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    A World Too Near
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    A World Too Near
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    A World Too Near
    Ebook537 pages7 hours

    A World Too Near

    By Kay Kenyon

    3.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    In Bright of the Sky, Kay Kenyon introduced a milieu unique in science fiction and fantasy: The Entire, a five-armed radial universe that exists in a dimension without stars and planets and is parallel to our own universe. Stretched over The Entire is a lid of plasma, called the bright, which ebbs and flows, bringing day and twilight. Under the vast canopy of the bright live many galactic species, copied from our own universe. Former star pilot Titus Quinn loves The Entire, but now he must risk annihilating it by destroying the fortress of Ahnenhoon. To sustain a faltering Entire, Ahnenhoon's great engine will soon reach through the brane separating the universes and consume our own universe in a concentrated ball of fire. Quinn sets off on a journey across The Entire armed with the nan, a small ankle bracelet containing nanoscale military technology that can reduce Ahnenhoon and its deadly engine to chaos. He must pursue his mission even though his wife is held prisoner in Ahnenhoon and his own daughter has sent the assassin MoTi to hunt him down. As he traverses the galactic distances of The Entire, he learns more of the secrets of its geography, its fragile storm walls, its eons-long history, and the factions that contend for dominance. One of these factions is led by his daughter, who though young and a slave, has at her command a transforming and revolutionary power. As Quinn wrestles with looming disaster and approaches the fabled concentric rings of Ahnenhoon's defenses, he learns that in the Entire, nothing is what it appears. Its denizens are all harboring secrets, and the greatest of these is the nature of the Entire itself.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPyr
    Release dateJan 28, 2010
    ISBN9781591028321
    Unavailable
    A World Too Near
    Author

    Kay Kenyon

    Kay Kenyon is the author of fourteen science fiction and fantasy novels as well as numerous short stories. Her work has been shortlisted for the Philip K. Dick and the John W. Campbell Memorial Awards, the Endeavour Award, and twice for the American Library Association Reading List Awards. Her series The Entire and the Rose was hailed by The Washington Post as “a splendid fantasy quest as compelling as anything by Stephen R. Donaldson, Philip Jose Farmer, or yes, J.R.R. Tolkien.” Her novels include Bright of the Sky, A World Too Near, City Without End, Prince of Storms, Maximum Ice (a 2002 Philip K. Dick Award nominee), and The Braided World. Bright of the Sky was among Publishers Weekly’s top 150 books of 2007. She is a founding member of the Write on the River conference in Wenatchee, Washington, where she lives with her husband.

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    Reviews for A World Too Near

    3.5/5

    63 ratings5 reviews

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    • 2/5
      The first book in this series, Bright of the Sky, was a little info-dump-ish but the world-building was original enough, and my initial interest in the characters high enough, that I was pretty interested in seeing where she was going with the second book.Unfortunately, now that I'm done with it, I'm that dissenting reviewer who doesn't join the chorus of raves.First, there's less info-dump; we already know what the alternate universe looks like. However, the larger tendency to talk at the reader rather than immerse the reader in what's going on so that they see it first-hand is still present. That's not my favorite writing style.Second, I just didn't warm to any of the characters. I didn't like them nor empathize with them. I didn't even find some of them consistent with who they were in the first book. Couple that with the first point and we have a story that never enrolls me. Instead, I sit at arm's length watching a drama.Lastly, the book felt choppy. Some of that was natural since Kenyon uses the technique of multiple, interwoven points of view. Still, there was an overall bumpiness to it where some sections felt overly long and others rushed.I'll give her an A for originality, but count me as someone who doesn't recommend this book and, by extension, the series, to anyone but devoted fans of speculative fiction.
    • 4/5
      **SPOILER ALERT**If you love sci-fi or fantasy, you really need to read this series!Book 2 started out as awesome as Bright of the Sky. I really enjoyed Johanna's character. There are so many complexities of emotion and human relationship that Kay Kenyon writes so well. In Book 1 we meet Quinn 6 months after the K-tunnel disaster depressed and refusing to move on. Then near the end of this book they meet again and it's not what you expect. It was heartbreaking to see a couple that was once so in love with each other to meet again after a tragedy they couldn't have forseen... and they've both moved on.The ending seemed very rushed. It wasn't wrapped up as tightly and satisfying as Bright of the Sky. The whole jump to Janna at the end was just thrown in there and felt very forced and odd. I realize the set up that happened when Johanna was dying but it was all so short and rushed. If there had been 50+ extra pages I would be happier with the ending. Maybe Lou Anders thought the book already had too many pages!I'm definitely chewing my fingernails waiting for City in the Sky (Book 3)!! Hopefully I can give that 5 stars!I met Kay Kenyon at OmegaCon this year. She is fun to talk to and very encouraging to aspiring writers. I can't wait to read ALL her books!
    • 4/5
      The author has returned to her highly creative work, "The Bright of the Sky", with a sequel. She has created a remarkable concept of contact and conflict with deft prose. I recall when first reading book one of this series and being amazed at the world she weaved. This series of now two books, details a world known as the Entire parallel to our own but governed in a dimension without stars or planets. The Entire is ruled by a race known as the Tarig who have modeled sentient life forms in this world after Earth. The second book is fast paced, with clever action and further character definition and growth. I thoroughly enjoyed it and look forward to the third book in this series.
    • 4/5
      The second in a series (#1 is Bright of the Sky), it is not necessary to have read the first to enjoy the story in this volume. The protagonist, Titus, is trying to save the Earth from a powerful weapon developed by the rulers of the Entire. Titue returns to Entire with a weapon he does not entirely trust and with an unwanted and treacherous stowaway who cannot be trusted. He learns that his daughter, who was separated from in Vol. 1, is still alive and does not want to see him alive. She has no attachment to Earth and sends an assassin after him. Titus also discovers his wife is alive and not dead. She is living as the mistress of an Entire ruler. Unlike her daughter, she wants to save the Earth from destruction. Lots of action combined with questions about the value of the lives of people belonging to other cultures and questions of allegiance. Unsurprisingly, the conclusion leaves opening for a 3rd book.
    • 5/5
      It took me far longer to finish the second book in Kay Kenyon's The Entire and the Rose cycle, but that's no fault of the book. Life gets in the way sometimes, you know? Anyway, I was sucked into this book as soon as I started reading, which is nice. It's not often that I can get immediately sucked back into a world when it comes to series, simply because I rarely read the books back to back.Recommended? For sure, especially if you like science-fantasy (of an epic sort) and don't mind the fact that this story TAKES ITS TIME. Kenyon's strengths are definitely in the world-building and her characterization, but her POV, which is a loose omniscient, can be off-putting until you get used to it.And if you haven't yet read Bright of the Sky, you must start there. These books aren't stand-alone. They build on each other, so it's important to start at the beginning so you as a reader understands everything that's happening, especially in regards to the world-building. However, if you've already read Bright of the Sky and are interested in A World Too Near, the review's in my LJ. Just be warned, there will be spoilers.As always, comments and discussion are most welcome.REVIEW: Kay Kenyon's A WORLD TOO NEARHappy Reading!