Runo Knows...The Family Trade
This is book one of Charles Stross' "The Merchant Princes" trilogy. I'd been initially hesitant about picking them up - memories of not being overly impressed with Magic Kingdom For Sale--Sold! by Terry Brooks which seemed to have a similar premise probably influenced that. Later seeing some good reviews of the books, I decided "what the heck" - Stross has always done me well.
And I was happy I went for it.
The plot is fairly straight-forward, at least in this one. Miriam Beckstein, after being fired for digging into the wrong story for her magazine, discovers some notes about her real parents from her adopted mother. Looking at a locket left to her, she finds herself transported back into the middle ages - not transported in space, just in time.
She's quickly pulled into the intrigues of her family line of cross-time merchants. In the middle ages where Vikings have colonized North America, the family moves between there and the modern day United States, trading services for money. Miriam isn't happy with the way they've treated the past - such as not industrializing and helping the peasants - and doesn't appreciate what makes the basis for their modern day money (running drugs via the Middle Ages route). She also doesn't like the fact that since the world shifting talent is based off a recessive gene, she's expected to marry into the family - as well as for political gain for her "braid" - even as she starts to fall for someone she cannot marry.
Perhaps the biggest problem with this book isn't the fact that it's typical in a series like this to have to spend a lot of time developing the background and plot as the fact that it just, well, ends. It's not really a fully-fledged book, and one plotline is added right at the end without even an explanation. If you're looking for a series where you can read one without having to read the others, this ain't it - at least, so far - but it is a good beginning to the series. On the other hand, I really like the fact that the only real magic is the world-shifting, and even that is done with a toll and a thought of the consequences of how it works. I'm looking forward to the third one (having already read the second one, I just haven't blogged it yet...).
And I was happy I went for it.
The plot is fairly straight-forward, at least in this one. Miriam Beckstein, after being fired for digging into the wrong story for her magazine, discovers some notes about her real parents from her adopted mother. Looking at a locket left to her, she finds herself transported back into the middle ages - not transported in space, just in time.
She's quickly pulled into the intrigues of her family line of cross-time merchants. In the middle ages where Vikings have colonized North America, the family moves between there and the modern day United States, trading services for money. Miriam isn't happy with the way they've treated the past - such as not industrializing and helping the peasants - and doesn't appreciate what makes the basis for their modern day money (running drugs via the Middle Ages route). She also doesn't like the fact that since the world shifting talent is based off a recessive gene, she's expected to marry into the family - as well as for political gain for her "braid" - even as she starts to fall for someone she cannot marry.
Perhaps the biggest problem with this book isn't the fact that it's typical in a series like this to have to spend a lot of time developing the background and plot as the fact that it just, well, ends. It's not really a fully-fledged book, and one plotline is added right at the end without even an explanation. If you're looking for a series where you can read one without having to read the others, this ain't it - at least, so far - but it is a good beginning to the series. On the other hand, I really like the fact that the only real magic is the world-shifting, and even that is done with a toll and a thought of the consequences of how it works. I'm looking forward to the third one (having already read the second one, I just haven't blogged it yet...).