Sky Coyote, The Company series #2, by Kage Baker

(I know there could be some mistakes in this review. I’m trying to improve my English, thanks)

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, titled Mendoza in Hollywood.

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I know there could be some mistakes in this review. I'm trying to improve my English, thanks.

(You can also read this review in Spanish/También puedes leer esta reseña en español)

In the Garden of Iden (1997), The Company series #1, by Kage Baker

Reading this book I realize how much I missed time travel stories. This is my first Kage Baker's reading. It is also the first of The Company series.

In the Garden of Iden deals with an entertaining visit to Spain and England in the sixteenth century. The plot, in one sentence: Mendoza is a young agent for The Company -a time travel corporation from the twenty-fourth century-, and she should be aware of the risks of getting involved with the mortals, the people of the sixteenth century.

The reading is interesting, the description of this tumultuous era and the characters (with some historical ones) are well-rounded and the end improves the whole story. Kage Baker (1952-2010) left us a legacy of books and short stories set in The Company universe that I want to visit in the future.

Ghosts of Tomorrow (2017), by Michael R. Fletcher

Of course this is only my opinion as a science fiction reader: in the year 2000 it was The Golden Age by John C. Wright; in the year 2010, The Quantum Thief by Hannu Rajaniemi; and now in 2017, it is Ghosts of tomorrow. In other words, this novel has been a nice surprise.

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(You can also read this review in English/También puedes leer esta reseña en inglés)

De vuelta a las reseñas en el blog, pero con un enfoque un poco diferente. Algunos de vosotros ya habréis leído estas reseñas en inglés (por aquello del practicing) en Goodreads. Aquí están en español, corregidas y algo más completas.

In the Garden of Iden (1997) de Kage Baker

Leyendo este libro me doy cuenta de cuánto echo de menos las historias de viajes en el tiempo.

Esta es mi primera lectura de Kage Baker, que también se corresponde con el primer libro de la serie La Compañía, por la que es conocida esta autora. In the Garden of Iden es una entrenida visita a la España y sobretodo a la Inglaterra del siglo XVI. No hace falta decir que fueron tiempos convulsos, especiamente por las guerras de religión que asolaban Europa en aquella época. La acción principal se sitúa en Inglaterra, en el breve interludio en que la reina María Tudor (1553-1558) restauró el catolicismo. 

El argumento: Mendoza es una joven agente de La Compañía – una corporación de viajes en el tiempo del siglo XXIV- que deberá aprender las reglas y los riesgos de implicarse con los mortales, es decir, con la gente del tiempo que visita.