Customer Reviews

Sky Coyote (Company)

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(13)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Kage Baker has suddenly arrived on the SF scene with several novels and a number of fine short stories. Most of her work so far, including Sky Coyote, is part of a series about the "Company", Dr. Zeus, Incorporated, and its time-travelling immortal servants. This is a pretty good setup for stories. Certainly, as with most time travel books, it doesn't do to look too closely at the paradoxes implied. In addition, the restrictions placed on the Company's technology have a sense of adhocery to them. But I quibble: suspension of disbelief is not too hard, and Baker's work has been interesting and involving. She is one of the most promising new SF writers.

Sky Coyote is told by the Immortal Joseph, a Facilitator for the Company who has been working for them for thousands of years. His new assignment, in 1700 A.D., is to appear to a town full of Chumash Indians in (what will become) California, as a figure from their legends: Sky Coyote. He is to persuade them to pack up their town, lock, stock and canoe, and be transported to the future. You see, their culture is about to be destroyed by the white men -- first Spanish missionaries; eventually the Americans -- and the Company wishes to preserve as much of this culture as possible for restoration or at least study in the 24th century. (Why and how they make a profit doing so is not ever convincingly explained, but let that pass.)

This makes for an enjoyable story. There is a lot of interesting detail about the impressively advanced Chumash culture, including their commercial nature, and their stories and legends. Joseph as Sky Coyote gets to make a lot of jokes, and have a lot of fun. There isn't quite enough conflict, and the plot isn't twisty enough, but the basic story is still worth reading.

However, Baker intersperses this with some other details. Events in Joseph's past life, some of which raise doubts in him about the Company. A lot of focus on an otherwise thoroughly minor character named Mendoza (who is the protagonist of some other books in the series). A few strange intimations of something portentous occurring in 2355 A.D. All this is really quite interesting. The problem is, it's really not got much of anything to do with the rest of the novel, and it serves mainly as a distraction. The main story is a bit thin anyway, and the hints of some really interesting stuff that we'll get to eventually (but not in this book!) don't help.

Make no mistake about it: Baker has the chops of a fine writer. Her characters are well drawn, her prose is sound, her stories hold the reader's interest. And whatever misgivings I have, I still enjoyed Sky Coyote. But I think it's somewhat flawed structurally by the intrusion of an external story arc that is presented only by hints. In the final analysis, this novel will mainly be of interest to readers committed to the entire series, and even those readers will probably find themselves chomping at the bit for the main event to come along.

See, I don't get it. Everyone says that Sky Coyote is their least favourite of Baker's books. Why? Is it because Joseph is the narrator? Is it because it doesn't deal with European-based history? Is it because somehow Baker wrote less beautifully than she usually does? I don't know. I thought it much better than Garden of Iden.

In Sky Coyote, Joseph and Mendoza are sent to California to retrieve an entire tribe of people before white men can get at them with land grabs and smallpox. Baker knows California well: she lives there, so everything in the book has that touch of authenticity. Although she can't give the Chumash language that same kind of twist she gave Elizabethan English, she doesn't fall into the trap that most authors do with American Indians: namely, overly-simplify the language they speak. Of the three factions in the book (future mortals, immortals, and the Chumash), the Chumash come out most human, and that is a feat in itself when the book is narrated by an immortal. And speaking of immortals, I like Joseph so much better than Mendoza! She's stubborn, straightforward, and believes in one thing and one thing only. Fairly one-dimensional, even after having read Garden. Joseph ponders things, has faults and fears, and is much older and remembers far back to the Stone Age of Europe, whence he came. Yet he's able to work despite his fears. Admittedly, he largely ignores them. But isn't that what we do most of the time?

I suppose what I liked best about the book, though, is the fact that it deals with the fallibility of Dr. Zeus and pokes fun at modern society in a way Garden did not. Introduced is the fact that Dr. Zeus has only provided the immortals with historical information up until a certain year in the future, where supposedly paradise on earth will have been achieved and the immortals can rest from their labours. Also added are the concept of the Enforcers, immortals who were recruited to kill raging hoardes during the Stone Age, but then lost their necessity and slowly vanished somehow. The idea is that Dr. Zeus can make mistakes. I loved it. Here is a company that saves you from certain death in the past and makes you immortal. You're trained to believe it's a wise and benevolent power. What happens when you begin to doubt? It's great stuff. Better than that are the future mortals who come to the past to oversee the Chumash tribe's excavation. They are like stretched-thin overly-exaggerated people of today. They play video games all of the time. Their vocabulary is extremely limited. They frown on controlled substances, are afraid of the Chumash "savages", and don't want to harm anything, even grass. They are each super-specialists, a genius in his own field but a doddering idiot about anything else. They have no sense of the history they are trying to preserve. It's just vindicating for a historian to see, as it feels that way today. Few now care about what happened before-- they are willfully ignorant, perpetuating the same mistakes and thinking they are original. Oh, I liked that.

