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The Company #2
Sky Coyote
Facilitator Joseph is quite a guy. He's sailed with the Phoenicians, and he's been an Egyptian priest, an Athenian politician, and secretary to a Roman senator. After all, his employer, the twenty-fourth-century Company, sends immortal cyborgs like Joseph all over the world and all over time. But now Joseph finds himself in 1699, in the Mayan jungle's Lost City (actually a spa for the Company's operatives) with his protegee, the Botanist Mendoza, who still hasn't forgiven him for that unfortunate incident in Elizabethan England. And he has to save an ancient people from encroachment by the coming white men -- even if it means convincing the entire pre-Columbian village to step into the future.
292 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1999
26 people are currently reading
772 people want to read
About the author
Kage Baker
156books351followersBorn June 10, 1952, in Hollywood, California, and grew up there and in Pismo Beach, present home. Spent 12 years in assorted navy blue uniforms obtaining a good parochial school education and numerous emotional scars. Rapier wit developed as defense mechanism to deflect rage of larger and more powerful children who took offense at abrasive, condescending and arrogant personality in a sickly eight-year-old. Family: 2 parents, 6 siblings, 4 nieces, 2 nephews. Husbands: 0. Children: 0.
Prior occupations: graphic artist and mural painter, several lower clerical positions which could in no way be construed as a career, and (over a period of years for the Living History Centre) playwright, bit player, director, teacher of Elizabethan English for the stage, stage manager and educational program assistant coordinator. Presently reengaged in the above-listed capacities for the LHC's triumphant reincarnation, AS YOU LIKE IT PRODUCTIONS.
20 years of total immersion research in Elizabethan as well as other historical periods has paid off handsomely in a working knowledge of period speech and details.
In spare time (ha) reads: any old sea stories by Marryat, the Aubrey-Maturin novels by Patrick O'Brien, the Hornblower books, ANYTHING by Robert Louis Stevenson, Raymond Chandler, Thorne Smith, Herman Melville (except Pierre, or the Ambiguities, which stinks) Somerset Maugham, George MacDonald Frasier.
Now happily settled in beautiful Pismo Beach, Clam Capital of the World, in charming seaside flat which is unfortunately not haunted by ghost of dashing sea captain. Avid gardener, birdwatcher, spinster aunt and Jethro Tull fan.
Prior occupations: graphic artist and mural painter, several lower clerical positions which could in no way be construed as a career, and (over a period of years for the Living History Centre) playwright, bit player, director, teacher of Elizabethan English for the stage, stage manager and educational program assistant coordinator. Presently reengaged in the above-listed capacities for the LHC's triumphant reincarnation, AS YOU LIKE IT PRODUCTIONS.
20 years of total immersion research in Elizabethan as well as other historical periods has paid off handsomely in a working knowledge of period speech and details.
In spare time (ha) reads: any old sea stories by Marryat, the Aubrey-Maturin novels by Patrick O'Brien, the Hornblower books, ANYTHING by Robert Louis Stevenson, Raymond Chandler, Thorne Smith, Herman Melville (except Pierre, or the Ambiguities, which stinks) Somerset Maugham, George MacDonald Frasier.
Now happily settled in beautiful Pismo Beach, Clam Capital of the World, in charming seaside flat which is unfortunately not haunted by ghost of dashing sea captain. Avid gardener, birdwatcher, spinster aunt and Jethro Tull fan.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 209 reviews
February 1, 2013
hello there, little comedy of manners. i see you! you are trying to hide, aren't you? but your heart is not in it, i think. and all the better for it. you are quite a charming comedy of manners, and there is no shame in that. you are a tale that features pretension punctured, amusing miscommunications, servants who say the correct thing while silently conveying their disdain, bureaucratic bosses who are childlike in their sheltered idealism, faux naifs slash noble savages who turn out to be neither naive nor savage, a Company man whose job is to facilitate incredible change by using the simple tools of misdirection and misunderstanding. much as the immortal cyborgs who populate your tale, you've gussied yourself up in an ornate outfit full of ruffles and flourishes... time travel! secret plots lasting a millenia! Native American mythology made real! bloodthirsty monotheists on the horizon! sex with nubile underage lasses! ritualistic entertainment that turns out to be an extended penis joke! Wile E. Coyote! your prose is polished and professional. your characters have depth and genuinely tragic backstories. your dialogue is straight out of the crassest of sitcoms - and is often really hilarious. your outfit is surprisingly complex and layered given your true nature: an arch and highly amusing albeit seriously tweaked comedy of manners. all that wit plus a happy ending! or is that really a happy ending?
the second book in the series and it is obvious that Baker is building something rather wonderful. a minor note work, nothing i'll read again - but definitely some kind of wonderful. i bet this series just gets better and better.
the second book in the series and it is obvious that Baker is building something rather wonderful. a minor note work, nothing i'll read again - but definitely some kind of wonderful. i bet this series just gets better and better.
February 9, 2021
If you are a fan of Connie Willis' or , I think there's a good chance that you will appreciate the Company novels by Kage Baker. The mysterious Company from the future, where they have developed both time travel and immortality. Unfortunately, they can't travel forward to the future and immortality can only be arranged for the very young. So, they travel back in time, rescue children from fatal situations, and make them into immortal cyborg employees who manipulate the past to make a ton of money for the Company.
In this second book, we meet some of the future humans and let us just say that things don't look to good for humanity's future. Future human Bugleg explains it this way: ”People did war. Pollution. Killing things until they were gone. We could stay inside and not hurt anything, but the bad things had happened already.� As a result, they are terrified of animals, the outdoors, their ancient employees, even food that has texture. They drink distilled water, have a horror of caffeine & alcohol, are nauseated at the thought of eating an animal product, and they spend their spare time playing violent videogames to purge themselves of passionate feelings. They have limited vocabularies and no understanding of the civilizations that they are meddling in.
This reminds me of C.J. Cherryh's , where the returning ship's crew are similarly scared of the outdoors, revolted by food that has flavour and texture, and seem to have forgotten important human social skills.
I don't remember any questioning of the Company's purpose or methods in the first book, but I was pretty involved in Mendoza's situation in that book. This volume gives us a year, 2355, that it seems that there will be a change. This seems somewhat ominous to the Company employees and inspires a lot of conspiracy theories. Much the same as any big organization where change is rumoured. This is well set up now, so I'm hoping that book 3 will provide more detail.
Good adventures, intriguing relationships, and a mysterious future—what more entertainment could you ask for?
