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spitzig's review
3.0
Like the others in the series, it continues to set up and expand an interesting universe. But also like the others in the series, not much actually happens. There are a couple of events that have major effects on the universe, but the book doesn't actually spend that much TIME on those events.
eastofthesunwestofthemoon's review
4.0
4 stars. This book began to pull all the threads that were so chaotic and disruptive in the previous 2 books together. I still had some trouble staying on track with the 5000 names and 500 plot lines, but it was much more cohesive and coherent. It became a good story again.
spinnerroweok's review
4.0
Wow! Charles Stross really hates Dick Cheney. This book continues the Merchant Princes story. It's a page turner, and while many reviews I saw call this series predictable, I didn't find it to be. It's fun. It's a page turner. I'm burning through each of these books in 2-3 days. Good times. Now on to the last one to see how this thing ends. It' feels like he has a lot of balls in the air. I'm curious if he will catch them all.
collegecate's review
1.0
I'm ready for this series to be over. He has to spend so much time each book reaquainting us with all the characters and reminding us again and again of the complicated situations. All I can say is if he doesn't do a line by line reveal in the last book I will be severely pissed off. I hate these bits of dialogue he writes, which are very true to the way people talk, but leave so much unsaid that it's hard to keep track of who's speaking, let alone what's going on. The ideas in this series are interesting and they make me think...and I want to think about economics and numclear warfare not concentrate on who ven Hajalmer is or keep track of made up acronyms in a pseudo-US government. And about that Tom Clancy-style that keeps infringing on my fantasy novel...yeah I can do without that. I don't care what sort of guns they're using and I don't know the difference between them. Big guns, automatic weapons, but I don't need the specs.
curgoth's review against another edition
3.0
Audiobook re-read.
In some ways, I think this series one of the more ambitious things Stross has done. It's a huge narrative in a way that the Laundry books only became much later, and I think it's probably the most intensely character-driven thing he had written up to this point. He stumbles here and there, but it still gets me. At this point, we're getting deep into political ramifications and long-term implications of the science fictional elements.
The audio read is still entirely competent - decent accent work on the Gruinmarket folks, and switching to handle Paulie and Iris works well.
In some ways, I think this series one of the more ambitious things Stross has done. It's a huge narrative in a way that the Laundry books only became much later, and I think it's probably the most intensely character-driven thing he had written up to this point. He stumbles here and there, but it still gets me. At this point, we're getting deep into political ramifications and long-term implications of the science fictional elements.
The audio read is still entirely competent - decent accent work on the Gruinmarket folks, and switching to handle Paulie and Iris works well.
tome15's review against another edition
5.0
Stross, Charles. The Revolution Business. Merchant Princes No. 5. Tor, 2009.
As readers of this series know, and I would not recommend starting your reading of it with this volume, a family called the Clan has a recessive gene that allows them to walk between alternate timelines under certain conditions. The family straddles the middle ages and the atomic age, which turns out to be a very dangerous thing for all concerned. Stross uses the storyline of this novel to comment in a sly way on our various wars on drugs and terror and suggests that in a nuclear age, even little wars can lead to cataclysm. Merchant princes continues, on rereading, to be one of my favorite science fiction series of all time.
As readers of this series know, and I would not recommend starting your reading of it with this volume, a family called the Clan has a recessive gene that allows them to walk between alternate timelines under certain conditions. The family straddles the middle ages and the atomic age, which turns out to be a very dangerous thing for all concerned. Stross uses the storyline of this novel to comment in a sly way on our various wars on drugs and terror and suggests that in a nuclear age, even little wars can lead to cataclysm. Merchant princes continues, on rereading, to be one of my favorite science fiction series of all time.
koboldskind's review against another edition
4.0
Getting strong towards the end of the series. Definitely out of the mid-series slump.
caddarn's review against another edition
tense
medium-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
expendablemudge's review against another edition
5.0
Rating: 4.5* of five
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 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. (That's the extra half-star!)
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 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. (That's the extra half-star!)