Customer Reviews

Gods and Pawns (Company)

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I dare say that you found this collection of stories (mostly novellas and long short stories) because you -- like me -- discovered Kage Baker's marvelous universe of The Company, in which cyborgs serve a huge corporation of the future. If you haven't yet read the series, I strenuously recommend that you begin with In The Garden of Iden. You can probably follow each of the stories if you start with this collection (the author does a brief arm-wave in each one to tell you the basics), but your experience will be vastly enhanced if you read these in a larger context. (You don't have to read EVERY one of the full novels, but I think you need the character understanding from the first one or two.)

I tend to be uncomfortable reading most short story collections, because there are predictably a few really excellent tales, a couple that are pretty good, and the rest... ho-hum or worse. I'm happy to say that Gods & Pawns is a remarkable exception. Every one of these stories is excellent, shows an aspect of history (through the eyes of Dr Zeus Inc.), and lets us vicarously enjoy the experiences of characters we've grown to love (Mendoza, Lewis, and Joseph). They're funny, thoughtful, surprising... everything I want from short fiction.

If you like Kage Baker's "Company" universe, this is definitely worth your time and money. If you haven't yet discovered this marvelous author, then you should read her stuff... but please don't cheat yourself. Read In the Garden of Iden first, so you can appreciate the depth she brings to even a short story.

The beauty of the universe created by Baker is that the characters may appear in any place and any time (after their own birth). In these seven stories we see Literary Preservationist Lewis, Botanist Mendoza, Facilitator Joseph and others in a range of times and locales. A recurring theme is that they carry out the will of the Company without always knowing the reasons for the assignments and often with any particular joy. Such is the life of these immortal cyborgs, serving the entity that created them.

Personally, I think the short form is Kage's strongest area and this is some of her best.


To The Land Beyond The Sunset.
Mendoza and Lewis in the New World of the seventeenth century

The Catch
Concerning the Company's early and imperfect efforts to create an immortal

The Angel In The Darkness
Set in 1990s Los Angeles - a cyborg watches over family members

Standing In His Light
The life of the painter Vermeer - and the desires of a cyborg for something different

A Night On The Barbary Coast
Set in early San Francisco Joseph and Mendoza on an errand for the company

Welcome To Olympus, Mr. Hearst
Set in 1933 at Hearst Castle. Joseph and Lewis on an errand for the company

Hellfire At Twilight
Lewis on an errand for the company


Does it sound like the cyborgs spend a lot of time running errands for the Company? You are correct.

The most recent couple of novels in the "Company" universe have been a little bit disappointing to me - in fact, in my review of one of them, I stated that it would have been a better book had it been short stories. Well, in this book, Baker proves she is still really good at the stories! I was much happier with these than I had been with the "Machine" books.

The stories in this one mostly involve Lewis. There are references in the stories to things that have happened in the earlier novels; the stories are best enjoyed if you've already read "In the Garden of Iden" although you don't have to have read the rest of the novels - that one will provide enough background. That's not to say you shouldn't read the rest of the earlier novels - all four of the first four Company novels are great!

The first story, "To the Land Beyond the Sunset," contains allusions to a particular disaster that happened to Lewis in another book. The indigenes in this story are very funny. (The dust jacket illustration is probably supposed to refer to this story, but it's not accurate.)

The third story, "Angel in the Darkness," is the one that will provide you with some background about how the Company universe works and who are these cyborgs, anyway?, if you haven't read the novels.

The last story, "Hellfire at Twilight," may particularly appeal to readers of Georgian and Regency romances, who will be familiar with the idea of Hellfire clubs.

Several of the stories have already appeared in magazines, particularly Asimov's, but I didn't mind; I enjoyed re-reading them.

All in all, her best in a while!

For those of you who read "The Company" novels, but avoid "The Company" short story collections because you dislike short stories, I highly recommend that you read ALL of the books. The short stories have many important clues that flesh out the many sub-plots, characters, their backstories and motivations in the novels. Without the short stories, you are missing out on a much richer experience.

For instance, in this last collection, I wonder about Mr. Hearst! (Intriguing, isn't it?)

As always, I can't wait for the next installment!

I've come to the conclusion that there are only two ways of interpreting the stories of The Company. The first, and the one I prefer, is that Ms. Baker is actually an operative for Dr Zeus (surely from the Elizabethan court) and this is her idea of a joke on us. The stories seem so genuine, the characters so alive and the dialogue so authentic because they all ARE real. Ms Baker and Mendoza are probably reading this review in 2234 and having a chuckle over a mug of steaming chocolate.

Well, that is one way of looking at it. The other is that Kage Baker is one of the greatest writers of our era. It is not simply the imaginative creativity that has taken a singular story and built it into a saga of depth and wonder. It is the literary aspect of these tales that beg to be praised. The language, the nuance, the humor (Connie with her Bronx accent - "Ya don't say!") and the ever-present irony merge in a rare combination. Some writers excel in plot structure, some in characterization, others in dialogue and a few actually conduct research in preparation for their writing. Ms. Baker handles all of these deftly and seamlessly. You know there will be no wrong dates, historical settings or customs of the times.

This is not a duplicate of "Black Projects, White Knights", perhaps the finest set of short stories since O'Henry. These tales are longer, more subtle and mainly feature well-known operatives - Lewis, Mendoza and Joseph with the determined Porfirio making two appearances. One is struck by the different moods Ms. Baker invokes. The hilarious "Hearst" contrasts with the lush, dark "Land Beyond the Sunset". The almost childlike story of Bobby plays against the poignant "Angel in the Darkness", a mystery involving a woman without hope. For sheer virtuosity the story of the artist, Vermeer, is unsurpassed. The final scene encompasses both the title and the spirit of the book in a way I would never have imagined as the term "Gods and Pawns" suddenly takes on a new meaning. Needless to say, my grade - A+++

These seven "stories of the Company" are reprints from other publications but brought together under one book for the first time to the delight of fans of the series who will understand the title while newcomers will enjoy these excellent time traveling tales.