Book number 395 of my Science Fiction & Fantasy Reading Project.
Cross posted at my blog:
In this second book, we meet some of the future humans and let us just say that things don't look to good for humanity's future. Future human Bugleg explains it this way: ”People did war. Pollution. Killing things until they were gone. We could stay inside and not hurt anything, but the bad things had happened already.� As a result, they are terrified of animals, the outdoors, their ancient employees, even food that has texture. They drink distilled water, have a horror of caffeine & alcohol, are nauseated at the thought of eating an animal product, and they spend their spare time playing violent videogames to purge themselves of passionate feelings. They have limited vocabularies and no understanding of the civilizations that they are meddling in.
This reminds me of C.J. Cherryh's , where the returning ship's crew are similarly scared of the outdoors, revolted by food that has flavour and texture, and seem to have forgotten important human social skills.
I don't remember any questioning of the Company's purpose or methods in the first book, but I was pretty involved in Mendoza's situation in that book. This volume gives us a year, 2355, that it seems that there will be a change. This seems somewhat ominous to the Company employees and inspires a lot of conspiracy theories. Much the same as any big organization where change is rumoured. This is well set up now, so I'm hoping that book 3 will provide more detail.
Good adventures, intriguing relationships, and a mysterious future—what more entertainment could you ask for?
Book number 395 of my Science Fiction & Fantasy Reading Project.
Cross posted at my blog:
March 17, 2020
Three and a half stars.
I did not know that time travel was so funny. This novel is the second in the time Company series and it has a less tragic tone than the previous one.
In this case, Joseph, accompanied by his unofficially adopted Mendoza, has the mission to save a tribe located in what will later become California from the white men invaders. For this, he must impersonate the native god Coyote Sky. The Chumash were an advanced tribe in their time, especially compared to other neighboring communities. They have -at least in this novel- an advanced social and mercantile structure, so at the first contact they doubt if Coyote Sky really exists.
I must say that the description of the Chumash seems to me a bit inaccurate -they are a very, very “Californian� tribe- but in return they are so amusing: it helps the ingenious manners and dialogues of both the natives and the inmortal employees of the Company. About the latter, they deal with myths and religions with some irony, with the attitude of someone who has experienced similar situations on many previous occasions; and they have adapted very well to their job, knowing how to appreciate the luxuries of each century in which they work.
This novel, in addition to the Chumash, opens up new intrigues about the Company and about those who rule its destiny in the future, and it delves into some characters; apart from Joseph and the embittered Mendoza, also with some interesting people from the Chumash. For me, the characters are the best part.
As a result of when the novel was written (published in 1999), it also offers a criticism comparing the Company's future personnel, all them political correctness and light/insipid food lovers, with the blatant appreciation for the pleasures of life of the immortal field agents, leading to comical situations.
I get the impression that the Time Company series, or at least this has been my impression of the first two novels, offers a science fiction intended to entertain but without forgetting a certain level of quality in the approaches and with a previous historical study of the places where the action takes place, so “in a future� I intend to read the next novel of the series, by title Mendoza in Hollywood.
This review is aslo posted on my blog. Please visit it!:
I did not know that time travel was so funny. This novel is the second in the time Company series and it has a less tragic tone than the previous one.
In this case, Joseph, accompanied by his unofficially adopted Mendoza, has the mission to save a tribe located in what will later become California from the white men invaders. For this, he must impersonate the native god Coyote Sky. The Chumash were an advanced tribe in their time, especially compared to other neighboring communities. They have -at least in this novel- an advanced social and mercantile structure, so at the first contact they doubt if Coyote Sky really exists.
I must say that the description of the Chumash seems to me a bit inaccurate -they are a very, very “Californian� tribe- but in return they are so amusing: it helps the ingenious manners and dialogues of both the natives and the inmortal employees of the Company. About the latter, they deal with myths and religions with some irony, with the attitude of someone who has experienced similar situations on many previous occasions; and they have adapted very well to their job, knowing how to appreciate the luxuries of each century in which they work.
This novel, in addition to the Chumash, opens up new intrigues about the Company and about those who rule its destiny in the future, and it delves into some characters; apart from Joseph and the embittered Mendoza, also with some interesting people from the Chumash. For me, the characters are the best part.
As a result of when the novel was written (published in 1999), it also offers a criticism comparing the Company's future personnel, all them political correctness and light/insipid food lovers, with the blatant appreciation for the pleasures of life of the immortal field agents, leading to comical situations.
I get the impression that the Time Company series, or at least this has been my impression of the first two novels, offers a science fiction intended to entertain but without forgetting a certain level of quality in the approaches and with a previous historical study of the places where the action takes place, so “in a future� I intend to read the next novel of the series, by title Mendoza in Hollywood.
This review is aslo posted on my blog. Please visit it!:
February 19, 2010
This second novel of the Company makes all of In the Garden of Iden feel like a prequel, and for those SF readers who don't like much romance I might recommend starting here. It jumps ahead a couple hundred years and switches to Joseph's first-person narrative (I think the series is actually shaping up to switch back and forth between Mendoza and Joseph with every book, but I could be wrong), and it gets much more into the world-building that was so ruthlessly relegated to the background in the first novel. There's still nothing ground-breaking about Baker's set-up, but the glimpses of the world of the future begin to have a more coherent (if deliberately baffling) look.
Joseph is a delightful narrator, much wiser than Mendoza and less self-centered. He also has already done his growing up (way back in prehistory, as he was recruited somewhere around 18000 BC) and thus doesn't subject the reader to all the "oh my god the world is not what I was led to believe!" bit that goes along with any sort of coming-of-age story. Instead, he is the sort of character that is settled in his comfortable rut and keeps his head down when the fur starts to fly. He knows he's playing ostrich, but over the millennia he's gotten glimpses of some nasty things, and he very much doesn't want to be the one turning over all those rocks.
That, of course, makes him very human, no matter what Mendoza thinks of him. And that, of course is the major theme Baker is exploring in this series -- our common humanity, no matter what outer trappings we set up to differentiate ourselves from each other. That theme is very much made manifest in Baker's portrayal of the Chumash, which I also found delightful. The jacket description doesn't do them justice. . . they are not "noble savages," nor do they speak in metaphorical and broken English the way they do in far too many Western novels. . . instead, they are aggressively modern-thinking, and they use an economics vocabulary that I doubt was invented yet (at least not in the New World), but then realism isn't exactly the point.
