Woot!

Adventuring with Kay Kenyon

I really love listening to articulate authors talk about what they do. One of my favorite interviews in a while is this recent podcast with City without Endauthor Kay Kenyon on Shaun Farrell's magnificent, recently-returned-from-hiatus Adventures in SciFi Publishing. They discuss "blending science fiction and fantasy tropes, propaganda versus fiction, and assuming the mind of Evil." Very well worth your valuable time.

A World Too Near up for 2009 Endeavour Award

I am extremely pleased to report the news that Kay Kenyon's A World Too Nearis a finalist for the 2009 Endeavour Award!!

The winner will be announced at OryCon, which will be held in Portland November 27-29 (and at which Yours Truly will be attending as an Editor GoH). The winner will receive a grant of $1,000 and an engraved glass plaque.

The Endeavour Award honors a distinguished science fiction or fantasy book written by a writer living in the Pacific Northwest. The judges this year are: Joe Haldeman, John Helfers, and Sarah Zettel.

The other finalists are: Anathem by Neal Stephenson, Ill Met in the Arena by Dave Duncan, Long Walks, Last Flights and Other Stories by Ken Scholes, and Space Magic by David Levine.

Congratulations to all the nominees!

City Without End: One Hell of a Novel

“City without Endis to be admired and appreciated. It is to be enjoyed. City Without End is one hell of a novel. It is better than the A World Too Near,which in turn was better than Bright of the Sky.That would be saying something if the series did not start out strong. Since Bright of the Sky was a strong opening volume, it marks City Without End as something special. Truly, this is a series that demands to be read. Only, be sure to start at the beginning. You don’t want to miss a word.” -Fantasy Magazine, May 7, 2009

You see that there, "demands to be read" ? Now remember when SFRevu said, "This may well be the most ambitious epic science fiction series of the current decade." That's it folks. No more excuses.

New Pyr slogan: Got Kenyon?

Kay Kenyon - Writing the Most Ambitious Epic

From SFRevu:

Kay Kenyon's epic series, The Entire and the Rose, grows stronger with each new volume. This may well be the most ambitious epic science fiction series of the current decade. While clearly science fiction, the atmosphere and feel of the series has many of the qualities of fantasy and can be enjoyed by readers of that genre who do not like much science fiction.... If you are not already reading this series and you are at all interested in current science fiction, you really should be. Start with the first book, Bright of the Sky. (Ignore the way it seems to jump in the middle as if there was an earlier volume, Kenyon chose to put much of the early history in as flashbacks and information revealed to an amnesiac hero.) There is one book left of this four-book series, Prince of Stormswhich will come out January 2010. I am really looking forward to seeing how Kenyon is able to resolve everything. Very highly recommended.

One of the Most Fascinating Scifi Series on the Market

From Pat's Fantasy Hotlist: "With Bright of the Skyand A World Too Near,Kay Kenyon established herself as one of the most underrated science fiction authors out there. In my opinion, The Entire and the Rose is without a doubt one of the most fascinating scifi series on the market today. In City Without End,Kenyon elevates this series to new heights.... Kay Kenyon's latest is full of surprising twists and turns, and the plot moves forward at a crisp pace. No offense to Peter F. Hamilton and other scifi authors in the middle of ongoing series, but The Entire and the Rose could well be the best game in town right now. I commend this series to your attention. Can't wait to see how the author will close the show!"

2008, Not Criminalized

Over on SFSite, Kay Kenyon's A World Too Nearcomes in at #7 in Greg L. Johnson's Best of 2008! Which is a good thing, since the sadly-now-defunct Realms of Fantasy wrote last year that, "It would be criminal if this novel didn’t make year’s best lists at the end of 2008.”

And look, the trade paperbackwas just released! Imagine that...

Cover Debut: the trade paperback edition of A World Too Near

Here is the jacket for the trade paperback edition of Kay Kenyon's A World Too Near,a book of which Realms of Fantasy said, "It would be criminal if this book didn't make year's best lists at the end of 2008."
As with the hardcover, art is by Stephan Martiniere, design by Jacqueline Cooke.

