Whew!
I was worried there after The Machine's Child. I had begun to doubt that Baker had it in her to bring all of her plot strands together in any satisfying way, and I had half convinced myself that she had grown fed up with her characters and was going to toss them out with the rest of the trash. I was even more worried that I was going to agree with that decision -- I certainly didn't like anyone much at the end of the last novel!
But this is the author that somehow turned every trope of heroic fantasy on its head in The House of the Stag to write a tale about a man destined to change the world who wanted nothing more than to be left alone to live and be happy. And The Sons of Heaven is very much in that vein. There are plots within plots within plots within plots centering around 2355, each plot encompassing the ones beneath it, and at least four other rogue strands that no one knows about; every character introduced in the series is brought back and dealt with in some fashion; and yes, the ending is just the tiniest bit too pat, too deus ex machina to feel completely right. But so much else is exactly right about this book -- Mendoza's family life, the Preservers' response to the Silence, the A.I.s. Baker answers questions I was worried she wasn't going to answer (the absurd linearity of Company time travel, for one) and questions I hadn't even bothered posing (the prevalence of idiot-savants in the future).
There was even some leavening of heartbreak (or at least melancholy), though it could have used a little more to make the ending feel deserved. Lewis and Princess Tiara under the hill; Ancilla back in 500,000 B.C.E.; Victor -- those moments made the blood and sweat and tears real, even if they were few and far between (and one of them, at least, got wrapped up too neatly too). I still think Baker wasted Joseph and Budu, but I loved the line of causality that tied Budu to Aegeus and Labienus -- a little selective amnesia is good for the soul. So all in all, while this series is far from perfect, it is one to be recommended -- quirky, irreverent, decidedly optimistic overall, and best of all warm and funny and wise. Ms. Baker will be sadly missed, and I am humbly grateful that she completed this series (and wrote much else) before her untimely death.
I was worried there after The Machine's Child. I had begun to doubt that Baker had it in her to bring all of her plot strands together in any satisfying way, and I had half convinced myself that she had grown fed up with her characters and was going to toss them out with the rest of the trash. I was even more worried that I was going to agree with that decision -- I certainly didn't like anyone much at the end of the last novel!
But this is the author that somehow turned every trope of heroic fantasy on its head in The House of the Stag to write a tale about a man destined to change the world who wanted nothing more than to be left alone to live and be happy. And The Sons of Heaven is very much in that vein. There are plots within plots within plots within plots centering around 2355, each plot encompassing the ones beneath it, and at least four other rogue strands that no one knows about; every character introduced in the series is brought back and dealt with in some fashion; and yes, the ending is just the tiniest bit too pat, too deus ex machina to feel completely right. But so much else is exactly right about this book -- Mendoza's family life, the Preservers' response to the Silence, the A.I.s. Baker answers questions I was worried she wasn't going to answer (the absurd linearity of Company time travel, for one) and questions I hadn't even bothered posing (the prevalence of idiot-savants in the future).
There was even some leavening of heartbreak (or at least melancholy), though it could have used a little more to make the ending feel deserved. Lewis and Princess Tiara under the hill; Ancilla back in 500,000 B.C.E.; Victor -- those moments made the blood and sweat and tears real, even if they were few and far between (and one of them, at least, got wrapped up too neatly too). I still think Baker wasted Joseph and Budu, but I loved the line of causality that tied Budu to Aegeus and Labienus -- a little selective amnesia is good for the soul. So all in all, while this series is far from perfect, it is one to be recommended -- quirky, irreverent, decidedly optimistic overall, and best of all warm and funny and wise. Ms. Baker will be sadly missed, and I am humbly grateful that she completed this series (and wrote much else) before her untimely death.
The entire Company series by Kage Baker is fabulous. Wonderful characters, ingenious concept, very enjoyable writing. I recommend it highly, start with In the Garden of Iden and you will want them all.