But though the Chumash serve as the focus of the plot, Sky Coyote is there for many of the same reason In the Garden of Iden was: to introduce a key character and get him into position for the larger events in store. To that end, in this novel we also meet our first humans from the future where Dr. Zeus invented time travel and immortality treatments, that bright future that all the immortals living through history the long way are waiting to see, and their portrayal answers some of my questions and raises quite a few others. I was wondering, the entire time I was reading In the Garden of Iden, why on earth the Company didn't employ any adolescent psychologists who could tell them what the natural course of events would be given the way they raise their little immortal cyborgs (I mean, anyone with a lick of common sense could tell what was going to happen, but I acknowledge that the Company would likely need to hear it from someone with a degree or two before acting on it); now that I've seen some of the people who run the Company I understand why they didn't employ any adolescent psychologists. But now I'm left to wonder how on earth those people even formed Dr. Zeus Inc. -- a question Joseph is left wondering as well, so I assume Baker is going to answer it somewhere down the line.
I will admit, this novel wears its narrative on its sleeve -- I can just hear Baker thinking things like "and I'll insert a flashback here because the plot's getting a bit slow and I need to put this in somewhere" -- but the narrative voice is strong enough that I don't mind. And there is a moment, a single perfect moment, near the end of the novel (p. 285-286 for those who've read it and want to see what I'm talking about; I wouldn't dare try to paraphrase here because I couldn't do it justice) where Joseph is forced to look in the mirror and examine his choices over the last 20,000 years. It involves the Chumash, the Loony Tunes, and Philip Marlowe, and I wouldn't change a word of it. That moment is the same sort of moment I saw in the short story I read by Baker that made me start talking her up as a favorite author; that moment would have made a much weaker book worth the price. And the ending Baker gives Kenemekme is just as good, a wonderful bit of metaphysics and humanism that isn't overplayed like it could have been.
I will definitely be continuing this series, though I'm a little worried I'm going to hate switching back to Mendoza's voice. . . but then, I was a little worried about switching to Joseph's voice, so it'll probably be fine. :)
Joseph is a delightful narrator, much wiser than Mendoza and less self-centered. He also has already done his growing up (way back in prehistory, as he was recruited somewhere around 18000 BC) and thus doesn't subject the reader to all the "oh my god the world is not what I was led to believe!" bit that goes along with any sort of coming-of-age story. Instead, he is the sort of character that is settled in his comfortable rut and keeps his head down when the fur starts to fly. He knows he's playing ostrich, but over the millennia he's gotten glimpses of some nasty things, and he very much doesn't want to be the one turning over all those rocks.
That, of course, makes him very human, no matter what Mendoza thinks of him. And that, of course is the major theme Baker is exploring in this series -- our common humanity, no matter what outer trappings we set up to differentiate ourselves from each other. That theme is very much made manifest in Baker's portrayal of the Chumash, which I also found delightful. The jacket description doesn't do them justice. . . they are not "noble savages," nor do they speak in metaphorical and broken English the way they do in far too many Western novels. . . instead, they are aggressively modern-thinking, and they use an economics vocabulary that I doubt was invented yet (at least not in the New World), but then realism isn't exactly the point.
But though the Chumash serve as the focus of the plot, Sky Coyote is there for many of the same reason In the Garden of Iden was: to introduce a key character and get him into position for the larger events in store. To that end, in this novel we also meet our first humans from the future where Dr. Zeus invented time travel and immortality treatments, that bright future that all the immortals living through history the long way are waiting to see, and their portrayal answers some of my questions and raises quite a few others. I was wondering, the entire time I was reading In the Garden of Iden, why on earth the Company didn't employ any adolescent psychologists who could tell them what the natural course of events would be given the way they raise their little immortal cyborgs (I mean, anyone with a lick of common sense could tell what was going to happen, but I acknowledge that the Company would likely need to hear it from someone with a degree or two before acting on it); now that I've seen some of the people who run the Company I understand why they didn't employ any adolescent psychologists. But now I'm left to wonder how on earth those people even formed Dr. Zeus Inc. -- a question Joseph is left wondering as well, so I assume Baker is going to answer it somewhere down the line.
I will admit, this novel wears its narrative on its sleeve -- I can just hear Baker thinking things like "and I'll insert a flashback here because the plot's getting a bit slow and I need to put this in somewhere" -- but the narrative voice is strong enough that I don't mind. And there is a moment, a single perfect moment, near the end of the novel (p. 285-286 for those who've read it and want to see what I'm talking about; I wouldn't dare try to paraphrase here because I couldn't do it justice) where Joseph is forced to look in the mirror and examine his choices over the last 20,000 years. It involves the Chumash, the Loony Tunes, and Philip Marlowe, and I wouldn't change a word of it. That moment is the same sort of moment I saw in the short story I read by Baker that made me start talking her up as a favorite author; that moment would have made a much weaker book worth the price. And the ending Baker gives Kenemekme is just as good, a wonderful bit of metaphysics and humanism that isn't overplayed like it could have been.
I will definitely be continuing this series, though I'm a little worried I'm going to hate switching back to Mendoza's voice. . . but then, I was a little worried about switching to Joseph's voice, so it'll probably be fine. :)
April 17, 2015
ok, so this is certainly not the first swing around the dance floor for the Company novels and i. in fact, we're getting to be rather accustomed partners. but every time i pick one up after a couple-year absence, i am astonished all over again how good they are.
it's really a pity this one didn't come first in the series, somehow--i'm betting a lot of people read #1 () and expected the rest of the series to be similar. but actually #2 here is a lot more representative of the series than #1--#1 is kind of an outlier.
so! let's dismiss #1, and talk about Sky Coyote.
in this novel, the Company wants to take an entire village of native californians (the Chumash, to be precise) and whisk them off to Company-land, as if collecting a rare specimen of Ilex tormentosum. to do so, they bring in Facilitator Joseph. Mendoza also tags along, although she's kind of a bit player in this novel.
what's a Facilitator to do, to convince an entire village to leave with him? he becomes Coyote, the trickster god.
this story is mostly told with the humor one should entirely expect from a Coyote tale. it's really funny. not quite in the broad, slapstick humor present in a lot of Coyote tales, but sometimes pretty close. but when it needs to, the story deftly turns serious, and we learn a what's necessary in Joseph's past, and the Company's history, and some dark hints about what might be after 2355.
this book sets up an astonishing number of future Company novels. either Kage Baker had them already planned out, or she was just a genius, or both. but there's not a word wasted here; it will all play out in one book or another.
i love this series for its humor, its great storytelling, its long-range mystery. this book is one of the lighter in the series, and one of the better.
