Rating: 
Summary: Solid but not Baker's best
Review: Kage Baker has suddenly arrived on the SF scene with several novels and a number of fine short stories. Most of her work so far, including Sky Coyote, is part of a series about the "Company", Dr. Zeus, Incorporated, and its time-travelling immortal servants. This is a pretty good setup for stories. Certainly, as with most time travel books, it doesn't do to look too closely at the paradoxes implied. In addition, the restrictions placed on the Company's technology have a sense of adhocery to them. But I quibble: suspension of disbelief is not too hard, and Baker's work has been interesting and involving. She is one of the most promising new SF writers.Sky Coyote is told by the Immortal Joseph, a Facilitator for the Company who has been working for them for thousands of years. His new assignment, in 1700 A.D., is to appear to a town full of Chumash Indians in (what will become) California, as a figure from their legends: Sky Coyote. He is to persuade them to pack up their town, lock, stock and canoe, and be transported to the future. You see, their culture is about to be destroyed by the white men -- first Spanish missionaries; eventually the Americans -- and the Company wishes to preserve as much of this culture as possible for restoration or at least study in the 24th century. (Why and how they make a profit doing so is not ever convincingly explained, but let that pass.) This makes for an enjoyable story. There is a lot of interesting detail about the impressively advanced Chumash culture, including their commercial nature, and their stories and legends. Joseph as Sky Coyote gets to make a lot of jokes, and have a lot of fun. There isn't quite enough conflict, and the plot isn't twisty enough, but the basic story is still worth reading. However, Baker intersperses this with some other details. Events in Joseph's past life, some of which raise doubts in him about the Company. A lot of focus on an otherwise thoroughly minor character named Mendoza (who is the protagonist of some other books in the series). A few strange intimations of something portentous occurring in 2355 A.D. All this is really quite interesting. The problem is, it's really not got much of anything to do with the rest of the novel, and it serves mainly as a distraction. The main story is a bit thin anyway, and the hints of some really interesting stuff that we'll get to eventually (but not in this book!) don't help. Make no mistake about it: Baker has the chops of a fine writer. Her characters are well drawn, her prose is sound, her stories hold the reader's interest. And whatever misgivings I have, I still enjoyed Sky Coyote. But I think it's somewhat flawed structurally by the intrusion of an external story arc that is presented only by hints. In the final analysis, this novel will mainly be of interest to readers committed to the entire series, and even those readers will probably find themselves chomping at the bit for the main event to come along.
Rating: 
Summary: Glibness killed my ability to suspend disbelief.
Review: Kage Baker introduces a fascinating concept in her wonderful first book, and fails to follow through in this disappointing second. The book retained my interest, but did not approach the tension, character development, or, dare I say it, believability of the first. The core problem that I had with it was not the plot or the focus on Chumash, which, though perhaps not as compelling as the plot/focus of the first, was nonetheless interesting, but it was the tone and perspective of this novel. I found it almost intolerably glib throughout. It struck me that Ms. Baker may have overcompensated in her attempt to get inside the head of a male character, like she had read too many Spenser novels in an attempt to figure out how to write from a male perspective. As a result, Joseph, who came across as an intriguing character of unexpected depth in the first novel, comes across here as shallow, inarticulate, dull, callow, and immature. I also found frustrating her dialogue for all the main characters, particularly the Chumash. While I understand that she was trying to use modern speech because that's what it would sound like to us if we were "of that culture", even within those bounds the dialogue sounded out of place, contrived, and overly glib. That is, if you accept the literary device that these Indians would speak like 21st century Americans, even a 21st century American would not sound like a dumb teenager during all conversations, and certainly not when addressing a deity in the flesh, at least initially. I found her lack of variation in the dialogue style -- it was uniformly glib -- to ultimately kill my ability to suspend disbelief. That said, like other reviewers, given the strength of her first novel, I'm willing to give her another chance.
Rating:
Summary: Not as good as the first.
Review: Kage Baker's first novel was very good--well-plotted, with a strong main character and a sense of humor. The humor remains in the sequel, but the other elements have weakened. The main character of this novel, Joseph, is not given much to do. He carries out his Company mission, and that's it. The mission itself is not very exciting; they're packing up a village of Native Americans from California to preserve their culture. All in all, there's very little tension or conflict in this novel--Joseph basically does what he's told, and the tribe's removal progresses relatively smoothly. A hint of what could be a much more interesting entry in the series is given in Joseph's references to his mentor Budu. He rebelled against the Company and seemingly got away. Hopefully, the next novel will shed more light on this character.
