Prince of Storms

Entire and the Rose #4

by Kay Kenyon

Finally in control of the Ascendancy, Titus Quinn has styled himself Regent of the Entire. But his command is fragile. He rules an empire with a technology beyond human understanding; spies lurk in the ancient Magisterium; the Tarig overlords are hamstrung but still malevolent. Worse, his daughter Sen Ni opposes him for control, believing the Earth and its Rose universe must die to sustain the failing Entire. She is aided by one of the mystical pilots of the River Nigh, the space-time transport system. This navitar, alone among all others, can alter future events. He retires into a crystal chamber in the Nigh to weave reality and pit his enemies against each other.
Taking advantage of these chaotic times, the great foe of the Long War, the Jinda ceb Horat, create a settlement in the Entire. Masters of supreme technology, they maintain a lofty distance from the Entire’s struggle. They agree, however, that the Tarig must return to the fiery Heart of their origins. With the banishment immanent, some Tarig lords rebel, fleeing to hound the edges of Quinn’s reign.
Meanwhile, Quinn’s wife Anzi becomes a hostage and penitent among the Jinda ceb, undergoing alterations that expose their secrets, but may estrange her from her husband. As Quinn moves toward a confrontation with the dark navitar, he learns that the stakes of the conflict go far beyond the Rose versus the Entire--extending to a breathtaking dominance. The navitar commands forces that lie at the heart of the Entire’s geo-cosmology, and will use them to alter the calculus of power. As the navitar’s plan approaches consummation, Quinn, Sen Ni, and Anzi are swept up in forces that will leave them forever changed. In this rousing finale to Kenyon’s celebrated quartet, Titus Quinn meets an inevitable destiny, forced at last to make the unthinkable choice for or against the dictates of his heart, for or against the beloved land.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fantasy, Fiction, Audiobook

389 pages, Hardcover

First published January 28, 2010

About the author

Kay Kenyon is a fantasy and science fiction author. She is now working on her 21st novel, a fantasy. She has been a finalist for the Philip K. Dick Award and several others and recently had a trilogy optioned for film, The Dark Talents: At the Table of Wolves.

Her newest fantasy series is The Arisen Worlds quartet. Book 1, The Girl Who Fell Into Myth, Book 2, Stranger in the Twisted Realm, Book 3, Servant of the Lost Power and Book 4, Keeper of the Mythos Gate. "A story of powers and magic on a grand scale.” —Louisa Morgan, author of The Secret History of Witches.

Her acclaimed 4-book series, The Entire and The Rose, has been reissued with new covers: Bright of the Sky. Called "a splendid fantasy quest" by The Washington Post.

She loves to hear from readers, and you can contact her at http://www.kaykenyon.com where you can also sign up for her newsletter.

Reviews

[Jason Pettus · Rating 3 out of 5]

(Reprinted from the Chicago Center for Literature and Photography [cclapcenter.com:]. I am the original author of this essay, as well as the owner of CCLaP; it is not being reprinted illegally.)

Fans of course are already familiar with one of the biggest frustrations that comes with genre work -- and that's when a person will become interested in a series of related books but only when the series is already halfway over, forcing the person to have to go back and read all the previous titles in order to even begin to understand the one that most recently came out. And that just goes double for book critics like me who will often receive free copies of such titles out of the blue, many of them frankly modest sellers only that could really benefit from some extra publicity; for example, science-fiction publisher Pyr is notorious for constantly sending me "part 6 of the 'Destroyer of Worlds' tetralogy" or whatever, with neither them having the resources to mail the previous five novels nor with me having the time to read them in the first place. But the good news is that in our modern times, more and more online resources exist to help us understand these sometimes insanely complicated backstories, without having to literally sit and read all the previous volumes in a given series; between Amazon, Goodreads, Wikipedia and official publisher/author websites, it can in fact sometimes be ridiculously easy to get up to speed, which allows us to simply start with the volume we just happen to have at that moment, for whatever reason we ended up with that one instead of the first title in the series.

