ellenkushner (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
ellenkushner) wrote2010-01-15 07:58 pm
ellenkushner) wrote2010-01-15 07:58 pm
Kage Baker
I saw her in a wheelchair at World Fantasy, talked with her about her cancer, and meant to post about it as soon as I got home; was ashamed to have forgotten, only I see here that she was not eager to have it known; but still . . . . .
Kage Baker is one of the living F/SF authors whom I most admire. I am polite about a lot of writers, but there aren't many I admire.
It is just appalling to me that she is not rich and famous with a shelf full of Hugos and Nebulae and those incredibly ugly busts of H.P. Lovecraft (World Fantasy). Not that she isn't a frequent nominee, and doesn't get brilliant reviews. But she seems to fly under the radar of general popularity. Maybe she's too smart? Too funny? Too wry? Too knowledgeable on history and language? Maybe her characters suffer too quietly, have sex too realistically? Maybe the world was not waiting for several well-written series and a huge net of short stories that all, amazingly, turn out to be interwoven even though at first you'd deem it impossible?
When I saw her at WFC, she said she wasn't able to sit up and write, but that her sister (a million blessings on her head) was taking dicatation on a new work. I hate the idea of a world without a new Kage Baker story or novel.
The word is out, now, on just how ill she is. Her caregiver has posted e/address for cards etc. They are not asking for money to cover health care. Which doesn't mean we shouldn't all give something back. Please, do yourself a giant favor - and let the world of publishing know she's valued - by buying some of Kage Baker's work.
I'd love to see your comments here on what Kage Baker book or story you'd recommend. Me: For a long and enjoyable ride, I'd say start with In the Garden of Iden, and run right through the entire "Company" series - and how I envy you not having to wait a year or two or seven to find out how it all comes out! Don't want to commit? Try Empress of Mars (it's the name of a tavern. In a mining town. On, yes...) , or The Anvil of the World (think "Thorne Smith meet Fritz Leiber and they go on a road trip").
Here's a recent interview, mostly about House of the Stag. Here's one from 2005 that delves into the complexity of her series. Here's another good one from 2002.
Kage Baker is one of the living F/SF authors whom I most admire. I am polite about a lot of writers, but there aren't many I admire.
It is just appalling to me that she is not rich and famous with a shelf full of Hugos and Nebulae and those incredibly ugly busts of H.P. Lovecraft (World Fantasy). Not that she isn't a frequent nominee, and doesn't get brilliant reviews. But she seems to fly under the radar of general popularity. Maybe she's too smart? Too funny? Too wry? Too knowledgeable on history and language? Maybe her characters suffer too quietly, have sex too realistically? Maybe the world was not waiting for several well-written series and a huge net of short stories that all, amazingly, turn out to be interwoven even though at first you'd deem it impossible?
When I saw her at WFC, she said she wasn't able to sit up and write, but that her sister (a million blessings on her head) was taking dicatation on a new work. I hate the idea of a world without a new Kage Baker story or novel.
The word is out, now, on just how ill she is. Her caregiver has posted e/address for cards etc. They are not asking for money to cover health care. Which doesn't mean we shouldn't all give something back. Please, do yourself a giant favor - and let the world of publishing know she's valued - by buying some of Kage Baker's work.
I'd love to see your comments here on what Kage Baker book or story you'd recommend. Me: For a long and enjoyable ride, I'd say start with In the Garden of Iden, and run right through the entire "Company" series - and how I envy you not having to wait a year or two or seven to find out how it all comes out! Don't want to commit? Try Empress of Mars (it's the name of a tavern. In a mining town. On, yes...) , or The Anvil of the World (think "Thorne Smith meet Fritz Leiber and they go on a road trip").
Here's a recent interview, mostly about House of the Stag. Here's one from 2005 that delves into the complexity of her series. Here's another good one from 2002.
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thank you so much for the recommendations....!
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So here's my recommendation: The Graveyard Game (http://www.amazon.com/Graveyard-Game-Company-Kage-Baker/dp/0765311844) pulls off the fabulous trick of being the novel equivalent of a traditional buddy movie... but in which the action takes place over two hundred years and switches easily from California to England and back again by way of north Africa and a strangely Japanese Mexico. Joseph, Machiavellian manipulator and (almost) loyal Company cyborg, and Lewis, gentle preserver of literature, make a classic double act as they hunt for a missing friend and get repeatedly stoned on good chocolate.
Also, Kage Baker is responsible for me being really disturbed every time I walk down Telegraph Avenue in Berkeley. You see, there's a fast food place on Telegraph known for its vegetarian burgers and low-fat fries. It's at 2355 Telegraph... and its name is Smart Alec's.
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Now I wish I wasn't reading this on a Friday when I won't be back at the library until Tuesday. I'm putting In the Garden of Iden on hold though.
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Novel -
The Life of the World to Come - best SF novel of the century so far. I wish I'd written it. The New Inklings!
Short -
Standing in His Light - Wonderful, quiet, moving story about Vermeer. And where all the rest of his paintings ended up.
I actually like her shorts more than the novels (though I think The Life of the World to Come is the best thing she's ever written). She wanders a bit sometimes in the novels, but never in the shorts.
Terrible news.
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My recommendation is one of her newer ones: Hotel Under the Sand.
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I stumbled on Sky Coyote in a bookstore and loved it, several years ago. I think that series peaked too early, but it has some magnificent moments.
Also, for my money, The Anvil of the World is magnificent both thematically and as a story about people.
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other books.
Now I do!
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I'd give a recommendation, but as I'm feeling kind of incoherent, at least I can point to this (http://www.amazon.com/Graveyard-Game-Kage-Baker/dp/0151004498): click Look Inside, then read the back cover. I said it then; I'll stand by it now. And let me tell you it was one of the biggest shocks I've ever had to pick up a book by one of my very favorite authors, flip it over, and discover to my total surprise that they'd quoted me on the damn book....
Still not worthy. But the book sure is.
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I stumbled across Black Projects, White Knights, mostly on the basis of the fantastic cover design, and was halfway through it before I realized that the premise felt oddly familiar, and tracked it down to a SFBC Omnibus that I'd never read because it sounded...rather much. Silly me.
It's actually not a bad place to start; I think Graveyard Game is probably the best of the Company series, but it's not a great place to start. Get hooked on the short stories, and then go back and read the epic through.
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Kage Baker
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"In the Garden of Iden" is a great book, and the best starting point, but in my opinion "The Graveyard Game" is one of the best books of its decade in ANY genre.
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Someone comes to town; someone leaves town.
And, yes - I suspect that when she is gone she will suddenly become immensely popular. Makes me sick - still, it's better than sinking into utter obscurity, ennit?
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On the plus side, I do a lot of catching up on LJ between 2:00 and 5:00AM.
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