Gods and Pawns

by Kage Baker

Hardcover, 2007

Call number

813.54

Publication

New York : Tor, 2007.

Pages

335

Description

In the Company, you're either a God or a Pawn, but sometimes you have to be both. The eight stories, reprinted for the first time in this collection delve further into the history and exploits of the Company and its operatives, including Mendoza, Lewis, and Alec. The book opens with the novella, "To the Land Beyond the Sunset," starring Lewis and Mendoza, and involving a strange tribe in Bolivia whose members claim to be gods. Their ability to grow a small tropical paradise in the middle of the desert certainly seems godlike, and it's Mendoza's job to figure what their secret is. "Standing in His Light" features Van Drouten, and her role in the career of the artist Jan Vermeer. The story illustrates how, with a little help from the Company, lost masterpieces can be found (or created) easily. Other stories include "Welcome to Olympus, Mr. Hearst," which opens up intriguing questions about The Company, and the original novelette, "Hellfire at Twilight," which concludes the volume and tells of Lewis infiltrating the famous Hellfire Club in the England of the 18th century. This book is a compelling read for every Baker fan, and essential for Company addicts. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.… (more)

Awards

Locus Recommended Reading (Collection — 2007)

Language

Original language

English

Physical description

335 p.; 9.84 inches

ISBN

0765315521 / 9780765315526

User reviews

LibraryThing member slothman
A collection of tales of the operatives of Dr. Zeus, Incorporated, set in a variety of historical settings. Most provide more fleshing-out of characters familiar from the rest of the series; “Welcome to Olympus, Mr. Hearst” is an important segue into The Sons of Heaven, and “The Catch”
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provides significant foreshadowing.
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LibraryThing member rocalisa
...Gods and Pawns by Kage Baker.

This was another collection of short stories in Baker's Company universe.

I remain impressed by the way Baker has mastered both the short and long fiction forms and can tell a full and satisfying story either way.

I enjoyed all the stories in this volume, although
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naturally some more than others. I especially enjoyed more Lewis tales as he has very much grown on me as a character. I'm not sure that I can pick a favourite, as each story had things I liked and they were all deftly written.

My least favourite was probably "The Land Beyond the Sunset" in which Lewis and Mendoza go on a field trip and find an apparently lost civilisation. Again, it was well written and engaging, but didn't work for me as well as some of the others.

I liked the 1930's-set "Welcome to Olympus, Mr Hearst", although the future ramifications of the Company's machinations in this case are rather scary. But the story of the house party was delightful, as was the early cameo by Rudolph Valentino.

Another favourite was "Angel in the Darkness" that showed the complications of Porfirio's continued observation of his mortal family from the point of view of one of those family members rather than one of the cyborgs.

Perhaps not a book to come in and read cold, but a lovely addition to the series.

Gods and Pawns
Kage Baker
9/10
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LibraryThing member TadAD
Short stories about the characters of The Company novels.
LibraryThing member redswirl3
I really enjoy this book in the series. I like the novella within a novel writing style of Kage Baker. I enjoyed the mystery quality to Mendoza and Lewis adventure in Bolivia. I was happy to read more about Lewis, since he is my favorite character.
LibraryThing member rivkat
What it says on the tin. If you want to read more of the adventures of Mendoza and Lewis throughout time, working to steal the secrets of history to benefit the financial interests of the Company in a future of extreme political correctness, this will deliver.
LibraryThing member wealhtheowwylfing
Baker's Company series has dragged a bit lately, so it was a pleasure to read this collection of short stories. Each is an excellent tale on its own, filled with action, mystery and a lot of characterization. I love the cyborg's wry asides and their anachronistic mindsets. This was also the first
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book in a while that made me truly like Mendoza, Lewis and Joseph again--for too many books they've been running around doing desperate things without any humor to them, and I really appreciated seeing Mendoza's focused courage, Lewis's kind and slightly hapless attempts at love, and Joseph's optimistic sarcasm. These stories also introduce a few new characters, most memorably the mortal, middle-aged and perpetually over-worked Maria. I loved her, and I loved her smart, independent and very believable reactions to slowly learning about the Company.
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LibraryThing member ehines
Baker really thrives in shorter pieces: she's vastly less likely to get cutesy with her material. At its best this series is very, very good. Exemplary work. At its worst its still pretty good.
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