The Children of the Company
THE CHILDREN OF THE COMPANY (Kage Baker) - Three Stars
The sixth book of eight in the company series, by itself is very good. The series keeps progressing deeper and deeper into the cloak-and-dagger stories of the Company, and this book deals with the histories of Labenius and Victor, two peripheral characters from the prior books. Much of the book deals with Victor and Labenius participating/directing the large scale salvage of artifacts from San Francisco the night before the 1906 earthquake. The story is interesting, the plot-arc for the series keeps getting increasingly sinister, and the characters hold your attention.
Kage Baker does not have a problem creating interesting characters. She does have a problem focusing on them for any length of time, however. I wonder how this series would read if re-edited for a different structure. After the first book, you're led to believe that Mendoza would be the main character of the series. But really, she was only the main-character in books one and three, a minor character in two and five, and virtually non-existant (other than as a motivating force) in four and six. Joseph was a minor character in book one, the main character in two and four, and non-existant in the others. Through six books there have been, I'd say, eight main characters. But none of them have had more than two books dedicated to them.
I have nothing against large-scale epics. But the Company series seems to lack the focus or the foresight of, say, "The Lord of the Rings" or "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" series. Nonetheless, only two books to go.
The sixth book of eight in the company series, by itself is very good. The series keeps progressing deeper and deeper into the cloak-and-dagger stories of the Company, and this book deals with the histories of Labenius and Victor, two peripheral characters from the prior books. Much of the book deals with Victor and Labenius participating/directing the large scale salvage of artifacts from San Francisco the night before the 1906 earthquake. The story is interesting, the plot-arc for the series keeps getting increasingly sinister, and the characters hold your attention.
Kage Baker does not have a problem creating interesting characters. She does have a problem focusing on them for any length of time, however. I wonder how this series would read if re-edited for a different structure. After the first book, you're led to believe that Mendoza would be the main character of the series. But really, she was only the main-character in books one and three, a minor character in two and five, and virtually non-existant (other than as a motivating force) in four and six. Joseph was a minor character in book one, the main character in two and four, and non-existant in the others. Through six books there have been, I'd say, eight main characters. But none of them have had more than two books dedicated to them.
I have nothing against large-scale epics. But the Company series seems to lack the focus or the foresight of, say, "The Lord of the Rings" or "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" series. Nonetheless, only two books to go.
"Do you suppose the Christ left Heaven for Earth to save mortal souls? Or is it possible he left because God's behavior disgusted him?"
posted by Kevin at 11:35 AM
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