Customer Reviews

The Children of the Company

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Certainly Ms. Baker can write an entertaining yarn that keeps the reader absorbed and turning the page. Great description, good insight into characters, wonderful color in the surroundings, we love the history woven throughout the storytelling. This book explores the rivalry throughout history between factions within the Company, focusing mostly on characters around the Executive Facilitator Labienus. The only disappointment in this book is that it seems to be a distraction from the setup and main storyline that was in the previous books regarding Mendoza and the Adonai project. I feel the author is milking the series by inventing more sideline struggles and subplots and making whole books out of them. But her writing is good enough to make for a great read even while I am frustrated to get back to the main plot she established previously.

I've been anxiously awaiting the next "Company" book by Kage Baker ever since Life of the World to Come came out last year. I've been waiting to see how Baker moves the story forward, what Joseph's fate is, and where Mendoza will go from here. Unfortunately, The Children of the Company answers none of those questions, and again fills in a lot of backstory on the future and the evil machinations of a faction of Immortals, led by Labienus, who plans on perverting what the Company is doing for his own ends. This is valuable backstory, and I did enjoy the book, but I did feel a bit like we're spinning our wheels here. The book is a series of reprinted short stories with a framing sequence, as well as a few possibly new sequences along with them. It's not identified as such, which is also a problem (though a lesser one for me, since I've only read one of them). This is a good Company book, but not a great one.

The conceit of the story is a book told in three time periods: 1863, 1906, and 1906-2100. General Labienus (who was last seen sentencing the botanist Mendoza to 150,000 years ago exile) is reviewing some of his files, catching us up on his plotting to take what the Company is doing and turn it on its ear. He sees the Company as corrupt, the statement that recorded history cannot be changed as a lie (or, at least misleading), and he sees "mortals" as scum and slaves that should hang around to do the Immortals' bidding when the time comes. These files consist of previously published stories that give us pieces of the plot, all brought together for the first time. Is this intended to clean up some of the history? I don't know, but it seems to hang together fairly well. Ultimately, it boils down to Labienus' attempt to turn the Facilitator named Victor, who has been allied with Labienus' rival, Aegeus. It gives us the history of the defective humans who ended up capturing the literary expert Lewis in The Graveyard Game. It also, in an interesting twist, gives us a look from the other side at the saga of Alec Checkerfield and his various incarnations throughout time.

Thankfully, I've only read one of the stories reprinted here, "Son Observe the Time," which is the story of Victor and the San Francisco earthquake of 1906. Victor and a large party of Immortals are tasked with saving a lot of the art and other treasures that would have otherwise been destroyed in the earthquake, but Victor is also supposed to grab a young boy who would have also died, so that he can be converted into an Immortal. Victor is confronted by Budu, an Immortal from the dawn of man who was created to be a military Immortal, and has since gone insane since the Company stopped using them. Budu has his own thoughts on how things should be run, and he was Labienus' mentor at one time too. I had read the story, and it was wonderful, but it had even more meaning when given all the context that The Children of the Company gives us. Baker even gives us an epilogue to the story that wasn't included in the original, where Labienus debriefs Victor on his encounter with Budu, which goes even further to explain what happened and why. One small problem that this story didn't have before being included in this book is that Victor's attitude toward regular humans has softened a lot in 1500 years, but I guess that's not completely surprising. He's a lot more understanding of them in "Son Observe the Time" than he is in an earlier story.

The other stories are interesting in themselves, but even more important as they are put together to give us a view of what is really going on. We see the fate of Kalugin, a Russian Immortal who sees a bit more than he really should have in a future that's plague-torn. We see the history of Lewis that he can't remember in The Graveyard Game, as well as what happens when he starts to remember it. I wish we would have seen a little more of Aegeus and what his plans are, but maybe that's for another book. I have to admit that, as intriguing as all this is, I'm really starting to miss Joseph and Mendoza.

