The Sons of Heaven
Encyclopedia
The Sons of Heaven is a science fiction
novel written by Kage Baker
. It is the last in her series of novels about The Company
.
The Company, formally known as Dr. Zeus Inc.
, exists in the 24th century but employs immortal cyborg
s to recover and save valuable artifacts in the past. The cyborgs are created by taking suitable children who would otherwise die and augmenting them with artificial components, physiological enhancements, and nanotechnology
to continually repair their bodies so that they never age or die. In exchange for the gift of health and immortality they work to preserve the past for sale in the future.
Some cyborgs are corrupt, plotting against the Company and each other for the prize they expect to gain when they finally reach the 24th century, when they believe they will take over from the mortals who run the Company. Others despise mortals and plot to eliminate them. More benign factions try to counter them. Some individuals just want revenge.
The Botanist Mendoza, disabled and psychologically scarred by the attempts of the Company to destroy her, is dealing with the three incarnations of her lover, whom she first knew
as Nicholas Harpole in the 16th century. Two of them are imprisoned in her cyborg mind, while the third, the Victorian secret agent Edward Alton Bell-Fairfax, has taken over the body of the latest incarnation, Alec Checkerfield. Edward is showing signs of megalomania
. The four of them, along with Alec's artificial intelligence
known as Captain Morgan, are hiding in the deep past, hundreds of thousands of years before the present. This is to allow them to recover from their trials and mount their own campaign against the company, for which they laid the foundations in The Machine's Child
.
In the 24th century, Facilitator Joseph, having given up his quest for Mendoza after she disappeared
, is putting the fix in again. This time it is on behalf of his own father, the Enforcer Budu, who is intent on destroying the Company in his own way. To do this he will revive the army of Enforcers who have slept in Company bunkers for millennia, like heroes out of legend. Strangely, William Randolph Hearst
is a necessary part of this plan, even if "WRH" would like to be the hero Roland
.
Preserver Lewis, after being captured
by the strange little humanoids known as Homo umbratilis, is slowly recovering from their attempts to kill him as a way of developing a new way to destroy the Company cyborgs. He finds himself in a situation similar to that in the Arabian Nights
. As long as he can keep telling stories, a princess of the little people will bring him food and water so he can repair himself. Fortunately Lewis is a Literature Specialist and knows many stories...
Bugleg, the mortal Company scientist encountered in Sky Coyote
, is now so afraid of his own creations, the cyborgs, that he allows himself to be persuaded to spread a new poison among them, the result of experimentation on Lewis. His accomplice is a Hybrid, a genius born from both humans and Homo umbratilis. Bugleg himself has some umbratilis in him, it seems.
Suleyman, Executive Facilitator for North Africa, and his protégé Latif, continue their efforts to seek out the places where the Company has buried its mistakes, and rescue missing cyborgs such as Lewis and Kalugin.
The rival power groups headed by Labienus and Aegeus gather their forces for the final showdown. But things must be done correctly. They face off across the table at the sumptuous Banquet At The End of Time.
Preserver Victor, who has realized he is a carrier of deadly diseases, designed to be activated when the Company needs them, creates his own appropriate form of retribution for what was done to him.
Above all the Silence looms. After 11 a.m. California time on the 9th of July 2355, there are no more transmissions from the Company to its operatives in the past. As the time approaches, the disruption becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. The mortal executives of the Company cower in a bunker, while the different cyborg factions schedule their various assaults on the Company for that time.
the mortal servants of the base New World One address the male cyborgs as "Sons of Heaven", believing them to be gods who have preserved them from death. However the theme of the Company novels is also tied to the legend of Zeus
defeating his father Kronos
, sometimes identified with Chronos
, the personification of Time, to rule the rest of the Greco-Roman gods. In turn the cyborgs are the sons and daughters of Dr. Zeus Inc.
There are further resonances in the relations between the cyborgs, as Budu is regarded as a father by Joseph, Victor, and Labienus, among others. Another more literal reference involves Mendoza's giving birth to twin sons, augmented human baby boys, to house the recorded consciousnesses of Alec Checkerfield and Nicholas Harpole, the first and third incarnations of Project Adonai, her now-immortal lover.
