What do you think?
Rate this book
The Merchant Princes #3
Sjednocený klan
The third book (after The Family Trade and The Hidden Family) in the saga of the Merchant Princes by Charles Stross, in which Miriam gets into deadly trouble.
Miriam Beckstein has gotten in touch with her roots and they have nearly strangled her. A young, hip, business journalist in Boston, she discovered (in The Family Trade) that her family comes from an alternate reality, that she is very well-connected, and that her family is a lot too much like the mafia for comfort. In addition, starting with the fact that women are family property and required to breed more family members with the unique talent to walk between worlds, she has tried to remain an outsider and her own woman. And start a profitable business in a third world she has discovered, outside the family reach (recounted in The Hidden Family). She fell in love with a distant relative but he's dead, killed saving her life. There have been murders, betrayals.
Now, however, in The Clan Corporate, she may be overreaching. And if she gets caught, death or a fate worse is around the bend. There is for instance the brain-damaged son of the local king who needs a wife. But they'd never make her do that, would they?
Miriam Beckstein has gotten in touch with her roots and they have nearly strangled her. A young, hip, business journalist in Boston, she discovered (in The Family Trade) that her family comes from an alternate reality, that she is very well-connected, and that her family is a lot too much like the mafia for comfort. In addition, starting with the fact that women are family property and required to breed more family members with the unique talent to walk between worlds, she has tried to remain an outsider and her own woman. And start a profitable business in a third world she has discovered, outside the family reach (recounted in The Hidden Family). She fell in love with a distant relative but he's dead, killed saving her life. There have been murders, betrayals.
Now, however, in The Clan Corporate, she may be overreaching. And if she gets caught, death or a fate worse is around the bend. There is for instance the brain-damaged son of the local king who needs a wife. But they'd never make her do that, would they?
309 pages, Paperback
First published May 1, 2006
49 people are currently reading
807 people want to read
About the author
Charles Stross
158 books5,815 followersCharles David George "Charlie" Stross is a writer based in Edinburgh, Scotland. His works range from science fiction and Lovecraftian horror to fantasy.
Stross is sometimes regarded as being part of a new generation of British science fiction writers who specialise in hard science fiction and space opera. His contemporaries include Alastair Reynolds, Ken MacLeod, Liz Williams and Richard Morgan.
SF Encyclopedia: http://www.sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/...
Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_...
Tor: http://us.macmillan.com/author/charle...
Stross is sometimes regarded as being part of a new generation of British science fiction writers who specialise in hard science fiction and space opera. His contemporaries include Alastair Reynolds, Ken MacLeod, Liz Williams and Richard Morgan.
SF Encyclopedia: http://www.sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/...
Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_...
Tor: http://us.macmillan.com/author/charle...
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 157 reviews
September 5, 2009
Dang, I wish I had let this series go after the second book.
So the first book introduces Miriam and Worlds One and Two (ours and the Clan's). The second book spends a huge amount of time bringing us into World Three and the missing branch of the Clan's family. But in book three (The Clan Corporate), World Three and the missing branch take about four pages. They're just gone. Stross spent an entire novel getting World Three up to speed, and they're just gone.
This novel is about how Miriam has been set up, cornered, and stymied by the Clan. It might be what would really happen, but by God it's boring to read. And then the one time she takes action (against several good friends' strong advice), she seems to have forgotten most of the lessons that she learned as a successful investigative reporter. Sure, she's been backed into a corner by the Clan. But does that have to make her an idiot?
The only redeeming part of this third novel is the interesting new storyline about how the U.S. government is responding to a Clan member's defection and snitching. But that defector mailed his info to a DEA agent who happens to be... wait for it!... Miriam's old boyfriend. Oh, please.
And then the novel ends in the middle of a crisis that might as well be in the middle of a sentence for all the closure it gives. I wish the series had Cliff Notes, because I really just want to find out what happens without having to read hundreds of pages of this stuff to find out.
