Customer Reviews

In the Garden of Iden

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(27)
3 star:		(13)
2 star:		(12)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

Time travel is nothing new to science fiction. Even the idea of people travelling through time to preserve (or to try to alter) the timeline of the world is not new to science fiction. The idea of hiding in the shadows of history to preserve that which would otherwise be lost, though...

I was really impressed with the premise of "In the Garden of Iden". I thought the idea of a company that could make employees of 'indigenous' people and send them along ('along' mind you, not 'through') history to preserve plants, animals, art works, etc. only as long as they did not change history in the process to be a neat, if not revolutionary idea. Baker pulls off the idea quite well to in this book. She gives us a good feel of history unfolding while the characters of the book go about their mission in a country that's teetering on the verge of a new dark age just before it's greatest era begins.

The science in the book is well-researched. The history in the book is very well researched. Even the romance manages to push the reader into an interesting parallax between love and practicality. Surprisingly enough, the one thing that bothered me about the novel was the stipulation in the premise that people sent back couldn't change "recorded history". I found myself wondering what constitutes 'recorded history'. We as a race have so much difficulty sorting the fact from the lie and the myth in our 'recorded' history - even in the past century - that I wondered how valid an argument this could be. Perhaps it's an idea that she'll pursue in a later "Company" novel. I'd be interested to see what she could do with it...

All in all, I really enjoyed this novel. I blew through it like I haven't blown through a science fiction novel in a long time. While some of the topics it deals with are quite heavy, the overall read is really light. If you're looking for a fun, light book with a genuinely interesting premise, I recommend picking "In the Garden of Iden" up. Personally, I'm looking forward to getting on to the rest of the series...

In the Garden of Iden is Kage Baker's debut novel of "The Company." It's a science fiction novel set in the 1550s, during the reign in Britain of Queen Mary. Baker's fluid style is a joy to read and her transformation from "modern" English to Renaissance and back to modern is wonderful. This is a marvelous debut and I can't wait to read more in the series.

I've loved Kage Baker's work ever since I read her stories in the various Year's Best Fantasy books, and I was eager to dive into a novel written by her. It was definitely worth the wait. Her prose style is wonderful and she seamlessly changes dialogue depending on who's talking, thus giving us the dialect of the time alongside the modern phrasings of a group of cyborgs honed by time travelers. I'm not expert enough to tell whether or not she gets the Renaissance dialogue right, but she certainly makes it feel right. It really makes you feel like you are there listening.

Another thing Baker avoids, for the most part, is making the romance cloying. While there were a few times where Mendoza and Nicholas became annoyingly written, most of the time this was turned on its head by a choice comment from Joseph (the leader of the expedition and Mendoza's recruiter) or something else happening. She doesn't overwrite the romance scenes and she deftly "fades to black" when the sex scenes are about to start. Thus, while the novel definitely has some adult themes, there are no actual scenes that should keep kids away from the book. Instead, she writes two adults who love each other deeply but know that there are some serious potential problems that might get in the way of that love.

The concept of the Company is very interesting. Time travel and cyborg technology have been invented, so what they do is send operatives back in time to recruit local people, train them in secret facilities (bringing them up to modern standards), turn them into immortal cyborgs, and allow them to do the job of preserving things. They take samples of various things that will become extinct, hide them away for a thousand years, and then "discover" them again in the present. One of Baker's most inspired creations is a radio that broadcasts at a frequency that humans can't hear, and which operatives can listen to and find out what is going on locally. Thus, there is a news story about the reintroduction of Papal law in the British parliament, along with commentary similar to a CNN broadcast. It was very innovative.

Baker also does a credible job with the characters. All of the operatives (there are four) in the house are interestingly written and have some sort of way to keep them straight. Nefer is stuck in limbo while she's waiting for an assignment in northern England, and she's also the resident animal expert. Thus, she has an affinity for them and takes umbrage at what she sees as the torturing of a goat (the owner tried to graft a horn on its forehead and called it a unicorn). Joseph has the worn feel of a man who's been around for hundreds of years and has seen it all, but yet he knows exactly how it feels to be a first-time operative. He's incredibly understanding with Mendoza, forgiving her the jitters and mistakes that any rookie will have. He is a wonderful mentor to her as well. I didn't feel like I knew Flavius very well, but he's not in the book much so there isn't a reason to flesh him out further than he already is. The local characters have their character hooks and are recognizably different, but aren't anything special.

The romance would not work if Nicholas is badly done, so it's a good thing that Baker saved her best for him. He is well-rounded with intelligence and wit, and the verbal sparring between Mendoza and him is great. His beliefs are very strong, and he sticks to them through everything. Watching Mendoza try desperately to convince him to run away from the inquisition that is coming to England is almost heartbreaking. With the exception of a few times, the book sparkles when the two of them are on the page, and he is a worthy companion for Mendoza. When things start to go sour, it's on an understandable basis and Nicholas reacts as he should.