For example, take two such books I recently received from Pyr, the first of which, Kay Kenyon's Prince of Storms (part four of "The Entire and The Rose" series), seems especially intimidating to just jump into feet-first; because in reality, it's actually one of those quasi-fantasy tales you sometimes see within the world of SF, ones that rely on such futuristic tropes as spaceships and laser guns but in actuality have much more in common with the work of JRR Tolkien -- elaborate races, grand mythologies, feudal political systems, unpronounceable names -- all set in a very earthy type of environment that barely evokes the common sterile images of most science-fiction (with of course the best-known of all these being Frank Herbert's "Dune" series, from which all other quasi-fantasy SF series seem to heavily borrow, a far-future science-based tale to be sure, but that might as well have hobbits and rings of power for all the Toklienesque elements found within it).

Thankfully, though, a couple of days* spent reading the entire series' background information online, as well as the hundreds of user reviews now posted of the first three volumes, presents us with a world that's not too terribly difficult to understand: it turns out that in Kenyon's universe, there's actually a parallel dimension of existence known as "The Entire," with Earth (known to them as "The Rose") simply a smaller and newer offshoot, a place bordered by magically vertical rivers of energy that one can "sail" across to get from one place to another, folding the space-time continuum along the way in order to make the journey faster (yes, just like in "Dune"), but with the specially trained pilots essentially assured of going insane after a lifetime of doing so (yes, just like in "Dune"). Much like Stephen Donaldson's quasi-fantasy series from the 1970s and '80s, then, "The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever," Kenyon's "Entire and Rose" series is mostly centered around an Earthling named Titus Quinn, who travels back to this alternate universe after visiting there a first time and forgetting the experience; what the first three books mostly consist of is Quinn slowly remembering all the details of this universe (including the elite "Tarig" race who have ruled the Entire for thousands of years, the intellectually equal "Jinda ceb Horat" that they are in a constant state of war with, the Chinese-like "Chalin" humanoid race created to be the Tarigs' servants, and a lot more), not to mention the growing alienation between himself and his abandoned daughter Sydney, raised by a race of telepathic riding beasts known as the Inyx, lied to by the Tarig concerning her father's true motivations, who has decided instead to "go native" and become his enemy, and who now goes by the more Entire-appropriate name of "Sen Ni."

Whew! And that of course bring us to an unfortunate problem with such complicated quasi-fantasy series, when you try to simply pick them up in the middle; because when I sat down to actually read Prince of Storms, I realized that although I had done a good job at understanding all the major events and characters fueling this uber-storyline, I still had barely any clue about the dozens of minor characters holding the whole thing together. And of course this can be much less serious an issue based on what kind of SF series it is (but more on that in a bit); but it's a notoriously difficult situation with quasi-fantasy tales, in that such tales include just so many made-up names that are so hard to remember, and so many Shakespearean complications regarding families and clans and races and alliances and the like. And now combine this with the fact that I myself don't particularly care for fantasy tales to begin with, mostly because I can't stand the overdone preciousness of the writing that seems to inevitably come with such books, the overly complicated mythology and the infuriating habit among such writers to never use contractions. ("I do not know why the word 'don't' does not exist in our language, Flinthy the Wise! I do not know why!") So at the end, then, despite all the work put in to get myself up to speed, I still found Prince of Storms only middling at best, a thoroughly genreriffic tale that will only be enjoyed by hardcore genre fans; although in its defense, I should mention that existing fantasy fans go nuts for these books online, with many of them declaring "The Entire and the Rose" one of the best quasi-fantasy tales ever written. You know already whether you're one of these people or not; if you are, it will be worth checking this out no matter what I in particular have to say.

And that brings us to the second book under examination today, Mike Resnick's Starship: Flagship, part five of his "Starship" series -- and like I said, this one has a backstory that's much easier to pick up on, because the "Starship" series is ultimately a nice simple space opera (you know, like "Star Wars"), and by their very nature space operas tend to be not that difficult to understand. Ultimately it's the story of one Wilson Cole, charismatic and popular captain within the military of the sprawling Galactic Republic, who eventually goes rogue over his growing dissatisfaction with the bureaucracy-saddled Republic and its gradual turn to evil; each book in the series, then, is a nearly standalone tale concerning the adventures of Cole and his ragtag crew within the battleship Theodore Roosevelt (or "Teddy R" as it's affectionately known), each title reflecting the state of that ship's relationship with the Republic in any given year -- so Starship: Mutiny is about the year they break away from the Republic, Starship: Pirate is about the year they decide to be privateers, etc. Flagship, then, is the last book in the series, the one where Cole decides to topple the Republic for good, once and for all.

