The Merchants' War

Alternate history,Cross temporal

Finally! I'm sensing a heartbeat again. Stross is breathing some life back into the patient.

The series was starting to feel like it would fizzle out. This book had better pacing and a good twine of plot lines. Like the other books, we have to keep reading to see where the story goes.

I am noticing he does a good job of reminding us what came before without too much offending infodump. The reminders are not enough to bring a new reader into the series at this point but they make perfect sense to feed a reader who hasn't read the last book recently, as when these books were originally published.

There were fewer points in this book where I was frustrated because a character did not do something I thought was a better and obvious solution. Mirriam begins to pick up the reins of her own destiny again. Yay! ( )

The action really started moving again in this one in the series, which is a nice change from book three. Bit of a cliffhanger at the end - I would recommend making sure you have the next one on hand before starting this one. ( )

a acheter

This book picks up immediately after the previous one ends. To the second. You might be able to pick up the pieces but probably not - there isn't a lot of explanation in it.

The Tinker families are in trouble: the DEA and FBI are hunting them in the USA. The usurper king in Gruinmarkt is hunting them, and bribing supporters with a share of the money from the tinkers. Just to add to the fun, the victorian world is in deep shit too.

The story weaves back and forward across worlds, across elements of plot: warfare, intrigue, espionage and more. However, all the parts are nicely linked and woven together seamlessly.

Well worth the read, and it starts on a high, and ends on a rather grip plot twist. ( )