The Braided World

Rating:
Summary: The Well Built World
Review: "The Braided World" returns us to the universe of Kenyon's "Maximum Ice," but a long time after the ending of that novel, and with none of the same characters.

Quickly, almost adventure game like, Kenyon sets the stage (you may think you've missed a novel in the sequence; you haven't), and then plunges you quickly into the world of the Dassa--humanlike, but not human, with a totally different way of reproducing.

Kenyon constructs this alien world so carefully (and with all of its beauty and all of its cruelty well thought out) that maybe you'll think she's actually been there. The characters are fascinating; the science seems plausible, and Kenyon hasn't lost her ability to do action scenes convincingly. (Some aren't for the squeamish, and definitely not for the under-13 set.)

What's most intriguing, however, is the way Kenyon turns the classic quest story on its head. When the humans find what they're looking for, and it's time to head home, some of them begin to think that perhaps that's not the best idea after all.

Read the tale; find out why.

Rating:
Summary: The Well Built World
Review: "The Braided World" returns us to the universe of Kenyon's "Maximum Ice," but a long time after the ending of that novel, and with none of the same characters.

Quickly, almost adventure game like, Kenyon sets the stage (you may think you've missed a novel in the sequence; you haven't), and then plunges you quickly into the world of the Dassa--humanlike, but not human, with a totally different way of reproducing.

Kenyon constructs this alien world so carefully (and with all of its beauty and all of its cruelty well thought out) that maybe you'll think she's actually been there. The characters are fascinating; the science seems plausible, and Kenyon hasn't lost her ability to do action scenes convincingly. (Some aren't for the squeamish, and definitely not for the under-13 set.)

What's most intriguing, however, is the way Kenyon turns the classic quest story on its head. When the humans find what they're looking for, and it's time to head home, some of them begin to think that perhaps that's not the best idea after all.

Read the tale; find out why.

Rating:
Summary: Wow!
Review: Between the deaths caused by the Black Cloud and the resulting demises caused by runaway plagues, Earth is dying. It no longer has a sufficient gene pool capable of creating a viable population. Humanity's only hope lies in a message from a planet thirty light years away stating Earth can reclaim what it has lost. Billionaire Bailey Shaw funds a ship, the Restoration, which takes people to this orb, but what they find there shocks them.

The native Dassa look human-like, but do not reproduce the same way. Women that can breed get their tongues cut out and become slaves called hoda. The Dassa is not the ones who sent the message but their creators the Quads did. Nobody alive on the planet knows where the genetic markers that earth desperately needs can be found. Unless someone uncovers the puzzle, the human race will die out.

The two races that look almost identical on the surface have very different thought processes and ways of reproducing. Both distrust one another when they first meet. The punishment the Dassa mete out to childbearing women is horrific but the Terrans can do nothing to help them. If the hoda want freedom they must fight for it on their own because the people from earth must concentrate on their prime mission of saving the species. The audience will feel that Dassa society exists and author Kay Kenyon has visited the realm she has written about in her novel THE BRAIDED WORLD, which enable the audience to experience second hand this alien but fascinating orb.

Harriet Klausner

Rating:
Summary: Powerful SF
Review: Between the deaths caused by the Black Cloud and the resulting demises caused by runaway plagues, Earth is dying. It no longer has a sufficient gene pool capable of creating a viable population. Humanity's only hope lies in a message from a planet thirty light years away stating Earth can reclaim what it has lost. Billionaire Bailey Shaw funds a ship, the Restoration, which takes people to this orb, but what they find there shocks them.

The native Dassa look human-like, but do not reproduce the same way. Women that can breed get their tongues cut out and become slaves called hoda. The Dassa is not the ones who sent the message but their creators the Quads did. Nobody alive on the planet knows where the genetic markers that earth desperately needs can be found. Unless someone uncovers the puzzle, the human race will die out.

The two races that look almost identical on the surface have very different thought processes and ways of reproducing. Both distrust one another when they first meet. The punishment the Dassa mete out to childbearing women is horrific but the Terrans can do nothing to help them. If the hoda want freedom they must fight for it on their own because the people from earth must concentrate on their prime mission of saving the species. The audience will feel that Dassa society exists and author Kay Kenyon has visited the realm she has written about in her novel THE BRAIDED WORLD, which enable the audience to experience second hand this alien but fascinating orb.

Harriet Klausner

Rating:
Summary: Another Good Book from Kay Kenyon
Review: Kay Kenyon has established a reputation among science fiction writers for her ability to create "other worlds" that is well deserved. Less often mentioned, is her skill at developing the secondary characters in her works and how well she incorporates them into the plots. Braided World is loaded with intrigue at many levels as over a dozen characters deal with the issues of personal power, changing societies, duty, loyalty, and tolerance. The remarkable part of the novel is how clearly it depicts these issues without getting bogged down or becoming confusing. Although the book is founded on the scenario described in Kenyon's prior novel, Maximum Ice, the characters and setting are completely different. If you are getting bored with science fiction that features mostly a lot of whiz-bang and golly-gee, and want to read something that is exciting but a bit more literary, The Braided World is highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: Wow!
Review: Kay Kenyon immerses the reader into a lush, tropical world and alien culture. Will local politics and the actions of misguided humans prevent finding the cure that a plague-ridden earth desparately needs? If you like complex characters that you can empathize with, foreign cultures, romance, and a little action this book is for you.