Customer Reviews

The Machine's Child (Company)

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

(No spoilers for the current book in this review, but if you haven't read the series and don't want to be spoiled for it, read no further.)

I've been eagerly awaiting books about The Company since Baker's In the Garden of Iden, and would rate all the previous novels in this series as 5s. I love Baker for her powerful prose and intense characterizations. Unfortunately, while Baker takes the reader at a breakneck pace through various times and places in The Machine's Child, she neglects the careful character development she has shown in earlier novels, and her sometimes breathtaking prose style is nowhere to be seen. The complex and conflicted Facilitator Joseph is reduced to a cartoon of the Immortal we saw in previous novels. Mendoza, although she figures in the story, seems to be more a plot convenience than the tragic, sometimes exasperating Bontanist Mendoza of Garden and Mendoza in Hollywood. Other characters such as Budu, Suleyman, Nan, Latif, and Nefer make appearances, but they are mostly cameos, and do little to move this book along.

Most of the book is given over to the Alec/Edward/Nicholas menage, with Baker beating the Technology/Reason/Faith mantra to death. Kage's idea in the previous book of the three men being prototypes of a New Enforcer type was clever; jamming them into Alec's body, not so much. That becomes tiring in this book. In fact, after the first few chapters, nothing really happens in this book. There's action, romance, tragedy, betrayal, blah, blah, blah, but none of it moves the story toward a real conclusion: it feels more like Baker is setting the stage for yet another novel, after yet another collection of Company short stories is published.

Serial novels are fine, but The Company Series is starting to feel a little like The X-Files: a lot of sound and fury, leading to nothing but a muddle in the end. It's time for Baker to find a way to the end of this story, and start another.

I've been reading this series since day 1, and of course we all are anxious to find out what happens next. But this book won't tell you.

First, let me say that if you haven't read the rest of the series, this book would be totally incomprehensible; if the title popped up on your recommended list or you saw it and thought it looked interesting, but you haven't read the previous books, you would find it a complete jumble with unexplained characters, and the plot would have no detectable beginning or end. That said, if you are someone who HAS been following the series, you would still find it almost that jumbled!

I finally decided, after a few chapters, to regard this as a set of short stories that happen to be interleaved; that way, I could read and enjoy some of the brilliant scenes, and the humor, without being annoyed at the way some characters have changed personality, and without being annoyed at the way we don't actually reach the end.

Some of the things I did like about this volume:
*Joseph's enjoyment of being a Rogue Cyborg (which he thinks of complete with those capital letters).
*The very strange David Reed, and his very strange office.
*The scene where Nicolas breaks into Latin, at seeing Mendoza; as someone old enough to remember when Catholic prayers were in Latin, I recognized what he was saying, and I will tell you that if you try to translate it merely as words, you won't get the full emotional impact of that scene. What he is saying is an extremely well-known and powerful prayer usually addressed to the Virgin Mary.
*Suleyman and Latif, who at this point seem to be the only cyborgs still working for the good of humanity (that's not giving away much, since if you read the previous couple of volumes you already know that.)

Some of the things that I didn't like one bit:
*Mendoza as a besotted idiot.
*The improbable, difficult-to-accept-even-with-suspension-of-disbelief, threefold nature of Alec's personality with Nicolas and Edward; I didn't like the way this was shaping up when it first appeared, two books ago, and I like it even less now.
*The way the ending leaves us nowhere, pretty much where we were at the beginning, like watching Wagner's Ring Cycle for 20 hours only to find ourselves back in the River Rhine with a lump of gold. We jump back and forth in time, we get up to 2352, but we're actually no closer to 2355 than we were at the end of the plot in the previous book. Far too much is left unresolved.

In short: if you're following the series, you sorta have to read this one - but read it in small doses, and be prepared for being left unsatisfied. Enjoy the humor where it occurs, and then turn your brain off the book until there's another one, 'cause there's no particular food for thought here.