"To the Land Beyond the Sunset". Company men Lewis and Mendoza amongst others encounter a seventeenth century tribe in Bolivia who claim to be immortal and provide evidence to support their God-like assertion.

"The Catch". In 1958 a family of five allegedly died in a car crash. The Company sends Clete and Porfirio to clean up a problem caused by the ten year old boy previously saved from that crash; instead of joining as operatives as all of the rescued do, Bobby Ross has become a problem for the Company to fix.

"The Angel in the Darkness". In 1991 forty-six years old insurance underwriter Maria Aguilar has problems as she expects the new owners of her firm to downsize. However, she soon finds bigger troubles for her and her family. Only Company Security Technical Uncle Porfirio can keep them safe from an immortal.

"Standing in His Light". In the seventeenth century Netherlands Agent Van Drouten meets Jan Vermeer, considered by twenty-fourth century aficionados as the greatest artist of all times as she tries to rescue his masterpieces.

"A Night on the Barbary Coast". In 1850 Joseph and Mendoza explore the local flora because something of interest caught Dr. Zeus' attention in the future.

"Welcome to the Olympus, Mr. Hearst". In the 1920s and 30s William Randolph Heart informs Mr. Denham he knows about the Company and wants to buy stock as a full player in the game of "correcting" history.

"Hellfire at Twilight". In 1774 Lewis joins the aristocratic notorious Hellfire Club because of a toxic alert from a document once belonging to them.

Harriet Klausner

I was pleased with this collection of Company stories. They are entertaining and show good character development and well-constructed plots. Good local color and societal detail.
The weakest link is "The Angel in the Darkness" as I just got tired of reading it. The cultural matrix (SoCal Latino) became tedious and predictable,and even a little stereotypical, but the plotting was pretty good. And it did give some backstory to events in other Company novels.
This is well-worth adding to the "Company" shelf in your library.

My name is Patricia and God and Pawns is my favorite book because it had drama. It tells a whole lot of details about the person and what's happening. The book is about this lady who is trying to take over the town and the factory. In my story there are some bad words, but it my very favorite story. The book tells about a husband and a wife. There are a lot of surprising things in this book.

The author is Kage Baker. She wrote eight books.

Gods and Pawns is a compilation of seven short stories all set in Baker's Company universe. Immortal cyborgs working for a 24th century corporation known as Dr. Zeus, Inc., roam every corner of recorded history ostensibly for objects and organisms that would not survive the intervening centuries so that they may one day be "rediscovered" in the future, but actually are sold to wealthy clients for exorbitant sums of money.

I have to admit I really enjoyed these seven tales and would definitely recommend this collection to anyone who is familiar with Baker's virtually omnipotent Dr. Zeus. And...you get the added benefit of learning more sordid details on the ways the Company operates. Among my favorites are "The Catch", in which we get to see the results of the Company's early attempts at making a person immortal and the disastrous results when the process goes awry; and, "Welcome to Olympus, Mr. Hearst" where we get to see that how the Company chooses who gets to undergo the immortality process may extend to others beyond the traditional young child...at least in cases that may end up benefiting the Company in some way (of course!)

As previously mentioned, these stories are most definitely recommended...anyone who has been sucked into the scheming machinations of Dr. Zeus, Inc. will enjoy this collection.

As fans of the series know, Dr. Zeus Incorporated operates out of the 24th century, combining its time travel capabilities and its legion of cyborg near-slaves scattered through time from the Neanderthal era on, in order to make a small number of plutocratic technocrats very, very, very rich. Besides the novels, which began with the award-winning _In the Garden of Iden_, Baker has written a number of shorter stories set in the same world -- most of which probably will be very confusing for any reader not already familiar with the characters and themes. Baker's work can be somewhat erratic in quality, but the seven short stories and novelettes in this collection are mostly pretty good. "To the Land Beyond the Sunset" is a rather lightweight yarn featuring Mendoza, the flinty-eyed botanist, and Lewis, the literature-preserver who secretly adores her. They go on a short field trip to the Bolivian rain forest where the weather turns around and bites them -- and then they get mixed up with a family of down-at-the-heel deities. "The Catch" is a grim little story of what can happen when the not-yet-perfected attempt to produce a cyborg goes badly wrong. The story's narrator, Security Tech Porfirio, is also the protagonist of "The Angel in the Darkness," probably the best piece in the book. Set forty years later, it's mostly a very true-to-life depiction of the desperation of an older daughter who carries all the burdens of the family by herself, and of the "uncle" who watches over things, or perhaps controls them. The character portraits in this one are extremely good. And it doesn't matter too much if you don't know who Labenius really is. "Standing in His Light" is about the Company's entirely cynical use of Jan Vermeer to produce works to order that will be worth billions a few centuries down the line. "A Night on the Barbary Coast" is a rather lightweight romp that mostly just gives Baker an excuse to describe Mendoza's entry into San Francisco in 1850. "Welcome to Olympus, Mr. Hearst," which starts out lighthearted and funny but eventually turns somewhat darker, involves Joseph the Facilitator and Lewis again paying a visit to San Simeon to close a deal on behalf of the Company and discovering that it doesn't pay to underestimate certain mere mortals. "Hellfire at Twilight" features the feckless Lewis again in a somewhat sweet story involving Sir Francis Dashwood and the Hellfire Club, which turns out to be something quite different than its reputation would suggest. As I say, many of the references in these stories will mean nothing to anyone new to the series, but for Baker fans, it's a pretty good collection.