A World Too Near, A Book Impossible to Put Down

Pat's Fantasy Hotlist has a great interview with Kay Kenyon up today, apparently co-conducted by Patrick and SFFWorld's Rob H. Bedford. Check it all out, but I particularly like Kay's answer to the question of whether there were any "perceived conventions of the science fiction/fantasy genre" that she set out to "twist or break." Kay replies:

"Well, first off, I wanted to celebrate some of the traditions, and make the story an unabashed fantasy quest. Insofar as the story has science fiction underpinnings, I did twist the usual space opera protagonist, making Titus Quinn deeply divided in his loyalties. Through the eyes of his daughter, Sydney, we get an unsparing view of Titus. Her deeply ambivalent feelings for Titus highlight his dilemmas and explore the question of how it’s possible to do good when all actions will create suffering. I wanted to turn a Flash Gordon concept into the thinking reader’s adventure novel. ...As the story proceeded, I wanted to create fault lines in the reader’s assumptions about the Tarig overlords, who by tradition we want to despise. A pervasive goal was to give each character their value as a sentient being. This emphasis on character is also, in my view, a departure from the classic adventure tale."

Meanwhile, earlier this week, Rob H. Bedford posted the SFFWorld review of the second book in Kay's The Entire and the Rose series, A World Too Near, proclaiming that, ""Kenyon does a great job of maintaining the tension of this throughout the novel. "

[Spoiler Alert] If Bright of the Skywas Titus Quinn's book, then this one is Joanna Quinn's, as Rob observes, "While Titus is indeed the main character, Kenyon also shows his wife’s life in the Entire. In fact, the novel opens with a scene of Joanna Quinn, illustrating the grandeur of the Entire while juxtaposing it against the desperation Joanna feels in an otherwise beautiful place. Joanna’s scenes proved even more emotionally charged than those featuring Titus, there is a great deal of conflict within her and at times, she seems resigned to her fate and has given up hope of a return to the life she knew. While Joanna’s scenes aren’t as frequent as Titus’s, they are as powerful."

Rob concludes that, "ultimately, I found myself unable to stop reading. As the novel draws to a close, the pressure builds for Titus and for Joanna, making for a briskly paced conclusion that you want to read through fast, but conversely, you don’t want to end. A tease at the end gives readers just enough to crave the next volume."

Which is perfect, ennit?

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."

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)!

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."

A Load of Catching Up to Do

Here's a whole handful of things worth passing on.

Michael Moorcock is interviewed on ActuSF. He talks about the genesis of the Sir Seaton Begg character from The Metatemporal Detective,as well as the challenge of envisioning Hitler as a character: "I’m interested in political understanding, not what is correct. In fact you HAVE to look at these things if you are doing your job as a writer. You have to ask the unasked questions!"

Kay Kenyon's A World Too Near,just out this month, gets a marvelous review courtesy of Jackie Cassada in the Library Journal: "Kenyon's sequel to Bright of the Skydelves deeper into the personalities of her characters. This volume by a strong storyteller with a fresh new approach to fantasy and sf belongs in most libraries."

Meanwhile, Kay's previous novel, Bright of the Sky, was chosen as a staff selection for the Book Group Buzz: A Booklist Blog which makes recommendations (and offers sample discussion questions) for book club. They say, "Kenyon has done a masterful job of world building. Her setting is worth reading about. Her characters are believable. Her plot is intriguing. The tone is somber and mean, and there is little that happens in this first book that is redemptive. Conflict is constant and some of the violence is hard to look at. Did I understand all the science? No. Was that important to me? No. This novel is so accomplished that a reader little interested in the mechanics of the world can still enjoy the universe Kenyon has created.
Would I read the next book in the series? You bet!"

Graeme's Fantasy Book Review takes a look at the first of Joel Shepherd's Cassandra Kresnov novels, Crossover,His conclusion: "I think the hype has been totally justified...I loved Crossover and haven’t had as much fun with a sci-fi book in a long time."

Finally, Of Science Fiction takes a look at Justina Robson's Selling Out.TexasBlueBoy apparently hates series, but he likes this one despite himself: "Ms. Robson's blending of pretty hard sci fi with classic fantasy elements is flawless. Her characters are all flawed in very human ways and therefore approachable if not downright likable. I really hate to admit it, but Pyr has brought out yet another great speculative work that deserves to be read."

No shame in admitting that, now, surely!

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."

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.