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In the Garden of Iden: A Novel of the Company Audiobook
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(3.01) - 2,371 listener ratings
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Publisher Description
The first novel of Kage Baker’s critically acclaimed, much-loved series, the Company, introduces us to a world where the future of commerce is the past. In the twenty-fourth century, the Company preserves works of art and extinct forms of life (for profit of course). It recruits orphans from the past, renders them all but immortal, and trains them to serve the Company, Dr. Zeus, Inc. One of these is Mendoza, the botanist. She is sent to Elizabethan England to collect samples from the garden of Sir Walter Iden. But while there, she meets Nicholas Harpole, with whom she falls in love. And that love sounds great bells of change which will echo down the centuries, and through the succeeding novels of the Company.
Breathtakingly detailed and written with great aplomb, In the Garden of Iden is a contemporary classic of the science fiction genre.
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"A massive anthology of fantasy stories set so far in the future that the sun has almost burned out and the last descendants of humanity live in a world of decadent orientalism and magic. A mixed bag, like any multi-author collection, but the Lucius Shepard and Neil Gaiman stories standout. "
— Keith (4 out of 5 stars)
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“Clever…Baker draws a colorful portrait of life in sixteenth-century England. Into this she inserts an unusual mix of mortals, all-too-fallible immortals, and a generous dollop of antic wit.”
— San Francisco Chronicle -
“The prose is compulsively readable—it has the breezy feel of someone casually telling us a story, a feeling I associate with, say, Heinlein at his best…It’s easily on a level with Le Guin’s or Resnick’s first novels.”
— New York Review of Science Fiction -
“So, how do you classify a seriously philosophical time-travel story of a young cyborg’s first love amid religious conflict? As a good read.”
— Locus -
“Baker’s characterizations are robust and detailed, as is her development of the historical setting…[Listeners] will recognize in Baker a fantasist of considerable promise.”
— Publishers Weekly -
“Janan Raouf keeps the narration light and maintains hopefulness in the character of Mendoza, which offsets some of the darkness of the times. With a steady and even pace Raouf keeps the story moving.”
— AudioFile -
“Baker’s witty debut novel is a pip. Full of exquisite descriptions of sixteenth-century England and the Spanish Inquisition, this is a bittersweet tale of a young woman’s first love…Highly recommended.”
— Library Journal -
“A highly impressive and thoroughly engrossing debut.”
— Kirkus Reviews -
“Set both in the twenty-fourth and sixteenth centuries, In the Garden of Iden (the first of Kage Baker’s The Company novels) is a unique historical science fiction romance…It was a lovely performance…I do hope that Blackstone Audio will be producing more of Kage Baker’s The Company novels."
— FantasyLiterature.com -
“The debut of a major talent. Kage Baker is a fresh, audacious, ambitious new voice, wry, jazzy, irreverent, sharp as a razor, full of daring, dash, and élan, sometimes surprisingly lyrical. She is also one hell of a storyteller. If you’re reading something by Kage Baker, fasten your seat belt—you’re in for a wild ride.”
