In the Garden of Iden: The First Company Novel (The Company Book 1)

Garden of Iden (A Novel of the Company) by Kage BakerI had not previously heard of Kage Baker and was just a bit skeptical about this book but I have read Connie Willis's To say nothing of the dog and after reading the sample of this book decided it was worth the try. I'm delighted that I did because not only does she have the fresh humor that Connie Willis demonstrates, she also has a depth of character and story that are quite compelling.My first warning to anyone starting to read this is that it might be misleading to think that this is a futuristic time travel novel. The bulk of this novel reads more like a period piece with the incidental that time travel and future technology and immortality are integral in the event that stirs the main character into the story. Also it's a clever device that Kage Baker uses to enable her characters to think along anachronistic lines that actually make sense when you consider the whole.To explain-in the future they develop technology to extend life-but are in a hurry to test it without having to wait the length of time it would take to verify first that it appears to work second that there are minimal side effects and third that it actually does work. But then they create time travel and have a host of common people to chose from on which to test this and if it works they just look them up in the present and test them for side effects and such. Presumably after much testing our main character, Mendoza, has the latest greatest with least amount of side effects.Now a number of rules apply here that make the story interesting. They can't change the past-even if they try- so they don't try. They can go to the past and return to the present but can't go to the future- which means those they make immortal in the past have to stay in the past, but that's key to what they want to do anyway. So the premise is that if they find and alter people who have no visible impact on history it won't alter time and no one will know about it because those people were just common folk and there are just so many of those around that it makes no difference.--Sure there might be a hole in this somewhere in real causality but we can overlook that for now--.These past participants are then isolated and trained to preform special tasks for the Company that will result in saving things for the Company to use in the future such as works of art that history never noted or perhaps were mysteriously lost and herbs and plants that had gone extinct and perhaps even some animals that had gone extinct. They would have to be isolated somewhere where they wouldn't be discovered until around the dawn of time travel so to speak. Mendoza is a botanist by training so is intent of getting specific things from the Garden of Iden.These inductees are pumped full of nanites and drugs that make them immortal and it become questionable whether they are any longer human and their isolation makes them weary of and in many cases fearful of the apes known as man. They also have knowledge of history that extends well into the time time travel began so they have all sorts of influence from movies tapes and books that they would otherwise not know about. This leads to some interesting thoughts from Mendoza that seem anachronistic when the reader forgets that she learned all of the history and culture and literature that would give her this knowledge. So even though this takes place in mid 16th century she makes reference to things like Shakespeare and Don Quixote and more. Which means they have to be particularly careful when they are around the normal human animals. What this story is really about is Mendoza's coming to terms with the notion that even though she is immortal she may still be human and it takes an unlikely romance with one of the human animals to bring this to her attention. Still throughout she constantly tries to deny that she might still be human. The reader on the other hand can have no doubts as they see her so easily fall sway to normal human pitfalls and prattles. Basically she's smitten and love sick. Of course since she is brought up to be areligious it makes perfect sense that she fall for a devout Protestant during a time of turmoil in England when the Catholic church and the Inquisition are going to be, for a short time persecuting Protestants and heathens. It's a tragedy in the making.Mendoza is torn between duty to the Company and her job and her love for Nicholas and she vacillates between desire to run off with him and the knowledge that since she is immortal any such relationship would end badly. There is one particular incident when she is dancing with her beloved Nicholas that she is almost resolved to go with him when somehow her own conversation inadvertently leads to Nicholas having a logical conclusion that removes the possibility for them to run off together. Later there is a suggestion that part of the training imparted on Mendoza is full of subliminal triggers that prevent her from abandoning her work with the Company but Kage Baker's writing is so tight that even so, as a reader, I felt that it might have just been some human part of Mendoza that managed to crash things now and then.Another clever piece of writing in the story is that we never quite cross any pivotal moments that make the history books, creating a sort of leeway for guiding the story where it needs to go.This is a great story for people who like historical fiction and for SFF fans who are interested in immortal beings and time travel; even though it is mostly a sort of comedy tragedy about a romance between a radical Protestant and a Cyborg Atheist set in 16th century England. A great start to a series and fantastic debut novel. J.L. Dobias

Let me start by saying that I enjoyed In the Garden of Iden. Like all Kage Baker, it's a fun and compulsive read. It also gives some very essential background to help Ms Baker kick off her Company novels. That being said, I found this to be the weakest entry in what is otherwise a thrilling, always enjoyable, often thought provoking series.I originally discovered the Company series through Ms Baker's short stories, specifically her collections Black Projects, White Knights and Gods and Pawns, both of which are truly excellent and neither of which contains a story that is less than superb. Having enjoyed those collections so much, I decided I wanted to "begin at the beginning" (if you can say that about a series concerning time travel, hehehe) to follow the increasing conspiracy and motivations of the Company and its operatives. Although I enjoyed ITGOI, it seemed significantly less weighty both in terms of the gravitas of the story as well as the quality of the delivery -- it was a fun read, but far weaker than the two story collections. Having now also read Sky Coyote, Mendoza in Hollywood and Graveyard Game, I think I can put my finger on what was missing here that leaves Garden, though enjoyable, a cut below the rest.To begin with, concerning the weakness of plot, it's largely prologue to what is to come, essentially setting the stage for Mendoza's isolation and obsession, a plot point that is to fuel the stories of many of the operatives to come. Because it's largely just stage setting for the rest, the entire novel is largely an exercise in developing a single plot point -- Mendoza falling in love and getting burned (no pun intended, but I guess it works). The rest of the plot feels like scenery, and none of the Company machinations -- either the day to day affairs of how they go about their business "preserving" priceless items or the darker conspiracy plot line -- is really present here. Sure, there's a story line about Mendoza being there to rescue samples from Iden's rare garden collection, and Joseph working over health treatments on Iden, but they are really sub-sub-sub plots of little importance and given short shrift, subservient to developing Mendoza's love affair with Harpole. I suppose that you could say that where the other stories and novels, even when they are "about" the adventures of the operatives, are really "about" the Company, how it works and its darker conspiracies or the operatives fights against it, ITGOI is really just about Mendoza falling in love and losing that love. In that vein, and regarding the quality of delivery, I never really "bought" Mendoza's relationship with Harpole, and I think perhaps this is because at this time Mendoza is supposed to be 17 and the novel takes on her juvenile voice and tone.So, all in all, the novel, though as I said it's a good read as anything by Baker is likely to be, it is a slighter affair than her other Company efforts and lacking in the real juicy details of how the Company operates or what is going on with the conspiracy and what happens after known history ends. Still, the book is a good prelude setting up the essential plot element that will drive on one level or another the rest of the Company books.

It's hard to find an original voice and ideas in modern SF, but Baker shows them in this book. Yes, there are no spaceships; deal with it. Instead there are characterization, and some interesting ideas about history and what our attitudes to it should be, and a plot driven by the tension arising out of these. The next book in the series, Sky Coyote is even better, but it helps to have read this one first.

Loved this. Second time I have read it and still just as entertaining and insightful. Themes from this seem to be in lots of more recent films etc, didn't realise Kage Baker was so influentiak.

Sorry, but I found this so slow and dull that I don't understand how the author generated a following. Not for me.