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
novel written by Kage Baker
Kage Baker
Kage Baker was an American science fiction and fantasy writer.- Biography :Baker was born in Hollywood, California and lived there and in Pismo Beach most of her life. Before becoming a professional writer she spent many years in theater, including teaching Elizabethan English as a second language...
. It is the last in her series of novels about The Company
Dr. Zeus Inc.
Dr. Zeus Inc., also known simply as The Company, is a fictional entity in a series of time travel science fiction stories by Kage Baker....
.
The Company, formally known as Dr. Zeus Inc.
Dr. Zeus Inc.
Dr. Zeus Inc., also known simply as The Company, is a fictional entity in a series of time travel science fiction stories by Kage Baker....
, exists in the 24th century but employs immortal cyborg
Cyborg
A cyborg is a being with both biological and artificial parts. The term was coined in 1960 when Manfred Clynes and Nathan S. Kline used it in an article about the advantages of self-regulating human-machine systems in outer space. D. S...
s to recover and save valuable artifacts in the past. The cyborgs are created by taking suitable children who would otherwise die and augmenting them with artificial components, physiological enhancements, and nanotechnology
Nanotechnology
Nanotechnology is the study of manipulating matter on an atomic and molecular scale. Generally, nanotechnology deals with developing materials, devices, or other structures possessing at least one dimension sized from 1 to 100 nanometres...
to continually repair their bodies so that they never age or die. In exchange for the gift of health and immortality they work to preserve the past for sale in the future.
Some cyborgs are corrupt, plotting against the Company and each other for the prize they expect to gain when they finally reach the 24th century, when they believe they will take over from the mortals who run the Company. Others despise mortals and plot to eliminate them. More benign factions try to counter them. Some individuals just want revenge.
Plot summary
The novel brings together the various threads begun during previous volumes. It takes place mostly in 24th century, over the final 20 years leading up to the Silence in 2355, the point beyond which the future of the Company is unknown.The Botanist Mendoza, disabled and psychologically scarred by the attempts of the Company to destroy her, is dealing with the three incarnations of her lover, whom she first knew
In The Garden of Iden
In the Garden of Iden is a 1997 science fiction novel by Kage Baker. Although it is set entirely in the 16th century, in Spain and England, it is a science fiction story revolving around the activities of a group of immortal cyborgs, individuals who appear human but have been transformed by high...
as Nicholas Harpole in the 16th century. Two of them are imprisoned in her cyborg mind, while the third, the Victorian secret agent Edward Alton Bell-Fairfax, has taken over the body of the latest incarnation, Alec Checkerfield. Edward is showing signs of megalomania
Megalomania
Megalomania is a psycho-pathological condition characterized by delusional fantasies of power, relevance, or omnipotence. 'Megalomania is characterized by an inflated sense of self-esteem and overestimation by persons of their powers and beliefs'...
. The four of them, along with Alec's artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence is the intelligence of machines and the branch of computer science that aims to create it. AI textbooks define the field as "the study and design of intelligent agents" where an intelligent agent is a system that perceives its environment and takes actions that maximize its...
known as Captain Morgan, are hiding in the deep past, hundreds of thousands of years before the present. This is to allow them to recover from their trials and mount their own campaign against the company, for which they laid the foundations in The Machine's Child
The Machine's Child
The Machine's Child is a science fiction novel by Kage Baker. It is the seventh book in the series concerning the exploits of Dr. Zeus Inc., otherwise known as The Company.- Plot introduction :...
.
In the 24th century, Facilitator Joseph, having given up his quest for Mendoza after she disappeared
Mendoza in Hollywood
Mendoza in Hollywood is the third novel in the science fiction and time travel series by Kage Baker, concerning the activities of The Company. In the UK it was published as At the Edge of the West.-Plot introduction:...
, is putting the fix in again. This time it is on behalf of his own father, the Enforcer Budu, who is intent on destroying the Company in his own way. To do this he will revive the army of Enforcers who have slept in Company bunkers for millennia, like heroes out of legend. Strangely, William Randolph Hearst
William Randolph Hearst
William Randolph Hearst was an American business magnate and leading newspaper publisher. Hearst entered the publishing business in 1887, after taking control of The San Francisco Examiner from his father...
is a necessary part of this plan, even if "WRH" would like to be the hero Roland
Roland
Roland was a Frankish military leader under Charlemagne who became one of the principal figures in the literary cycle known as the Matter of France. Historically, Roland was military governor of the Breton March, with responsibility for defending the frontier of Francia against the Bretons...