— Gardner Dozois, editor of The Year’s Best Science Fiction
In the Garden of Iden Listener Reviews
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" Recommended read. This is a clever take on the Adam & Eve myth, and gets pretty metaphysical about it once you start picking out the story points in the myth. "
— LizzieB, 2/19/2014 -
" Interesting take on time travel paradox. I'm intrigued enough to read the next few. "
— Valerie, 2/12/2014 -
" The first novel of The Company. You'd think it would be difficult to relate to a set of characters who are basically perfect immortals thanks to technology, but somehow Kage Baker manages it. A fun read--highly recommended for those who enjoy Connie Willis's time travel books. "
— Sarah, 2/12/2014 -
" This sad story of a young girl's first love, where she opens herself up heart and soul, lies in the unlikely intersection of science fiction and historical fiction. Mendoza starts off her first assignment working for the company, saving soon-to-be-extinct plant species, as she slowly discovers that she and her friends may be causing more harm than good. Along the way, the author has interesting things to say about age and the limited range of personalities. "
— Hester, 1/28/2014 -
" Never really lives up to the promise of its first chapter, but a pretty fun diversion. Immortals, time travel, shadowy operatives, religious persecution... First in a loosely linked series. "
— Fred, 1/24/2014 -
" Only read on the rec of my library friend. So NOT what I would pick, put a fantastic fantasy that had me thinking about it between books in this series. "
— Anissa, 1/20/2014 -
" This whole series is one of my favorites. Sincere and clever and funny; historically accurate; prominently features chocolate. What more can one ask? "
— Elizabeth, 1/9/2014 -
" Immortality? Love. A torrid love affair gone wrong. I did not like the ending- if there was one. ending. "
— Linda, 12/13/2013 -
" This is the first book in Kage Baker's "The Company" series, about time traveling corporations and cyborgs. Love, art, mythology and history combined by a devious corporation. How can you go wrong. "
— Heather, 12/9/2013 -
" Rescued from the Inquisition, Mendoza is remade into a cyborg, enslaved to The Company who will send her throughout time to pillage. But in her first real mission, she gets to know a most unusual man. I particularly love that she's a botanist. "
— Kaethe, 11/18/2013 -
" read 2 and 3 before this one...having trouble because although I love the idea...I dislike the whole Mendoza thing...or maybe it's just Mendoza herself. I like to follow other cyborgs better. Joseph, anyone? "
— Kelli, 6/1/2013 -
" I thought this book was fairly average when I first read it, but I am glad I continued on, because THE COMPANY series is incredible and Kage Baker has become one of my favorite writers. "
— Mark, 6/26/2012 -
" Wonderful sci-fi. I'm excited that there are several more in this series, and I'm just diving in. Such a shame I learned of these books on the news of Baker's death; she was a very compelling author. "
— SA, 10/12/2011 -
" The concept was exciting, but the execution left me wanting more. After the initial set-up, it felt like a silly romance from the middle ages. That might have been my fault with my expectations. I was expecting an action-y adventure with more science fiction elements. "
— Julie, 9/16/2011 -
" [Copied across from Library Thing; 9 February 2013] "
— Kerry, 8/18/2011 -
" I read this years ago and I remember liking it a lot, but I never read the rest of the Company books. I need to re-read this and read them at some point. "
— LeAnn, 6/16/2011 -
" A bit too true to the style of the original Dying Earth. An excellent homage, but it choses to emphasize the "lite fantasy" aspects of the stories, instead of the "techno civilization at the end of time" aspects. "
— David, 2/27/2011 -
" (See Review of "He Is Legend" - stories in honor of Richard Matheson. These two books were read at the same time. "
— Bondama, 2/7/2011 -
" Didn't read all of these. "
— Cavolonero, 2/2/2011 -
" Good Anthology, but a bit hefty. If you like Vance's Dying Earth, you'll probably enjoy this book. "
— Chriskolak, 1/26/2011 -
" Some really great stories, a couple not-so-great stories. It got to be a little long, but there's no reason to read it straight through, seeing as it is an anthology! "
— Brian, 1/17/2011 -
" There were some fantastic short stories in this collection. And there were some downright boring ones. Mostly this collection made me want to finish reading the original work by Vance, which I think is a good thing. "
— Marc, 8/16/2010 -
" Fun, but after a while it started to pale. Too similar, not inventive enough. So okay, but not great "
— Steven, 4/10/2010
About Kage Baker
Kage Baker (1952–2010) was an artist, actor, and director at the Living History Centre and taught Elizabethan English as a second language.
About Janan Raouf
Janan Raouf, although born in the United States, grew up in Japan, Switzerland, and Holland before returning to attend Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She has lived and worked as an actress on stage, film, and television on both coasts. Janan currently resides in Los Angeles.