There is, of course, Baker's perpetual theme of single crazy zealots perpetuating murders for a jealous God. She has the Chumash encounter a new monotheistic cult which is, of course, villainous, persuasive, and stops at nothing to gain converts. Much like in Garden's Spain. Or in any of her books. No redeeming qualities, oh no. To be honest, the only way I can get through these parts is that she isn't altogether blatant about them. The story still functions in the characters' minds, and they are believable. So I can still think that God is trying to say something to Joseph, that there is more than the Company.

Sometimes I wonder what Kage Baker really thinks.

I loved In the Garden of Idun and had just as much fun with this one. Joseph as the wiley coyote trickster god is absolutely perfect. Mendoza doesn't get much of a role, but she's there, as the Company operatives try to rescue a whole village of the Chumash Indians before they are nearly wiped out by European invasion and native religious fanaticism. I loved the Rotarian twist she gave to the Chumash which knocks on the head any idea that these people were not socially sophisticated.

I can hardly wait for the next novel of The Company.

This is an excellent book. Speaking as an American Indian, I want to thank Kage Baker for writing a book in which the Indians are neither noble savages nor stupid primitives, but shown as intelligent human beings with individual personalities - some good, some not so good, just like any other real people. Thanks too for showing that "primitive" Indians before the white arrival had sophisticated cultures and complex economies, not just hunting and fishing. And this is the only white author I have ever read who brings out the Indian's sense of humor.

There is more to this book than just the Indian stuff (there is some very good satire on white bureaucrats) but that is what I know the most about. On that basis I say this is a good book and you should read it.

I loved In the Garden of Iden -- It consumed me (I would give it 5 stars). I enjoyed Sky Coyote, but it left me unsatisfied. I pondered the issue for a while, until I figured out the problem: Sky Coyote is the 2nd Act in a 3 Act Play. It takes the characters from the first act, puts them into a new and difficult situation, and then leaves them there -- to be rescued in the third act. Viewed from that perspective, Sky Coyote was great -- it nicely set up the next book that Baker is writing (actually, she has already written it and is working on book #7!!!). I am now eagerly anticipating the next installment. On its own merits, it lacked the engrossing excitement of the first book, but as a precursor of things to come, it was tantalizing, interesting and definately worth the time and money to read.

4.5 Stars (I rounded up to five)

First - I give the book four and a half stars because of the surprising depth of the tale. I expected a light tale, but the depth caught me pleasantly off guard. There are a few sections that drag a bit, but overall the character development and "enjoyablity index" are quite high. While other reviewers wrote that it is unnecessary to read one book in this series before the next, I disagree. Read them in order.

Baker has done a good job at making each book stand-alone to a great extent. However, to really enjoy the premise and development of the plot, as it extends over multiple volumes, I find it better to read them in order. If you read and enjoyed the first volume in the series, you should really enjoy *Sky Coyote*. While I expected a light enjoyable read, I found that Baker added enough depth to make his tale far more than just a "sport read". It has the attributes of a good summer beach book, but incorporates enough substance for me to categorize it as a serious thought-provoking read.

*Sky Coyote* delves more into the inner workings of the Zeus organization, creates a vivid picture of the changelessness of humanity, and inspires a rabid appetite to grab the next volume. I find the development of Joseph's character and a better global picture of the Zeus project far more interesting than Mendoza alone. The mythology in the Coyote story is quite appealing, Baker has done a lot of research and it is easy to suspend disbelief throughout the story.

I really enjoy the topic of alternate history, as it tends to give a good picture of what day-to-day life in the past. Baker really captures the nuances that I find interesting and compelling. The philosophical and mythological threads heightened my interest and made it a book that actually made me think far outside of the plot and examine how the myths relate to my own life. The 'rules" of time travel are rather flat (so far - I think it will become more defined) and are the hardest area in which to suspend disbelief, but overall, the book is quite excellent.

I finished Sky Coyote in a single sitting (albeit a long one - one of those 4am'ers). The first thing I did after closing the book was to order the next two volumes on Amazon. *Mendoza in Hollywood* arrived today, so I expect little sleep tonight.

Sky Coyote is one of those unusual sequels which surpasses the original. In fact, reading the precursor, In the Garden of Iden, is entirely unnecessary for the enjoyment of this book. Kage Baker's intriguing premise of immortal beings laboring for the good of a future world they have never seen takes off in Sky Coyote. While the first book could be viewed as historical fiction with a science-fiction touch -- Sky Coyote explores the full promise of the idea behind the plot: Why would these powerful beings continue to work for the Company with very little reward? What is the future like? Who is really in charge of the Company -- the humans or the immortals?

Sky Coyote telescopes backwards and forwards through time. In the main plot, Joseph endeavors to save a unique Native American culture from certain extinction. Meanwhile, flashbacks give us insight into Joseph's impressive past, while interludes at a Company base manned by humans from the future give us a frightening glimpse of the twenty-fourth century.