it's really a pity this one didn't come first in the series, somehow--i'm betting a lot of people read #1 () and expected the rest of the series to be similar. but actually #2 here is a lot more representative of the series than #1--#1 is kind of an outlier.
so! let's dismiss #1, and talk about Sky Coyote.
in this novel, the Company wants to take an entire village of native californians (the Chumash, to be precise) and whisk them off to Company-land, as if collecting a rare specimen of Ilex tormentosum. to do so, they bring in Facilitator Joseph. Mendoza also tags along, although she's kind of a bit player in this novel.
what's a Facilitator to do, to convince an entire village to leave with him? he becomes Coyote, the trickster god.
this story is mostly told with the humor one should entirely expect from a Coyote tale. it's really funny. not quite in the broad, slapstick humor present in a lot of Coyote tales, but sometimes pretty close. but when it needs to, the story deftly turns serious, and we learn a what's necessary in Joseph's past, and the Company's history, and some dark hints about what might be after 2355.
this book sets up an astonishing number of future Company novels. either Kage Baker had them already planned out, or she was just a genius, or both. but there's not a word wasted here; it will all play out in one book or another.
i love this series for its humor, its great storytelling, its long-range mystery. this book is one of the lighter in the series, and one of the better.
January 20, 2015
Sky Coyote wins the prize as the first physical book I've read in over a year, and I regret nothing. It continues the saga of The Company, but this time, the story is told from the immortal Facilitator Joseph's perspective. In this case, the Company isn't satisfied with grabbing lost artefacts and to-be-extinct plants; they decide to take an entire Chumash village as well, and decide to send in an agent in the guise of the trickster god Sky Coyote to persuade the village to come along peacefully. It's a perfect role for Joseph.
I find Joseph a far more appealing narrator--and character--than the unpleasant, immature, icy, self-righteous Mendoza. There's nothing I love better than a fast-talking crook with a heart of gold, and Joseph fits that label perfectly. Plus, just in case you had any doubts, in this book, Mendoza takes the opportunity to prove just how humourless and unforgiving she can be.
Joseph's narration is wry and appealing:
Baker's portrayals of the native populations-- Mayans, Chumash, and some unknown Chinigchinix tribe-- combine good research with an interesting choice of dialect. Rather than the stilted pidgin dialogue all too common in the characterization of native peoples, the servant Mayans sound like reproachful Jeeveses and the Chumash voice their modern attitudes with modern slang. For example:
But then there are the larger plot arcs. It took me years to really give the series a try, partly because I find immortality depressing, and partly because the plotholes and paradoxes induced by time travel tend to make me cringe. Certainly Baker's basic setup can't sustain much thought without falling apart, but all the same, I found myself fascinated by the drama of it. Immortality is gained only by shaking off mortality and much of humanity. These immortals are cyborgs, good little machines trained to do the Company's will, feared by the humans they serve. They are told that their future holds great rewards, but if so, why don't they have any information after 2355? Why do all who question the Company disappear without a trace?
The book is satisfyingly cynical, another indictment of extremism, a tired, jaded, humorous portrait of the tragically unchanging nature of humanity.
Cross-posted .
I find Joseph a far more appealing narrator--and character--than the unpleasant, immature, icy, self-righteous Mendoza. There's nothing I love better than a fast-talking crook with a heart of gold, and Joseph fits that label perfectly. Plus, just in case you had any doubts, in this book, Mendoza takes the opportunity to prove just how humourless and unforgiving she can be.
Joseph's narration is wry and appealing:
"You know why I've survived in this job, year after year, lousy assignment after lousy assignment, with no counseling whatsoever? Because I have a keen appreciation of the ludicrous.
Also because I have no choice."
Baker's portrayals of the native populations-- Mayans, Chumash, and some unknown Chinigchinix tribe-- combine good research with an interesting choice of dialect. Rather than the stilted pidgin dialogue all too common in the characterization of native peoples, the servant Mayans sound like reproachful Jeeveses and the Chumash voice their modern attitudes with modern slang. For example:
Sepawit, sluicing off ash with a basket of water, greeted me cheerfully.The whole plot is as bawdy and crazy as many of the coyote stories I've read, including an interlude that's basically one long (wince) penis joke.
"Hey, Sky Coyote, You should have been here this morning! We had quite a shaker!"
"Hell of a quake," agreed Nutku, beating his best bearskin robe until the dust flew. [...]
I tried to remember what I'd been about to say.
"I know. Khutash is very angry. She found out about Sun's white men last night," I told them. They looked surprised.
"Khutash is angry? Is that what makes earthquakes?" Sepawit blinked. "Well, I guess You'd know, but we always thought it was a natural phenomenon."
"What?" Oh, boy, I wasn't at my quick-witted best today.
"We always thought it was the World Snakes down there under the crust of the earth, the ones who hold everything up? We thought they just get tired every now and then and bump into one another,"
Nutku explained. "The astrologer-priest says they push the mountains up a little higher every year."
"Oh," I said.
But then there are the larger plot arcs. It took me years to really give the series a try, partly because I find immortality depressing, and partly because the plotholes and paradoxes induced by time travel tend to make me cringe. Certainly Baker's basic setup can't sustain much thought without falling apart, but all the same, I found myself fascinated by the drama of it. Immortality is gained only by shaking off mortality and much of humanity. These immortals are cyborgs, good little machines trained to do the Company's will, feared by the humans they serve. They are told that their future holds great rewards, but if so, why don't they have any information after 2355? Why do all who question the Company disappear without a trace?
The book is satisfyingly cynical, another indictment of extremism, a tired, jaded, humorous portrait of the tragically unchanging nature of humanity.
"Happy endings aren't so easy to come by when you're an immortal, because nothing ever quite seems to end. Well, things do; we don't, which is part of the problem."
Cross-posted .
July 12, 2022
I ought to be writing a positive review of 'Sky Coyote'. It's original, surprising and clever. The ideas are huge and complex. There's a vein of quiet humour through the whole thing and, underneath that a growing sense of alienation from The Company. The characters and the overall story arc move forward and we get a richly imagined historical setting.
Sounds like great Science Fiction doesn't it? And, in its way, it is great Science Fiction. It just isn't great Science Fiction that I could enjoy.
