So far, hands down this is the best book so far in “The Company” series. It’s the first one I read, *gasp* OUT OF ORDER! But what a killer title, how could I resist? I was young and naive. 2018 me would never do such a thing! The book starts off with Mendoza in a private hearing in 1863, and right away, she confesses to the two auditors (Company men) that she’s killed seven mortal men. We see that she’s eating Theobromos, the chocolate that intoxicates […]
Straight Forward Approach with Cutting Insights
After my reread, I tried to remember during which Cannonball Read I had originally discovered this novel, only to realize that I had done most of my Butler reading before I participated in CBR. I had a short post on my now defunct blog where I mentioned it, but it’s been over ten years (!) since I read this so I had forgotten a lot of the details. Basic plot details: Dana, an African American woman living in California in 1976, starts getting called back […]
Wily Coyote
Kage Baker’s “Company” series began with a volume focused on Mendoza the botanist, and in this second volume in the series the narration turns to the man who made her what she is, Joseph. A Facilitator Grade One with the company for thousands of years, Joseph was the one who spotted Mendoza during the Spanish Inquisition and recruited her. In Sky Coyote, it’s 1699, a century and a half since Joseph was the head of the family in Tudor England during Mendoza’s doomed romance. The […]
The Cellar Door is an Open Throat
Last week I went to a conference in southern California. I took Kindred along, hoping to have time to read a few chapters. My first day there, I sat outside on my lunch break to read. I couldn’t put Kindred down (except, I had to in order to get back to the conference). I finished it before I came home. I read most of it sitting outside in a comfy chair, in beautiful weather. The contrast between my life and Dana’s at that moment felt […]