This all brings to mind pretty much the only fault with the book, which is the shotgun feeling of having a lot of stuff thrust at you at once. All of the above is included, plus a story of a new, extremely young, facilitator-in-training, named Latif. He's five years old but he's been fast-tracked. He's by-the-book with his training, so the base that he's sent to, with a facilitator that plays things more realistically than the book allows ends up throwing him for a loop. I have no doubt that Latif, and perhaps even Van Drouten, will play a role in the rest of the story, but they seem out of place here (though again, the story itself is wonderful).

Ultimately, it seems like Baker forged ahead in her story so quickly, between the various books and the short stories being published in Asimov's, that she has had to stop and let us catch our breath, bring readers who don't follow the short stories up to speed on what's going on, and then she'll vault forward for the finale. While I enjoyed Children of the Company because so much of it was new to me, it still felt like a pause for a bathroom break on a road trip that I was willing to hold it because I wanted to get to reach my destination. I trust Baker implicitly, as there hasn't been a work by her that I have disliked, but I'm getting a bit impatient.

David Roy

Ms. Baker's work feeds off the current mood of suspicion and conspiracy that grips so many. There has always been a strong Gnostic element to the series - the idea that a "secret" truth exists, a submerged reality where "they" control events and our destiny. Advocates of such ideas whisper about Bush, Osama, Jewish conspiracies, UFO's, UN helicopters, bar codes, flouride in water and immunization shots with the fervor of a convert attempting to save a lost soul.

This latest tale bears a structural similarity to an earlier work of short stories about the Company - "Black Knights, White Projects". This is not in any way a negative point in that BKWP ranks near the top of all her works. Instead of weaving the action around a particular story or time, we are presented with vignettes swirling around an immortal alternatively cynical, ruthless, charming and deadly. His hatred of mortals knows no bounds and he seems almost alien in his delight in human suffering.

Facilitator Labienus lets us in on a little secret: The cyborg servants of Dr. Zeus have gotten wise to his plan and are aiming at a takeover when history (as we know it) ends in 2355. In a tour of the ages we see the first stirrings of civilization, walk dusty roads of ancient Egypt, visit Victorian England and view San Francisco hours before the 06 earthquake. He goes about his task patiently, eliminating rivals and gaining allies for the ultimate coup. The journey is replete with machinations, surprises and an understated irony that alternates between humor and hubris.

In "Children" we finally realize how imbedded immortals have become in our world. It almost makes one want to look around at head shapes. In the end we are no closer to the answer than when we started but it's OK since the purpose was to establish a new edifice on which to finish the series. Each new publication is a literary event, a word feast in that idiomatic style that Ms. Baker has honed. One finds delight in the story-telling without admiring the main character or feeling that justice has been done. Another winner from a pro.

An unputdownable read that answers some of the questions fans of the five previous Company novels need answered(especially if you've missed some of the short stories elsewhere published that are included here), but poses some more to ready us for the seventh and final(?)Company novel. This is basically the story of Executive Facilitator Labenius, immortal cyborg, and basic bad guy(with a killer sense of black humor), from his rescue as a child by Budu up to just a few decades from the mysterious future year when Dr. Zeus probably falls to one or more of the cabals(of which Labenius heads one)working against it. This novel will be a disappointment for those looking forward for more from cyborgs Mendoza, Joseph, and Lewis, but is a must, and a fascinating, funny, must at that, for the whole series, for a look at one of the other groups of immortal cyborgs working willingly, unwilllingly, or unknowningly with Labenius and the fates of those that cross him.

Baker is a very uneven writer, bouncing between prose that nails you to your chair and meandering plotlines that can only puzzle the reader. This one is not another novel in the series about Dr. Zeus, Inc., but another collection of short stories with (apparently) new frame material. The first section is set in 1863, sort of, but there are several sections within that set in very early Sumer and in Second Dynasty Egypt (before the pyramids). The second section, set in 1906, focuses on the San Francisco Earthquake (though it, too, has a flashback story about 16th century Amsterdam), and the final section is late in the 21st century. Through all of it, though, run the threads of Labienus and Aegeus, both Facilitators General, and rivals to take over the world after whatever happens in 2355. Both are highly manipulative users, casually killing off those who get in their way, twisting other immortals to their own ends. While some parts of this volume are fascinating -- the author is an excellent writer when she cares to be -- as a whole it's kind of a mess.

