Kage Baker (June 10, 1952 – January 31, 2010Obituary: Kage Baker
" SF Site, January 31, 2010) was an American

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel uni ...

and

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy literature and d ...

writer.

Biography

Baker was born and raised in

Hollywood, California Hollywood is a neighborhood in the central region of Los Angeles, California. Its name has come to be a shorthand reference for the U.S. film industry and the people associated with it. Many notable film studios, such as Columbia Picture ...

, and lived in

Pismo Beach Pismo Beach (Chumash: ''Pismuʔ'') is a city in the southern portion of San Luis Obispo County, in the Central Coast area of California, United States. The estimated population was 8,072 at the 2020 census, up from 7,655 in the 2010 census. It ...

later in life. Before becoming a professional writer she spent many years in

theater Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The perfor ...

, including teaching Elizabethan English as a second language. Her unusual first name (pronounced like the word ''cage'') is a combination of the names of her two grandmothers, Kate and Genevieve. She is best known for her "

Company A company, abbreviated as co., is a legal entity representing an association of people, whether natural, legal or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members share a common purpose and unite to achieve specific, declared ...

" series of historical

time travel Time travel is the concept of movement between certain points in time, analogous to movement between different points in space by an object or a person, typically with the use of a hypothetical device known as a time machine. Time travel is a ...

science fiction. Her first stories were published in ''

Asimov's Science Fiction ''Asimov's Science Fiction'' is an American science fiction magazine which publishes science fiction and fantasy named after science fiction author Isaac Asimov. It is currently published by Penny Publications. From January 2017, the publicatio ...

'' in 1997, and her first

novel A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itself ...

, '' In the Garden of Iden'', by

Hodder & Stoughton Hodder & Stoughton is a British publishing house, now an imprint of Hachette. History Early history The firm has its origins in the 1840s, with Matthew Hodder's employment, aged 14, with Messrs Jackson and Walford, the official publishe ...

in the same year. Other notable works include '' Mendoza in Hollywood'' (novel, 2000) and "

The Empress of Mars "The Empress of Mars" is a science fiction novella by american writer Kage Baker, published in 2003. It won the 2004 Theodore Sturgeon Award and was nominated for the 2004 Hugo Award for Best Novella as well as the 2004 Nebula Award for Best No ...

" (novella, 2003), which won the

Theodore Sturgeon Award The Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award is an annual literary award presented by the Theodore Sturgeon Literary Trust and the Center for the Study of Science Fiction at the University of Kansas to the author of the best short science fiction stor ...

and was nominated for a

Hugo Award The Hugo Award is an annual literary award for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year, given at the World Science Fiction Convention and chosen by its members. The Hugo is widely considered the premier ...

. In 2008, she donated her archive to the department of Rare Books and Special Collections at

Northern Illinois University Northern Illinois University (NIU) is a public research university in DeKalb, Illinois. It was founded as Northern Illinois State Normal School on May 22, 1895, by Illinois Governor John P. Altgeld as part of an expansion of the state's system ...

. In 2009, her short story "Caverns of Mystery" and her novel ''House of the Stag'' were both nominated for

World Fantasy Award The World Fantasy Awards are a set of awards given each year for the best fantasy fiction published during the previous calendar year. Organized and overseen by the World Fantasy Convention, the awards are given each year at the eponymous ann ...

s, but neither piece won. In January 2010, it was reported that Baker was seriously ill with

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

. She died from

uterine cancer Uterine cancer, also known as womb cancer, includes two types of cancer that develop from the tissues of the uterus. Endometrial cancer forms from the lining of the uterus, and uterine sarcoma forms from the muscles or support tissue of the ut ...

at approximately 1:00 a.m. on January 31, 2010, in Pismo Beach, California. She was survived by five younger siblings, mostly located in southern and central California. In 2010, Baker's ''The Women of Nell Gwynne's'' was nominated for a

and a

in the Best Novella categories. On May 15, 2010, that work was awarded the 2009

Nebula Award The Nebula Awards annually recognize the best works of science fiction or fantasy published in the United States. The awards are organized and awarded by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA), a nonprofit association of prof ...

in the Best Novella category. Kage spent much of the last year of her life watching and reviewing

silent film A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, w ...

s. Many of her reviews were collected posthumously into ''Ancient Rockets: Treasures and Trainwrecks of the Silent Screen'' (2011), edited by her sister Kathleen Bartholomew. From the foreword: Baker left an unfinished novel, ''Nell Gwynne's On Land and At Sea'', which has been completed by her sister Kathleen Bartholomew based on extensive notes left by Baker, and was published in 2012.

