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Things are going badly for the Clan in this new SF novel of the Merchant Princes, the immensely popular series by Charles Stross. Locked in a vicious civil war for control over the kingdom of Niejwein, their army is bottled up inside a fortress under siege in two parallel universes at once. Duke Angbard, the Clan's leader, has been laid low by a stroke: plotters are already conspiring in readiness for the deadly dance to come.Miriam, rescued from a tight spot in New Britain, finds the hopes show more of the young, progressive faction focused on her. But do they want her as a leader or a figurehead? She soon finds herself thrown into a desperate struggle for power. Meanwhile, unbeknownst to the Clan, researchers working for the US government have achieved a technological breakthrough. The War on Terror is about to go transdimensional.
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AlanPoulter Both are series novels portraying alternative, dark, versions of the USA, all warped from an excess of greed.
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The latest of "The Merchant Princes" series, book five in fact, is a wonderful deepening of a chain of alternate worlds that resemble the mundane one you and I live in more, or less, depending on which strand of his story Stross is highlighting at any given moment.
The basic premise of all alternate history is to take off from the world the reader knows at a point he or she can get revved up about. In the US, that most often means alternate outcomes of the American Civil War, 1861-1865; I'd hesitate to speculate about other countries, but I've seen a LOT of Bonaparte-wins stuff in French. In a way, this area of fiction allows readers to fulfill fantasies of what the world Could and Should be like.
What I most like about this series of show more books is that Stross takes off from multiple departure points, and some so subtly that most all readers will slide right past the references that let you know you're down the rabbit hole until sucker-punched with the difference. Stross does that in this book, and he does it well, if a sucker-punch can be done well. A nagging not-quite-rightness from previous books gets brought up full force, and it's a game-changer for the series. Well done, Sir Charles.
Now, there is a downside to every artistic choice...since there are multiple alternate worlds, each with its own issues and problems to work out on these pages, the focus tends to be a bit blurry. The constraints of having the series POV character physically move among the alternate realities limits Stross's forward momentum in her story, and can feel as though the alternates are getting short shrift. I'd have to say, though, that the sensation of wanting more of all the threads is a good sign that Stross is a capable storyteller operating at full throttle.
This entry in the series will repay your time spent reading it. Don't start here, though...start with book one, The Family Trade. It's high-quality thinking, and reading.
Oh, and George Bush gets blown up by a nuke. show less
The basic premise of all alternate history is to take off from the world the reader knows at a point he or she can get revved up about. In the US, that most often means alternate outcomes of the American Civil War, 1861-1865; I'd hesitate to speculate about other countries, but I've seen a LOT of Bonaparte-wins stuff in French. In a way, this area of fiction allows readers to fulfill fantasies of what the world Could and Should be like.
What I most like about this series of show more books is that Stross takes off from multiple departure points, and some so subtly that most all readers will slide right past the references that let you know you're down the rabbit hole until sucker-punched with the difference. Stross does that in this book, and he does it well, if a sucker-punch can be done well. A nagging not-quite-rightness from previous books gets brought up full force, and it's a game-changer for the series. Well done, Sir Charles.
Now, there is a downside to every artistic choice...since there are multiple alternate worlds, each with its own issues and problems to work out on these pages, the focus tends to be a bit blurry. The constraints of having the series POV character physically move among the alternate realities limits Stross's forward momentum in her story, and can feel as though the alternates are getting short shrift. I'd have to say, though, that the sensation of wanting more of all the threads is a good sign that Stross is a capable storyteller operating at full throttle.
This entry in the series will repay your time spent reading it. Don't start here, though...start with book one, The Family Trade. It's high-quality thinking, and reading.
Oh, and George Bush gets blown up by a nuke. show less
Stross goes hard after the Bush-Cheney administration (aka Boy Wonder and Daddy Warbucks), even naming several cabinet ministers. I'm reading it exactly 20 years after it takes place so some of the concerns seem rather quaint at this point, but it's still interesting to see the juxtaposition of the politics in three different worlds.
Speaking of politics, there's a lot of it. In the real world (war on terror, war on drugs, war for oil, etc.), in a revolutionary coup, and in a civil war. There are meeting minutes and transcripts of bugged conversations. There's even a PowerPoint presentation! There are shadowy government agencies running amok, aristocracies, monarchies, and extra-dimensional narco-terrorists wielding a trans-dimensional show more siege engine.
Jesus (aka god on a stick), there's a lot going on! The book starts right after a cliffhanger and ends on another one. I'd normally deduct a star for such obnoxiousness, but thankfully I'm able to read them back-to-back so it feels more like one long story rather than 6 partial and interrupted ones. It would have been better to publish in as a single volume, without the filler and recaps that interrupt the flow. As a stand-alone story this one isn't great, but in the context of the larger series it's fantastic, setting up for what will hopefully be a fabulous conclusion. show less
Speaking of politics, there's a lot of it. In the real world (war on terror, war on drugs, war for oil, etc.), in a revolutionary coup, and in a civil war. There are meeting minutes and transcripts of bugged conversations. There's even a PowerPoint presentation! There are shadowy government agencies running amok, aristocracies, monarchies, and extra-dimensional narco-terrorists wielding a trans-dimensional show more siege engine.
