The Life Of The World To Come (2005) - Plot & Excerpts
A word, first, on the publishing. Sometime between The Graveyard Game and this novel, Kage Baker switched to Tor. I am extremely grateful for that. The cover design is much sleeker, and there is a very definite style to the series covers from this point on, making it immediately obvious when you see the books lined up that they are, in fact, a series. The jacket descriptions, too, are much improved, as you can hopefully see from the one I included above. I just wish that Tor had the rights to the entire series, because the first four look very out-of-place on the shelf now. . .To the story. The Graveyard Game felt unfocused, like nothing more than a transition; The Life of the World to Come does not have that problem. It's still told from the third-person, and does jump around in time, but it is entirely the story of Alec Checkerfield. Like In the Garden of Iden, it is a coming-of-age novel in the classic sense -- we see Alec from his very generation through to a major trial-by-fire and a falling in love. The one major issue I have with this novel, however, is the world Baker created for Alec to come of age in.The future she has envisioned is pretty dire. It has been through several apocalypses of various sorts, and the few people that are left have emerged incredibly privileged, with advanced technology and all the resources of the planet at their disposal. As we got a glimpse of in Sky Coyote and The Graveyard Game, they have taken the supposedly moral high road on so many issues that they have completely whitewashed their own existence -- no real food (all stimulants and animal products are banned), no real sex, an abhorrence of violence of any kind, and all that extends so far that they can't even read books about such things, so they also have none of the cultural awareness that would at least come with education through literature. This means that they are perennial children, and Alec, as a product of that culture (though he naturally rebels against it) remains a child throughout as well.Mendoza's previous two lovers were men with great strength of character, as noted in the description; Alec seems so weak compared to them that I highly doubt Mendoza would love him if he weren't genetically identical to her other loves. (Baker does provide a neat little explanation of why Mendoza fell so quickly for all three of the men, however, so maybe I'm wrong about that.) This makes the novel much less involving on an emotional level than the previous four, because all of the previous ones (yes, even the transitional The Graveyard Game) were imbued with passion -- in the two from Mendoza's perspective, passion for Harpole and Fairfax; in the other two Joseph's and Lewis' passion for Mendoza. The Life of the World to Come was more abstract. It moved the plot forward immensely, and I giggled at all the right places, but there were no moments that sank into my chest and made me feel. Even Alec's trial-by-fire seemed somewhat academic -- Alec himself simply wasn't mature enough to grow as I would expect from it.But I would still strongly recommend this series, and I would still say that The Life of the World to Come is stronger than The Graveyard Game. Baker's prose is consistently good, the story moves along quickly, the ideas are fun to play with, and (best of all) each novel is a complete story arc that nonetheless moves forward the larger series story arc. This novel introduces some new players to the game (and I loved the Captain -- if more had been from his perspective I think Baker would have captured the passion of the earlier books in his love for his boy Alec) and gets us much closer to finding out what happens in 2355. I am still looking forward to each book, which is pretty darned good for a series of this length, I think.
I’ve been staggering my Company reads, because I’m all too quickly running out of them!The Life of the World to Come is book number five out of a total of nine. Four more books! Just four! What else will I read when I’m done (ok that is a silly question, for there is so much more to read, even by the wonderful late Kage Baker herself).Let’s have a quick look at that cover, shall we? Now that is an example of a really bad one. I would never pick up a book with a cover like that! It’s rather cheesy and pretending to be futuristic. And really doesn’t reflect the book – or the series – well at all.And back to the book. Baker has finally brought us to Zeus. Or rather, the three eccentric men who work for Dr Zeus and created the tall dark hero who keeps appearing in Baker’s earlier books and charming the pants off of our dear botanist Mendoza (re: In the Garden of Iden, Mendoza in Hollywood). So while it opens with Mendoza, still exiled in Back Way Back, this fifth book is more about Alec Checkerfield, an Earl and not-quite-human. Fascinating fellow, yes. But could we get more from Mendoza, please?So in this, the fifth book, more about the world at large is revealed, secrets are uncovered, and there are hints of erm, well, The Life of the World to Come.
What do You think about The Life Of The World To Come (2005)?
The fifth book. Finally we're getting to see the what is actually happening in the massive plot. And a bunch of secrets are reveal, but not clearly.Baker has shed some of her freshman writing habits... sort of. She still has a tendency to favor dialog over action. I was happy to see that she stop slipping in long bouts of soap-boxing, until I got to the end. It finally occurred to me that she's doing it intentionally. She purposely sets up her books to allow her the opportunity preach. In this case the entire book was a set up and now the through plot is been hobbled by her last minute character twist.Anyway other than that it's a decent book made better by the pirate theme.
—Grayson Queen
I was very confused in the begging of this book as it sorted through numerous characters, but it really began to move once the main character, Alec Checkerfield, went to London. It seems that Alec is slated to become the 7th Earl of Finsbury in England in the 24 century and has been abandoned by his parents to a wonderful estate. Alec is a very gifted child who has amazing potential in cyberscience. Because of this, he frees an AI cyberspace plaything that he dubs Captain Morgan, because he likes pirates.The Captain, as a free AI entity, guides Alec as he grows up. Most anything of pleasure is outlawed, including drinking, lighting a fire and a whole host of things in this new age of the 24th century. Alec is a bit of a trouble maker who likes to flaunt society's rules. As Alec grows, the Captain hatches a plan that eventually lets the two become the wealthiest beings on Earth and do whatever they like.Alec becomes a 24th century pirate of sorts and comes into contact with men who are part of the Company or Dr. Zeus Inc. Other characters in the book are scientists who work for Dr. Zeus and have created Alec through DNA manipulation and a host mother. Alec is indeed very special, but he doesn't understand it. The Captain suspects, but they only find out much later as they gain access to the computers and databases of the Company. They also find untold knowledge about the past, present and future. One of these miracles is how to go back through time. Alec steals a time machine which brings him into contact with Mendoza, who has known Alec as different men throughout history.The Company created the entity Alec as an experiment to create a hero who would do good in the world. He was alive in 3 different time periods and died in two of them. Mendoza is an immortal being and realized what was going on. She tries to help Alec break the Company so he can right all the wrongs they have perpetuated. It seems they have been using Alec and many others to do their bidding throughout time.Alec and his 2 former selves wind up existing, somewhat, simultaneously in the 24th century. It's as if Alec's brain can run his other selves as programs. They and the Captain attack the Company at the end of the book, but nothing is resolved. This story was the precursor to subsequent novels that fleshed out the other lives of Alec's predecessors.The whole idea of the book is fascinating, but I feel that I have read things like it before. I enjoy the technology, science, history and sci-fi components all in one. Now I have to read the books that follow in the series.
—Ron Arden
This was great. The "big reveal" that the Company is basically run by a bunch of future-D&D style nerds with no real understanding of life or grip on the consequences of their actions is hilarious, and Alec's parallel story is a great little adventure/psychodrama. I wince a little at the "the future will suck because the ultraliberal feminist/vegan/thought police will take over" trope, especially since it hasn't aged well at all, but it does provide some amusing sources of conflict. My only gripe is that it ends without wrapping anything up, and the next book in the sequence doesn't continue the story thread at all.
—Jeremy Preacher