Rating:
Summary: A bit of a sophomore slump, but still worth a read
Review: Kage Baker's novels and stories of the Company are usually a joy to read, and while Sky Coyote is less fun and more slog than any other entry I've read, it still has its strong points. The novel's signal flaw is that it is actually telling two different stories, one interesting, the other more of a history lesson. The first is the story of the interactions between the Company's immortal cyborgs and their mortal 24th century bosses. This is fascinating stuff- Baker paints a portrait of a future where virtually all the pleasures of life have been legislated away and the people are bland, whiny, fearful children. The operatives are shocked that these are the masters for whose benefit they've spent millennia storing up rarities and treasures. This part of the book also offers dark hints as to what the Company's loyal workers may find waiting for them in 2355, the cutoff year for their knowledge of history.
The other story deals with the efforts of Joseph, a 20,000-year-old operative, to uproot an Indian village and move them for observation by the Company. It has its moments but too often feels like a tutorial on the lives of the Chumash rather than a full-fledged story about. It's not that they aren't an interesting people; it's just not what I was expecting from this novel, and there's too much of it. Still, the other half of the story is interesting, and Baker's writing is as polished as ever. 3 stars, or 6/10.
Rating: 
Summary: A wonderful instalment...
Review: Ms. Baker's first novel, In The Garden Of Iden, introduced a wonderful set of characters and a refreshing and interesting premis. In her latest instalment of "Company" novels we are brought deeper into the complex workings of Dr. Zues and his immortal operatives. Focused more on Joseph, everyones favorite slimy little guy, we get to see that perhaps all is not as it seems in the rosey future. Ms. Baker sucessfully weaves the problems and predudices involved when any two very different groups of people clash, with comedy and a brillant sense of the absurd. She has an inborn talent with language that pulls the reader deep into the story and time period. I personally am looking forward to what I hope are the many "Company" novels that will follow.
Rating:
Summary: Unsatisfying entry in a strong series
Review: Paul McCartney once said that he didn't know where the idea came from that he and John Lennon were anti-money. The two of them, he said, would sit down and "write ourselves a swimming pool". One hopes that Kage Baker is getting considerably more than a swimming pool out of her "Company" novels. The first one--"In the Garden of Iden"-- had it all: neat premise, historical accuracy, interesting characters and an exciting plot. Baker claims to have taught Elizabethan english as a second language, and it showed. The second novel (of eight? nine?) has the same neat premise, now somewhat stretched, but a dud of a plot and none of the historical interest of the first installment. The entire book would make an interesting chapter, perhaps some kind of flash-back, in a more satisfying novel. The fishy plot involves moving a village of native Americans out of what will become the San Fernando valley to safety in Canada, just ahead of Spaniards, smallpox and slavery. The villagers are an interesting bunch, but they have all the historical verisimilitude of an ABC After-School Special. (The men all talk like land developers and the girls all talk like valley girls! Get the joke? They're the original Californians, ha ha!) Furthermore, Baker's premise is getting a little shopworn. Throw-away lines from the first book now are now major plot elements. Remember the crack about the "Great Goat Cult" in the first book? I'm sorry to have to tell you this, but it seems that those Goat Cultists are major players. And it's best not to pay very much attention to the time-travel premise as explained here. When we look back at this series in about ten years, we'll have trouble remembering what the hell the second book was about. It passed the time on a rainy day, and that's enough. "Sky Coyote" is worth a swimming pool. Hopefully the rest of the series will be worth considerably more.
