In the Garden of Iden

Kage Baker
In the Garden of Iden Cover

WoGF #1 - In the Garden of Iden

daxxh
9/21/2013
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Women of Genre Fiction – Book 1

In the Garden of Iden – Kage Baker

The premise for this book was very interesting – orphaned children throughout time get "rescued" by the Company, turned into immortal cyborgs and travel through the time continuum collecting plants, animals and ancient relics that become extinct or lost in the future. That plot line could go in a lot of different directions and could be very interesting.

And interesting is how the book starts – a small girl, young enough to not know her own name, is rescued from the clutches of the Spanish Inquisition by the futuristic Company. After becoming an immortal cyborg genius, Mendoza, as the child has been named, is sent on her first mission with other Company operatives to 16th Century England to collect botanical specimens from the garden of Sir Walter Iden. Once the group is in England, the story becomes more of a teen romance, not my favorite genre.

The writing style and the excellent depiction of the culture and the views of that era saved this book from mediocrity. Because it is the first book in a series, which usually is more world building and character introduction, I will probably read the second book to see if the original premise of immortal cyborgs traveling through the time continuum gets as interesting as it should be.