The Life of the World to Come

Kage Baker has developed one of the most interesting and entertaining series I've read over the past several years. The Company series tells of a universe where travel to the past is possible, but what can be done there is limited to that which does not change written history. Immortality is also possible, but only for those who are "modified" at an early age, to the point that they become cyborgs. And in this universe, the Company is the entity that controls both time travel and the immortality process, and they have used that knowledge to get very rich and very powerful. The first four books are set in the past, telling of several of the cyborgs in the employ of the Company. Primarily we are introduced to three of the cyborgs: Mendoza, a headstrong botanist who has fallen in love twice, once to a mortal man in the 16th century, and again in the 19th, to his doppelganger; Joseph, a very wise and clever "Facilitator," trained in the art of communication; and Lewis, a well-meaning but somewhat clueless individual. Baker has created many intertwined plots, with lots of unanswered questions leading us deeper into the Company universe. Always in the background of the stories is the question of what happens in the year 2355 that has made it so that no communication after that point has ever been sent to the past. The Life of the World to Come is the fifth book in the Company series, and it does much to move things forward in the main story line (there have been numerous short stories devoted to the series, but generally speaking, they don't follow the main story line).

I'm not going to get into the plot of this particular story, as it would have minimal meaning if you haven't read the other books (which I strongly encourage you to do). I will say that most of the activity takes place in the "present," the 24th century, and we get to see some of the decision-making that goes on in the Company. We also are introduced to Alec Checkerfield (unless you've read the three or so short stories about him in Baker's collection White Knights, Black Shadows), someone from the 24th century who appears identical to Mendoza's two previous lovers, and who evidently will be a critical person for the rest of the series. Indeed, the suggestion is firmly placed that he plays a crucial role in the mystery of what happens in 2355.

I will say I enjoyed the book, but that I found some of the details that reference what's gone on previously somewhat obscured by time -- the series has been written over several years (it started 7 years ago, and I discovered it about 5). The 4th book was released 4 years ago, and I read it then. Perhaps I'll need to re-read all the Company books once the series is completed. For what it's worth, it seems like Baker has caught her second wind, as she's hoping to release the next book in the series by year's end.

The fact that this book takes place in the "present" allows Baker to explore the other side of the Company series time travel logic. Previously, the cyborgs in the past were generally concerned with following orders to rescue that which will become extinct or destroyed by events. Here, we see how decisions are made in the "present" and how they "cause" the actions of the past, already in recorded history, to occur. The different perspective has caused me to re-think how I understand her vision of time travel -- it seems consistent, it's just that I hadn't looked at it that way before.

I've got some nits with the book (which I won't go into, because I'd need to get into plot specifics), but my biggest complaint with the book is one common to many books in series. Namely, there's no end to the book, so it might as well be a chapter end. To me, a book needs some sort of closure -- it doesn't need to resolve all outstanding issues in the series, but it does need finality of the basic story thread presented within its pages.

Rating: 7/10