Kage Baker was an extrodinarie storyteller, be it at a bar serving drinks in full historical garb, or telling her tales of immortal cyborgs who walked through time serving theirvfar guture masters and getting drunk on chocolate, the really good stuff of courselves.
Now you will notice that I am not going to talk about what the plot is here. Nor should I. Some reviewers of The Empress of Mars have given away far more of the plot than is warranted. It is, I will tell you, a science fiction tale set on Mars with a bar owner and her workers straight out of the Golden Age of SF, a plot that is both moving and funny, well-drawn characters, evil government officials, not one but two duex machinas saving the day, and perhaps even a connection to The Company series, but I won’t tell you what it is.
You can hear her reading her story here. You may not use it elsewhere as she granted us sole online rights.