Rating: 
Summary: Better than Garden
Review: See, I don't get it. Everyone says that Sky Coyote is their least favourite of Baker's books. Why? Is it because Joseph is the narrator? Is it because it doesn't deal with European-based history? Is it because somehow Baker wrote less beautifully than she usually does? I don't know. I thought it much better than Garden of Iden. In Sky Coyote, Joseph and Mendoza are sent to California to retrieve an entire tribe of people before white men can get at them with land grabs and smallpox. Baker knows California well: she lives there, so everything in the book has that touch of authenticity. Although she can't give the Chumash language that same kind of twist she gave Elizabethan English, she doesn't fall into the trap that most authors do with American Indians: namely, overly-simplify the language they speak. Of the three factions in the book (future mortals, immortals, and the Chumash), the Chumash come out most human, and that is a feat in itself when the book is narrated by an immortal. And speaking of immortals, I like Joseph so much better than Mendoza! She's stubborn, straightforward, and believes in one thing and one thing only. Fairly one-dimensional, even after having read Garden. Joseph ponders things, has faults and fears, and is much older and remembers far back to the Stone Age of Europe, whence he came. Yet he's able to work despite his fears. Admittedly, he largely ignores them. But isn't that what we do most of the time? I suppose what I liked best about the book, though, is the fact that it deals with the fallibility of Dr. Zeus and pokes fun at modern society in a way Garden did not. Introduced is the fact that Dr. Zeus has only provided the immortals with historical information up until a certain year in the future, where supposedly paradise on earth will have been achieved and the immortals can rest from their labours. Also added are the concept of the Enforcers, immortals who were recruited to kill raging hoardes during the Stone Age, but then lost their necessity and slowly vanished somehow. The idea is that Dr. Zeus can make mistakes. I loved it. Here is a company that saves you from certain death in the past and makes you immortal. You're trained to believe it's a wise and benevolent power. What happens when you begin to doubt? It's great stuff. Better than that are the future mortals who come to the past to oversee the Chumash tribe's excavation. They are like stretched-thin overly-exaggerated people of today. They play video games all of the time. Their vocabulary is extremely limited. They frown on controlled substances, are afraid of the Chumash "savages", and don't want to harm anything, even grass. They are each super-specialists, a genius in his own field but a doddering idiot about anything else. They have no sense of the history they are trying to preserve. It's just vindicating for a historian to see, as it feels that way today. Few now care about what happened before-- they are willfully ignorant, perpetuating the same mistakes and thinking they are original. Oh, I liked that. There is, of course, Baker's perpetual theme of single crazy zealots perpetuating murders for a jealous God. She has the Chumash encounter a new monotheistic cult which is, of course, villainous, persuasive, and stops at nothing to gain converts. Much like in Garden's Spain. Or in any of her books. No redeeming qualities, oh no. To be honest, the only way I can get through these parts is that she isn't altogether blatant about them. The story still functions in the characters' minds, and they are believable. So I can still think that God is trying to say something to Joseph, that there is more than the Company. Sometimes I wonder what Kage Baker really thinks.
Rating:
Summary: Terry Pratchett Does Time Travel
Review: Sky Coyote continues the story of Joseph and Mendoza, immortal Company agents who travel through history by living it. This book is similar to her others in that it is a strange mix of fascinating ideas and uneven storytelling. I enjoy the characters and concepts, am intrigued by the overarching plot about the ultimate goals of the company, but Baker definately has problems with pacing and plot structure. Some events which could be given much more attention are blown off with a few words, others (like the huge chapter describing a festival play -- not quite as bad as the interminable scene-by-scene descriptions of movies in "Mendoza in Hollywood") go into painfully dull detail for long periods of time. Main problem with this installment: Nothing really HAPPENS! However, it's a quick read, has some great funny scenes (the whole Roadrunner/Coyote scene made the novel worth it!), and a really interesting premise... that's what keeps me coming back.
Rating:
Summary: Intriguing ideas make for an enjoyable read
Review: Sky Coyote continues the story of Joseph and Mendoza, immortal Company agents who travel through history by living it. This book is similar to her others in that it is a strange mix of fascinating ideas and uneven storytelling. I enjoy the characters and concepts, am intrigued by the overarching plot about the ultimate goals of the company, but Baker definately has problems with pacing and plot structure. Some events which could be given much more attention are blown off with a few words, others (like the huge chapter describing a festival play -- not quite as bad as the interminable scene-by-scene descriptions of movies in "Mendoza in Hollywood") go into painfully dull detail for long periods of time. Main problem with this installment: Nothing really HAPPENS! However, it's a quick read, has some great funny scenes (the whole Roadrunner/Coyote scene made the novel worth it!), and a really interesting premise... that's what keeps me coming back.
Rating:
Summary: Funny, irreverent, tantalizing
Review: Sky Coyote is one of those unusual sequels which surpasses the original. In fact, reading the precursor, In the Garden of Iden, is entirely unnecessary for the enjoyment of this book. Kage Baker's intriguing premise of immortal beings laboring for the good of a future world they have never seen takes off in Sky Coyote. While the first book could be viewed as historical fiction with a science-fiction touch -- Sky Coyote explores the full promise of the idea behind the plot: Why would these powerful beings continue to work for the Company with very little reward? What is the future like? Who is really in charge of the Company -- the humans or the immortals? Sky Coyote telescopes backwards and forwards through time. In the main plot, Joseph endeavors to save a unique Native American culture from certain extinction. Meanwhile, flashbacks give us insight into Joseph's impressive past, while interludes at a Company base manned by humans from the future give us a frightening glimpse of the twenty-fourth century. And readers who enjoyed In the Garden of Iden will be interested in understanding the whole Mendoza-Harpole fiasco from Joseph's point of view. (No, she hasn't forgiven him.)
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