This certainly didn't go in the directions one would expect. Even a few days after finishing it, I'm still not sure how I feel about it. The Tarig are no longer the greatest foe- a new one takes their place. And it's no deus ex machina- it makes sense within the universe of Kenyon. But...after three novels in which we strive and strive against the Tarig, this one feels a bit tacked on. There is so much more about the Tariq that needs to be revealed, that Kenyon would have been better served to spend time revealing.

I'm glad to have read this book. It moved quickly, with excellent descriptions. There was deep character development, and unexpected but realistic characterization. It was a Once and Future King in a galaxy far far away. It was both enjoyable and well written. I just get the feeling it could have been written better. ( )

It took me a while to get into this one; I'm not sure how much was the break between volumes, how much was the feeling of resolution at the end of volume three, and how much was the sheer complicatedness of the story. But once I did get into it, I couldn't put it down! Compelling and complex story, with interesting growth in all the main characters. I would have wished for a bit more in our world, but other than that it was fantastic. ( )

It's sad to see this series come to an end. But after wondering through half the book how Kenyon was going to work (dare I say *weave*) all these complicated motives and relationships together, I felt really satisfied with the way she brought it all to a close -- with one little loose end dangling. I can definitely recommend "The Entire & the Rose" as one of the most imaginative SF series in recent years, with a memorable universe, interesting sentients, and characters that can annoy the hell out of you but still evolve and redeem themselves. I was especially pleased with Anzi's character development; she was always my favorite and it was so frustrating to see her feisty spirit get eclipsed by the cult of Titus in the third book (this was of course on purpose...) For me, Titus was from the very beginning a difficult person to like, but that was also Kenyon's intent; readers who feel as I did will probably agree that in the end he finally did and said the right thing. ( )

Originally posted on my review blog, Stomping on Yeti, at the following location [http://yetistomper.blogspot.com/2010/03/yetireview-entire-and-rose-by-kay.html]

30 Words or Less: An undeniable triumph of world building, Kay Kenyon's The Entire and The Rose is a science fantasy tale of two worlds worth exploring despite the gradual pace dictated by occasional prose problems.

The Good: Absolutely unique world-building that combines science fiction and fantasy elements and continues to grow throughtout the entire series; Carefully plotted narrative that spans and evolves over four volumes; The world is exceptionally well integrated into the narrative rather than being adjacent to it.

The Bad: Early volumes have problems with jarring perspective changes; Worldbuilding often uses infodumping rather than in-narrative elements; The story isn't well segmented into individual novels, leaving readers with an all-or-none decision.

The Review: Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." Rarely is this truer than in Kay Kenyon's science fiction/fantasy hybrid quadrilogy. An undeniable triumph of world building split into four books, The Entire and the Rose is 1700 pages of complex characters and intricate narrative. The events of the series revolve around Titus Quinn, the first denizen of the Rose (our universe) to cross through into The Entire, a complex infinite world constructed by the harsh, alien Tarig and inhabited by a number of races of their creation. Several years before the series begins, Quinn and his wife and daughter were pulled into the Entire when the ship he was piloting broke apart mid-wormhole jump. Quinn returns months later in our time with no family and little recollection of what happened despite living in the Entire for over a decade. When science proves that his ravings about a second reality may in fact be true, Quinn returns to the Entire in search of his missing wife and daughter and to explore what, if any, benefit The Entire may offer Earth. As Quinn quickly becomes embroiled in the politics of the world he left behind, it becomes obvious that much more is at stake than the fate of his family. The plot only gets more complex from there, the majority of which takes place in the profoundly strange world of the Entire, although the story does take place in both universes.

To provide any more detail than that would ruin the game-changing revelations that occur frequently throughout the series, shifting plots and loyalties in unexpected but exciting ways. There are several power players on both sides of the divide and rarely is there any way of knowing who is playing who. If the Earth universe is referred to as the Rose, the other universe labeled as the Entire might be better known as the Onion. From the start of the series to the final pages, Kenyon slowly peels back layer after layer of world building, unveiling an amazingly concocted world. Religion, politics, cultural divides, a forever war, teenage cults, complex transit systems: the facets of the Entire go on and on. Kenyon details aspect after aspect of her created universe and she does an unbelievable job of unobtrusively bringing the elements she has previously cultivated back into the main plot.

