Gods and Pawns (The Company) (Hardcover)

~ (Author) "Somewhere in South America, New World One, 1650 AD . . . Well aware that it was probably the most pointless thing an immortal could..." (more)
Key Phrases: terra preta, immortality process, Uncle Porfirio, Sir Francis, Van Drouten (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Keep your eye on Kage Baker! You never know where she's heading next, but it's always worth going there. She's an edgy, funny, complex, ambitious writer with the mysterious, true gift of story-telling.”-Ursula K. Le Guin

"Anything Kage Baker publishes I will immediately rush out and read! I am never disappointed. The woman is a marvel. . . . I've been hooked from the beginning . . . ."-- Ellen Kushner
“Funny, heart-rending, terrifying, pellucid, Baker’s magnificent series grows in stature with every installment.” –Kirkus, starred review on The Children of the Company “Vividly evoked. . . .Baker has a light touch, and her effervescent characterization and talent for social comedy make The Children of the Company picturesque and picaresque, sometimes extremely funny.” –Nick Gevers, Locus

"Keep your eye on Kage Baker! You never know where she's heading next, but it's always worth going there. She's an edgy, funny, complex, ambitious writer with the mysterious, true gift of story-telling."
--Ursula K. Le Guin
 
"Kage Baker is the greatest natural storyteller to enter the field since Poul Anderson." –Gardner Dozois
 
“The book unfolds through both Labienus’ memories and the journals and artifacts of Victor and others caught in his web. As in the other Company novels, the time line spanned is prodigious, despite which Baker never stints on characters and details that capture the reader’s fancy.”--Booklist on The Children of the Company

"Another entry in Baker's superlative series about Dr. Zeus . . . . An astonishing and thoroughly satisfying installment. What's more, Baker's overall concept and rationale, flawlessly sustained through five books, grows ever more spellbinding and impressive." --Kirkus Reviews (starred review) on The Life of the World to Come

Product Description

In the Company, you’re either a God or a Pawn, but sometimes you have to be both. The eight stories, reprinted for the first time in this collection delve further into the history and exploits of the Company and its operatives, including Mendoza, Lewis, and Alec. 
 
The book opens with the novella, "To the Land Beyond the Sunset," starring Lewis and Mendoza, and involving a strange tribe in Bolivia whose members claim to be gods. Their ability to grow a small tropical paradise in the middle of the desert certainly seems godlike, and it's Mendoza's job to figure what their secret is."Standing in His Light" features Van Drouten, and her role in the career of the artist Jan Vermeer. The story illustrates how, with a little help from the Company, lost masterpieces can be found (or created) easily. Other stories include "Welcome to Olympus, Mr. Hearst," which opens up intriguing questions about The Company, and the original novelette, "Hellfire at Twilight," which concludes the volume and tells of Lewis infiltrating the famous Hellfire Club in the England of the 18th century.
 
This book is a compelling read for every Baker fan, and essential for Company addicts

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: Tor Books (January 23, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0765315521
• ISBN-13: 978-0765315526
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #717,611 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Every one of these stories is a winner, April 14, 2007

By	Esther Schindler (Scottsdale, AZ USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

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.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great stuff, though you need some background, August 17, 2007

By	R. Kelly Wagner "[e-mail]" (MD, United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

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!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Being an immortal cyborg is not a fulltime party, May 14, 2007

By	Michael Bond (Shawnee, OK United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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.