We are saddened by the passing of our esteemed author and loyal friend, Kage Baker (1952-2010), at home in Pismo Beach, California, after a difficult battle with cancer. A fine career has been cut short, and we and all SF and fantasy readers are poorer for it.
She describes her background thusly: “graphic artist and mural painter, several lower clerical positions which could in no way be construed as a career, and (over a period of years for the Living History Centre) playwright, bit player, director, teacher of Elizabethan English for the stage, stage manager and educational program assistant coordinator. Presently reengaged in the above-listed capacities for the LHC’s triumphant reincarnation, AS YOU LIKE IT PRODUCTIONS.” She was nominated for a number of awards for her writing, and in recent years was a weekly blogger for Tor.com, where her Ancient Rockets series on early fantasy and SF films has been a popular feature.
Kage Baker was best known for her series of novels and stories about The Company and its time-traveling agents, ransacking the entirety of history for lost treasures to enrich the future. But whatever she wrote, she told a superlative adventure filled with characteristic wit and humor, often with a touch of romance. Baker was a preeminent storyteller, and her works are engaging and compulsively readable. Her recent novel, The Empress of Mars (2008) was an expansion of a 2003 novella that won a Sturgeon Award and was a Hugo and Nebula finalist. And her forthcoming March 2010 novel, Not Less Than Gods, is a steampunk extravaganza featuring one of the characters from The Company universe. After that, there will be an all-new fantasy novel, The Bird of the River, set in the same world as The Anvil of the World (2003) and The House of the Stag (2007), in July 2010.
Two years ago, I had a plan to get together with Kage Baker. After several years of knowing her only through phone calls and the occasional meeting at a conference, I was pleased to have the opportunity to better know this witty and imaginative author. I was in Southern California at the Eaton conference in Riverside, and she and her terrific sister Kathleen were supposed to drive over. But their car broke down and I didn’t get the chance to spend time with her that day. We tried again last June, when I was out to Los Angeles for World Horror, but in the end she couldn’t make it over (I didn’t know she was already ill).
And now it is too late.
A couple of business meals at conventions, and a bunch of phone calls, mainly about editing and brainstorming books, are all the opportunity I had to get to know Kage’s fine mind and keen intelligence. We were crazy about her at Tor and wanted her to be read by everyone. And now we miss her.
Her books and stories will continue to give pleasure for a long time to come, and we will miss her good-humored optimism.
David Hartwell is an editor for Tor Books.
I published Kage’s first story, the very first Company story, “Noble Mold,” and she was one of the discoveries I was the proudest of in my entire editorial career. She was a wonderful writer. She may have been the best natural storyteller to enter the field since Poul Anderson, and her zest for living and joy in life came through clearly in everything she wrote.
The field has suffered an immeasurable loss.
Oh, this news is a punch in the gut. It is impossible to read Kage Baker’s stories without some measure of love for the lively human dancing behind the scenes. And I read them all, every one I could find.
God bless you, Kage Baker! You shared your rich life with more people than you will ever know.
Goodbye, dear Kage, until we reach the other side. You have been an inspiration and a warm companion and I will miss you terribly.
Her first name was Kage? Wish I had known her. She sounds very inspiring.
I love her Company series and told everyone I knew, online and off, about them. I am very sad to hear of her passing.
Her books were — are — brilliant. She is such a loss to the spec fic community and to all readers. It breaks my heart to know that soon I’ll read the last thing she wrote. She was a class act — my one chance to encounter her proved to me that she was an exceptional person. She was vastly under-rated as a writer — I think she’s one of the best the genre ever produced. I hope more people now come to appreciate her unique contributions to the field.
Oh, this is sad news.
I never met her, but sorta got to know her through her Company books. I love her work, both image laden and character driven. When reading for image content, when collecting thoughts, moods, imagery for a cover piece, getting too involved in the book can be a distraction sometimes. With her work, it was always a pleasure.
`I can`t take the way he sings
But I love to hear him talk`
I never did hear her sing, but I LOVE the way she wrote.
I enjoyed her Company Series and always was excited when I saw that Kage Baker had a story in Asimov’s. She had a lively and ironic writing style that brought mirth to my life. I shall miss her.
I first met Kage when I was a RenFaire participant, learning “B.F.A.” (“Basic Faire Accent”) in her workshops. Her knowledge and enthusiasm made “Living History” so much more than Shakespearean costumes and a theatrical craft-faire. She was an inspiration to all of us at the original Faires, and she made it FUN to strive for authenticity.
Years later, as a bookseller, I wasn’t surprised at all by the depth of historical background in her time-travel settings… The wonderful surprise was how great the STORIES and characters were.
I’m greatly saddened, both as a reader and as a bookseller, that there won’t be any more of her wonderful books… but even worse is the loss of such a wonderful person.
You left far too soon Kage. Your heart, wit and deep intellect stay with us in the wonderful library you gave us. Sail on Kage…
This is such sad news. What a brilliant writer. I was looking forward to reading her future works, and now there won’t be anymore. More than that, she just seemed like such a great person. One of those very special people the world misses.
I’ve started rereading all the Company stories and novels … I’m still in love with Mendoza.
What a sad shock it is to hear of Kage Baker’s passing! I devoured her Company novels one after the other, as fast as I could get my hands on them. She was a person whose humanity and inventiveness shone through in everything she wrote. She will be missed.
I happened to discover by chance that my all-time favourite science fiction writer died earlier this year – and am still trying to come to terms with it. Like so many others who have posted here, I LOVE the Company novels and grew to love her witty writing whose wealth of detail & fascinating characterisation never got in the way of her amazing plots. She has been shamefully overlooked as one of the greats of the genre and her intellect and wisdom shone through her work. Rest in peace, Kage. You are missed…
I’m afraid I only now discovered she had passed away. I just finished “The Machine’s Child” about an hour ago, and went looking on Amazon to see if the next book in the Company series was out yet. When I saw a gap of several years since any new works, I started an Internet search. I really enjoyed her books, particularly this series. I guess we’ll never know what happens in 2355.
She is a good writer and she wrote the books are all amazing…