Restoration by Carol Berg

I am not suite finished with this book-maybe 100 pages left. I am still interested but it has not grabbed from the first page like the first book in this series-Transformation. Nor has it really picked up about halfway through like the second book in this series-Revelation. It is managing to keep my insterest, but the story is all over the place. In the first book we see Seyonnes powers return and how his destniy-as prophesied by the Ezzarrians over 1000 years ago-is tied to that of the Derhzi Prince Aleksander. We also see Seyonne return home to his wife and his country returned to him by Prince Aleksander. The second installments shows some rot at the root of the Ezzarrians-and raises the real question of the relationship between Ezzarrians and Demons-they were once the same and then tried to split themselves from demons which in relaity caused demons to form and feed off innocents which was why Ezzarrians were honor bound to battle demons in the first place. Kind of round about plotting but it worked in the end. Now the third novel takes the thought that demon/human bonds were actually created through beings who exist on another plane and are able to cross to human existance in their dreams. This beings are ancient-they do not die, live forever and have difficulty reproducing. Once of their youngest members-Nyel-is first able to cross over to the human world in his dreams. He is recieved as a God in that realm and soon takes a wife and had children. When he sees that his people can produce off-spring in this alternate realm he tells his people and soon many of his race are also marrying and having children with humans. These children are the original Ezzarrians-who are pair bound with the demons(rai-kirah)-who have the power to change form and raise Melydda (magic) and live for a very long time. Nyel finds that his people are dying, he can not be sure why but he finds that the first to die are the ones who have married and had children with the humans. He decides to destroy these humans and their offspring-which leads the to Ezzarrian myth about the God who lay with the human maiden-Valdonne- and then tried to kill all humans, she held him off until her son-Valdiss- came of age and was able to imprison his father -by taking his name away-and save his mother and his people. Somehow this is also tied up with how the Ezzarrians decided to get separated from their rai-kirah which caused the rai-kirah to form demons so they could feed on human emotions. Seyonne has found this original being from the alternate universe-Nyel-who does not know his true and was trapped by his son-he is trying to turn Seyonne -who is a descendant of the original mixed race children-Ezarrians-into a Medonai-which is what the beings from the alternate relaity call themselves. Is this a good or a bad thing-not sure yet. The book is good but very complex.
~~~~Where ever you go, There you are!

Revelation by Carol Berg

This book was much slower than the Transformation. It took it quite awhile to build the action, but when it did, boy was it worth it. It tackles some of the major questions of Seyonnes world. Why are the Ezzarrians destine to fight the Demons? What is the relationship between demons and the ezzarrians? All of which is explored in this book.
Seyonne is back with his people-in the newly restored Ezzarrian-given as gift by Prince Aleksander. Here Seyonne is the only Warden old enough to battle demons and he does it night and day with his "watcher" Fiona. Normally a Warden battles with the same partner, Seyonnes is his wife Ysanna, but while Ysanna is pregnant she can not risk demon possession and so she names Fiona his partner. Fionna is also named by the council as his "watcher". Many believe him to be "unclean" due to his time aways from his people and his unnatural attachment to Prince Aleksander. Seyonne is really only allowed back into Ezzarria because his wife is Queen and he is the only adult Warden able to battle demons and train the new people. In his battles Seyonne glimpses that their are many kinds of deomns and that they are tied to Ezzarrians through more than battle. At the same time his son is born demon-possesed and exiled from the tribe. Seyonne knows he has to find out the true relationship between demons and ezzarrians for his sons sake.
It took me a few hundred pages to really get into this book, but once I did it was well worth it.
~~~~Where ever you go, There you are!

Transformation by Carol Berg

I have seen this book for years. Picked it up-the cover features an attractive yet tragically conflictedcreature with human features and large wings, kneeling on the edge of a cliff con templating life and perhaps thinking to jump? Yet the back of the book about slavery and kingdoms and lost powers and demons did not interest me in the least and so I consistently passed this book by. Well, I have been reading quite a bit of fantasy lately and decided to give this book a least an attempted reading. I really, really liked it.