But hey, you can just read my reviews! Aren't you lucky?
So the first book introduces Miriam and Worlds One and Two (ours and the Clan's). The second book spends a huge amount of time bringing us into World Three and the missing branch of the Clan's family. But in book three (The Clan Corporate), World Three and the missing branch take about four pages. They're just gone. Stross spent an entire novel getting World Three up to speed, and they're just gone.
This novel is about how Miriam has been set up, cornered, and stymied by the Clan. It might be what would really happen, but by God it's boring to read. And then the one time she takes action (against several good friends' strong advice), she seems to have forgotten most of the lessons that she learned as a successful investigative reporter. Sure, she's been backed into a corner by the Clan. But does that have to make her an idiot?
The only redeeming part of this third novel is the interesting new storyline about how the U.S. government is responding to a Clan member's defection and snitching. But that defector mailed his info to a DEA agent who happens to be... wait for it!... Miriam's old boyfriend. Oh, please.
And then the novel ends in the middle of a crisis that might as well be in the middle of a sentence for all the closure it gives. I wish the series had Cliff Notes, because I really just want to find out what happens without having to read hundreds of pages of this stuff to find out.
But hey, you can just read my reviews! Aren't you lucky?
January 15, 2014
This is definitely the weakest of the first three books. I am also having a hard time with the plot. The heroine seems to have been transformed from a smart, somewhat impetuous, but hard hitting independent woman to a helpless wretch, and I see no hope in sight for either her redemption or the redemption of any character in the series. I am moving on to the next book, but the people and the world are becoming extremely unlikeable.
October 5, 2017
Rating: 4* of five
I question myself every time I read one of these books: Would I simply accept the Family Trade or would I too resist?
I question myself every time I read one of these books: Would I simply accept the Family Trade or would I too resist?
September 26, 2011
Easily the worst of the series so far. Why are these people so stupid? They are supposed to be smart.
January 26, 2018
3.5 stars. Make sure you have the next book on hand, because this ends on a really evil cliffhanger!
December 14, 2012
Don't get me wrong; I'm a Charles Stross fan. A HUGE CS fan, actually. I haven't read everything he's ever written (yet), but everything I've read by him I've liked immensely... except for all the books in this series. The first two I was willing to believe that Tor had editorially screwed up beyond comprehension. But I don't think that can apply to this "novel." The scare quotes there pretty much sum up the problem: a novel is supposed to have a thing called a plot, where SOMETHING happens, which moves in an arc, not a momentary blip followed by a long stretch of boredom ending with a sudden bang from out of nowhere. Come on, Stross: you have not just one world to work with in this series; you have THREE WHOLE UNIVERSES to use, but it's like you had no idea what to do with them. Most of this book literally takes place in a prison cell (actually, a few) with the character doing a whole lot of moaning and bitching that nothing is happenening; kind of like I was while reading the damn thing. I'm sticking it out, Stross, because it's got to get better sometime, right? Something interesting will happen in at least ONE of the final three books in the series, right? Or do I need a locket to look into to transport myself on to another, better Charles Stross book?
November 19, 2019
Somehow, Charles Stross always manages to smack my funny-bone. There may be somewhere in the world where his plays on words have become cliché, but they seem fresh to me. In The Clan Corporate, we are told that one character “…could starve himself to death between two cookbooks.” (p. 50) Further, on the very next page, my eyes alighted on a depiction of the political animal so fitting I had to take notice: “If the leviathan is determined to drink the blood of the people, there’s going to be plenty to spare for the ticks.” (p. 51) At mid-story, we get a picture of a National Security Council meeting room as “…about as friendly as Dracula’s crypt—no windows, air-conditioning ducts and ceiling and floor tiles made out of transparent Lexan so you could check them visually for bugs, …” (p. 137). And, at the risk of disclosing a slight spoiler, our protagonist (Helge aka Miriam) becomes concerned about a plot against her. She confides, “And I smell a rat. A great, big, dead-and-decomposing-under-the-front-stoop, reproductive politics rodent.” (p. 200) These delightful descriptions and puns please me immensely.
Alas, the last personification may be a slight spoiler, but it won’t take long before any reader realizes that Stross is making a passionate analogy with reproductive rights in our world. The Clan Corporate isn’t simply about that issue as it touches on gender issues, the horrors of eugenics, the dangers of a binary ethic (as a former police detective enters the mix), and the expectations of culture (and derivatively, of family). Unfortunately, to make his point(s), Stross has largely constrained the movement and the creativity of his clever protagonist, Miriam. He places her in a position of relative helplessness as people she trusts appear to be part of a conspiracy to turn her into a royal “Stepford Wife.” Indeed, to provide much action at all, the reader is reduced to having to page back and forth between a FUBAR of a police procedural mixed with covert action and the loose ends (not sufficiently knotted back together by the end of this volume) of the resistance in one of the parallel worlds in which Miriam has been active.
So, the situation(s) in The Clan Corporate have some interest about them, but the pace is, at times, deadly dull relative to Stross’ other works, both in this series and The Laundry Files. Despite that, The Clan Corporate is worth reading for its insight into government paranoia regarding alien activities. I’m not sure if Stross is portraying a prescient analog to the type of xenophobia that has led to the “America First” revivus in one of the major U.S. political parties or the “Brexit Party” which has hijacked the U.K.’s economic and political agendae. If not, Stross is fast becoming our era’s Jules Verne or H. G. Wells in terms of visualizing the social consequences of technology. Indeed, Stross may already be somewhat ahead of the former in this particular regard.
In all of this discussion of the story, I haven’t really addressed what happens. Let’s just say that there is a tremendous betrayal that has interesting complications for the society where Miriam is part of the nobility which, in turn, may change that society’s expectations in the long run. Indeed, it may even change Miriam’s romantic expectations in the long run. If I ever come back to the series (and I probably will, eventually, it’s just that the current plot has stimulated my curiosity like most Stross novels. On the other hand, I expressed something of the same “Stross fatigue” after reading The Apocalypse Codex in the other series and I now have the next volume in my “to read” pile. So, regular readers of my reviews can probably take my reservations on The Clan Corporate with the proverbial grano salis.
Alas, the last personification may be a slight spoiler, but it won’t take long before any reader realizes that Stross is making a passionate analogy with reproductive rights in our world. The Clan Corporate isn’t simply about that issue as it touches on gender issues, the horrors of eugenics, the dangers of a binary ethic (as a former police detective enters the mix), and the expectations of culture (and derivatively, of family). Unfortunately, to make his point(s), Stross has largely constrained the movement and the creativity of his clever protagonist, Miriam. He places her in a position of relative helplessness as people she trusts appear to be part of a conspiracy to turn her into a royal “Stepford Wife.” Indeed, to provide much action at all, the reader is reduced to having to page back and forth between a FUBAR of a police procedural mixed with covert action and the loose ends (not sufficiently knotted back together by the end of this volume) of the resistance in one of the parallel worlds in which Miriam has been active.
So, the situation(s) in The Clan Corporate have some interest about them, but the pace is, at times, deadly dull relative to Stross’ other works, both in this series and The Laundry Files. Despite that, The Clan Corporate is worth reading for its insight into government paranoia regarding alien activities. I’m not sure if Stross is portraying a prescient analog to the type of xenophobia that has led to the “America First” revivus in one of the major U.S. political parties or the “Brexit Party” which has hijacked the U.K.’s economic and political agendae. If not, Stross is fast becoming our era’s Jules Verne or H. G. Wells in terms of visualizing the social consequences of technology. Indeed, Stross may already be somewhat ahead of the former in this particular regard.
In all of this discussion of the story, I haven’t really addressed what happens. Let’s just say that there is a tremendous betrayal that has interesting complications for the society where Miriam is part of the nobility which, in turn, may change that society’s expectations in the long run. Indeed, it may even change Miriam’s romantic expectations in the long run. If I ever come back to the series (and I probably will, eventually, it’s just that the current plot has stimulated my curiosity like most Stross novels. On the other hand, I expressed something of the same “Stross fatigue” after reading The Apocalypse Codex in the other series and I now have the next volume in my “to read” pile. So, regular readers of my reviews can probably take my reservations on The Clan Corporate with the proverbial grano salis.
January 6, 2023
If you read the reviews here, you will note many complaints about the slow-moving plot, and cliff-hanger ending. If you read my earlier series review, https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... , you'll have seen some of the reasons. Now, here's the author's mea culpa:
https://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog... (scroll down to "The Clan Corporate ") -- which was originally to be book #2 in the series:
"I was already 60,000 words into "The Clan Corporate", with about eight months to go to my deadline, when the form factor was declared from on high. 60,000 words into a projected 250-300,000 word novel is the intro and set-up. ... I was faced with a dilemma: tear it all up and redesign the rest of the series story arc from scratch and write a new 100,000 word novel, or just plough on with what I had, add another 40,000 words, and try to make it work. And while eight months might sound like plenty of time, I was overcommitted: I had another book that I was due to hand in two months later! Realistically, the throw-it-away-and-restart-from-scratch option wasn't an option. Which is why "The Clan Corporate" reads slowly, with little direct action happening until the very end — it's the setup sequence of a much longer book."
"I also discovered a new ailment of the serial novel at this point. It's this: you have to spend some time at the beginning tying each new volume into what has gone before, and you need to spend some effort making sure there's at least a nod in the direction of giving the book a climax. All of this is overhead, and the rule of thumb I've learned is that it adds about 33% to the length of the story. By taking a 250-300,000 word book and splitting it into 100,000 word episodes, I ended up having to add an extra 130,000 words — bringing it up to four books."
So now I know why I downchecked both books 3 & 4 on first reading....
I could go back and reread the new omnibus editions, which (allegedly) have the bridge stuff trimmed. But, life is short and books are many.
And I'll bring celebrity economist Paul Krugman's review of the series to your attention: http://crookedtimber.org/2009/01/27/s...
It's pretty interesting.
I should go back and reread the re-edited 3-vol version of the series, which is Stross's strongly preferred version. I'll have to see if our library has them.
https://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog... (scroll down to "The Clan Corporate ") -- which was originally to be book #2 in the series:
"I was already 60,000 words into "The Clan Corporate", with about eight months to go to my deadline, when the form factor was declared from on high. 60,000 words into a projected 250-300,000 word novel is the intro and set-up. ... I was faced with a dilemma: tear it all up and redesign the rest of the series story arc from scratch and write a new 100,000 word novel, or just plough on with what I had, add another 40,000 words, and try to make it work. And while eight months might sound like plenty of time, I was overcommitted: I had another book that I was due to hand in two months later! Realistically, the throw-it-away-and-restart-from-scratch option wasn't an option. Which is why "The Clan Corporate" reads slowly, with little direct action happening until the very end — it's the setup sequence of a much longer book."
"I also discovered a new ailment of the serial novel at this point. It's this: you have to spend some time at the beginning tying each new volume into what has gone before, and you need to spend some effort making sure there's at least a nod in the direction of giving the book a climax. All of this is overhead, and the rule of thumb I've learned is that it adds about 33% to the length of the story. By taking a 250-300,000 word book and splitting it into 100,000 word episodes, I ended up having to add an extra 130,000 words — bringing it up to four books."
So now I know why I downchecked both books 3 & 4 on first reading....
I could go back and reread the new omnibus editions, which (allegedly) have the bridge stuff trimmed. But, life is short and books are many.
And I'll bring celebrity economist Paul Krugman's review of the series to your attention: http://crookedtimber.org/2009/01/27/s...
It's pretty interesting.
I should go back and reread the re-edited 3-vol version of the series, which is Stross's strongly preferred version. I'll have to see if our library has them.
