I don't know what took me so long to get back to this series. As I read it I remembered how much I liked the old style pulp cliffhanger feeling. Sometimes the plot runs a little thin but I really like the characters and all the back stabbing. I am looking forward to the next one. ( )

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I want more in the way of economics. ... Yes, that's right! More economic theory, less explosions! ( )

Worth noting: this and [b:The Family Trade|17861|The Family Trade (The Merchant Princes, #1)|Charles Stross|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1316637838s/17861.jpg|930587] were originally written as one volume but wound up split up for publication, which makes [b:The Family Trade|17861|The Family Trade (The Merchant Princes, #1)|Charles Stross|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1316637838s/17861.jpg|930587]'s abrupt and weak ending make a lot more sense. ( )

I'm just not sold on economical science fiction. And I think this might be why I didn't particularly like following this book's story line. We get a third world, we get a dramatic showdown with a character sacrifice thrown in in the end, and that's … it. Other than that it's slow, tiring movement of goods and ideas between three worlds. Didn't work for me, might work for an economy major. ( )