Seyonne is a slave. His people were once very holy people who fought against demons and in there zest to not have a demon come to live in their own souls they had all kinds of strange and zealous laws that if people defied caused them to be shunned. One of the laws is against being taken as a slave-makes one unclean-so even if you were to be freed from slavery or to escape slavery you still could never go home for fear of being unclean.
Seyonne is one of the last pf his people-the "chosen" people who battle demons for innocents the souls of innocents. His people-the Ezzarrians-were wiped out by the Derhzi-a race of Roman like people who are slowly but surely conquering all peoples and either enslaving those they capture or killing them out right. When an Ezzarrian is made a slave he goes through a procedure that strips him/her of their magic. So, they are destined to live as ordinary people-magicless. Seyonne has somehow accustomed himself to this existence-it has been 16 years since he fought the Derzhi in a battle for his homeland and lost-when he purchased by Aleksander-the crown prince of Derzhi and Seyonne sees the light of destiny within his soul. What follows is amazing.
The story definetely has ties to present religions and their myths. The Derzhi are defintely the Romans of history-mighty, intelligent, conqureing and destined to fail and lose everything they have conquered. The Ezaarrians are definetely the Jews of old-tradition bound, tightly knit community apart from others, helping the world as part of their "chosen" path but not really apart of it. Seyonne could arguably be the Christ figure in the novels? Baptized by fire, his suffering horrendous and repetitive, yet he is human and makes many mistakes and misjugdements and miscalculations. Excellent novel.
~~~~Where ever you go, There you are!

The World on Blood by Jonathan Nasaw

This book was absolutely hilarious. In a world where everyone is addicted to something-be it caffiene, sex, chocolate, marijuana, alcohol, etc. We have become a society with a "meeting" and 12-step program for just about everything....
now it is everything!!!!
Betty is the minister of the Church of Higher Power-a basically non-denominational church that works a support group and out-reach program to addicts of all flavors and walks of life. She does everything from marriage counseling to sermons, marriages and leading the evening A.A. group. Which can be a long and thankless job, but thankfully serves an emotionally rewarding cause. Sadly, emtoionally rewarding will not pay the minimum payments on the church-so she is praying for one more addicts group to meet 3 times a week to help her make the payments. Ask and you shall recieve-into her life walks Nick Santos-who just so happens to need a the church basement 3 nights a week for his myseterious V.A. meetings. What is the "V" for? Very Anonymous-says Nick. The meetings are closed and outsiders are not welcome.
At the first meeting, the mystery is revealed as Nick begins the meeting with, "Hello, my name is Nick and I am a Vampire." Hello Nick!!!!!!
What follows is a hilarious yet strangely plausible story about vampires. They are real you see. They do not need blood to live-actually blood makes them high. A condition that vampires seem to be born with and is somewhat inheritable. A vampire is found by another vampire drinking their blood and not getting high-only vampire blood results in not getting a vampire high-so they can not drink their own blood.
Also featured prominently in this book are Wicthes-that do cast spells, but in a very well way. Largely Dianic witches who celebrate the sabbats and always follow them up with orgies-all ceremonies of pleasure are done in service of the goddess it seems.
Also a large focus of this book is addiction, how horrible it is to live with everyday and how it haunts you and destroys your life.
This book is twisted, hilarious, original and not at all what it seems.
~~~~Where ever you go, There you are!

Fantasy Life by Kristine Kathryn Rusch

I truly enjoyed this novel. The basis of the novel is that mythical/fantasy creatures have always existed-hence the legends about them. However, as time has passed they have become an endangered species-thier homes being destroyed by damage to the environment-in some cases genocide of mythical races by prejudiced and supersitious humans.
In the 1800's a witch-Buckingham- sees this happening in Seavy County, Oregon. She decides to form a pact with local mythical creatures to set up a "reservation" of sorts for magical water-dwelling beings that can survive in a protected bay of the coast of Oregon. Her daughters, grand-daughters, great-grand-daughters, etc. will provide protection to the creatures as promised by the original Buckigham Witch. A couple hundred years later Seavy County, Oregon is a pretty amazing place to live-especially in Anchor Bay.