I struggled to become engaged with the story or the people in it. I think that was mostly because Facilitator Jackson tells the story in a sort of tongue-in-cheek folk myth mode. I can see that this is partly because it matches the fake Sky Coyote persona that he has taken on and partly because it echoes his own growing alienation from his work and with the people driving The Company. Whatever the reason, the effect it had on me was to keep me at an emotional distance from the story. I stayed interested in the growing doubts about The Company but in a 'hurry up and get on with it' kind of way. I found some of the 'this is how I tricked an entire tribe into believing I was their God and convinced them to walk away from everything they knew and become Company assets' a little tedious. It was clever but bloodless.
At the end of the book, I found myself admiring Kage Baker's vision and imagination but not feeling a strong urge to continue with the series, especially as the next book is set in Hollywood and so is almost bound to be another exercise in gaslighting.
Sounds like great Science Fiction doesn't it? And, in its way, it is great Science Fiction. It just isn't great Science Fiction that I could enjoy.
I struggled to become engaged with the story or the people in it. I think that was mostly because Facilitator Jackson tells the story in a sort of tongue-in-cheek folk myth mode. I can see that this is partly because it matches the fake Sky Coyote persona that he has taken on and partly because it echoes his own growing alienation from his work and with the people driving The Company. Whatever the reason, the effect it had on me was to keep me at an emotional distance from the story. I stayed interested in the growing doubts about The Company but in a 'hurry up and get on with it' kind of way. I found some of the 'this is how I tricked an entire tribe into believing I was their God and convinced them to walk away from everything they knew and become Company assets' a little tedious. It was clever but bloodless.
At the end of the book, I found myself admiring Kage Baker's vision and imagination but not feeling a strong urge to continue with the series, especially as the next book is set in Hollywood and so is almost bound to be another exercise in gaslighting.
November 29, 2021
I don't know why I didn't enjoy this book as much. Well, there's one thing to say - the translated language of the Chumash (sp?) indians in California was way too modern. The reactions, the back and forth - way too modern. I'm concerned that the future people of Dr. Zeus are sometimes dumb and then extremely smart, and the way they react to Dr. Zeus' improved employees is worrying. Also, them being unhealthy doesn't make sense.
August 26, 2010
Second book in the Company series; this one switches focus from Mendoza to Joseph, and in doing so gives us a more detailed look at the history of The Company and some of their past actions. At the same time, we are in the "present" of 1700, where Joseph has to preserve a tribe of Chumash natives from being wiped out by other tribes and European conquerors.
Once again, I'm really impressed with Baker's ability to develop character through voice - I feel like I've got a good feeling that I know who Joseph is from listening to him talk, even when he's not talking about himself. When he is, though, he seems more self-aware than Mendoza was, too, which is nice - he describes himself at one point as a cross between Bugs Bunny and Phillip Marlowe, which is an excellent description.
Baker's characterization of the Chumash - that despite being Stone Age natives, they are people and therefore not really all that different from us - was well done, and their civilization seemed nicely fleshed out.
Oddly, though, this seems to have been written like the end of Joseph's story, but having read later books in the series, I know it's not.
Once again, I'm really impressed with Baker's ability to develop character through voice - I feel like I've got a good feeling that I know who Joseph is from listening to him talk, even when he's not talking about himself. When he is, though, he seems more self-aware than Mendoza was, too, which is nice - he describes himself at one point as a cross between Bugs Bunny and Phillip Marlowe, which is an excellent description.
Baker's characterization of the Chumash - that despite being Stone Age natives, they are people and therefore not really all that different from us - was well done, and their civilization seemed nicely fleshed out.
Oddly, though, this seems to have been written like the end of Joseph's story, but having read later books in the series, I know it's not.
December 31, 2009
While I really liked the first book in Kage Baker's Company series, I thought this sequel was merely "cute" - I was more interested in the mysterious politics of the Company than I was in the endless scenes with the Native American tribe that Joseph and his fellow immortals were trying to preserve. Sky Coyote was much sillier in tone than In The Garden of Iden was; lots of unanswered questions about who was running the Company and to what end were posed, but most of the pages were spent discussing the coyote god's penis and the not-as-humorous-as-was-intended modern ways of the Chumash tribe.
Most reviews I've read, luckily, have said the rest of the series is better than this low point, so I'm looking forward to reading book #3, which I just picked up from the library.
Most reviews I've read, luckily, have said the rest of the series is better than this low point, so I'm looking forward to reading book #3, which I just picked up from the library.
June 6, 2009
Oh, what fun. Of course I am a sucker for time travel, so no surprise I liked this. The narrative voice is fantastic, wry and quirky and wise as only a 20,000 year old immortal can be. I loved the very modern-sounding primitive tribe (I imagine this is the filtration through Joseph's modern sensibilities) and the tale of Coyote and his penis had me laughing out loud.
Second in a series, I didn't pick up the first because this one looked more interesting to me and as though it could stand alone (which it does). But I shall get the others next.
Second in a series, I didn't pick up the first because this one looked more interesting to me and as though it could stand alone (which it does). But I shall get the others next.
March 25, 2021
Joseph is a Facilitator for the Company (a group of time-travelling researchers who trawl the historical shadows of unrecorded history) who is attempting to save the Chumesh Indians of 1700 California from invasion by whites. In order to convince the Indians of the wisdom of moving Joseph must disguise himself as the trickster god - Sky Coyote. Using his 24th century knowledge and tech tricks from the Company group assisting him in the background, Coyote must fight a rival and previously unknown monotheistic proselytizer (say that three times with marbles in your mouth!) and pushback from factions within the Company. Along the way Joseph discovers that his father, Budu, had discovered a secret about what might happen to the immortals after 2355, when a new stage of humanity is supposed to begin. Kage Baker has given us an engaging time-travel tale but also delves into the impossibility of pretending to be a god without playing God. The future may yet be an unknown country. This is the second book in the Company series but stands alone nicely.
February 4, 2019
I actually enjoyed this book more than the first book in the series. You find out more about the company and you see some discord between the 24th century mortals who work for the company and the cyborgs. I also enjoyed that in this book Joseph was the narrator and not Mendoza. It was an interesting change. Finally, I loved how the indigenous people in early 18th century California were pretty much like modern people. Because people are people whether they use stone age tech or computers. And I LOVED the duality when Joseph is explaining God and the Upper World to one of the natives...he could totally be talking about his own relationship with the company. Great book
June 2, 2017
3.5 stars
November 23, 2017
8/10
The second book in ’s Company series, the story focuses on Joseph, a facilitator and field operative who plays the part of Sky Coyote to a Native American tribe in what will be California. We get a lot more of Joseph’s history, a bit of an update on Mendoza (the main POV character from the first book, ), and some thought-provoking glimpses of both the future and the past. Parts of it were a little to “campy� for me, which is why I rated it 8/10.