Jesus (aka god on a stick), there's a lot going on! The book starts right after a cliffhanger and ends on another one. I'd normally deduct a star for such obnoxiousness, but thankfully I'm able to read them back-to-back so it feels more like one long story rather than 6 partial and interrupted ones. It would have been better to publish in as a single volume, without the filler and recaps that interrupt the flow. As a stand-alone story this one isn't great, but in the context of the larger series it's fantastic, setting up for what will hopefully be a fabulous conclusion. show less
This is book 5 in the 'Merchant Princes' series. Normally, 'book 5 in a series' raises the spectre of something running on cliches inherited from earlier books in the series. This series though continually re-invents itself and this book is no exception.
The series started in what appeared to be a classic fantasy scenario as ex-journalist Miriam Beckstein found she had the ability to 'world walk' - jump realities between North America as we know it and one in which crime families, the Clan, operate in a feudal society, and use their limited ability to 'world walk' to extend their crime operations into the USA. Clan families fight among themselves and with a 'lost Clan' branch, living in a third alternate reality of North America. Things show more got more complicated when Miriam found a fourth reality, in which revolution was brewing in an early industrial Georgian monarchy, left isolated by French control of Europe.
This book starts with the American government closing in on the Clan. It has discovered that they have stolen some back-back nukes and is researching 'world walking' in order to mount an invasion, seeing the Clan's alternate reality as an easy source of oil. The Clan is having its own problems as it is under attack from without and within in its reality. Miriam has been impregnated with an heir to the vacant position of Clan chief. Understandably she is not thrilled by this and unsure about who is on her side - should she follow her mother's plan for Clan domination? Clan investigators have discovered a new fifth reality, which seems deserted but contains some relics of very advanced technology. Everything is building towards an explosive conclusion as elements of the Clan plan revenge for a nuke set off in their reality by the USA, while the US Vice-President, known only by his codename WARBUCKS, seems to be in cahoots with certain Clan elements. It is clear that the USA portrayed here is similar to, but not the same as, the one in our reality.
This is an excellent series: hopefully someone will see its television potential. show less
The series started in what appeared to be a classic fantasy scenario as ex-journalist Miriam Beckstein found she had the ability to 'world walk' - jump realities between North America as we know it and one in which crime families, the Clan, operate in a feudal society, and use their limited ability to 'world walk' to extend their crime operations into the USA. Clan families fight among themselves and with a 'lost Clan' branch, living in a third alternate reality of North America. Things show more got more complicated when Miriam found a fourth reality, in which revolution was brewing in an early industrial Georgian monarchy, left isolated by French control of Europe.
This book starts with the American government closing in on the Clan. It has discovered that they have stolen some back-back nukes and is researching 'world walking' in order to mount an invasion, seeing the Clan's alternate reality as an easy source of oil. The Clan is having its own problems as it is under attack from without and within in its reality. Miriam has been impregnated with an heir to the vacant position of Clan chief. Understandably she is not thrilled by this and unsure about who is on her side - should she follow her mother's plan for Clan domination? Clan investigators have discovered a new fifth reality, which seems deserted but contains some relics of very advanced technology. Everything is building towards an explosive conclusion as elements of the Clan plan revenge for a nuke set off in their reality by the USA, while the US Vice-President, known only by his codename WARBUCKS, seems to be in cahoots with certain Clan elements. It is clear that the USA portrayed here is similar to, but not the same as, the one in our reality.
This is an excellent series: hopefully someone will see its television potential. show less
The Merchant Prince series, about Miriam Beckstein, is the series that got me into the works of Charles Stross.
The Revolution Business is the fifth in this series. It follows off of the explosive ending to the fourth novel, where the machinations of several parties, ranging from the Clan to the U.S. Government, to the political enemies of the Clan in the Gruinmarkt, all fall against each other, inadvertently messing up each other.
Even more important is Miriam, our central character. In the novel, she quickly finds herself thrust into politics of the Family in a way that she could not imagine even in previous novels. Her previous efforts are nothing compared to the cut and thrust of politics now, in the wake of the deadly politics in the show more Gruinmarkt. And then there is the technological breakthrough of the US Government in terms of worldwalking, and the Clan's very personal approach to their feud with the US Government...
About the only fault I have in the novel is that we don't get enough of the third world, the New Britain world. It suffers a bit in comparison to events in our world and the Gruinmarkt. With that aside, though, this novel continues to build on the previous four novels of the series. Stross has managed this series, its worlds and assumptions, with enviable and undeniable skill. His skill in developing believable and complex characters, having them grow and change (and in some instances, kill them off) is admirable.