And indeed, Resnick's book seems to suffer nearly the opposite problem of Kenyon's, in that it's so simple to nearly be insulting at points; you know, one of those corny shoot-em-ups designed primarily for teenage boys and the Comic Book Guys they eventually turn into, full of cheesy one-note characters whose one notes are then infinitely hammered home over and over, like a two-by-four to the back of the head (and seriously, Resnick, I get it, okay? Valkyrie really likes killing people, I f-cking get it already). As I've said many times before, such simplicity isn't necessarily that bad just unto itself -- after all, it's these exact kinds of books that make up the vast bulk of all genre novels that are published in any given year, the kind that fetishistically deliver every little touch that a SF fan is looking for and not an ounce more, with Resnick's 33 Hugo nominations and five wins proving that he's doing something right -- just that it's hardcore genre fans who will be the only ones to truly enjoy a book like this, a title that can very easily be skipped over by those who are merely casual fans of science-fiction.

Still, as I've hopefully shown today, it's easier than ever these days to become one of these fans if you're so inclined, and surprisingly easy to get caught up on multipart series without necessarily having to read the entire series in question. The next time you yourself come across a title that seems intriguing, but tells the middle stories of a long-running saga, I encourage you to keep all these things in mind.

Out of 10:
Prince of Storms: 7.3, or 8.8 for fans of quasi-fantasy
Starship: Flagship: 7.6, or 8.1 for fans of space opera

*And yes, in both cases, it really did take me two entire days to read through the hundreds of user reviews now found online of these series' previous books, at places like Amazon and Goodreads. At first this may seem like an excessive amount of research just to get caught up on the developments of a middling science-fiction series; better, though, to compare this to the amount of time it would take to read all the actual books in that series.

[Jeffrey P · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderful capstone to the trilogy (haha). All the annoyance I felt reading the third book, only to find the trilogy had become four books - all that vanished. Kay Kenyon's incredible imagination, evocative writing, and truly original world-building and fantasy/science fiction just had me hooked to the very end. There are new allies and new enemies to add to the old ones, and twists that I didn't anticipate.

I especially enjoyed the evolving relationship between Anzi and Titus Quinn; it was so real that two people could love each other intensely, and yet be driven apart by events and well-reasoned decisions.

4.5 stars.

[Jared Millet · Rating 4 out of 5]

City Without End concluded on an unusual cliffhanger for the penultimate book in a series: “The hero beats his enemies, saves the Earth, and conquers the universe! Now what?” Prince of Storms picks up with Titus Quinn trying to fill the void left by the exiled Tarig Lords and dealing the problems that arise. Because of that, a lot of this book left me feeling like the final season of Babylon 5, in which the hero had also 1) defeated the Shadows, 2) saved the Earth, and 3) become President of the Galaxy, or something to that effect. If you’ll remember, that season was a pretty big let-down.

Prince of Storms does have a couple of things going for it to pull you along until it gets to the true meat. For one, it’s a much better paced novel than any of the others in the series. And two, the Jinda ceb Horat. For the first three books, the Entire was supposedly threatened by a race of alien bogeymen called the Paion who were trying to invade from outside the universe. Now that we actually get to meet and spend time with them in their true form, the Jinda ceb turn out to be a much more interesting alien species than any of the others in the series, with the possible exception of the Inyx. Unfortunately, the book followed the same path as Babylon 5, replacing its charismatic villains with one substantially less compelling, namely a mad human navigator who wants to destroy the world.

At least, that’s until you find out what the book’s actually about, and who the true antagonist is: Titus Quinn, the hero of the whole series – or at least, the monster he’ll become if he holds onto the universe-spanning power he achieved at the end of Book 3. The “villain”, while providing an honestly existential threat, turns out not to be as relevant as a century of action movies would have us believe. Quinn’s true adversary, really for the whole series, turns out to be his own potential to be corrupted just as deeply as all his outward enemies unless he can resist the urge to hold on to the same power that corrupted them.

One thing’s always bugged me structurally about this series, and that’s that it seemed to skip Book 1. The first book, Bright of the Sky , seemed to itself be a sequel to a novel never written, one that would have detailed how Quinn lost his family in the Entire in the first place. I bring this up because I’ve always had a problem with the character of Quinn’s estranged daughter Sidney, who is so important to the emotional journey of the series. To put it in ASoIaF terms, would we really be as invested in Arya Stark as a vengeful, death-worshipping serial killer if we had never met the spunky, tomboyish Arya of A Game of Thrones?

