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Information from the French Common Knowledge. Edit to localize it to the English one. | |
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For my parents  | |
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The committee meeting was entering its third hour when the king sneezed, bringing matters to a head. | |
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"He is very conservative, my father, and insisted I learn the feminine virtues -- deportment, dancing, embroidery, and marksmanship." (part 2, "History Lesson", p.67) | |
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▾References References to this work on external resources.  Wikipedia in English (2)
▾LibraryThing members' description ▾Book descriptions Amazon.com Product Description (ISBN 0765352052, Mass Market Paperback)
In the tradition of Roger Zelazny's classic Amber novels, the second volume of Charles Stross's thrill-a-minute saga of multiple worlds. Miriam, a hip tech journalist from Boston, discovered her alternate world relatives in The Family Trade, and with them an elite identity she didn't know was hers. Now, in order to avoid a slippery slope down to an unmarked grave, Miriam, known as Lady Helge to the Family, starts applying modern business practices and scientific knowledge to a trade dominated by mercantilists -- with unexpected consequences for three different timelines, including the quasi-Victorian one exploited by the hidden family. Charles Stross is one of the big new SF writers of the 21st century, and the saga of The Merchant Princes is his most ambitious work yet.
(retrieved from Amazon Thu, 14 Feb 2013 13:59:24 -0500) (see all 2 descriptions) ▾Library descriptions The six families of the Clan rule the kingdom of Gruinmarkt from behind the scenes, a mixture of nobility and criminal conspirators whose power to walk between their world and ours makes them rich in both. Braids of family loyalty and intermarriage provide a fragile guarantee of peace, but a recently ended civil war has left the families shaken and suspicious. Miriam, a journalist from Boston, discovered her alternate world relatives with explosive results that shook three worlds. Now, as the prodigal Countess Helge Thorold-Hjorth, she finds herself ensnared in schemes and plots centuries in the making. She is surrounded by unlikely allies, lethal contraband, and, most dangerous of all, her family. With her modern American attitudes, she's not sure she can fit in, or if she even wants to, but to stay alive, she really has no choice.… (more) |
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The hidden family was just not set up in the most convincing way. The secretive meetings felt sketchy. Then they swoop in and... we have to wait for the next book to see how they respond to Mirriam's peace offering? Ugh!
I had a hard time with the lax security oversight when Matthias turns. You mean in a hundred years of Clan backstab-ery, power plays, and extreme-value shipping they haven't instituted proper checks and balances on their security apparatus? Not buying it.
Or that their response to current-world authorities getting wind of them wasn't fully scripted, with enough world walkers always on emergency stand-by? Not buying that one either.
Or that they would let Mirriam lead a counter-response (first to walk over)? Nope, give me a break.
I'm still having some difficulty accepting Matthias' belief that he will get away with his actions. He has to wipe out every last world-walker if he'll ever feel safe at ground level again. He's not going to gain any power so it isn't clear to me why he didn't just keep a lower profile and stay in place.
Oh well, Stross' worst is still beats most others' best. I do want to see how she gets out from under the Clan. And if there are more than three worlds (why not?). I'm on to book 3. (