And readers who enjoyed In the Garden of Iden will be interested in understanding the whole Mendoza-Harpole fiasco from Joseph's point of view. (No, she hasn't forgiven him.)

I thoroughly enjoyed Kage Baker's first novel: dramatic, historical, thought-provoking, romantic, even funny. But "Sky Coyote" is better still. This is a darker, more mature work - as befits a tale told from the viewpoint of Joseph, Facilitator and general all-around slimy little guy. The Company is beginning to show feet of clay, and there are hints of huge and far-reaching plots that are definately not to the benefit of either humanity or the immortal Operatives. Ms. Baker's take on human needs, aspirations and machinations shows a wry, tender realism that is much more refreshing than the usual science fiction despair. I especially enjoyed the detailed portrait of the native Chumash as a real people, and as the prototypical Californians: a culture with spas, entertainment, entrepenuers and all the economic glitz now associated with the Golden State. And the plot simply rocks! The cast of characters spans 20,000 years and at least two species of Homo Sapiens. We get a disturbing hint of the evolution of modern humans in general, and of the feckless Mendoza in particular, as she matures into a sort of ecstatic botanist nun under the shadows of the redwoods. Though there are also hints that her passions are only in abeyance ... as they say of Hollywood, I laughed, I cried, I loved it. Read this right away, and pray for more!

_____________________________________
I thought the Chumash characters were particularly well done, very
*California* -- one of the the Humashup tycoons even has a
personal shaman. I don't know enough about the Chumash --
indeed, almost nothing -- to judge Baker's fidelity-to-history, but I
expect she's a trustworthy guide -- (but I do recall picking up
some very odd notions about science and history from voraciously
naive childhood reading, so comments from the Chumash-history

literate are welcome.) I'm pretty sure coastal California culture has
featured wealth, ostentation, flash & showmanship for at least a
thousand years.... and, yes, there weren't many more clear, smog-free
days in the LA Basin even back when the dire wolves were
unwisely leaping onto prey mired in the La Brea tar pits....

Anyway. I have a definite weakness for anthropological SF. "Sky
Coyote" might not be up to the best of Le Guin or Arnason, but it has
some very fine moments. We were out to the Central Coast (the
Chumash, and Baker's, homeland) a few months back, and it is
lovely country, lovingly portrayed here. And Baker has a nice
command of the tragedy:farce, dark:light transition? mood-swing? --
not quite the words I'm looking for, but she plays the reader's
emotions skillfully. Really quite an impressive writer.

You should probably read "Garden" first (also highly recommended), but "Sky Coyote" would do fine as
a stand-alone.

Happy reading!
Pete Tillman

In The Garden of Iden, Baker's first novel in the "Company" series, gave us a tantalizing glimpse of a future company, Dr. Zeus, manipulating the strands of unrecorded history for its own benefit. Unfortunately, it was too wrapped up in its dreary tale of misbegotten love in 16th-century England to serve up much meat about this intriguing concept, resulting in a depressing and disappointing novel.

But I'm happy to say that its sequel Sky Coyote follows through on everything that Iden promised, and is a rollicking good read, to boot!

Narrator Joseph has a rare view of the world, being one of the company's oldest Immortals, and his wry commentary on his peers, and on the mortals he interacts with to carry out his missions for Dr. Zeus. After a lively prologue in which he and Mendoza (dislikeable as ever, but more fun as a foil for Joseph-as-protagonist) are reunited, they head off to California in 1700 to "save" a city of Chumash indians.

Joseph's interaction with the Chumash is priceless: Augmented to look like their god Sky Coyote, he makes proclamations interspersed with peculiar reasoning, and works to convince the natives that he and his "spirits" are working to save them from a grisly fate. What makes it work is the light touch that Baker gives the Chumash, as they use modern slang and have true business savvy. They're not dumb, even if they are wrapped up in a religious system that seems peculiar to us. Baker always treats them with respect, which more than anything else makes them come alive as believable characters.

But best of all, we learn about Joseph's own history dating back to prehistory, and how Dr. Zeus has slyly been handling the Immortals over the last 2000 years, revealing some dark shadows which our heroes will have to grapple with in books to come. On the other hand, all of this is starkly contrasted with the bumbling, snivelling, pampered company mortals sent back from 2355 to oversee the Chumash operation. Which is the real Dr. Zeus, if any? There's a lot for Joseph and the reader to think on and look forward to, here.

The book is still somewhat flawed in that the Immortals are still basically an unlikeable lot, and Joseph seems like the only one of them with any character. Still, this complaint is small potatoes; Joseph's narration makes up for a lot.

Sky Coyote pays off handsomely, and has me looking forward to reading the next book in the series (even if the series could have a less bland title than "The Company"). It took me a long time to get around to reading this, after the disappointment of Iden, but I'm glad I did, and you will be, too.