frumiousb

I was actually planning to use the day to read/discuss A Grief Observed by C.S. Lewis. It has been a grey & rainy day. Perfect for self-pity. Fortunately, this afternoon I went to see The Tiger Lillies perform at the Paradiso.

It isn't books, but the Tiger Lillies are a great deal of fun. If you get a chance, you should go see them perform. I found them a most excellent antidote for self-pity and incipient maudlinity(*). (* "Maudlinity" is not a word, but I believe that it should be one.)

Anyhow, as a consequence, I decided to mark the Sunday Salon by reading something short. Short and fun. So I settled on The Hidden Family, by Charles Stross. I first heard of the Merchant Princes saga from the wonderful Livejournal of Randy McDonald. I was honestly a bit dubious, since I only knew and loved Charles Stross from his post-singularity novels. These books sounded a bit too close to Spellsinger for comfort.

And, in a way, that isn't very far from the mark. The trope is as old as the fantasy genre. Normal, moderately successful person in our world finds themselves in a different world where they have unexpected powers and status. In that sense, the book is a kind of cozy fantasy. It saves itself from tedium by being more about the economics of these dual worlds than it (often) actually is about the plot itself. Underneath the tried and true stock story beats the heart of something interesting and a little bit wicked.

In any case, The Hidden Family is a sequel to The Family Trade. I had found the first book a little too awkward in places. The Hidden Family feels like a more grown-up book. I still had some moments where belief just didn't want to suspend by itself, but I was willing to go along with the conceit for the sake of the ride.

I think that I still prefer the harder-edged Stross novels. (Accelerando is my favorite to date.) Still, this is a refreshing and entertaining series. I also appreciate that Stross did not feel the need to add 300 pages of filler to the nicely fleshed out 327 pages. Onwards to The Corporate Clan.