The Machine's Child (Company S.) (Company, #7)

by Kage Baker

[empressbrooke]

This volume took me longer to get through than any of the other Company books because it was rather unfocused and unsatisfying. There didn't seem to be much happening; the characters spent the book transitioning and setting things up for the final showdown with Dr. Zeus.

Mendoza is a shadow of her former self, and I was really annoyed with how she's infantilized here. Nicholas/Edward/Alec taking advantage of her lack of memory just left me feeling ick over and over and over.

I also couldn't figure out Edward's and Alec's attachments to her. The author has satisfactorily explained the spiffy persuasion powers that they have that made Mendoza obsessed with them, I can buy that. I can also buy that Nicholas spent a significant enough amount of time with her in [b:In the Garden of Iden|270490|In the Garden of Iden (The Company, #1)|Kage Baker|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1173300942s/270490.jpg|227134] to have fallen for her, too. But Edward and Alec both knew her only briefly, and yet this book is filled with their fierce desire to possess and protect her.

Joseph's character seemed off, especially after [b:The Graveyard Game|514440|The Graveyard Game (The Company, #4)|Kage Baker|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1175443404s/514440.jpg|1396618]. I can't put my finger on what it is exactly, but he didn't seem like the same Joseph we've been reading about up to this point.

I do have to give the author props for managing to make Nicholas/Edward/Alec three very distinct personalities. Even with their situation, there was never any confusion about which one of them was talking, and each of their different motivations felt very authentic.