*warning: minor spoilers
Well, I love these books--great premise, wonderful quick-witted writing. But this one is puzzling--where is Mendoza? In this installment, she is nothing but a fluffy-headed giggling girl who wants to have sex all the time. I kept waiting for her superior intelligence to kick in, recover some memories, figure stuff out. I thought it would happen after she finally met up with Joseph--but no questions from her about who this guy is, what he was talking about when he mentioned the block on her memory, just more giggling & sexcapades. "okay Alec, whatever you say Alec"
tiresome. Hopefully the final book will revive these characters.

Like many authors who stumble onto a successful franchise with great potential, Baker is milking it for all it is worth. I loved the first few company stories and novels, but at this point it is just getting ridiculous. Come on! "Another network of secret bases/archives? Sure! Two more outposts in the way way back? Why not? It worked last time!" It's just getting tedious. Usually when I am reading series fiction I hope that things don't get completely resolved because I like reading them so much, but at this point I am just waiting for her to pull the trigger.

It is always good to read another episode in the Company saga, but my favorite in the series is still Mendoza in Hollywood. In Machine's Child, however, her memory is blocked and, along with it, it seems a good portion of her personality went missing as well: she is way too docile. I hope that, the closer the story gets to 2355, we will find her more back to her old self. Can't wait to find out how this plays out...and I would like to see Mendoza reconcile with Joseph.

This direct sequel to "The Life of the World to Come" picks up seamlessly from that previous novel. In this book, Alec Checkerfield, the genetically modified human and his technically dead genetic twins who now share his body, continue their search for the cyborg Mendoza in order to rescue her from the Company's version of the Inquisition. The three "brothers" do not always get along but they are seemingly united in their love of Mendoza and their desire to take down the Company. The "internal" conflict between three men sharing one body can be pretty amusing.

This book seems to promise that the war between the Company and the immortals will begin in this book, but it falls far short of that. I feel that Ms. Baker is simply squeezing out some more books about the relationships between the characters, relying on massive amounts of time travel to make it unnecessary to reach the important year of conflict, 2355. Hey, they were getting closer, but they suddenly find a pressing need to go back to 150000 BC.... Well written, but a short synopsis of this book would be plenty to set you up for the next one, since little actually happens. Hope the next one delivers more!

I had just completed "Gods and Pawns", a really remarkable book of short stories and novelettes. It is true that this could have been presented as a series of short stories but I think Ms Baker had another plan. She was trying, with all the jumping around in time, to sharpen the focus tighter and tighter toward the eventual ending. (I wish the series could go on forever and it just might if Dr Zeus would ever land in OUR time and give Ms. Baker all those little doohickies making her immortal.)

Although it was slightly confusing at first, the idea of the three Alecs (or Edwards or Nichlases) working together in the same body was brilliant. Nothing could match, though, the rebirth of my favorite gal pal, Mendoza, and her rapturous love for her Trinity love. The action was fast and furious and the revelations came from all directions as the fatefull year in which history ends approaches - Joseph figured prominently, rescuing his "Father" Budu, trying to rescue Mendoza from Alec in what was a case of plain old mortal jealousy, running around behind the Company's back. Joseph and Alec are unaware that each of them are fighting Dr Zeus. All the while Alec is furtively making plans for the future while Mendoza sends them to times unknown with each wild bout of lovemaking. And what about the lonely and arguably insane David trapped in the far past?

Sensual, bitter, humorous, informative - all the hallmarks of another fantastic entry from the incomparable Ms. Baker.

I have read all the company novels and short stories. This book, along with "The Life of the World to Come" and the "Graveyard Game" are my favorites. Although the novel does not resolve anything, the writing style, settings and dialogue make you overlook this fact. I am certain that the final novel coming out in July will answer all our questions. I do agree with other reviewers that Mendoza as a sex-starved, clingy girlfriend is a bit hard to swallow after following her in the previous novels. However this will change in the final novel I am sure..

This is the next book in Kage Baker's company series. All of the books have been fun and this one is too. It is better then the last installment but not as good as the Grave Yard Game. It has set up the next book for a major events, as it leaves Mendoza on the beach dealing with a flood of information that will no doubt impact her strongly, but we will all have to wait until the next installment to find out. Can not wait to see how it turns out.