon’s forthcoming A World Too Near.This is the second such for The Entire and The Rose series, as the first book, Bright of the Sky,was also starred (and went on to make their Best Books of the Year list too).
A World Too Near Kay Kenyon Pyr, $25 (456p) ISBN 978-1-59102-642-6
“The fate of two universes hangs in the balance in this intricately plotted sequel to Bright of the Sky (2007)….Tangled motivations, complex characters and intriguing world-building will keep readers on the edges of their seats.“
Perfect timing too, as the paperback of Bright of the Sky comes out next month. And I just finished reading the manuscript to book three, City Without End, and can’t imagine it’s going to do any less.
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