.
Preserver Lewis, after being captured
The Graveyard Game
The Graveyard Game is the fourth installment in the series of science fiction time travel novels by Kage Baker concerning the exploits of The Company.-Plot introduction:...
by the strange little humanoids known as Homo umbratilis, is slowly recovering from their attempts to kill him as a way of developing a new way to destroy the Company cyborgs. He finds himself in a situation similar to that in the Arabian Nights
The Book of One Thousand and One Nights
One Thousand and One Nights is a collection of Middle Eastern and South Asian stories and folk tales compiled in Arabic during the Islamic Golden Age...
. As long as he can keep telling stories, a princess of the little people will bring him food and water so he can repair himself. Fortunately Lewis is a Literature Specialist and knows many stories...
Bugleg, the mortal Company scientist encountered in Sky Coyote
Sky Coyote
Sky Coyote is a science fiction novel of The Company by Kage Baker. It is the second in the series which began with In The Garden of Iden and continues with Mendoza in Hollywood.-Plot introduction:...
, is now so afraid of his own creations, the cyborgs, that he allows himself to be persuaded to spread a new poison among them, the result of experimentation on Lewis. His accomplice is a Hybrid, a genius born from both humans and Homo umbratilis. Bugleg himself has some umbratilis in him, it seems.
Suleyman, Executive Facilitator for North Africa, and his protégé Latif, continue their efforts to seek out the places where the Company has buried its mistakes, and rescue missing cyborgs such as Lewis and Kalugin.
The rival power groups headed by Labienus and Aegeus gather their forces for the final showdown. But things must be done correctly. They face off across the table at the sumptuous Banquet At The End of Time.
Preserver Victor, who has realized he is a carrier of deadly diseases, designed to be activated when the Company needs them, creates his own appropriate form of retribution for what was done to him.
Above all the Silence looms. After 11 a.m. California time on the 9th of July 2355, there are no more transmissions from the Company to its operatives in the past. As the time approaches, the disruption becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. The mortal executives of the Company cower in a bunker, while the different cyborg factions schedule their various assaults on the Company for that time.
Origins of the title
In Sky CoyoteSky Coyote
Sky Coyote is a science fiction novel of The Company by Kage Baker. It is the second in the series which began with In The Garden of Iden and continues with Mendoza in Hollywood.-Plot introduction:...
the mortal servants of the base New World One address the male cyborgs as "Sons of Heaven", believing them to be gods who have preserved them from death. However the theme of the Company novels is also tied to the legend of Zeus
Zeus
In the ancient Greek religion, Zeus was the "Father of Gods and men" who ruled the Olympians of Mount Olympus as a father ruled the family. He was the god of sky and thunder in Greek mythology. His Roman counterpart is Jupiter and his Etruscan counterpart is Tinia.Zeus was the child of Cronus...
defeating his father Kronos
Cronus
In Greek mythology, Cronus or Kronos was the leader and the youngest of the first generation of Titans, divine descendants of Gaia, the earth, and Uranus, the sky...
, sometimes identified with Chronos
Chronos
In Greek mythology, Chronos in pre-Socratic philosophical works is said to be the personification of time. His name in Greek means "time" and is alternatively spelled Chronus or Khronos.Chronos was imagined as an incorporeal god, serpentine in form, with three heads—those of a man, a bull, and...
, the personification of Time, to rule the rest of the Greco-Roman gods. In turn the cyborgs are the sons and daughters of Dr. Zeus Inc.
There are further resonances in the relations between the cyborgs, as Budu is regarded as a father by Joseph, Victor, and Labienus, among others. Another more literal reference involves Mendoza's giving birth to twin sons, augmented human baby boys, to house the recorded consciousnesses of Alec Checkerfield and Nicholas Harpole, the first and third incarnations of Project Adonai, her now-immortal lover.