Charles Stross (
autopope), The Family Trade
Tor (2004) ISBN: 0-765-30929-7
Score: 2
First novel of the Merchant Princes. A business journalist is fired (for investigating the wrong people), and is given her murdered birth mother's locket, which enables her to cross back and forth between this world and a parallel one. Needless to say, this makes a lot of people upset with her. Very entertaining, and it's nice to see hereditary magic that is obviously genetic, but the scenes that didn't include the heroine were confusing (likely intentionally) and make me wonder if the sequels will succeed in delivering a rational explanation of what's going on.
Next Book: Laura Anne Gilman, Staying Dead