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The Family Trade

Charles Stross



"The Family Trade shows that Charles Stross is no longer a beginner to watch, but a star to watch." ЧMike Resnick

"Quirky, original, and entertaining. The Family Trade could be The Godfather of all fantasy novels."
ЧKevin J. Anderson, New York Times bestselling author of A Forest of Stars

THE MERCHANT PRINCES The Family Trade
The six families of the Clan rule the kingdom of Gruinmarkt from behind the scenes, a mixture of nobility and criminal conspirators whose power to walk between the worlds makes them rich in both. Braids of family loyalty and intermarriage provide a fragile guarantee of peace, but a recently-ended civil war has left the families shaken and suspicious.
Caught up in schemes and plots centuries in the making, Miriam Beckstein is surrounded by unlikely allies, forbidden loves, lethal contraband, and, most dangerous of all, her family. Her unexpected return to this world will supersede the claims of other clan members to her mother's fortune and power, and whoever killed her mother will be happy to see her dead, too.
Behind all this lie deeper secrets still, which threaten everyone and everything she has ever known. Patterns of deception and interlocking lies, as intricate as the knotwork between the universes.
"The Family Trade is one of those rare delightsЧa book that is fun, intelligently written, and which leaves a reader breathlessly wondering what will happen next. Readers Beware: Stross weaves a tale that continually builds to an engrossing climax. Once you get into this, you'll find yourself hooked." ЧDavid Farland
"At last, a story in which a character from our world is plunged into another, and doesn't act like a complete idiot. Miriam Beckstein is sharp-witted enough not to waste time trying to pretend that she can avoid the dilemmas that have
been forced on her, while being human enough to let her emotions guide her into risky territory."
"Stross not only creates a alternate world that is fascinating and original, he even does the unheard of, for a fantasist: His depiction of our world is deep and real. Many a fantasist is able to create, or at least borrow from Tolkien, a reasonably interesting milieu in which the characters can cavort, but when they try their hand at showing something from the real world, like, in this case, the society of high finance, they embarrass themselves by revealing how little they know."
"No such problem with Stross. He knows this world backward and forward, and seems to have thought of everything. His characters behave in ways that make sense. They know all the things they should know, and don't know the things they shouldn't. The result is that we readers can trust this author completely, dive into this story and let it carry us wherever the current flows."
"Not to mention the fact that it's simply a great adventure, full of dangers, of plots within plots, of forbidden love and political murder. Science fiction is in good hands with Charles Stross here to lead the new generation."
ЧOrson Scott Card
"Charles Stress's "The Family Trade is an intuitive, irreverent, and delightful romp into an alternate world where business is simultaneously low and high tech, and were romance, murder, marriage, and business are hopelessly intertwinedЧand deadly." ЧE. Modesitt, Jr.

Book One of the Merchant Princes
Charles Stross
TORо
fantasy
A TOM DOHERTY ASSOCIATES BOOK NEW YORK
NOTE: If you purchased this book without a cover, you should be aware that this book is stolen property. It was reported as "unsold and destroyed" to the publisher, and neither the author nor the publisher has received any payment for this "stripped book."
This is a work of fiction. All the characters and events portrayed in this book are either products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously.

THE FAMILY TRADE
Copyright й 2004 by Charles Stress
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book, or portions thereof, in any form.
Edited by David G. Hartwell
A Tor Book
Published by Tom Doherty Associates, LLC
175 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10010
www.tor.com
Torо is a registered trademark of Tom Doherty Associates, LLC.
ISBN 0-765-34821-7
EAN 978-0765-34821-0
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 2004049576
First edition: December 2004
First mass market edition: May 2005
Printed in die United States of America 098765432
For Steve and Jenny Glover
No novelist works in a creative vacuum. Whatever we do, we owe a debt to the giants upon whose shoulders we stand. This book might not have happened if I hadn't read the works of H. Beam Piper and Roger Zelazny.