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!