Anchor Bay is a small tourist town-the local residents are content to scrape out a living off of tourists during the tourist season and content to trade a more reliable income for the hectic hustle and bustle of city life. The town is well aware of the mythical sea creatures who exist in thier ocean. No one openly discusses it or draws attention it-never in front of reporters or tourists. The creatures are offered protection by the Buckinghams and the towns people respect that. Athena-matriarch with the gift of incredible strength both physically and mentally, her daughter Cassandra-Cassie-an extraordinarily gifted psychic, her daughter Lyssandra-Lyssa-a moderately talented Charmer and her daughter, 10 yr old Emily- who seems to have all of the family gifts as well as work as beacon for all of thier gifts to combine and enhance each others.
Lyssa escaped Seavy County, Oregon directly after high school. She was tired of being a "Buckingham" she wanted to go somewhere where people would laugh at the idea of selkies and mermaids. She did, she eventually married and had a daughter-Emily. The book starts with Emily at the age of 10 and the dissolution of Lyssa's marriage. Her husband has gone insane and is convinced that thier daughter Emily is possesed by Demons. A horrible tragedy sends Lyssa and Emily back to Seavy County, Oregon and the safety of the Buckingham matriarchs. But all is not well in Seavy County, not for the Buckinghams and certainly not for the magical creatures they protect-who after hundreds of years are turning up dead in the open for the first time.
~~~~Where ever you go, There you are!

The Hunted: A Vampire Huntress Legend by L.A. Banks

This is the longest Vampire Hunter novel to date. Damali's character really develops. The novel starts with her stalking master vampires at local dance clubs which she seduces and then kills-without her guardians-as a way to work through her grief at losing Carlos. At the same time she and her guardians are suffering from a severe loss of faith in the path that God has laid out/chosen for them. Damali questions what she and her guardians will sacrifice as they fight good. They will never have normal lives-with relationships and families-thats for sure. At the same time Damali's career is taking off and the high price of fame is being exacted from her.
Then she finds Carlos and for the next 100 pages or so has kinky sex full of large erect penis', lots of S&M sex (in the priests basement no less) and lots of feeding the vampire.
The novel kind of stagnates for me. Into fast cars scenes, mob-like violence and too much machismo for my tastes.
~~~~Where ever you go, There you are!

The Awakening: A Vampire Huntress Novel by L.A. Banks

This novel pretty much starts off where Minion left off. It is a better novel because the characters and world are known entities and no longer require so much explanation. This book primarily focuses on Damali's power growth and changes as she turns 21 and comes into her full Neteru powers and sexuality. This books also features Carlos who is a bad boy trying to be good. Carlos was originally supposed to be a guardian but he was seduced by the easy money of drugs and street life. He is turned into a vampire by Fallon Nuit-the vampire who murdered Damalia parents-in an effort to get to Damali in time for her period of fertility. A Neteru is fertile every 7 years. During that time period she releases a phermone which makes her irrestible to male vampires. During this time period if the Neteru were to become pregnant-she could potentially birth a Neteru like herself-if the father was a guardian-or a daywalker vampire. So, this is a very scary time for Damali and her guardians. For Carlos too, he is trying to decide if he will be a vampire-master-or pay for his sins, risk death and join the guardians as he was originally supposed to.
~~~~ Where ever you go, There you are!

Minion:A Vampire Huntress Legend by L.A. Banks

This book features Damali Richards who is a spoken word artist who is just 21 years old. She is an orphan who never met her parents, a virgin and has no family other than her "guardians" and fellow musician brothers. Oh and Damali Richards is also a vampire slayer-Neteru-born for the new millenium to kick up the fight between good and evil.
This story mostly covers Damali's background and that of her group. The premise being that every 1000 years a Neteru is born who can turn the tide of the war between good and evil. She can birth a vampire who is a day walker every 7 years and she is like an aphrodesiac to male master vampires-she seduces them and then kills them.
