The final book of Stross' "Merchant Princes" series (or the first Merchant Princes series, as it is open for a host of sequels), about the Clan: a family of dimension travelers from an alternate Earth. The protagonist of the series, Miriam Beckstein, was raised in America and, on discovering her heritage, finds herself enmeshed in Clan politics. I found the early books in the series fascinating and compulsive reading; but the final volume the energy feels like it is mainly gone and Miriam's storyline is lost amongst the ever-proliferating number of characters. Still, I recommend the series for the earlier books, and once started you'll likely want to see it to its end. Rating: 4* of fiveThis is the sixth book, and final installment featuring these characters, of "The Merchant Princes." Alternate history novels about time-continuum-hopping people from an alternate America that's feudally run and stuck in ~1500 technologically; the few people who can hop between our own USA and their world (called "the Gruinmarkt") are rich beyond measure in both worlds.The price they exact from our own USA is high, being the best and most successful of drug smugglers; the price they pay in the Gruinmarkt is equally high, being seen as witches and marked for persecution and destruction if possible.Does this sound familiar to anyone? Do the words "Final Solution" ring a bell?So this entry in the series takes up from the point of amazing and unimaginably horrifying cataclysm in the USA that ends the last book. In fact, the series really reads like a very long single novel that's been broken into parts by the publisher, much like what happened to "The Lord of the Rings" may it rot.The book, as a result, will make no sense whatever to anyone not familiar with books 1-5. But for the initiates, this is **amazing** fantasy fulfillment and the sense that Stross leaves one with is that the next generation will be even more excitingly relevant to today's world.In this entry, after the horrible cataclysm in the USA, an even more horrifying cataclysm is unleashed by the USA in the Gruinmarkt, and the main characters are frantically busy trying to prevent, then ameliorate, then escape the said disaster. It seems that their world-walking abilities aren't Divine in origin, and the USA expended huge resources to come up with a technological means of doing the same thing.NOW they've done it, those Gruinmarkt fools! The USA is angry, and being run by a horrifying, evil former Vice President whose vileness and slime-dripping reactionaryness is too little for the even more vile Secretary of Defense. A coup is engineered, a shift in power to the so-far-right-they-can't-be-seen is validated by a sheeplike populace, and cross-dimensional havoc is unleashed.For the politically and religiously conservative: Don't read these books. Your wrong-headedness comes in for a long, long, long bashing. Stross doesn't like conservatism. As I don't, either, ours was a match made in heaven, but for those otherwise inclined, I think he'd sound strident.Recommended for those, like me, who feel disenfranchised by the rightward swing of the cultural conversation. But start at the beginning! Read [The Family Trade] first!
What do You think about The Trade Of Queens (2010)?
I'm a very big fan of Charles Stross, and from the beginning I very much enjoyed this series depicting the struggles of the heroine, Miriam as she came to not only come to grips with the revelation that she had the ability to travel between various worlds, but also that she was heiress to a powerful family in a parallel universe. That's a lot for anyone to try to get a grip on, but add assassination attempts, the family drug dealing business and her trying to build a business empire of her own into the mix, it's a wonder that Stross could hope to keep track of her doings alone. Unfortunately, a multitude of other characters and additional storylines were thrown into the mix, and pretty soon it seemed that Miriam started taking a back seat to the other events unfolding in the story.It was the storyline focusing on Miriam that kept me coming back to the books, but by the time I finished this final installment, it seemed that she was a minor character in her own story. She wasn't even included in the final pages of the story. It almost seemed that Stross was just tired of the whole series and just decided to nuke the story in order to get it over with and move on to something new.
—Joseff
The final book of Stross' "Merchant Princes" series (or the first Merchant Princes series, as it is open for a host of sequels), about the Clan: a family of dimension travelers from an alternate Earth. The protagonist of the series, Miriam Beckstein, was raised in America and, on discovering her heritage, finds herself enmeshed in Clan politics. I found the early books in the series fascinating and compulsive reading; but the final volume the energy feels like it is mainly gone and Miriam's storyline is lost amongst the ever-proliferating number of characters. Still, I recommend the series for the earlier books, and once started you'll likely want to see it to its end.
—prncssatta
Enjoyed the conclusion. Wish there was a follow up.
—efhp
Regressed a little, too much going on, still fun.
—Ellz