There is one more novel planned in the sequence, and Stross ends this book with an explosive cliffhanger that will make you want to read the sixth book all the more. I know that I certainly do! show less
The Revolution Business is the fifth in this series. It follows off of the explosive ending to the fourth novel, where the machinations of several parties, ranging from the Clan to the U.S. Government, to the political enemies of the Clan in the Gruinmarkt, all fall against each other, inadvertently messing up each other.
Even more important is Miriam, our central character. In the novel, she quickly finds herself thrust into politics of the Family in a way that she could not imagine even in previous novels. Her previous efforts are nothing compared to the cut and thrust of politics now, in the wake of the deadly politics in the show more Gruinmarkt. And then there is the technological breakthrough of the US Government in terms of worldwalking, and the Clan's very personal approach to their feud with the US Government...
About the only fault I have in the novel is that we don't get enough of the third world, the New Britain world. It suffers a bit in comparison to events in our world and the Gruinmarkt. With that aside, though, this novel continues to build on the previous four novels of the series. Stross has managed this series, its worlds and assumptions, with enviable and undeniable skill. His skill in developing believable and complex characters, having them grow and change (and in some instances, kill them off) is admirable.
There is one more novel planned in the sequence, and Stross ends this book with an explosive cliffhanger that will make you want to read the sixth book all the more. I know that I certainly do! show less
This book picks up where the last one ended and rushes through crisis after crisis after crisis. In some ways that's good - it makes for a fun, fast-paced read. In other ways it's a shame because part of what made this series intriguing at first was the careful exploration of possibilities and the reactions to the new worlds and that's gone in a mad dash of crises.
There are also some really fun biting satires of the Bush administration and their reasons for going to war hiding in there.
Still, although I feel it's missed a trick, it's still a good read.
There are also some really fun biting satires of the Bush administration and their reasons for going to war hiding in there.
Still, although I feel it's missed a trick, it's still a good read.
This story keeps growing and growing, with no signs that it is going to end anytime soon. What started out in The Family Trade as the story of Miriam has become a convoluted twist of characters and plots, factions and universes, all building toward an explosive confrontation across dimensions. It can be a bit confusing at time, trying to understand the wheels within wheels within wheels, and then Stross will add another layer on top (or underneath) it all, and he has no problem with unnamed mystery characters plotting in plain sight of the reader who, if they are like me, cannot keep all the characters, their motivations, their connections, etc. in mind at once, so when the truths are revealed they really have an impact. And there's show more more than a handful of shockers in here, rest assured. show less
Not up to the standards of the rest of the series to date; this book feels like it's just setting things up for the last volume. I suspect I may be unable to evaluate it fairly for personal reasons; the Plot Device Pregnancy is an issue I have difficulty with and that perhaps colors my overall opinion of the book, and someone with different triggers would find the book more enjoyable.
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Born in Leeds, England, Charles Stross knew he wanted to be a science fiction writer from the age of six. Despite this, he went to university in London and qualified as a Pharmacist. He made his first writing sale to Interzone in 1986, and sold about a dozen stories elsewhere throughout the late 1980s and early 1990s. He now writes fiction show more full-time, has sold about 16 novels, has won one Hugo award and been nominated nearly a dozen times, and has been translated into about a dozen languages. He is the author of the Merchant Princes series. His latest book, The Revolution Business, is the fifth in this series. He lives in Edinburgh, Scotland, with his wife Feorag. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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- Canonical title
- The Revolution Business
- Original title
- The Revolution Business
- Original publication date
- 2009-04
- People/Characters
- Miriam Beckstein; Mike Fleming; Colonel Smith; Dr. Andrew James; Lady Olga; Lady Brilliana "Brill" d'Ost (show all 10); Princess Royal Helge Thorold Hjorth; Oliver Warbucks; Colonel Eric Smith; Erasmus Burgeson
- Important places
- New London
- Dedication
- For Gav
Better read than dead - First words
- Prologue:
Empty Quiver
The inspectors arrived before dawn.
1
HEIR APPARENT
I am not hearing this, Miriam Beckstein told herself. - Quotations
- "We can hurt them -- we can kill tens of thousands -- but you know how the Americans respond to an attack. They are relentless, and they will slaughter millions without remorse to avenge a pinprick, should it embarrass them.... (show all) Worse, their councils and congresses are so contrived that they cannot surrender. Any leader who advocates surrender is ridiculed and risks removal from office." (Chapter 7, "Oath of Fealty", p.175)
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)And two hours and fourteen minutes later, in a locked storeroom on the top floor of a department store on Pennsylvania Avenue, a timer counted down to zero. . . . [sic.]
- Blurbers
- Krugman, Paul
- Original language
- English
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- 44,150
- Reviews
- 16
- Rating
- (3.52)
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- English
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- 6
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