I liked Damali alot, I also like the world of the Neteru and even her guardians. My only problem was the focus on good vs evil. That concept is pretty tried and true and if you do not have a fresh take on it-do not focus so much energy on it.
All in all a good book featuring a strong, powerful sistah. Buffy as a black woman from the hood.
~~~~Where ever you go, There you are!

Undead and Unwed by Mary Janice Davidson

Betsey Taylor is having a rough week. She gets fired from her job by her scummy boss-on her birthday no less, than when she is outside looking for her tempremental cat she is run over and killed by a car. Then she wakes up in the morgue-a vampire-and decides to kill herself-which does not work. Very funny, liked Betsey-but I stopped after the botched suicide attempt leads to helping the abused mother and child which almost leads to eating them.
Um, I have been in a real vampire and were-animal mood and lately and this book came highly reccomended. I have to admit it is hilarious. The main character is funny and witty; the plot is rediculous and hilarious at the same time. Yet, it just did not appeal to me. In fact,. I stopped reading it after the first few chapters. It was not a bad book nor was it badly written-just did not really interest me.
~~~~Where ever you go, There you are!

Sister of the Dead: The Noble Dead Series by Barb and J.C. Hendee

This story rocked!!!!!!!! Each novel just keeps getting better in this series. This novel primarily focused on Magiere and her family, origins and how complicated her conception and birth were.
This book starts off the morning after the "Thief of Lives" ends. It follows Magiere, Leesil, Wynn and Chap on thier adventures to Magieres' homeland and who her father is. Magiere makes it back to her village and her aunt is in the story. I liked Aunt Beija alot and Magieres' treatment by the local villagers is horribly cruel-it is a wonder she is even sane as an adult-and goes way beyond superstitious, small minded villagers. The mystery of who fathered her is revealed and the mystery of Welstiels' interest in her is also revealed-as is Welstiels background. The novel also features a brief cameo of Magieres mom who tells her own story so to speak.
Chaps' origins, culture, choices and driving force is also explored at great length in this novel. I was starting to dislike and distrust the "fay" wolf-but this book vindicates his involvement for me.
The relationship between Leesil and Magiere also deepens and gets soemwhat interesting.
At the end of this novel Magiere, Leesil, Wynn and Chap are off to find Leesils mother Nein'a and are being followed by Welstiel and a reanimated Chane.....
~~~~Where ever you go, There you are!

The Retreival Artists by Kristine Katherine Rusch

The series began with a novella which appeared in Asimov's magazine and won the Hugo Award, Best Novella, "The Retrieval Artist," 2000. It was later reprinted in an anthology-THE RETRIEVAL ARTIST AND OTHER STORIES, Five Star Publications, August, 2002.
The series takes place in the distant future-humans have left earth and are colonizing other planets and have formed an "alliance" with other alien races. In typical western-explorer fashion, humans conquered first and asked questions later. Sadly, aliens are not like the races of humans that we subdued on earth-they have thier own laws and the power to back them up. The result being that humans who commit crimes against aliens-even in ignorance-are in danger of losing thier lives-and worse yet-the lives of thier family, co-workers and future children. You cut down trees to build the perfect house on a lovely but somewhat backwards alien world only discover that "trees" are sentient beings on that planet. The aliens of that world do not murder you for your crimes-they claim the life of your first born child-and you are just grateful they can noy blame any of your co-workers and take the lives of thier children born and unborn as well. It is scary and sick. Many humans were simply ignorant of alien cultures and meant no damage or disrespect. But, thier laws and ways are not our laws and ways and if you choose to visit thier planet you play by thier rules-period. For example-the lawyer who defended who she believed to be an innocent alien in that aliens court system on that aliens home planet-and won. Perhaps the alien was innocent of that particular crime-but after release and 5 years later returning to a life of crime-the lawyer is now being prosecuted with the death penalty for allowing a guilty client to go free-not our laws. What does a human who made a mistake do when they offend all powerful aliens? They Disappear. They hire a human agency who asks no questions and helps them to totally disppear from thier current life-for good. They are advised to form no attachments and have no kids-they can be found at any time. Trackers-work for whoever can pay them and hunt down these "dissappeared" people for the aliens who are offering bounties on them. The otherside of that are the Retrieval Artists-who look for "disappeareds" for thier family members.
