Realised as I was reading this that I'd started reading this series (OK, the Merchant Princes forerunner to it) well over a decade ago. I can remember reading the author's introduction to it on his blog and thinking that sounded right up my street and mostly it has been. I'm a sucker for alternate histories and parallel worlds, especially when combined with an understanding of politics and the way governments actually work, as opposed to how a lot of fiction presents them.

And I enjoyed this as the capstone to that long and sprawling series, not least because it finally got a climax and satisfying ending despite all the hurdles that have got in its way. (Seriously, the afterword's litany of what Stross went through during the writing of this makes your average Thomas Hardy plot seem like a light romantic romp) It's bumpy and unevenly paced as all the pieces for the big finales are slotted into place or kept in a holding pattern until they're needed, and there's quite a bit of infodumping en route, but the conclusions of the differing plots are good when they come.

Now, where's a streaming service looking for the next series, because an adaptation of these would be great to watch...