That’s why it’s always felt to me that this series was missing its true introductory volume. I’d be curious to ask Kay Kenyon if she had, in fact, wrote that first book then discarded it, deciding that the story worked better to pick up with book 2. Still, no matter. It’s the author’s prerogative to start and end a story wherever she pleases. The Entire and the Rose, for all its ups and downs, ends very well.

[Tyler · Rating 4 out of 5]

Near perfect ending to a fantastic series. The series started out slow but each book was better than the previous, with this last book being fantastic.

[Bill Johnston · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good conclusion

[ReadingDiva Book Reviews · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great story, I can't wait to read more about the Entire's future.

[Patrick W · Rating 4 out of 5]

Originally posted on my review blog, Stomping on Yeti, at the following location [http://yetistomper.blogspot.com/2010/... 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.[return][return]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.[return][return]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.[return][return]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. [return][return]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.[return][return]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. [return][return]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.[return][return]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.[return][return]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.[return][return]Here are individual reviews of each of the four volumes in the series.[return][return]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. [return][return]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. [return][return]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.[return][return]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. [return][return]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.

[Andy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the series as a whole, but this book felt more like an extended epilogue to tie up the loose ends from the 3rd book rather than a fully-realized novel. Whereas the first 3 books had a sense of urgency and purpose to them and a hell of a lot of dramatic tension, the conflicts in this 4th book seemed more contrived and less compelling.

This was probably due to the fact that by the end of the last book, the main character had overthrown the primary antagonists for the whole series, leaving the 4th book to contend with the main issue (saving the Rose and/or the Entire) and a loose end in the mad rogue navitar Geng De. Focusing on Geng De as the new antagonist for the 4th book and and the internal conflicts of Titus Quinn, Anzi, and Sen Ni while only touching very briefly on the new political and social reality for the Entire after the overthrow of the Tarig overlords made for a weaker book considering how much time the prior books had spent establishing the society of the Entire. It just felt very awkward.

Also, the final solution to the problem of how the Rose and the Entire could co-exist really felt tacked-on at the end and a bit silly now that I think about it. It was pretty much this:

A: Why don't we just try this option?
B: That's perfect! When did you figure this out?
A: Oh, I knew all along. I just didn't feel like telling you because I am a jerk, but now that you have had the upper hand since the last book, I'll just tell you at the end since your one and only eggs-in-one-basket idea fell through and I don't want to die along with the rest of you.

I would have preferred if the plot of this book had been about figuring out how to resolve this issue, which was the driving force of the whole series, rather than going the other way and delving into the individual feelings of the protagonists on a microscopic level.


That being said, I would still recommend this series to friends as it was a wild ride.

[Dehbi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this whole series, with great character development and dazzling world building. I read it quite a few years ago and I do remember that it took me the longest to stop thinking about that world almost daily.

I am going to re-read this book and the others very soon. I remember that when I got to the end of this book, the last in the series, I did not want to let go. I did not want to leave that world, that other universe that was so beautifully depicted over the four books.

[Brok3n]

I read this book eleven years ago, and apparently I also read at least two books of the preceding trilogy. However, even after reading the publisher's summary, I have not the vaguest memory of any of them. I must have rather liked the books, or I would not have read more than one.

This, I guess, is why it's useful to write real reviews of books as you read them (This is not a real review.)

[Katy Hall · Rating 3 out of 5]

Years later, this remains one of the most memorable series that I've read. There are weaknesses to be sure, but I found the world-building to be incredible.

[Christopher Matthias · Rating 5 out of 5]

I must say, Kay Kenyon did a fine job wrapping up this series. I enjoyed all four books!

[Paul Weimer · Rating 4 out of 5]

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.