The second book in ’s Company series, the story focuses on Joseph, a facilitator and field operative who plays the part of Sky Coyote to a Native American tribe in what will be California. We get a lot more of Joseph’s history, a bit of an update on Mendoza (the main POV character from the first book, ), and some thought-provoking glimpses of both the future and the past. Parts of it were a little to “campy� for me, which is why I rated it 8/10.
March 27, 2024
About as good as the last one. Nothing to write home about, but interesting enough to keep me off social media.
April 1, 2010
I read a short story somewhere about THE COMPANY recently. It was pretty good, and drew me to read this series.
While the first book--IN THE GARDEN OF IDEN--set up a clever premise, and were humorous in parts, I found this second book a chore to get through. Yes, I know it's suppose to get better--plot-wise? character development?--down the line, but my problems are not so much about the plot than some inherent elements of the series itself.
First, I could not identify with any of the immortals. In general, these are people supposedly equipped with towering IQ, endless knowledge reserves, centuries to millennia of hands-on experience, and they have not developed any introspection or philosophy about their lives and what they do. It's as though, having been estopped from aging, they were also estopped from emotional growth. Aside from the author's repeated mention of how this person came from Neanderthal stock, that person lived through rise and fall of Rome, they could have been culled from today's reality tv.
Mendoza, especially, I find inexplicably touchy and annoying. What reason has she to be so angry?! Eternal youth, endless intellect, saved from being burnt at the stake to a life of 24th Century privilege even as she traverse through History. Sounds like a good deal to me. Yes, yes, a few obligatory references here or there about how the Company regard them as virtual slaves, and her fatal love affair, blah blah. Compared to others in the novel--Budu, for example--these are minor complaints. Her constant and grating "cynicism" then comes off as entitled and spoilt.
I also dislike how the mortals are portrayed. Mostly one-dimensional, always foolish, especially those from the 24th Century. It's one thing to have the immortal see mortals as inferior--but to have the mortals actually BE inferior as well just seem like missed opportunities for dramatic depth.
But I guess we don't read this series for depth?
While the first book--IN THE GARDEN OF IDEN--set up a clever premise, and were humorous in parts, I found this second book a chore to get through. Yes, I know it's suppose to get better--plot-wise? character development?--down the line, but my problems are not so much about the plot than some inherent elements of the series itself.
First, I could not identify with any of the immortals. In general, these are people supposedly equipped with towering IQ, endless knowledge reserves, centuries to millennia of hands-on experience, and they have not developed any introspection or philosophy about their lives and what they do. It's as though, having been estopped from aging, they were also estopped from emotional growth. Aside from the author's repeated mention of how this person came from Neanderthal stock, that person lived through rise and fall of Rome, they could have been culled from today's reality tv.
Mendoza, especially, I find inexplicably touchy and annoying. What reason has she to be so angry?! Eternal youth, endless intellect, saved from being burnt at the stake to a life of 24th Century privilege even as she traverse through History. Sounds like a good deal to me. Yes, yes, a few obligatory references here or there about how the Company regard them as virtual slaves, and her fatal love affair, blah blah. Compared to others in the novel--Budu, for example--these are minor complaints. Her constant and grating "cynicism" then comes off as entitled and spoilt.
I also dislike how the mortals are portrayed. Mostly one-dimensional, always foolish, especially those from the 24th Century. It's one thing to have the immortal see mortals as inferior--but to have the mortals actually BE inferior as well just seem like missed opportunities for dramatic depth.
But I guess we don't read this series for depth?
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 26, 2010
I'm often surprised when people mention that Sky Coyote is Kage Baker's weakest in the Company series. Admittedly, the first time I read this book I was unimpressed, I wanted to know more about Mendoza, not Joseph. But now, after multiple re-readings, I have to say that this has become one of my favorite books in the series. Joseph has far more depth than Mendoza, more of a story to tell and frankly, a lot less whiny.
New World One is the base of dreams. It has every amenity imaginable and the base leader is a bit of an eccentric. Joseph enters this "lost city" and prepares to spend a bit of time relaxing among other immortals and having Mayan servants attend to his every need while he awaits word on his next mission. Word comes soon enough and Joseph is informed that his new mission is to impersonate a Native American god, Sky Coyote. The goal? To convince one special native village (incredibly advanced economics!) to exodus wholesale to the future and become mortal workers of Dr. Zeus. For a guy that was made immortal in the Stone Age, it feels kind of like going home.
Joseph, facilatator grade one, is at his best, but spectres from his past keep appearing before his eyes. Memories he's long suppressed regarding his mortal father and his adoptive father, Budu, begin to emerge.
While 2355 is still a few centuries off, dealing with some ignorant mortal employees from the future remind all of the operatives that the blackness is not far off. Does Dr. Zeus really know best?
New World One is the base of dreams. It has every amenity imaginable and the base leader is a bit of an eccentric. Joseph enters this "lost city" and prepares to spend a bit of time relaxing among other immortals and having Mayan servants attend to his every need while he awaits word on his next mission. Word comes soon enough and Joseph is informed that his new mission is to impersonate a Native American god, Sky Coyote. The goal? To convince one special native village (incredibly advanced economics!) to exodus wholesale to the future and become mortal workers of Dr. Zeus. For a guy that was made immortal in the Stone Age, it feels kind of like going home.
Joseph, facilatator grade one, is at his best, but spectres from his past keep appearing before his eyes. Memories he's long suppressed regarding his mortal father and his adoptive father, Budu, begin to emerge.
While 2355 is still a few centuries off, dealing with some ignorant mortal employees from the future remind all of the operatives that the blackness is not far off. Does Dr. Zeus really know best?
January 21, 2015
1999
January 18, 2015
The library didn't have The Garden of Iden in, but after a dinner conversation in which the Spouse and I commented on the Company premise, I was hankering for a re-read. So, I started with the second book.
Okay, a little backstory: there is time travel, but only to the past and returning, never to the future. The Company controls the technology and is using it to rescue lost artifacts from the past, make canny investments, etc., and for the copious work it is much easier to rescue orphans, cyborg them up to perfect health and immortality, and simply let them live forward, working all the while.
