The Best of Kage Baker by Kage Baker
reviewed by Steven H Silver
In a more fair universe, this collection would include the
subtitle "Volume I: 1997-2010." In the universe in which we live, however, we have to settle for this single
book that contains twenty of her stories that will leave the reader wishing to
be allowed access to that other universe where the book is followed by more installments.
The stories in the book are organized based on which of Baker's collections the stories were reprinted in,
rather than in strict chronological or thematic organization, many of the tales relate to Baker's Company
series about a time travel organization.
Ancient Rockets by Kage Baker and A Dictionary Of Made-Up Languages by Stephen D. Rogers
reviewed by Greg L. Johnson
Non-fiction writing in the fields of fantasy and science fiction comes in many forms, most of them familiar to
a mainstream audience. There are also non-fiction works in the genres that are fairly unique to the field, to
the point of looking like oddities to an outsider. Two recent works of non-fiction are good examples of two different
types of non-fiction, both devoted to increasing our appreciation of the fantastic.
In the Garden of Iden by Kage Baker
an audiobook review by Julie Moncton
It is the 24th century and technology has continued to advance by leaps and bounds. In fact, one very innovative
organization, Dr. Zeus Incorporated, also known as "The Company," has discovered the secrets to both immortality
and time travel. The mission statement of The Company is to use these inventions to improve the lot of human
kind... while making a healthy profit, of course. As always, time travel comes with restrictions.
The Hotel Under the Sand by Kage Baker
reviewed by Rich Horton
Stranded on an isolated island, Emma digs up something wonderful -- an old hotel.
And with the hotel comes a ghostly Bell Captain named Winston who tells Emma the hotel's
story -- a century or so in the past, a rich inventor named Wenlocke built the hotel. Along with
it, he created an
invention: the Temporal Delay Field, which would allow hotel guests to stay as long as they
like, while no time passes in the outside world.
The Women of Nell Gwynne's by Kage Baker
reviewed by Rich Horton
This new novella is a steampunk romp -- one doesn't think of the clanking machinery of steampunk as light but
this story certainly is. The title refers to a certain establishment of a particular nature -- exactly what you would
think. The kicker is that the ladies involved have another job -- spies. They use their rather privileged access to
men of power to gather information, under the direction of their blind proprietress, Mrs. Corvey.
The Empress of Mars by Kage Baker
reviewed by Greg L. Johnson
Mars is being colonized and terra-formed under the auspices of the British Aerean Company,
an off-shoot of the British company that had successfully built a colony on the moon. Colonizing Mars hasn't gone
quite as well, there turns out to be a lot less immediate profit involved. As the story begins, many of the
Martian colonists have found their jobs with British Aerean terminated, and they are being left to fend for
themselves. Prominent among them is Mary Griffith, proprietor and brew-master of the only bar on the planet.
Rude Mechanicals by Kage Baker
reviewed by David Soyka
The title alludes to a famed staging of the Shakespeare comedy, A Midsummer's Night Dream, by German director Max Reinhardt in the 30s.
More specifically, it concerns the comic exploits of two cyborg operatives from the author's long-running Company series.
Those who seek to perform the play as part of the duke's wedding celebrations
are considered "rude" due to their low class and "mechanical" because they are tradesmen, skilled at making things, but lacking
"higher" intellectual abilities, which include acting skills.
The Children of the Company by Kage Baker
reviewed by Greg L. Johnson
The Company novels, beginning with In the Garden of Iden, are among the best examples in current science fiction
of a series of individual works that taken together add up to a larger, more comprehensive whole. This one
is a look below the shiny surface of the Company and its time-travelling agents seeking lost historical artifacts into the life
of one of the immortals, Executive Facilitator General Labienus, and his quest for power.
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The Angel in the Darkness by Kage Baker
reviewed by Margo MacDonald
It's an interesting contemplation. Many people who decide to have children feel that in having offspring, a part of themselves becomes
immortal. But what if you already are truly immortal and can't have offspring? What if you lived forever watching generation after
generation of your kin be born, grow, and die? How far would you go to protect them? What would you risk to be near them and to
keep them out of harm's way?
The Anvil of the World by Kage Baker
reviewed by Gabe Mesa
In addition to being billed as her first fantasy novel, the novel is also an opportunity to give the author's
comedic talents a broader canvas. The book turns out to be not so much a novel per se as a series of three linked novellas featuring
Smith, a successful ex-assassin seeking to begin a new life in the city of Troon, and Lord Ermenwyr, the offspring of a saint and
a half-demon who becomes, oddly, both Smith's protector as well as his bête noire, his blessing together with his curse.
Black Projects, White Knights by Kage Baker
reviewed by Pat Caven
She is a storyteller. A consummate storyteller. This lady is the queen of tale telling with a twist. Great characters
well conceived plots, thought provoking, funny and with a charming intelligent style anyone would enjoy. You get the
point. Pat likes this author.
The Graveyard Game by Kage Baker
reviewed by Victoria Strauss
The story opens as Literature Specialist Owen Lewis witnesses a time anomaly in which Mendoza,
heroine of earlier volumes, moves briefly
forward in time, from 1862 to 1996. This is something that's not
supposed to happen: one of the disadvantages of time travel is
that you can only go backward. But Mendoza is a generator of Crome
radiation, an indicator of paranormal abilities no cyborg is
supposed to possess, so there's no telling what she might be able to do.
Sky Coyote by Kage Baker
reviewed by Rich Horton
The Company makes a profit by saving things lost to history: works of art,
rare plants, even whole cultures. The Company's immortal agents are mostly
recruited from among doomed children throughout history and pre-history.
For, you see, the Company has discovered the secrets of both time travel and
immortality... but the use of both is limited.
Mendoza in Hollywood by Kage Baker
reviewed by David Soyka
More of a sequel to The Garden of Iden, it is again a 1st-person narrative by the
cyborg Mendoza on her unlucky love-life with mortal men. After centuries of preserving botanical specimens in California
mostly on her own, Mendoza is assigned to a stagecoach stop in an area that will eventually turn into the famous
movie-making capital.
Sky Coyote and Son Observe the Time by Kage Baker
reviewed by David Soyka
The second book in the Company series is related by Mendoza's
mentor, Joseph. It is laden with a cynicism that, while in keeping with a
being who has not only witnessed but collaborated in acts of human stupidity
and cruelty over the course of several centuries, ultimately becomes wearisome.
The novella in Asimov's May issue follows yet another Immortal,
and this time gets all the elements right that made the first
Company novel such a good read.
In the Garden of Iden by Kage Baker
reviewed by David Soyka
In the 24th century, time travel is used for one thing: profit. As her
first assignment, a Company operative (and effectively indentured servant to
the Company) is sent to England during the reign of Queen Mary to retrieve
now extinct plant specimens from the garden of Sir Walter Iden. Funny,
terrifying, and extremely well-researched.
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