The Life of the World to Come
1st edition cover
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| Author | Kage Baker |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | Paul Youll |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Series | The Company |
| Genre | Science fiction |
| Publisher | Tor Books |
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Publication date
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December 2004 |
| Media type | Print (hardcover) |
| Pages | 336 pp |
| ISBN | |
| OCLC | 55036769 |
| 813/.54 22 | |
| LC Class | PS3552.A4313 L54 2004 |
| Preceded by | The Graveyard Game |
| Followed by | The Children of the Company |
The Life of the World to Come (2004) is the fifth installment in the series of science fiction time travel novels by Kage Baker concerning the exploits of The Company.
This novel is another chapter in the disastrous life of the cyborg botanist Mendoza, recruited by the Company in 16th century Spain, and exiled to the far past. Twice in her life the same man, in different identities, has visited her, become her lover, and been killed. Neither seemed to know her at first.
Alec Checkerfield is a 24th-century data pirate and smuggler who steals a time machine. He encounters Mendoza. She encounters him. It's deja vu all over again for her. He is mystified. This meeting catalyzes the most horrific event in human history. All involved are left wondering what they have done, and why. Meanwhile, Dr. Zeus seems to go from strength to strength.
The first part is an extension of the first person accounts previously supplied by Mendoza, which accounts are apparently previous chapters in her journal, written on any material she can get. Somehow all of this manages to stay intact for the unknown amount of time, perhaps 3000 years, that Mendoza spends in exile on Santa Catalina. The period is uncertain because Mendoza herself cannot remember living through some portions of it. From time to time she looks down at her plants, and next time she looks up months or years have slipped by. She may just be doing the cyborg version of 'zoning out', but since she has already slipped forward in time once, there's no telling what might be happening. What is certain is that she is about 150,000 years in the past, growing fruit and vegetables for a Company resort on Santa Cruz island.
One day, a man shows up in a Company Time Shuttle. These previously unknown vessels let the Company ship tourists back to the past, but can only be piloted by cyborgs. Nonetheless the man is the image of her two previous lovers, and she does unto him what she did unto them. This time, however, he leaves behind genetic material when he goes back to the future. She is able to learn from this that he is no more human than she, but in a different way. His name is Alec Checkerfield.
Next we learn about "Smart Alec", precocious scion of rich privileged 24th century Londoners, who leave him in the care of their housekeepers so they can get on with their lives away from dismal, puritanical England. Alec affects all around him, especially machines. Given a highly controlled moral teaching unit at a young age, he is able to re-program it by instinct to become his personal assistant and, eventually, partner in crime. This entity becomes "The Captain", after the pirate Captain Morgan. They resolve to rule the oceans of the world, using smuggling to pay the bills. Since meat, alcohol, chocolate etc. are illegal in most of the developed world, this is both easy and lucrative.
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