Partial bibliography

Novels set in the Company universe

*'' In the Garden of Iden'' (1997) *''

Sky Coyote ''Sky Coyote'' is a science fiction novel by American writer Kage Baker. It is the second in the series of Dr. Zeus Inc., The Company, which began with ''In The Garden of Iden'' and continues with ''Mendoza in Hollywood''. American illustrator Mich ...

'' (1999) *'' Mendoza in Hollywood'' (2000) (published in the UK as ''At the Edge of the West'') *''

The Graveyard Game ''The Graveyard Game'' is a science fiction novel by American writer Kage Baker, the fourth installment in the time travel series concerning the exploits of The Company. Plot introduction The protagonists of the series are mostly immortal cybo ...

'' (2001) *''

The Life of the World to Come ''The Life of the World to Come'' (2004) is a science fiction novel by American writer Kage Baker, the fifth installment in the time travel series concerning the exploits of The Company. Plot introduction This novel is another chapter in the di ...

'' (2004) *''

The Children of the Company ''The Children of the Company'' is a science fiction novel by American writer Kage Baker. It is another in the series concerned with the exploits of The Company, a 24th-century cabal which exploits history for profit with the aid of immortal cy ...

'' (2005) *''

The Machine's Child ''The Machine's Child'' is a science fiction novel by American writer Kage Baker. It is the seventh book in the series concerning the exploits of Dr. Zeus Inc., otherwise known as The Company. Plot introduction Several elements introduced a ...

'' (2006) *'' The Sons of Heaven'' (2007) * ''

'' (2009) (novel version) *''Not Less than Gods'' (2010) *''Nell Gwynne's On Land and At Sea'' (2012)

Short story collections set in the Company universe

*'' Black Projects, White Knights: The Company Dossiers'' (2002) *'' Gods and Pawns'' (2007) * ''In the Company of Thieves'' (2013)

Standalone novellas set in the Company universe

* ''

'' (2003) (novella version) *'' The Angel in the Darkness'' (limited edition

chapbook A chapbook is a small publication of up to about 40 pages, sometimes bound with a saddle stitch. In early modern Europe a chapbook was a type of printed street literature. Produced cheaply, chapbooks were commonly small, paper-covered bookle ...

, 2003) *''Where the Golden Apples Grow'' (2006) (novella) *''Rude Mechanicals'' (2007) *''The Women of Nell Gwynne's'' (limited edition, 2009) (Also released as 'Nell Gwynne's Scarlet Spy')

Novels set in the universe of The Anvil of the World

*''The Anvil of the World'' (2003) *''The House of the Stag'' (2008) (Prequel to The Anvil of the World) *''The Bird of the River'' (2010)

Other works

Novels and novellas

*''Or Else My Lady Keeps the Key'' (2008) (novella) *''The Hotel Under the Sand'' (2009) (juvenile)

Tachyon Publications Tachyon Publications is an independent press specializing in science fiction and fantasy books. Founded in San Francisco in 1995 by Jacob Weisman, Tachyon books have tended toward high-end literary works, short story collections, and anthologies ...

Short story collections

*''Mother Ægypt and Other Stories'' (2004) (title story takes place in the Company universe) *''Dark Mondays'' (2006) *''The Best of Kage Baker'' (2012) (includes stories set in and out of the Company universe)

Non-fiction

*''Ancient Rockets: Treasures and Trainwrecks of the Silent Screen'', ed. Kathleen Bartholomew (2011)

References

Tor.com ''Tor.com'' is an online science fiction and fantasy magazine published by Tor Books, a division of Macmillan Publishers. The magazine publishes articles, reviews, original short fiction, re-reads and commentary on speculative fiction. From 20 ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baker, Kage 1952 births 2010 deaths 20th-century American novelists 20th-century American short story writers 20th-century American women writers 21st-century American novelists 21st-century American short story writers 21st-century American women writers American fantasy writers American science fiction writers American women novelists American women short story writers Nebula Award winners Novelists from California People from Hollywood, Los Angeles People from Pismo Beach, California Women science fiction and fantasy writers Deaths from cancer in California Deaths from uterine cancer