Kay Kenyon Books In Order

Publication Order of The Arisen Worlds Books

Publication Order of Dark Talents Books

Publication Order of Entire and the Rose Books

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Publication Order of Short Stories/Novellas

Publication Order of Short Story Collections

Publication Order of Anthologies

Kay Kenyon is an American author of fantasy and science fiction novels with more than a dozen titles to her name. She is best known for “The Entire and The Rose Quartet” among several freestanding fantasy and science fiction novels. She published her first novel “The Seeds of Time” in 1997 and has been writing ever since. Her novels have been critically acclaimed, going on to get nominations to several awards and even winning some of the prestigious out there. She has been an American Library Association Reading List Award nominee twice and won the John W. Campbell Award, the Endeavour Award, and the Philip K. Dick Award. Her short stories have been featured in several magazines, anthologies and best collections. Professionally, she is the founder of the “Write on the River” organization which works to inspire and nurture aspiring writers on their journey towards publication. Given her work running the organization that is based in Wenatchee, the family spends their time shuttling between South California where she gets inspiration for her novels ,and Wenatchee, Washington where she gives back through Write on the River.

Before she became a full time author Kay Kenyon was an urban planner, which perhaps explains why she is so great at building science fiction and fantasy worlds. Since publishing her debut in 1997, her work has been known for its complicated human dramas and the detailed nature of its planetary systems and planets. She may be said to be a cross between the Humanists and Cyberpunk writers of the 1980s in writing novels that may be deemed to be a combination of baroque Space Opera and Hard Science Fiction. After her glossy and ambitious four novels, Kenyon expanded her scope to write the crystalline and perhaps complicated “Computer”, a novel about a primitive computer that needed to cover the whole universe if it were to be effective in preserving data. She then shifted to more typical doomsday scenarios as her novel “Maximum Ice” was about the Romanies who escape planet Earth after it is afflicted by disasters that threaten the survival of the human species. Through much of her novel writing career, Kay has contrasted intricate plots with a rich portrayal of human interaction to make for thrilling science fiction narratives, that attain a proper balance of veracity and contrivance.

“Entire and the Rose Series” is the novel where Kay Kenyon’s world building skills came to the fore as she creates her most compelling and vivid society yet in the Universe named Entire. The Entire is a seductive and bizarre mix of alien and quasi human beings living under the bright which is a sky of fire. The Galaxy Entire tunnels through the Rose Galaxy and is landlocked. The creatures of Entire find sustenance from a never ending exotic river and are protected from outside enemies by colossal storm walls. The radial universe while parallel to the Rose Galaxy is set in a dimension devoid of planets and stars. Its sky is made of a continuously flowing and ebbing plasma named bright, which serves to bring twilight and daylight to the world. The inhabitants of the Entire are aware of a parallel universe that we call the Milky Way Galaxy but which they call The Rose. They can travel from their own world to our won through Wormholes, though they have to consider time given that it runs at different rates in the two universes. The lead in the series is a human being that loses his entire family in the Universe Entire and is now on a quest to fight aliens on the universe. These aliens have an insectoid characteristic similar to The Year of Our War by Steph Swainston or A Storm of Wings by John Harrison. The Entire Universe is ruled and has been ruled for eons by the tyrannical Tarig.

“Bright of the Sky” is the first novel of the “Entire and the Rose” series of novels by Kay Kenyon. Former star pilot Titus Quinn has lost his daughter and wife presumed dead by all on Earth except for him. Quinn believes that they are not dead but rather trapped in the neighboring universe, where he was once held captive. He makes the journey to Entire devoid of any resources, memories, or language skills to survive in the alien world. All he has is a Chalin woman named Anzi who makes friends with him after learning that they have experienced similar tragedies. Her daughter just like Quinn’s family has gone missing, supposedly enslaved by the Tarig. To free his family and Anzi’s daughter Quinn has to travel in disguise as the Tarig have learnt of his presence and are on his trail. But as his memories returns he remembers that his mission is not only to infiltrate Ascendancy the fabulous city to free his family, but also to break the irons of Tarig tyranny over Entire. But after almost a decade in captivity, he may find his family is not that welcoming of his advances. Written in the scale of the masters of high science fiction such as Amber Chronicles by Zelazny or Riverworld by Philip Jose Farmer, it is an excellent novel where a man has to face up to a destiny written in the multiverse.

“A World Too Near” is the enthralling second novel of the series featuring Titus Quinn introduced in the first novel. While Quinn loves the Entire Universe, he needs to destroy the Ahnenhoon fortress which may annihilate the universe. Ahnenhoon’s is the fuel that sustains the Entire Universe but given that it is imminently going to consume the Rose Galaxy which he calls home, he is left with no choice but to destroy it. To complete his mission he takes along an ankle bracelet that comes with cutting edge nanotechnology that could reduce the threat to manageable levels. But fulfilling the mission will not be easy given that he has to contend with an assassin his daughter has hired to eliminate him. Given that his wife is a captive in Entire also makes the decision to destroy Ahnenhoon a heavy one. Traversing the Entire Universe he learns of its history, its colossal storm walls, its geography, and the politics of control that have been raging for ages. His daughter leads one of the strongest political factions even as she is a young slave. Preparing to face the biggest test of his career, he comes to learn that nothing is what it appears in the Universe Entire.