"
In The Garden Of Iden" (1997) is the debut novel of
science fiction author
Kage Baker. It is also the first novel in the "
Company" series.
The
novel introduces
Mendoza, an operative of "
Dr. Zeus Incorporated", or more commonly: the
Company. The
Company is an immensely powerful corporation in the 24th century, which preserves works of art and extinct forms of life by recruiting
orphans from the past, making them as good as
immortal and sending them into the past on specific missions.
Mendoza is rescued from the
Spanish Inquisition and sent to
Elizabethan England to collect
botanical samples from the garden of Sir Walter Iden.
"
In The Garden Of Iden" combines some of
Kage Baker's strongest passions: she is an authority on
Tudor-era
England, has a strong interest in
botany, and a preoccupation with
conspiracy theories. The
author (on her personal website) mentions that many of the characters in the novel were inspired by the
eccentric scholars and street actors she worked with during her career in
theater.