"
Sky Coyote" is the second installment in the "
Company" series by
science fiction writer Kage Baker. In the novels, the
Company is an immensely powerful
corporation that rescues people from death, makes them
immortal, and sends them on
time travel missions to rescue
art or
extinct life-forms. The stories are an odd combination of
historical novel and
science fiction.
"
Sky Coyote" is told from the point of view of
Joseph, the
Facilitator from the first
novel in the series, "
In the Garden of Iden". In this novel,
Joseph is sent to the
California of the
17th Century to help
preserve a
native American tribe, the
Chumash. To do this, he takes on the role of one of the tribe's semi-deities, a
Trickster figure named "
Sky Coyote". The main character from "Iden", the
botanist Mendoza, also returns in this novel.
In "
Sky Coyote", we get many hints about the darker side of the
politics behind the
Company, adding a new, much grimmer layer to the story. At the same time, and in sharp contrast to this, the
novel is at times hilariously funny.