Sky Coyote

SKY COYOTE (Kage Baker) - Four Stars

The second of Kage Baker's "Company" series, and my review of it is pretty much the same: a three or four-star plot with a five-star concept and five-star characters. For the concept behind "The Company," please refer to the second paragraph of my earlier review of In the Garden of Iden.

This novel follows Joseph more than Mendoza, though she does have a supporting role. Joseph, Mendoza, and other top notch agents of the Company are sent to California circa 1700 to preserve an entire Chumash Native American village before the Spaniards and English spread into the state and wipe them out. Joseph, a Facilitator Grade I (i.e., a guy who can talk anybody into almost anything) is selected to portray "Sky Coyote," one of the Chumash gods, and convince them that he's taking them to Paradise. I get a feeling (though I don't know for certain) that Baker put a modicum of historical accuracy into the novel; regardless, I enjoyed the way she presented turn-of-the-18th century Native Americans as semi-modern capitalists.

Religion again plays a large role in Baker's story. I greatly approve of the way she praises and criticizes the various aspects of religion and faith in general without singling out any particular religion. She also weaves in a nice dichotomy when a Native American from a different tribe comes to the Chumash to convert them; Joseph/Sky Coyote has to debunk the missionary's claims and point out the holes in the other faith without compromising his own faith-based mission.

Kage Baker's writing is conversational and engaging, in a style similar to a Stephen King. The literary merits might be debatable, but she connects with the reader with tremendous ease and is a wonderful storyteller.

PS: This entire novel is worth reading if only for the Chumash celebration, where the Chumash tribe puts on an elaborate and utterly hilarious pantomime, replete with puppetry and ventriloquism, all about Sky Coyote's penis.