The novella-"The Retrieval Artist"-which introduces us to Miles Flint as a Retrieval Artist on a an exciting case-which allows to us some inside into how and why people "disappear" and just why they would need a Retrieval Artists services.
The first novel in the series-"The Disappeared"-serves as a prequel to the novella "The Retrieval Artist". The novels gives us background on Miles Flint-why he would even be interested in becoming a retrieval artist, how he got into the business, who trained him and how his background-as a detective-made him uniquely suited to the job. I really liked this book-mush better than the novella.
In the far distant future, Earth exists with other sentient species by obeying galactic law, though this may not be the best in some individual human cases. If Terra or its colonies want to trade with other species, the law must be obeyed. Miles Flint doesn't think of these ramifications when he becomes a moon detective. He accepts the job because he sees it as a way of helping people.
Then the Wygin come. This alien species want the children of two humans who have committed crimes on their home world, crimes that they never even knew they were committing and were nothing similar to Earth law. Miles must also deal with the case of Ekaterina Maakestad, a woman who did her duty as a defense attorney and is wanted by the Rev because her client then went on to commit other crimes after she got him acquitted on the first charge. Miles, in good conscience, can't turn the children and the woman over to the aliens but if he doesn't, he is breaking the very laws he has sworn to uphold.
The second novel, "Extremes"-follows an incident at the annual "Moon Marathon". It also prominently features Miles Flints old boss-Noelle DeRicci. It is a good mystery and a good sci fi novel. No aliens in this one-just good old fashioned human horrors. I liked that she showed whith this novel how humans can be horrible too. Puts the alien issues into perspective. I also liked Noelle alot-she is sarcastic, witty, extermely intelligent and has a bad attitude-I LOVE it!!!!I liked it alot-even better than "Disappeared".
The third book in the series, " Consequences" features aliens and humans and both of thier crimes. The book follows Miles Flints search for a woman who disappeared years ago and was recently pardoned-and is now able to return to her family. Miles checks it out, hunts her down and helps her to contact her parents. Just as he is starting to feel good about the family reunio-she and her parents turn up dead. This news is brought to Miles by his old partner-Noelle DeRicci-who is now moved WAY up in the department due to the case Miles helped her solve in "Extremes" she thinks maybe they can work together again. Miles thinks not. At the same time-Etean is trying to return to the human/alien "Alliance"-a United Nations type group. Eteans have been at war for generations. The first settlers to the planet were the aliens-Ioanans. They came in and murdered the natives-Ynnals. Then humans came in and murdered the Ioanans. Following which more humans came in and murdered the original humans. Well, now the planet has made peace with all humand factions left-sadly their planet is devastated by years of war and they now want to join the Alliance for the medical, food, eductaional benefits. Most of the Alliance is not too comfortable with the planets history-but the corporations want the Eteans medical enhancements-these enhancements allow the Eteans to be fully armed without ever carrying a weapon-thier fingers turn into blades-like wolverine-and thier arms and legs are modified to be stretchable-like the rubber man. However, the Moon is hosting this conference of the Alliance and trouble starts the minute the delegates from Etean are released unto the station. Miles dead client was "disppeared" for war crimes committed during the Etean war-coincidence?
This was an excellent novel-fast paced, interesting, enjoyable characters, excellent plot. I just love these novels!!!!
The Retrieval Artist
The Disappeared
Extremes
Consequences
~~~~Where ever you go, There you are!

Thief of Lives by Barb and J.C. Hendee

The second installment in this new series (?) by the Hendees' is fantastic-even better than the first. The novel begins with a horrible death committed by a mysterious assailant who intends the death to bring Magiere, Leesil and Chap to the capital city of Bela. Meanwhile, Magiere, Leesil and Chap have just finished rebuilding thier little coastal bar since it was burned down in the final showdown between Magiere's team and the Rasheds vampire team. Also burned down in the fight was Rashed-the vampires'-warehouse which employed a large part of the town. The economy has suffered drastically and while Magiere and Leesil are heros to many-there are just as many who now have no way to feed thier families and ships are no longer stopping as much in Miiska. Due to the death in the opening scene of the book-a prominent Bela citizens only daughter-the council of Bela has agreed to offer Miiska enough money to rebuild city-owned warehouses in exchange for the services of Magiere, Leesil and Chap. Magiere is horrifed but Leesil has been expecting this all along and has been preparing every morning with his weapons and fighting skills. He is prepared for what awaits them in Bela-or so he thinks. They meet old friends in Bela-the mysterious Westiel who was Magieres' sole informant about her status as Dhampir in the first book; Ratboy who escaped the murders in Miiska and seems to have re-invented himself in Bela-with the help of a new vampire family he created. Also much is revealed about the main character-Leesil gets a visit from a true elf-who is on a mission to murder him as a traitor. Chap is revealed to be much, much more than a clever "wolf" and Magiere finds out if not exactly who than at least what is driving her to discover her true Dhampir nature-and it ain't to rid the world of vampires.....
Nothing is quite what it seems and even though the novel is over the third installment out today-Sister of the Dead-I am still not sure exactly what and who is driving Magiere and Leesil in their quest onward.
I can barely wait until I finish the third book....
~~~~Where ever you go, There you are!

Dhampir by Barb and J.C. Hendee

I have been really into vampire and werewolf novels for about 6 months now-must be a phase-it seems to be winding down-BUT-I gotta admit this a good book.
The first in a collaboration-now looks like new series as the third installment comes out today-between husband and wife writing team of Barb abd J.C. Hendee. A Dhampir is a child born of a mortal but fathered by a vampire. In this book a vampire looses the ability to father children shortly after being turned. However, he does have a bried time-not sure how long-before the sperm in his body dies and he can successfully father a Dhampir. Such a child is rarely fathered-as it is the perfect vampire hunter with all of the vampire strengths-night vision, inhuman strength, inhuman quickness, but none of their weaknesses to say crosses, garlic, holy water, haloowed earth, daylight.
Magiere is a disallusioned con-artist. She was born in a very small very superstitious town where she was ostrascized because her mother was a poor serving girl used and impregnated by the imperial tax collector and abandoned after her birth and subsequent mothers death to be raised by her loving aunt. Her aunt adored her despite her origins, but the town mistreated her brutally-when she was 16 her aunt gave her the things her father sent with her to her aunts-a dress, a talisman-bone on one side and a crystal on the other and a magical sword. Perfect setting for a true heroine-right....well not exactlty. Magiere is angry over her treatment at the small minded superstitious towns people and so she decides to take advantage of small town fears-by conning them out of their few pennies. She goes into towns who have suffered a few unexplained deaths-usually as the result of disease-and declares a vampire in among them-then she promises to rid the town of the monster and save the towns people-for a steep price of course. Eventually she almost has her pocket picked by Leesil-the half-elf drunk running from his own horrifying past with his "wolf" Chap. Together they case towns and she goes in as the "Hunter" and he puts on white make-up and plays the vampire. They are fairly successful at it to. Until Magiere decides enough is enough and she is going to settle down and purchase a bar in a small but prosperous coastal town.
The town happens to be Miiska-where Magiere, Leesil and Chap do truly find friends-they also find mysterious deaths and.......vampires. Turns out small minded towns people were not as "superstitious" as Magiere always thought. Magiere discovers her true nature and origins from a mysterious patron who saves her life and helps both she and Leesil to discover who they really are.
Excellent and different vampire novel. The vampires are clearly the bad guys-but even they have major depth and I found myself feeling sorry for them even as I rooted for Magiere, Leesil and Chap to kill them.
