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The Company #1-2
On Company Time
Collects 'In the Garden of Iden' and 'Sky Coyote' in one volume
cover art by Bruce Jensen
cover art by Bruce Jensen
485 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1999
110 people want to read
About the author
Kage Baker
162 books355 followersBorn 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.
http://www.sfwa.org/2010/01/rip-kage-...
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.
http://www.sfwa.org/2010/01/rip-kage-...
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
April 5, 2016
Omnibus of :
In the Garden of Iden re-read 10/31/2015
and
Sky Coyote re-read 11/2/2015
In the Garden of Iden re-read 10/31/2015
and
Sky Coyote re-read 11/2/2015
February 23, 2021
On Company Time is an omnibus of the first two Company books: In the Garden of Iden, and Sky Coyote.
In the Garden of Iden:
Mendoza, or "Rose" as she's known most of the book, was slated to die at the hands of the Inquisition when she was 5 years old. Instead, she was recruited by The Company to become an immortal and spend her endless life in service. See, it's much cheaper to create these immortals in the thick of things than to keep sending people back in time. She grows to adulthood learning all she needs to be a botanist, a super-human, and to live among mortals while she completes her duty. Her first posting is in England, while their relationship with Spain is rocky, at the home of a man who collects rare things, including rare plants. She can take clippings and seeds of these doomed plants to preserve them for posterity. But she could also fall in love and get more embroiled in the lives and fates of mortals.
Sky Coyote:
The Company has a new job for Joseph and Mendoza. They want to study a certain Native American tribe/village, take samples of everything to preserve... and then whisk away the entire village and train them to be Company workers, because it's nice to have some mortal folk who know how to operate things. It's up to Joseph—or, should we say, uncle Sky Coyote—to convince the tribe the world is about to be destroyed by the white men, and they should come along with him on great sky canoes to a wonderful paradise. It helps that Company tech can produce a convincing set of ears and a tail.
Separately, I rated each book 3 stars because, well, I got bored. However, together they are more interesting. Following the characters through the years and adventures, and learning more about the Company, is the fun part.
I did enjoy Sky Coyote more than the first book, possibly because Joseph takes everything less seriously than Mendoza. Also, the Native Americans were more entertaining than the English. I also liked the introduction of the mortals from the future.
I'm torn whether or not to read more. I would like to see where it all goes, but I don't know that I'm super interested in reading all the details along the way.
In the Garden of Iden:
Mendoza, or "Rose" as she's known most of the book, was slated to die at the hands of the Inquisition when she was 5 years old. Instead, she was recruited by The Company to become an immortal and spend her endless life in service. See, it's much cheaper to create these immortals in the thick of things than to keep sending people back in time. She grows to adulthood learning all she needs to be a botanist, a super-human, and to live among mortals while she completes her duty. Her first posting is in England, while their relationship with Spain is rocky, at the home of a man who collects rare things, including rare plants. She can take clippings and seeds of these doomed plants to preserve them for posterity. But she could also fall in love and get more embroiled in the lives and fates of mortals.
Sky Coyote:
The Company has a new job for Joseph and Mendoza. They want to study a certain Native American tribe/village, take samples of everything to preserve... and then whisk away the entire village and train them to be Company workers, because it's nice to have some mortal folk who know how to operate things. It's up to Joseph—or, should we say, uncle Sky Coyote—to convince the tribe the world is about to be destroyed by the white men, and they should come along with him on great sky canoes to a wonderful paradise. It helps that Company tech can produce a convincing set of ears and a tail.
Separately, I rated each book 3 stars because, well, I got bored. However, together they are more interesting. Following the characters through the years and adventures, and learning more about the Company, is the fun part.
I did enjoy Sky Coyote more than the first book, possibly because Joseph takes everything less seriously than Mendoza. Also, the Native Americans were more entertaining than the English. I also liked the introduction of the mortals from the future.
I'm torn whether or not to read more. I would like to see where it all goes, but I don't know that I'm super interested in reading all the details along the way.
Read
June 29, 2025Sky coyote was grouped together with 3&4 when NLS / BARD recorded an audiobook.
July 4, 2013
The book dragged on and on, and the ending did not wrap up any loose ends.
January 2, 2015
I am reading my way through the Company series...am now on The Graveyard Game....
February 2, 2025
I've been obsessed with this book since I was younger. Always a good reread for myself. I hope to finish her books to this series eventually
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews