The Hidden Family

Praise For The Merchant Princes Series

The Family Trade

“Charles Stross’s The Family Trade is an inventive, irreverent, and delightful romp into 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.

“Quirky, original, and entertaining. The Family Trade could be The Godfather of all fantasy novels.”

—Kevin J. Anderson, New York Times bestselling author of A Forest of Stars

“The Family Trade is one of those rare delights—a 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.”

—David Farland

“The Family Trade shows that Charles Stross is no longer a beginner to watch, but a star to watch.”

—Mike Resnick

“Stross not only creates an 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. 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 danger, of plots within plots, of forbidden love, and political murder.”

—Orson Scott Card