Those amazing immortals and the things they do
In the Company of Thieves by Kage Baker (Tachyon Publications, $15.95)
While most of the work in this collection of short stories and novellas by Kage Baker—set in the universe of her series about the Company—have been previously published, they’ve been in a number of outlets and hard to track down. This collection brings them together for fans of Baker, old and new.
And if you’re not a fan of Baker’s Company series, in which a corporation in the far future has mastered one-way time travel and created Immortals to serve them by picking up priceless artifacts before the items are destroyed, there’s only one question: Why not?
Start with In The Garden of Iden, then come back.
Good. Now that you know what we’re talking about, the best news about this new collection is that it includes a new and previously unpublished story featuring Joseph and Lewis in old Hollywood. It’s also got the fantastic novella The Women of Nell Gwynne’s, and a long-ish short story about an Immortal who longs to end it, but can’t (“Mother Aegypt”).
In short, it’s another good shot of complex work from a writer who died far too young. While it may be more necessary for Baker fans, it’s good science fiction (with elements of steampunk) for any reader.
For more information about In the Company of Thieves, visit the Tachyon page.
Cover art and design copyright © 2013 by Thomas Canty