It's a rare occurence but if anything there is almost too much world building. The Entire is inhabited by a number of races and species all of which are fairly unique when compared to the genre standards. However, a few of these races are almost superfluous, with not a single primary or secondary character coming from their ranks. Kenyon could have either edited them out or integrated them into the story as well as she did the primary species of Humans, Chalin, Tarig, Inyx, Hirrin, and Paion. The cultural depth of these imagined races is continually capitalized upon by Kenyon and as a result the few species that don't get starring roles ultimately fall to the wayside.

While the extraneous elements could have been handled better, the world of the Entire and the thoroughly constructed characters that inhabit it are the main attractions of the series. Kenyon's writing, on the other hand, leaves a little bit to be desired especially in the early volumes. Kenyon writes from an extremely tight third person perspective and she has an unfortunate tendency to jump perspectives mid-scene without warning, generating confusion and necessitating rereading just to confirm which character was thinking what. Kenyon gets better at this as the books go on but early on these jarring transitions occur disappointingly often especially considering a small change symbol (which is often used to switch perspectives between scenes) could have easily been used to remedy this problem. As the books progress, Kenyon does manage to reduce the frequency with which these occur. The third and fourth volumes are much stronger than the first in this regard.

Kenyon also has a propensity to take a "tell not show" approach to her worldbuilding and while the world is interesting enough, there is no in-narrative reason for the characters to lecture the way they do. Consequently, the books of The Entire and The Rose read somewhat slowly. While not a bad thing in and of itself, these are not necessarily beach reads and due to the complex nature of the world and plot, it should be read in its entirety for full effect, commanding a significant time investment on the part of the reader.

Additionally, it is important to bear in mind that this epic series would be best described as science fantasy. While Kenyon maintains the premise that all of the places and structures of her world are science-based, the science satisfies Clarke's axiom and is indistinguishable from magic. Anyone who goes into this series expecting to understand the physics underpinning the world will be sorely disappointed. Despite the trappings of science that frame the Entire, at its core it's a fantasy world; it exists and behaves the way it does because the story dictates the way it does. But it works and it works well.

Here are individual reviews of each of the four volumes in the series.

Bright of the Sky: Arguably the weakest book in the series, Kenyon's series debut suffers from exposition overload. Kenyon essentially sets up the story three times; first in the future Earth universe, than in the future Entire world, and then revealing Quinn's backstory and what occurred during his first trip to the Entire. With three full histories to explain in additional to all of the characters she introduces, it doesn't feel like a whole lot happens. The last fifty or so pages feel rushed when compared to the whole and while the end of the book comes at a natural stopping point it doesn't really resolve any of the threads introduced. With such a To-Be-Continued ending, it produces contradictory emotions - on one hand there was too little payoff after the slower prose associated with complex world building; on the other hand, A World Too Near beckoned from the shelf immediately. Bright of the Sky is also the book that suffers the most from those aforementioned perspective shifts.

A World Too Near: With A World Too Near and subsequent novels, the pace begins to pick up as Kenyon spends less time crafting her world and more time playing in it. Building on some of the surprises that emerge toward the end of Bright of the Sky, the principal conflict of the series is revealed and the battle lines are drawn. The question of who to trust is paramount and a looming decision allows Kenyon to really dig into her cast of characters. Where Bright of the Sky was about introducing the Entire, A World Too Near is really about establishing the key characters and fleshing out their motivations as they traverse the fantastic civilization. One of the most significant developments in this regard is the introduction of Helice Maki, another transplanted Earthling with an endgame that may or may not align with Quinn's. Upon entering the Entire, the plot evolves from a simple us-versus-them conflict into a more complex adventure. Although it suffers slighty from middle novel syndrome, A World Too Near really sets the stage well for the last half of the series.