Kage Baker's sixth book in her Company series, The Children of the Company, centers around Executive Facilitator General Labienus. His goal is to scour the Earth free of all mortals, leaving only his, immortal, kind to dominate what is left. To this end, Labienus manipulates, connives and colludes with mortal and immortal alike to ensure that his endgame is in place come 2355. The year 2355 is when the Silence will fall, the point where the seemingly omniscient Company no longer knows how history will proceed, and is the perfect opportunity to seize power for himself and his cabal of like-minded immortals. However, Labienus isn't the only cyborg with designs on world-domination when the Silence falls, and it will take all of his wit and twisted wisdom to see that he is the one left standing, literally at the end of history.

The Children of the Company is another well written tale in Baker's Company series. The characterizations are fairly strong, and the story is not lacking for lots of tidbits about the characters and plot we, the readers, have followed for five previous books. Indeed, this installment of the series seemed to focus on filling in the gaps with plot points in the previous novels so much, that at times, Baker seems to forget that this novel should be a story that stands on its own, as well as ties in with the overall framework of her Company.

However, fans of the series will, when closing the book for the last time, not be disappointed with this novel. All of those tidbits that sidetrack Baker's novel slightly ultimately only serve as red meat for fans of this series' intricate, lattice-work of a plot. This novel, within the context of the series, is a must-read.

Kage Baker has a unique sense of humor that has caused me to laugh out loud on several occasions. Despite being a book with time travel it makes no absurd claims (aside from the premise of time travel). Paints an eerily likely view of a dystopian future.

First of all, I will say I am a huge fan of Kage Baker's series. But I was disappointed by this book. It is actually a collection of short stories, most previously published, and loosely connected by having Labenius, a General Facilitator with plans for conquest, read through them. He has plans to overthrow the company in 2355 and has been building his forces through the ages. He read and reflects. Then reads and reflects.

There is a little backfill here and there but some of the stories don't really lend anything to the big picture.

There are stories with Budu, Labenius, Victor and Lewis, but none with Mendoza, who although the star of the first book, has been relegated to the back burner.

This books does VERY little to move the overall story forward. In my humble opinion, this is the weakest of any of the books in the series. It's high time this story is drawn to a close.

~
The latest Company novel is (mostly) a fixup, and hence rather disjointed and choppy. But still pretty good -- I enjoyed it more than _The Life of the World to Come_, the previous book. This outing is basically Bad Roman Cyborg Chiefs, who get more than a little cartoonish at times, but there are also moments of genuinely disturbing megalomania and evil. The last third of the book is pretty much of a downer: [ROT-13] znff-zheqre ol fgnegvat cynthrf is seldom cheerful.

There are more hints of the upcoming resolution of the Company series -- and more creaks and groans as the backstory of "The Company" -- Dr. Zeuss Inc. -- gets wilder, weirder and less plausible. Such as, how the hell does the Company establish a cash-flow, when the payoff comes all at once, uptime in 2355?? Still, we don't read time-travel epics for intellectual rigor, and Baker is an extraordinary story-teller....

I should add that this is emphatically NOT the place to start, if you happen to be new to the Company novels. Start with the first, _In the Garden of Iden_ (also available in the omnibus _On Company Time_).

"Despite the high quality of the parts making up the whole, the overall impression here is of a careful author diligently setting the stage for a climax yet to come."
--Paul Witcover [G00GLE]

Happy reading--
Peter D. Tillman

Human history here is seen through the cynical, pityless eyes of Facilitator Labienus, a ruthless plotter for which the only measure of worth of someone and of admissable actions is the utility for his plans. We see how he exploits mortals (to him beneath contempt, colleagues and rivals, how he commits heinous crimes ratoionalizing the reasons, outsmarting even the venomous (in all sense) Victor and the wickedly devious Nennius. Petty internal politics and historical dramas are the same to him, whose goal is simply power. A chilling ccollection of the most shady deals and deeds of Dr. Zeus Incorporated.