[Rob · Rating 3 out of 5]

As with most concluding volumes of a series, the quality and ultimate judgment of the series itself can rest on the proverbial shoulders of the last book. Now complete, The Entire and the Rose can be judged as a whole. Kenyon laid out a vast landscape of characters, sense of wonder, power struggles, and strange beings from the very beginning of A World Too Near. What held it all together from the beginning; however, were the human characters who had to reconcile all the strangeness with their own sensibilities and lives. That theme comes full circle, as I’ve noted above, with Titus and his daughter. What seemed tragic in earlier volumes is emotionally balanced in this volume. Readers of the genres of Science Fiction and Fantasy would do themselves a favor should they read these four books. Kenyon’s series is an achievement in deft and assured world-building, controlled and entertaining storytelling, and captivating and emotional writing.

[Aaron · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book was mostly three-star material until the emotional ending, which earned the book an additional half a star (but Goodreads doesn't allow a half star rating, so I'm giving the book three stars). My primary problem with this book, and the series in general, was that it seemed to totally change gears from the second to the third book. The third and fourth books simply had a different feel, different themes, different focuses, than the first and second books. The last two books certainly weren't bad; I liked them. I just don't think the series was very cohesive. In fact, thinking back on each of the four books, I think the author might actually have a penchant for shifting or changing her story midway through. In each of the books, it seemed that the characters worked hard for a certain goal. Then some big revelation would hit them, and they would have to do something completely different, making all of the work they had done in the first part of the book irrelevant or meaningless.

[Catherine · Rating 5 out of 5]

i couldnt get into it at the beginning. i felt like the ending of the third was a good ending to the series, so i was skeptical as to what else there was to say on the matter. But after i was about 40% through it i stopped being able to see how it would turn out and realized there was actually a lot more to wrap up than i had thought. after that point it was something i couldnt put down until i finished, just like the first book was. i dont think ive read a series with this perfect of an ending.

[Elaine Nelson · Rating 4 out of 5]

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.

[C.D. Reimer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is book 4 of "The Entire and The Rose" series. The way the story unfolded at the beginning, I didn't think it would wrap up all the plot lines to come to a satisfying conclusion. The plot lines started wrapping up neatly at the two-thirds mark and the series ended on an emotionally satisfying high note. Looking back over the series, it was tour de force of one man's destiny changing the fate of two universes.

[Mitchell Friedman · Rating 1 out of 5]

Book 4 of a series. I read this book for the Endeavour Award - if not for that I never would have finished it. There were a lot of beautiful words strung together but it was always completely meaningless drivel. Part of this would be that it is a book 4 of a series I haven't read - but it's more than that - there was nothing to hang the story on or the characters or the universe or anything. ick. 1 of 5.

[Julie Capell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fourth book of the series. I actually liked it more than the third book. The world of these books is truly fabulous, but there was always the implication that science was going to play a bigger role in the final resolution. I was disappointed that this did not turn out to be the case . . . the "science" was so far out there that it just seemed like magic . . . that is not a major complaint, though, and overall I am glad I read the whole series.

[Peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

This last book in the Entire and the Rose starts as slowly as the other parts of the series, setting a scene for an interesting end, wrapping up the many many plotlines introduced during the series. While the book addresses a few issues too directly - i.e. pointing them out to the reader - it is a fascinating read, portraying a world almost too strange to "get".

[Glen Mcknight · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this whole series, kinda surprised me. As they went on I got a bit less interested as the stories kinda dragged along, but it was still a very unique world and premise with a lot of unusual ideas to discover.

[Liz Dean · Rating 4 out of 5]

The series expanded & improved with each book. Things that are better about later books: more emphasis on non-humanoid sentients in the Entire, the growth of Ji Anzi's character & getting to know some of the Tarig characters better.

[Sean · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked the whole series. Nice spin. And it looks like she left it so to be able to continue the story in more books.

[Zivan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like the series in general, the idea of the entire is interesting. The last book I found a bit weak, and the resolution in the end a little to Hollywoodish.

[JM · Rating 3 out of 5]

Final book in the series and it was good.

[Donald · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good wrap-up to the series, though it felt as if the usual amount of care wasn't given to certain sections. The writing wasn't as fluid as the previous three books.

[Margit · Rating 2 out of 5]

I listened to ~60% of the book and got bored with it. It's not nearly as good as the first 3. I have the audiobook (format not available in the database).

[Mandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think this series peaked for me in book three, though this final installment didn't disappoint. It was a wild and enjoyable ride. I'll miss the The Entire and all it's sentients.

[Kathy]

I enjoyed the whole series. Without giving away the ending, I will say that the ending was satisfactory. :-)