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kilroyPrint date: 1997 (20s: 1, 60s: 1, 70s: 1, 80s: 3, 90s: 3, 00s: 3)
Page count: 329 (4377 total)
I don't know how to compliment Kage Baker enough. I discovered her through the Amazon recommendation function, read a book of her short stories for my short-story-reading year, and immediately snapped up the second one to read that as well. Since then I've been meaning to get back to her, particularly the series of novels about the Company for which she is most famed.
About halfway through this book, the first in that series, I went online and bought the other dozen.
I quite seriously have a hard time putting into words why this book is as good as it is, but let's hit some of the highlights. The premise for the Company novels is fabulous; it knocked my socks off in the first five pages. I mean, come on-- immortal cyborgs in period dress blending in with the natives to arrange century-spanning coincidences of preservation? It manages to have all the fun of time travel without turning itself inside out. And KB is scrupulous about her period detail. Not so much as to make it a "history novel," but enough to keep you in the world, to make it feel real.
The voice of the novel is also fantastic. It's light without being false, full of humor and pain in equal measure. I love the narrator dearly and I want to see what happens to her in the following books. It's worth noting that the book also can switch seamlessly between period language and modern without breaking stride, which is something I almost never see. (Additional side note: the language the time-travelers speak is called "Cinema Standard," which makes me giggle every single time I think about it. Including now.)
It's just a shockingly good time. There is no part of the novel I feel is underdeveloped, save one scene left intentionally vague for good in-and-out-of-character reasons. The characters are strong and memorable, the setting is vivid, the plot moves briskly, and the tone is unfailingly engaging. I almost never say this about books, since my general policy is that it's a crime to re-read books when there are so many I haven't gotten to yet, but: I would read this again.
I actually want to open it up and flip through it again right now.
Verdict: Keep and lend to as many people as possible. (7.5/15 keepers)
Completed: 12 (6 female authors, 6 male authors)
Rejected: 3 (3 male authors, 0 female authors)
Next book due: 4/30
Page count: 329 (4377 total)
I don't know how to compliment Kage Baker enough. I discovered her through the Amazon recommendation function, read a book of her short stories for my short-story-reading year, and immediately snapped up the second one to read that as well. Since then I've been meaning to get back to her, particularly the series of novels about the Company for which she is most famed.
About halfway through this book, the first in that series, I went online and bought the other dozen.
I quite seriously have a hard time putting into words why this book is as good as it is, but let's hit some of the highlights. The premise for the Company novels is fabulous; it knocked my socks off in the first five pages. I mean, come on-- immortal cyborgs in period dress blending in with the natives to arrange century-spanning coincidences of preservation? It manages to have all the fun of time travel without turning itself inside out. And KB is scrupulous about her period detail. Not so much as to make it a "history novel," but enough to keep you in the world, to make it feel real.
The voice of the novel is also fantastic. It's light without being false, full of humor and pain in equal measure. I love the narrator dearly and I want to see what happens to her in the following books. It's worth noting that the book also can switch seamlessly between period language and modern without breaking stride, which is something I almost never see. (Additional side note: the language the time-travelers speak is called "Cinema Standard," which makes me giggle every single time I think about it. Including now.)
It's just a shockingly good time. There is no part of the novel I feel is underdeveloped, save one scene left intentionally vague for good in-and-out-of-character reasons. The characters are strong and memorable, the setting is vivid, the plot moves briskly, and the tone is unfailingly engaging. I almost never say this about books, since my general policy is that it's a crime to re-read books when there are so many I haven't gotten to yet, but: I would read this again.
I actually want to open it up and flip through it again right now.
Verdict: Keep and lend to as many people as possible. (7.5/15 keepers)
Completed: 12 (6 female authors, 6 male authors)
Rejected: 3 (3 male authors, 0 female authors)
Next book due: 4/30