As in Iden, this story features Mendoza (a botanist) and Joseph (a fixer). This mission is to Alta California before the missions arrive, where an entire village of 300 or so people are interviewed, recorded, and finally, transported out, culture and all. Joseph has been fixed up with some clever special effects so that he appears as The Coyote. There is much bawdiness and humor and humanity. Baker never condescends to her made-up tribe, never depicts their speech as pidgin English. When Joseph tries to pass off an earthquake as angry gods, the people are rather taken aback: they figured it was a purely natural phenomena.
I loved it, particularly the respect for a non-European culture. Funny thing though, I don't think it would pass the Bechdel test, since the leaders of the village are all men, and we don't meet many of the women.
Library copy.
January 18, 2015
The library didn't have The Garden of Iden in, but after a dinner conversation in which the Spouse and I commented on the Company premise, I was hankering for a re-read. So, I started with the second book.
Okay, a little backstory: there is time travel, but only to the past and returning, never to the future. The Company controls the technology and is using it to rescue lost artifacts from the past, make canny investments, etc., and for the copious work it is much easier to rescue orphans, cyborg them up to perfect health and immortality, and simply let them live forward, working all the while.
As in Iden, this story features Mendoza (a botanist) and Joseph (a fixer). This mission is to Alta California before the missions arrive, where an entire village of 300 or so people are interviewed, recorded, and finally, transported out, culture and all. Joseph has been fixed up with some clever special effects so that he appears as The Coyote. There is much bawdiness and humor and humanity. Baker never condescends to her made-up tribe, never depicts their speech as pidgin English. When Joseph tries to pass off an earthquake as angry gods, the people are rather taken aback: they figured it was a purely natural phenomena.
I loved it, particularly the respect for a non-European culture. Funny thing though, I don't think it would pass the Bechdel test, since the leaders of the village are all men, and we don't meet many of the women.
Library copy.
October 9, 2016
Imagine you are immortal, and live through the long ages, knowing in advance what is coming. You are there when famous events occur, you see and talk to the people of history, you know all about what they are, more than they themselves know. That's basically the premise behind the Company books, though there's much more to it than that. But if you love history and a well-told story with smart, likable characters, these books will probably be right up your alley.
Sky Coyote, book 2 of the series, is told from Joseph's point of view. We watch as he and his operatives save a few hundred Amerindians from extinction by shipping them off to a Company enclave. Baker's love for history and her respect for the past is never overshadowed by her knowing wit. Questions are starting to be raised about the ethics of the Company, and some serious philosophical issues come up. There's much more here than just being a spectator to great events. Baker usually focuses on the lesser known events of history, since her operatives can't change recorded history. This is why they are allowed (by the laws of time travel) to save the Chumash tribe.
Sure, it's more science fantasy than true SF, but then again, if you're a purist about SF, you might want to consider that all stories are lies, and realism is in the eye of the beholder. Suspend your disbelief, and enjoy.
Recommended for fans of Connie Willis and Miles Vorkosigan (Bujold).
Sky Coyote, book 2 of the series, is told from Joseph's point of view. We watch as he and his operatives save a few hundred Amerindians from extinction by shipping them off to a Company enclave. Baker's love for history and her respect for the past is never overshadowed by her knowing wit. Questions are starting to be raised about the ethics of the Company, and some serious philosophical issues come up. There's much more here than just being a spectator to great events. Baker usually focuses on the lesser known events of history, since her operatives can't change recorded history. This is why they are allowed (by the laws of time travel) to save the Chumash tribe.
Sure, it's more science fantasy than true SF, but then again, if you're a purist about SF, you might want to consider that all stories are lies, and realism is in the eye of the beholder. Suspend your disbelief, and enjoy.
Recommended for fans of Connie Willis and Miles Vorkosigan (Bujold).
August 19, 2016
A comfort re-read 6/26/11
Now that I've read the series and have got to know Joseph better, I think I enjoyed the re-read better this time around. And this book gives a good grounding in Company politics and issues. (I'd forgotten that from first read.)
8/13/16. Another reread. I think this must be my 3rd time now. I find that I love this book more each time I read it again. In one of life's amazing serendipitous coincidences, I had an opportunity to take a field studies class where we studied the Chumash. Happily, I remembered this book and was able to take it with me and experience Chumash life and culture both historically, and fictionally along with Joseph/Sky Coyote and Mendoza et al! Probably my wildest and most immersive reading experience ever! Frankly, I'm amazed with how much Kage knew, and how much of her research is integrated into the plot here. So much of the anthropological reading assignments were reflected here along with her trademark sly humor. I particularly love Joseph's dealings with the antap and how he makes use of the Rainbow Bridge legend. Wow!
And, seriously, the Chumash were cool beans! If you ever get a chance to study them, take it! And take this book with you!
A further recommendation for Company saga readers. Be sure not to skip this one--because, wow, does it set up the sequels. This one is foundational.
Now that I've read the series and have got to know Joseph better, I think I enjoyed the re-read better this time around. And this book gives a good grounding in Company politics and issues. (I'd forgotten that from first read.)
8/13/16. Another reread. I think this must be my 3rd time now. I find that I love this book more each time I read it again. In one of life's amazing serendipitous coincidences, I had an opportunity to take a field studies class where we studied the Chumash. Happily, I remembered this book and was able to take it with me and experience Chumash life and culture both historically, and fictionally along with Joseph/Sky Coyote and Mendoza et al! Probably my wildest and most immersive reading experience ever! Frankly, I'm amazed with how much Kage knew, and how much of her research is integrated into the plot here. So much of the anthropological reading assignments were reflected here along with her trademark sly humor. I particularly love Joseph's dealings with the antap and how he makes use of the Rainbow Bridge legend. Wow!
And, seriously, the Chumash were cool beans! If you ever get a chance to study them, take it! And take this book with you!
A further recommendation for Company saga readers. Be sure not to skip this one--because, wow, does it set up the sequels. This one is foundational.
January 25, 2010
This was my second (and last) of the Company series. There's just not much of a plot in these books, it turns out. Baker does a wonderful job of fleshing out the environs, both primitive and hyper-advanced, but it looks increasingly like these are books that just minutely observe culture clash.
That would be great, if there was more going on. There's not. The author and her characters are funny, but they're also just going through the motions. No one has a particularly motivated agenda, everything pretty much goes to plan. No drama, little suspense. The series ambles through history, and we're just observers.
Maybe in future books, choices compound and interesting things start happening. But right now this reads as a bible for a TV show or something -- a very detailed, ruminative, extensive tome about how the world works, but containing none of the flash that comes out of the writer's room when they're breaking stories. After two books of scene-setting and little indication that the characters will start being the stars of the story (instead of the historical setting), I'm out.