The plot is a bit slow-moving, but it is interestingly told. There are a few places it drags as Baker takes a detour to do a little philosophizing. The trigger event for the climax also feels a bit artificial as Joseph makes a mistake that I didn't really think he would make with his experience in the field. Then again, these people are human so mistakes do happen to the best of them. It just felt a little bit too much like it was there just so that the plot could start moving.

Baker has created a wonderful little sci-fi story and if she can continue to write this strongly, she will continue for a very long time. The fact that there are already 3 other books, along with a short story collection, bodes well for the success of the series. If you want something new to try, this would be a good one to start with. Even if you don't like science fiction, you might find something in here to enjoy.

David Roy

Kage Baker's first novel concerns a company that controls access to both time travel and immortality, and whose immortal employees labor ceaselessly to find and save lost artistic, literary, biological and other treasures of the past. The plot of this book revolves around the protagonist's effort to gather samples from a garden of unique plants during the brief reign of Mary Queen of Scots. Baker writes in a clear, accessible style and her characters are well developed and memorable. For a debut, this is a remarkable performance that already ranks among the best of the time-travel and alternate-universe novels, such as Poul Anderson's "Guardians of Time" or Ward Moore's "Bring the Jubilee." Baker's narrative holds the reader's attention, and makes the book both educational and entertaining. The background setting she has worked out should be good for many more novels, and I look forward to them.

Mendoza is a 4 year girl being destined to die at the hands of the Spanish Inquisition until she's rescued by an operative of Dr. Zeus Inc. This is a company from the 24th century that founded a school in Neolithic times to create immortals to serve their needs throughout history. Mendoza is made immortal through bionics, etc, educated, and sent off on her first mission to England, which happens to be enduring the reign of Bloody Mary.

Time travel and immortality are concepts seen a lot in SF, and don't often hold my interest any more unless the writer is really talented. I think Kage Baker is really talented. The premise for this story could have easily lead to a space opera, Buck Rogers in the 16th Century. Instead Baker makes it personal, getting into the head of this young woman who has been saved from the Inquisition and made immortal. We see her misplaced arrogance at her own perfection, and we see how and why that arrogance crumbles. We also have the pleasure of being slowly exposed to this wonderfully developed society of immortals that Mendoza belongs to. Their culture results in a lot of the book's humor.

I can't think of a better compliment than to say after I read this, I immediately went out and bought the next books.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Ms. Baker is an excellent writer, who managed to bring Elizabethan England with its religious schisms and plotting to vivid life, yet integrate the science fiction aspect of the time travelling cyborgs seamlessly into the plot. Mendoza was a fascinating character, as was Nicholas. I can't recommend this book highly enough - I just ran out and bought "Sky Coyote" in hardback and will be turning the ringer off on my phone tonight...

Baker has come up with a variation on the "future do-gooders go back in time and meddle with history" theme, in which, in order to avoid paradox, the work is all done by people from the past. Children or teens who are about to die are recruited, modified physically so that they will live forever, and given assignments to preserve "lost" treasures from the past, which will later be "discovered" in the future by the Company. In this first episode, a girl known only as Mendoza is saved from the Spanish Inquisition and sent to England under Bloody Mary to preserve plants from a private gentleman's garden, the "Garden of Iden" of the title. She falls in love with a mortal, with disastrous and heartbreaking results.

The book is well-written in a direct, if not particularly artful, style. The characters and motivations are complex enough to avoid most of the usual cliches. In particular, Baker uses her scholarly knowledge of the Elizabethan era to depict the clashes between Catholic and Protestant forces in England with considerable depth and sympathy.

I haven't read any of the sequels, but if they measure up to this book, this series should be a source of considerable entertainment.

Before I picked up this book I had pretty much been down on my luck when it came to reading a decent sci-fi novel. Like any genre, most of the books are not written well and it's sometimes hard to find the few authors that are good. I finally hit the jackpot with Kage Baker and boy, was I relieved.

In the 24th century a company known as Dr. Zeus has discovered not only the means to time travel but also the secret of immortality. Whether it was right to do so or no, it used its time travel capibility to effect events in the past so that in the 24th century, the company rules the world. There were some scientists that had signed on to the venture with the understanding that time travel would be used to help mankind. In an effort to do this the business types at Dr. Zeus go back to different time periods and create immortal agents from humans of the time. The mission of these agents is to save valuable cultural artifacts that would otherwise be lost forever.

Flash backward to 1500's Spain in the height of the Spanish Inquisition. A nameless child of an impoverished mother is imprisoned wrongfully and is set to be tortured. An agent shows up offering her freedom. She takes it. She becomes known as Mendoza and enters the process of becoming immortal. The agents are in actuality cyborgs who are stronger and faster than a human. I thought it was really cool that while the world goes about its business there is a secret society of immortals carrying on their business in underground facilities, or in remote areas. Their business being to preserve some of man's and nature's lost treasures.

Mendoza is sent to England and the Garden of Sir Walter Iden who is famous for having the most extensive samples of flora in the world. Her mission: to catalog and preserve extinct plant forms for the Company. She also falls in love with a mortal and thus begins the real meat of the novel.