~~~~Where ever you are, There you are!

Novels of The Company/Dr. Zeus by Kage Baker

These books have it all-an original idea and story line, an excellent author, fiesty and like-able main-characters, mystery, intrigue and best of all-laugh out loud humor.
The premise of the novels follows a 24th century "company" founded by one myserious "Dr Zeus" that has perfected the method of time-travel and the secret to immortality-mostly anyway. As to time travel-people can travel backwards in time to view the past-BUT-the past can not be changed. Also, it is exorbitantly expensive. Another problem is that the traveler can not go into the future any further than the point in time in which they originally started at. Which makes time travel not good as a business-too expensive and unable to see the future or change the past-what a waste. The problem of eternal life is even more complicated-first, it can only be done to the very young-which excludes the middle aged wealthy clientele as the target market for this new product-also the process only works on children who have a specifically shaped head-not sure why that is and, of course, the process is extremely expensive-cutting the already small profit margin even more. Oh yes, the process also renders those with extended life Cyborgs-not human, another nasty little side effect. So what does the company do with these extraordinary but not very profitable inventions? Why, combines them of course into a far thinking, far planning, far reaching scheme-definetely towards profit-but also towards another goal which is slowly being revealed in the novels. The company takes 24th century citizens back to prehistoric times-we're talking pre-neanderthal here-and sets up an original base of operations. These Company Scientists make the first batch of Cyborg Employees-raise them, train, tell them they are on a mission to rescue and preserve valuable pieces of history through time-and of course to "observe but not interfere" in history as it unfolds in front of them and then pack up and return to the 24th century. These "employees" basically make more of themselves and follow mysterious orders and track down different biological and artisitic treasures which they help to preserve for future generations. The novels work really well. The main characters are from varied stages of evolution and have been alive for varying amounts of years. The history they live in is fascinating, well researched and reading the books is like living it out. Also the characters know what is going to happen and so you get the anxiety of characters who watch the horrors of history unfold with full knowledge of what is going to happen and exactly how they can change events and save lives and the anxiety that doing absolutely nothing causes for them- tens of thousands of years of living like this. Also, each employee has their own quirks-from the kid who genetically enhances his pets-strictly forbidden, to the operative who saves his younger brother and now keeps an eye on all of his brothers descendants, to the cro-magnon who misses the Neanderthal who made him and seeks his "father" through the centuries. They are biologists and cultural analysts and historians and soldiers and facilitators-all living history while listening to a running "news" commentary on what is happening on one of the frequencies they can hear but humans can not. The novels follow the adventures of the cyborg employees and unfold the mystery of why they were developed, where do "retired" operatives go and why they can never recieve any information past the 24th century-do they still exist then? Surely they must, since they are built to last forever-
The Garden of Iden-the first company novel introduces us to Mendoza-who we are introduced to as human child of 5 during the Spanish Inquisition. Just before she can be killed as a Jew she is saved by the company and taken off to be company trained. We go with her on her first assignment-to Elizabethan England where Mendoza-a botanist-is out to sample and preserve a historical garden and plant species that are otherwise lost through time. This is Mendozas first time out among the "monkeys"-humans and she is very nervous-the noise, the smell, the irrational anger-she is on edge and can barely tolerate living amongst such unevolved beings-typical teenager! Then, she falls in love and in trying to save her lover turns the company on its ear. Absolutely hilarious and heart warming. Combines the best of historical fiction with sci fi-a wonderful mix.
Sky Coyote- the second installment in the series gives a bit more background into the company, how it functions, the internal politics between the different departments. Also, Joseph-the "facilitator" who recruited Mendoza is featured prominently. The plot is this: a wealthy group wants to know as much as possible-artifacts, culture and eventually living descendants of a native american tribe-the Chumash- in pre-Columbian Mexico. 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. 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. 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.
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.
