The Traders' War (Merchant Princes Omnibus 2) (90 page)

Olga dry-swallowed, trying to work some juice into her mouth.

‘Have you radioed Eorl Riordan to warn him off the American trap?’

‘Yes. But he has his own problems. He won’t be able to relieve us in less than two days, and if the royal army is out there, that’ll be too late.’

‘But he has a flying machine.’ Olga shook her head. Then she smiled.
Do I have to do all the plotting around here?
‘With your permission, I should like to talk to Eorl
Riordan immediately. And you might ready such of your men as are ready to world-walk again. I think we might be able to deal with the enemy without mounting a frontal attack on those guns: and in
the process, inconvenience the pretender mightily . . .’

Praise for the Merchant Princes series

‘A marvelous romp through this world and others, told by a master of the imaginative thrill-ride. These books will remain on my shelf for many years to come’

Karl Schroeder

‘Inventive, irreverent, and delightful . . . an alternate world where business is simultaneously low and high tech, and where romance, murder, marriage, and business are
hopelessly intertwined – and deadly’

L. E. Modesitt, Jr.

‘Shocks, surprises, reversals, and elaborations keep tumbling from Stross’s nimble fingers . . . These books are immense fun’

Locus

‘Fantasies with this much invention, wit and gusto don’t come along every day’

SFX

‘Fans of the author’s previous work will recognize his trademark skill at world building – you can almost see the filth on the streets of New England, feel the
closeted oppression of the Clan hierarchy, and experience Miriam’s terror at the horrifying circumstances she finds herself in’

SciFiNow

‘Fast-moving action with a number of interesting characters . . . Stross’s ability to combine interesting ideas with solid plotting is one of his great
strengths’

Asimov’s Science Fiction

‘A rollicking, pacy read and delivers on the fun’

Interzone

‘One of the defining phenomena of twenty-first century SF is Charles Stross, for the
quality of his work at its best . . .’

Time Out

‘For sheer inventiveness and energy this cliffhanger-riddled serial remains difficult to top’

Publishers Weekly

‘An intriguing and thought-provoking world’

Vector

‘It’s official – Charles Stross can do anything. And what he likes to do best is take hoary old
chestnuts – say the space opera or the alternate-Earth fantasy – and roast them over an open fire until the heat has cooked them into something deliciously new and strange . . .
It’s never less than completely engrossing’

SFReviews. net

‘He builds a steampunk future familiar from other sources – zeppelins, primitive automobiles and typewriters, etc. – yet with its own unique twists . . . Stross
is having great fun with these books, and it’s contagious’

SciFi. com

‘The Merchant Princes is easily one of the finest, most involved and inventive science-fiction series on the market. A very highly recommended series from a master
storyteller’

CivilianReader
blog

Charles Stross
was born in Leeds, England, in 1964. He has worked as a pharmacist, software engineer and freelance journalist, but now writes full-time. To date,
Stross has won two Hugo awards and been nominated twelve times. He has also won the Locus Award for Best Novel, the Locus Award for Best Novella and has been shortlisted for the Arthur C. Clarke
and Nebula Awards. In addition, his fiction has been translated into around a dozen languages.

Stross lives in Edinburgh, Scotland, with his wife Feòrag, a couple of cats, several thousand books, and an ever-changing herd of obsolescent computers.

By Charles Stross

The Merchant Princes series

The Bloodline Feud

(Originally published as
The Family Trade
and
The Hidden Family
)

The Traders’ War

(Originally published as
The Clan Corporate
and
The Merchants’ War
)

The Revolution Trade

(Originally published as
The Revolution Business
and
The Trade of Queens
)

Acknowledgments

Thanks are due to James Nicoll, Robert ‘Nojay’ Sneddon, Cory Doctorow, Andrew Wilson, Caitlin Blasdell, Tom Doherty, and my editors, David Hartwell and Moshe
Feder.

The Clan Corporate
first published 2006 by Tor, Tom Doherty Associates, NY
First published in Great Britain 2008 by Tor

The Merchants’ War
first published 2007 by Tor, Tom Doherty Associates, NY

This electronic edition published 2013 by Tor
an imprint of Pan Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited
Pan Macmillan, 20 New Wharf Road, London N19RR
Basingstoke and Oxford
Associated companies throughout the world
www. panmacmillan. com

ISBN 978-0-230-77176-5

Copyright © Charles Stross 2013

The right of Charles Stross to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

You may not copy, store, distribute, transmit, reproduce or otherwise make available this publication (or any part of it) in any form, or by any means (electronic, digital,
optical, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the publisher. Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be
liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

Visit
www. panmacmillan. com
to read more about all our books and to buy them. You will also find features, author
interviews and news of any author events, and you can sign up for e-newsletters so that you’re always first to hear about our new releases.