Rating: 
Summary: Excellent time-travel California smartass tragicomic SF.
Review: _____________________________________
I thought the Chumash characters were particularly well done, very
*California* -- one of the the Humashup tycoons even has a
personal shaman. I don't know enough about the Chumash --
indeed, almost nothing -- to judge Baker's fidelity-to-history, but I
expect she's a trustworthy guide -- (but I do recall picking up
some very odd notions about science and history from voraciously
naive childhood reading, so comments from the Chumash-history literate are welcome.) I'm pretty sure coastal California culture has
featured wealth, ostentation, flash & showmanship for at least a
thousand years.... and, yes, there weren't many more clear, smog-free
days in the LA Basin even back when the dire wolves were
unwisely leaping onto prey mired in the La Brea tar pits.... Anyway. I have a definite weakness for anthropological SF. "Sky
Coyote" might not be up to the best of Le Guin or Arnason, but it has
some very fine moments. We were out to the Central Coast (the
Chumash, and Baker's, homeland) a few months back, and it is
lovely country, lovingly portrayed here. And Baker has a nice
command of the tragedy:farce, dark:light transition? mood-swing? --
not quite the words I'm looking for, but she plays the reader's
emotions skillfully. Really quite an impressive writer. You should probably read "Garden" first (also highly recommended), but "Sky Coyote" would do fine as
a stand-alone. Happy reading!
Pete Tillman
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