The Bloodline Feud: A Merchant Princes Omnibus: The Family Trade & The Hidden Family

I've been reading Stross stories, novels, and website for some years now, and so when he announced that the Merchant Princes were being remade and re-released in the colonies, I jumped to get them and tore through the Kindle books quickly. Of the whole series I can say: I really like and am worried for the main characters, and am not entirely pleased with the direction of the plot.In this first book (or first and second if you like) we are introduced to the world and to Miriam. And then quite quickly the reader and Miriam both find out there is more to the world than we thought. And then it happens again to the great discomfort of Miriam and her office furniture. And slowly but relentlessly some of the true nature of things and the conflicts between hidden powers is revealed and Miriam is quite stuck in the middle of all of it.I quite like Miriam and some of other characters. I enjoyed how Stross teases together a complex and treacherous plot across many settings and locales and how this volume is plotted. I like the settings and how they are contrasted. I even enjoy the perhaps overbearing contrasts between the modern and historical worlds and the technological developments. Why, I even appreciate the economics lessons :)I recommend this first volume of the redone Merchant Princes to everyone. After you read it we can argue about whether you'll like the rest of the series. And if this is your first Stross there are some wonderful surprises awaiting you in the book and his others.

I'm currently making another attempt at reading this Merchant Princes series. I've read these two first books of the series several times before and enjoyed both of them, but I always seem to get bogged down with the complexity of the multiple worlds storylines in book three.I like having the two books combined into a single omnibus, but with maybe the exception of not having the audible editions of the individual books synced to the Kindle books. Still, it's just a minor thing to switch to the appropriate chapter when you read ahead.The story in case someone hasn't read this yet, is that of a group of people who can 'world walk' between different alternative timelines where history has taken a few different turns. The first two books detail the main character discovering she has this ability and finding out she's part of a family that's been profiting off it for generations. It's sort of a saga that builds as it goes, which is why I usually get bogged down with book three. Hopefully this time, I'll success at my attempt to read the whole series from start to finish.

The author has rewritten parts of the first two volumes including some new material and deleting some material especially in volume 2 since the reader does not need this bridge. There will be a lot of information in the book that does not seem really relevant and gets mentioned only casually. Do not be deceived. Much of it will be answered in the three volume revision. Miriam is a strong character in her own right and her story will be resolved in these three volumes. She is the focus of the series. Fortunately I read the two volumes which make up this volume together because originally it was a cliff-hanger ending. The original series was designed to be three volumes but due to their length, the economics of publishing required each volume to be split in two which makes the e-book version all the more satisfying. Stross has written a story that Verkan Vall would be proud of(See Piper's Paratime series).

I love Stross' humor. For some reason Stross left that writing toolbox in the toolbox for this book. I understand that he might want to write more serious stories, but most stories can benefit from a little humor. It couldn't hurt. The story itself wasn't particularly involving and I didn't care about the characters. I tried because I like Stross' books, but only got halfway through this one and gave up

Mediocre character development and a frankly boring plot line were the highlights of this novel. I really enjoyed Stross’ other work but this was a chore to make it through.

Is this the same author that wrote The laundry files? Unbeliveable. This is really bad writing, clichees upon cliclichees.

I started with books 5 & 6 after a recommendation. Only after reading them did I discover they were part of a series. Great character development, great plot, interesting reflections on trade. Some things might seem to work out a little too easily, but it's complex enough that I'm forgiving that.

Intriguing, Stross is a certainty, he never disappoints me. To me the Laundry series remains his best, but this one is very good as well.