To me, reading the synopsis on the back of the book, I thought it would be boring. But as I began to read it reminded me of another writer whose plots sound boring but when read are real treasures. I was reminded of Jane Austen. This book is really well written, especially the historical detail and feel. Baker was a teacher of Elizabethan English so I don't think it was much of a stretch to write about this time. Which is ok. An author's first work is usually written in a comfort zone. Not a lot really happened in this book. It is more a character driven story in which the interest is kept by the interaction of different personalities. The only complaint I have is that the love story sometimes, but not often, gets fluffy. The rules for effecting the past seem a little sketchy too. Overall, though, the idea of the book is fascinating and the prose style is interesting. It was nice to see a sci-fi novel with living breathing characters and an author who is well on the way to mastering her voice. I look forward to the second book in the series, Sky Coyote.

Kage Baker's "In The Garden Of Iden" operates on a fascinating premise wherein humans, enhanced to apparent immortality, roam the past undertaking missions set forth by a somewhat mysterious far future organization. It seems unfortunate, then, that the execution of the story falls well short of its potential. The story is told as a first person narrative, a style which appears to be growing in popularity among modern writers of speculative fiction, but which can be the most difficult fiction to write successfully, for the author's voice becomes so noticeably entangled with that of the narrator.

This somewhat minor complaint might be overlooked, but for an additional stylistic trend in the book. Baker appears to do a fine job of depicting 16th century times, customs, clothing and food. The narrator is a young girl/woman, 16th century born but educated and transformed by 24th century means. Yet she seems to narrate frequently in year-1997 slang expressions, which places her neither in the 16th nor 24th century, but in our present, well outside of the story. Such self-conscious parenthetical expressions as "wink wink" in the midst of what might otherwise be effective description can be excessively distracting.

Still, these things might be forgotten once caught up in a well paced and engaging story. More misfortune --- the story fails to engage. In fact, one might ask "what story?" Where dramatic tension might arise, nothing occurs. Where characters are bound toward burning suspense, the fire goes out. When characters do become excited, you wonder why. When a fire does erupt near the end, you already know what will happen. There is, in fact, no real sense that the story has anywhere to go, that the characters are really doing anything at all --- which may leave you wondering "so what's the point?" In the end it all seems to be about a young woman's interest in admiring her newfound handsome lover, where much of the time is spent in his arms or between his sheets. It left this reader wondering if this is actually a novel, or just a collection of the author's romantic daydreams supported by a dimensionless cast of fussy and droll characters.

From the perspective of the SF enthusiast, you may like this book if you like SF where the truly imaginative elements of the story are given little attention. But you may just as easily find that you regularly wish the author would elaborate at least a little, and not treat potentially fascinating technology and enhanced-human talents as vague afterthoughts. Even so, other reviewers have enjoyed this book. So from this reader's perspective, it may be that you will like this book if you also enjoy: period pieces, still life paintings, string quartets at low volume, Jane Austin and Edith Wharton, and Connie Willis' "To Say Nothing Of The Dog".

I found this book interesting and compelling, with lasting images that left me thinking for weeks after the read. This book is not for hardcore sci-fi fans, or those that do not have at least a tertiary interest in historic novels.

I fell in love with Mendoza as a character, and wanted to see more of her adventures, although sometimes she seemed esoteric and, to put it quite frankly, stupid. The theme of time travel is not foremost in this book, the characters are from and of the time, and no one has been displaced or arrives "from the future" - a thing I found misleading in the marketing of this novel.

If you want to read any of Baker's novels of "the Company", you should certainly start with this one. It provides you with necessary information and background, and is also a delightful and, at times, heartrending story.

In the Garden of Iden is the start to Kage Baker's long running time travel series The Company and was also her debut novel. Before I started In the Garden of Iden all I knew was that it played with the ideas of time travel, immortality, and involved some sort of company as the series name blatantly implies. After reading I can certainly understand why Baker has won numerous awards and has a strong following for the series. In the Garden of Iden is witty and and surprisingly engaging.

The main character, Mendoza, is taken into the Company after almost perishing as a child during the Spanish Inquisition. Baker does a good job of showing how people lived during the time and how the Inquisition was viewed and acted. However, the back story is what really caught me with the idea of Dr. Zeus, who is sort of like the Moses/Einstein of the future, orchestrating events to his benefit. There were also other plot threads opened up such as cyborg Neanderthals that have been around a long time that I'd love to hear more about and is apparently something discussed in later books.

The characters are a bit flat at times as are their motivations. Mendoza especially comes off emotionless, but all of sudden is taken by a influx of them which seem out of character. These misgivings could be explained away by the fact that Menzoda is an technology altered woman who has been given a lot of knowledge about the future, but still it bothers me. The pacing is also a little slow especially around the middle during the romance part of the story, which I didn't care too much for, but I have a feeling this may be a recurring theme in later books.

Overall, In the Garden of Iden has some great mythology building with some character issues, but it is still an enjoyable and quick read. I'm intrigued enough to try the next volume, Sky Coyote, as I want to learn more about The Company and Mendoza's future. I'm also curious as to whether all the books center on Mendoza. If their are any fans feel free to comment. This was Baker's debut effort and I am hopeful it gets better from here.