That would be great, if there was more going on. There's not. The author and her characters are funny, but they're also just going through the motions. No one has a particularly motivated agenda, everything pretty much goes to plan. No drama, little suspense. The series ambles through history, and we're just observers.
Maybe in future books, choices compound and interesting things start happening. But right now this reads as a bible for a TV show or something -- a very detailed, ruminative, extensive tome about how the world works, but containing none of the flash that comes out of the writer's room when they're breaking stories. After two books of scene-setting and little indication that the characters will start being the stars of the story (instead of the historical setting), I'm out.
April 18, 2009
A quirky little book. The story wrapper is a vast time-traveling Company that meddles in history and the undercurrents of conflict between its immortal employees (from historical times) and its owners (from the future). The story core is the life of a Chumash village in 1699. The glue between the two is Joseph from the Company, whose mission is to play the trickster god Sky Coyote and convince the villagers to move before the Europeans arrive. Joseph likes playing the cunning trickster. Joseph does not like being vulnerable or taking sides in the Chumash issue or in the Company's issues, but the longer he lives the more his neutrality weighs on him.
I love how the story is 100% hard core science fiction and at the same time 90% low tech, with Joseph just talking people into what he wants to get done. The Chumash village filled with "primitive" people who are really all smart cookies is vibrant and modern and humorous.
I love how the story is 100% hard core science fiction and at the same time 90% low tech, with Joseph just talking people into what he wants to get done. The Chumash village filled with "primitive" people who are really all smart cookies is vibrant and modern and humorous.
September 29, 2013
The second volume in 'The Company' series. This one involves a lot more satire.... the Company has told its agents to 'preserve' an intact village of a Native American tribe called the Chumash - people, artifacts and all. However the agents from the future are incompetent, wussy vegetarians who seem to spend all their time playing videogames and freaking out about germs (& etc). The immortal agents have to wonder what the 24th century is actually like, and what/who they are actually doing their work for...
Mendoza is in this book, but the main character is her mentor, Joseph, whom she still has a very strained relationship with. Physically augmented to resemble the Coyote god of Chumash legend, Joseph has to convince the villagers to be ready to pick up and leave their lives behind...
Quite an enjoyable book.
Mendoza is in this book, but the main character is her mentor, Joseph, whom she still has a very strained relationship with. Physically augmented to resemble the Coyote god of Chumash legend, Joseph has to convince the villagers to be ready to pick up and leave their lives behind...
Quite an enjoyable book.
March 16, 2010
I don't know what it is about this series. For me, it seems to be right on the edge of something great, but it never quite makes the leap. Entertaining, you bet. The premise of this book, that an immortal special agent for the Dr. Zeus Company is trying to preserve an entire native american village from its people and their handicrafts, to the plants they know and the animals they hunt and eat is fascinating. The story never had that "holy cow" moment though and the ending was an anticlimactic summary of like 700 years in just a few pages. I'm intrigued enough to pick up book 3...eventually.
June 21, 2010
2.5 stars. I didn't like this nearly as well as the first book. The writing is fine, and some of the humor is there, but I was a little disappointed in the plot and the setting. Joseph was a great character when seen from Mendoza's point of view, but for this novel we have him as the narrator, and I didn't like him as well. I also didn't like Mendoza so much when seen through his eyes.
Still, there's enough potential here to make me want to continue with the series.
Still, there's enough potential here to make me want to continue with the series.
July 18, 2016
I felt the same about this book as I did its predecessor in the series - kind of silly, and a (different) unlikable main character. What made this installment somewhat more interesting was the way it hinted at future plotlines dealing with the convoluted back story...which takes place in future... Anyway, some of the subsequent books in the series dealing this this aspect may get more interesting, but that possibility is not enough to make me want to read any more of them.
December 28, 2007
What a hilarious book. Few dark corners in this one. Facilitator Joseph, the 20,000 year old man and con man par excellence, cons a group of California Indians circa the 18th century, into believing he's the mythological being, Coyote. It's all a grand Company scheme, of course, but mostly it's just plain fun.
August 20, 2017
RE-READ 5/15/2000
and again 11/2/2015
and again 11/2/2015
April 15, 2018
I love this series, I find it delightful. It’s a clandestine time-traveling operation (the Company) which is basically a search-and-rescue operation, collecting rare plants and animals, as well as information about history. The operatives in the field are a bunch of humans who’ve been surgically altered so that they’re immortal. They assume disguises and move to particular time-periods to do their work.
The first one was all about Mendoza, and this one is about Joseph. He’s an old soul (literally) who has been all over the world, and now he’s been sent to the Mayan jungle in 1699. His job is to establish friendly relations with the tribespeople, the Chumash, because the Company wants to preserve them as a group, before they’re wiped out by armed white men.
There’s a bit of tongue-in-cheek here, because the Chumash have a very sophisticated society, and are famous for trading, and there are a lot of echoes with present-day businessmen. They’re savvy, pragmatic, and not particularly credulous. And in order to have influence, Joseph is choosing to impersonate Sky Coyote, one of their gods. This god is very popular among the Chumash, but he’s also seen as a liar and a trickster, which presents a few problems.
This novel gives some useful backstory for Joseph, but it also leaves quite a few hanging threads. I’m wondering when the author will reel those in. She has a tendency to wander around a bit, but I really enjoy the way she plays with odd cultural contrasts � such as the scene where the operatives delight the Chumash with a bunch of Coyote and Roadrunner cartoons from the 20th century.
The first one was all about Mendoza, and this one is about Joseph. He’s an old soul (literally) who has been all over the world, and now he’s been sent to the Mayan jungle in 1699. His job is to establish friendly relations with the tribespeople, the Chumash, because the Company wants to preserve them as a group, before they’re wiped out by armed white men.
There’s a bit of tongue-in-cheek here, because the Chumash have a very sophisticated society, and are famous for trading, and there are a lot of echoes with present-day businessmen. They’re savvy, pragmatic, and not particularly credulous. And in order to have influence, Joseph is choosing to impersonate Sky Coyote, one of their gods. This god is very popular among the Chumash, but he’s also seen as a liar and a trickster, which presents a few problems.
This novel gives some useful backstory for Joseph, but it also leaves quite a few hanging threads. I’m wondering when the author will reel those in. She has a tendency to wander around a bit, but I really enjoy the way she plays with odd cultural contrasts � such as the scene where the operatives delight the Chumash with a bunch of Coyote and Roadrunner cartoons from the 20th century.
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