A City Without End: The strongest and most science fictional of the volumes, A City Without End sees Kenyon accelerate the thread of Quinn's battle with the fearsome Tarig to a frenetic pace. Even though she still pens a few new characters, Kenyon's takes advantage of the gradual set up of the first two novels and really pushes the plot forward in unexpected directions. Unlike the other novels, A City Without Endalso includes a strong second plotline set in the Rose universe; one that could support an entire novel in and of itself. As it is, this thought provoking idea is only furthers the existing conflict. As the Rose and Entire plotlines collide on an unexpected battleground, the pages really start to turn. While the first two books were structured similar to classic "journey fantasies", A City Without End is more of a political SF thriller than a traditional fantasy. There is a great balance between closure and setup as Kenyon slams some doors and opens others, creating numerous possibilities for the direction of the concluding volume, Prince of Storms.

Prince of Storms: In the concluding volume of the series, Kenyon manages to wrap up the numerous threads of The Entire and The Rose while continuing to grow her characters in the face of new challenges. At first the final volume feels likes it would just be a prolonged epilogue especially after the spectacular ending of A City Without End but it's clear that Kenyon has a few more tricks up her sleeve. Prince of Storms takes a more fantastical approach to the Entire, taking advantage of some of the more unexplained intricacies of the Entire to raise the stakes once again. Reading the final book made it extremely clear how well Kenyon had planned out the entire series. Things that seemed to be throw away lines in the first two volumes were brought full circle, adding an appreciated cohesion to the story and lending credence to the final climax. Prince of Storms ends the series on a strong note, leaving the readers with a robust narrative that doesn't leave the door open for future derivative adventures.

Ultimately, The Entire and The Rose is more than a sum of its composite volumes, so much so that it was too difficult to reach a conclusion on one book before reading the others. The story flows through the pages like one of the arms of the Nigh (a river of exotic matter from the story), bearing strongly motivated characters through alternating periods of slow progress and torrential action. The narrative twists and turns unexpectedly, creating new letters to place between points A and B. At the core of Kenyon's series is her imagined Entire, rivaling any fantasy world for its complexity and surpassing the vast majority for sheer inventiveness. Despite some missteps in presentation, Kay Kenyon's The Entire and The Rose has created a unique science fantasy series that is worth reading, well, in its entirety. ( )

Prince of Storms is the fourth and final book in Kay Kenyon's The Rose and the Entire Quintet. Starting with Bright of the Sky,progressing through A World Too Near, and City without End, the Series has followed the travails of Titus Quinn. Quinn, a pilot whose accidental visit to the alternate universe of the Entire is used by the Minerva Corporaton to send him again, has grown from searching for his lost wife and daughter, to toppling the Tarig overlords of the Entire itself, and setting himself against his daughter.

Now, in the fourth volume of the series, the themes and stories of the Entire and the Rose quartet come to a head as the different visions of the future of the Entire, and the Rose (our universe) clash together. Quinn's desire to keep Earth and the Entire safe is set against his daughter Sen Ni (Sydney)'s desire to have the Entire survive at any and all costs. And then there is Geng De, the Navitar friend to Sydney who has a decidedly different view of what should happen to the Entire. And finally, there are the Jinda Ceb. Former eternal enemy of the Tarig, now that the Tarig are overthrown, and they are part of the Entire, what is THEIR vision of the future of the two universes?

In Prince of Storms, these larger issues are resolved, as well, and as always, set against the personal stories of Quinn, his daughter Sen Ni, his (first) wife Johanna, his Entire wife, Ji Anzi, and many others. Kenyon's big canvas and big questions are grand and epic, but her characters inhabit this complex pair of worlds.

I have to admit, the ending to this novel, and the fates of the characters are understandable, fitting, and logical, given the sequence of events. What they are decidedly not, however, are predictable given the start of the series. This is not a simple quartet where the hero simply journeys across the landscape, picks up companions, overthrows the dark lord, and rules happily ever after. Kenyon's writing, narrative and story are far more nuanced than that.

As always, one should not start here with this book, and I don't even think its realistically possible to fully enjoy this book without having read its predecessors. If you want wide canvas science fiction that is very much in the mold of planetary romance and epic fantasy, and with more than a dash of characters that will propel you through this landscape, I cannot recommend Kay Kenyon's The Rose and the Entire Quartet enough.

I have heard that Kenyon is going to turn from SF to more straightline fantasy for her next work. Thanks to the strength of writing and the enjoyment of reading the Rose and Entire Quartet, this reader will certainly follow her into those realms as well. Read the Rose and the Entire Quartet, and find out for yourself why. ( )