Mendoza in Hollywood
MENDOZA IN HOLLYWOOD (Kage Baker) - Three Stars
Mendoza in Hollywood wasn't quite at the level of the first two books in "The Company" series, but it wasn't too far behind. The characters/concept still fascinate me, and if the narration in this story had been a little less repetitive this novel would have been four stars, too.
The novel is told in past-tense and, evidently, as part of a criminal interrogation. Mendoza is the narrator, and she recounts the life and times of early 1860s southern California. Most of this is amusing, but after a while it becomes a little tedious. The main heart of the novel doesn't happen until Mendoza meets a spitting image of her long-dead lover from In the Garden of Iden (which occurred 300 years prior); but this doesn't happen until page 250. Then begins a short but fascinating plot arc about the supposed strategic importance of Catalina Island of the California coast, and how (supposedly) the United States and Britain were engaged in a cloak-and-dagger game for the island for hundreds of years. The last 80 pages were some of the most interesting in the book, and I think this section deserved to be expanded in much greater detail (Mendoza's fugue, in particular, deserved a bit more than a paragraph; although leaving it up to the reader's imagination was pretty effective, too).
At the end of the novel, Mendoza has been subjected to a rather unique punishment, and of course I'll be getting the next novel in the series to see what happens.
Mendoza in Hollywood wasn't quite at the level of the first two books in "The Company" series, but it wasn't too far behind. The characters/concept still fascinate me, and if the narration in this story had been a little less repetitive this novel would have been four stars, too.
The novel is told in past-tense and, evidently, as part of a criminal interrogation. Mendoza is the narrator, and she recounts the life and times of early 1860s southern California. Most of this is amusing, but after a while it becomes a little tedious. The main heart of the novel doesn't happen until Mendoza meets a spitting image of her long-dead lover from In the Garden of Iden (which occurred 300 years prior); but this doesn't happen until page 250. Then begins a short but fascinating plot arc about the supposed strategic importance of Catalina Island of the California coast, and how (supposedly) the United States and Britain were engaged in a cloak-and-dagger game for the island for hundreds of years. The last 80 pages were some of the most interesting in the book, and I think this section deserved to be expanded in much greater detail (Mendoza's fugue, in particular, deserved a bit more than a paragraph; although leaving it up to the reader's imagination was pretty effective, too).
At the end of the novel, Mendoza has been subjected to a rather unique punishment, and of course I'll be getting the next novel in the series to see what happens.
posted by Kevin at 11:16 AM
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