18 July 2006

What I Like: The Company series by Kage Baker



Kage Baker has created an intriguing world in her novel series entitled The Company. The Company in question is Dr. Zeus, Inc., an organization that makes a business out of secret time travel. Sending people back and forth in time is expensive, so training centers were created in the 1600s to turn children of that time into immortal cyborgs. These new Company employees save items that are abundant in the past and hide them to be discovered by Company employees in the future. Since these items are usually rare in the future, Dr. Zeus makes a tidy sum selling them to the highest bidder.

Starting with the first novel "In the Garden of Iden", Baker follows a young Spaniard named Mendoza from her recruitment through several rocky assignments. Although she is an immortal, she is still human with all the foibles of our species. That is what keeps the story from being dry. I've read this book along with "Sky Coyote" and I am about to start "Mendoza in Hollywood". There were a few slow spots in the second book, but for the most part Baker gets down to business. If you want something that is a step above beach reading without straining your brain, I would recommend this series.

3 comments:

Kay Cooke said...

Yay! A writer i haven't heard of to investigate. Thanks.

Man said...

I also never heard of this sounds good. How long is series because the Dark Tower had 7 parts and it nearly drove me mad.

Dani In NC said...

According to Wikipedia, there are six novels in the Company series so far. There are also two more books in progress.