Mendoza in Hollywood-I did not care that much for this third novel in the series. I liked the information it gave about the company and it did introduce the strange issue of Mendozas' lover who seems to be continually reborn through time. Character interaction is the name of the game in Mendoza in Hollywood and what wonderful characters Baker has to use. Every one of them is vivid, from the young Juan Batista, who is tasked with collecting rare birds but becomes too attached to them, to the film buff Einar, who brings in the entertainment for the staff at the outpost. This usually consists of rare movies, including the original 8 hour cut of Erich Von Stroheim's Greed and D.W. Griffith's Intolerance. The latter movie is a wonderful character set piece, as the soundtrack is gone and Einar (along with Imarte, who actually lived in ancient Babylon) does the commentary for the entire film. Porfirio (the outpost's security officer and commander) being the most bland. He is given some history that helps define Mendoza's character though, as she finds out that not all immortals have cut their familial ties with the mortal world. Oscar is a real treat, though. He's a salesman who is supposed to study living conditions of people in the area. He goes door to door, trying to sell items and get a look inside the domestic life of his customers. Mendoza accompanies him on some of his jaunts, and the scenes are just delightfully funny. This book gives more insight into how the "employees" of the company live in their everyday lives-what their hopes and dreams are, what they expect in the future, what they have experienced in the past and why they are who they are.
The Graveyard Game-this fourth book follows agents Joseph and Lewis as they try to find their missing friend Mendoza, who's been exiled to the Back Way Back as punishment for anti-Company activities. You wouldn't take Lewis for an immortal cyborg: he looks like a dapper character from a Noel Coward play. And Joseph-short and stocky in his Armani suit, with a neatly trimmed black mustache and beard that give him a cheerfully villainous look-you'd never guess that his parents drew the Neolithic cave paintings in the Cèvennes. But what are these two operatives of the Company doing in an amusement arcade in San Francisco in 1996? They're looking for Mendoza, fellow cyborg of Dr. Zeus Incorporated who has been banished Back Way Back. They're also trying to solve the mystery of her impossibly reappearing English mortal lover. Soon they will begin uncovering some extremely hush-hush stuff about what the Company has been doing with the cyborgs it no longer wants in the field. Joseph and Lewis become obsessed with finding Mendoza, and along the way, they uncover evidence of bizarre and dangerous Company deeds. Joseph finds strange underground holding cells, with "retired" agents in vats of preserving fluid. Meanwhile, Lewis researches the activities of Edward Alton Bell-Fairfax, the odd mortal who was with Mendoza when she disappeared. The two get together to discuss their disheartening quest in present-day Ghirardelli Square. Cyborgs get stoned on chocolate, and they order round after round of hot cocoa, even snorting the stuff-it is hilarious. Definetely the darkest novel so far. In the first book the Company appears somewhat noble-preserving history by creating agents in history who make it thier many life-times work to faithfully record and preserve history for future descendants-while making a good living as well. The second book shows how far the Company is willing to go towards preservation and making a buck. Also shows how the Company treats its long time employees. The third book shows that all is not even close to what it seems with the Company, the fourth book verifies that the Company is indeed bad-very bad.
The fifth book-
The Life of the World to Come-The latest in Bakers' The Company/Dr Zeus novels. What happens in 2355 when the future can no longer transmit to the past? That has been a question in all of the novels in this series. This book does not answer that question, but it does give us a hint. I do believe that what happens is Alec Checkerfield-Seventh Earl of Finsbury, pirate, renegade, hero, rogue, excellent lover, anomaly, cyborg-Mendoza's past and future lover? How is that Alec keeps reappearing in Mendozas life? Is it the same man? He is clearly dead in the other two times he appears in Mendozas life-she is there each time to witness his death-so how is it that he seems to show up exactly as he was in 16-th century England when she first met him? The mystery of Alec and his appearance is revealed in this novel-as is just how sinister Dr Zues and Company is. This novel ends with an enlightened Alec-and his past 2 incarnations and a missing-but in serious terminal danger-Mendoza. I am thinking the next book in this series will be the final one. I can hardly wait!
~~~~Where ever you go, There you are!