July 13, 2025
This is the third of a continuing series of books that began with The Family Trade, followed by The Hidden Family. In those books, New York journalist Miriam Beckstein learns that she is actually part of a family of "world-walkers," a Clan, based in a parallel world, and that she shares their ability to go between worlds.
The other world is much more primitive than ours. She also learns of a third world (sort of steampunk wonderland in between our world and the Clan's), it has a fast-paced, complex story, juggling intertangled conspiracies in three worlds.
-Medieval scheming as these merchants try to ship drugs across worlds.
-Democratic revolution against a steam-powered aristocracy
- The federal US task force hunting down dimensional traveling narco-terrorists.
3/5
Fascinating and fun worldbuilding, I enjoyed Miriam’s character. What stands out is Charles Stross's realistic view of political behavior is central to these stories -- there are several political entities acting, with completely different objectives, from multiple worlds at different tech levels.
Complicated, medium pacing. It's enjoyable but not exceptional.
The other world is much more primitive than ours. She also learns of a third world (sort of steampunk wonderland in between our world and the Clan's), it has a fast-paced, complex story, juggling intertangled conspiracies in three worlds.
-Medieval scheming as these merchants try to ship drugs across worlds.
-Democratic revolution against a steam-powered aristocracy
- The federal US task force hunting down dimensional traveling narco-terrorists.
3/5
Fascinating and fun worldbuilding, I enjoyed Miriam’s character. What stands out is Charles Stross's realistic view of political behavior is central to these stories -- there are several political entities acting, with completely different objectives, from multiple worlds at different tech levels.
Complicated, medium pacing. It's enjoyable but not exceptional.
July 3, 2008
Charles Stross's Merchant Princes series has its first less-than-stellar entry in "The Clan Corporate". I would have to say that my review here, though, is merely an indication of how much I've grown to love the series and its characters over the course of my frantic weeklong immersion in its first three books. After all, the reason I felt that this volume was less outstanding than the two that came before is because events of the story have caught up with our protagonist, Mirian Beckstein, and she's allowed much less room to maneuver and get into exciting situations than she was in the first two volumes of this series. "The Clan Corporate" starts what would have been Stross's longer second volume of this series, and it appears for most of it that the jaws of the medieval-thinking trap have closed over Miriam, and that her defiant liberation may be at an end. The way the novel ends gives some hope, but it's less than clear. Meanwhile, we've got a great deal of sympathetic frustration to look forward to over the course of these 300 pages. While Stross's storytelling is no less amazing and his prose maintains enough quality to earn the title of "decent" throughout (though never "great"), he's telling a less satisfying story in this volume. And for that reason, I found it particularly frustrating to reach the end of the volume and realize that the fourth in the series, "The Merchant's War", won't be in paperback until September 30th. I feel I can wait 3 months for this book, rather than pay 4 times the cost for a hardcover instead of a paperback, but it's going to be a near thing, and I have no doubt that I will be jumping on the Volume 5 hardcover as soon as it's released. I always tell myself that I'm not going to jump into these lengthy, multi-volume series until they're finished. I should never have violated that particular guideline in this case. As much as I'm loving these books, it's driving me crazy that I can't blast through all six of them at once.
Which, I suppose, is a good review for Charles Stross, even if it is a source of frustration for me.
Which, I suppose, is a good review for Charles Stross, even if it is a source of frustration for me.
March 25, 2019
Not nearly as good as the other 2 in the series which I have 4 stars to, but I'm hoping this book sets up everything for a potentially great 4th book to match the first 2 so I'll continue.
I'm too tired to write long flowing paragraphs so here's what annoyed me in bullet form.
1. Yet another situation where Miriam again trusts someone immediately and he immediately trusts her back risking death/jail for someone he doesn't know while an instantaneous love interest blooms. That only happens in YA novels & romance movies, & it's an off note in the series just like with Roland.
2. Miriam making the stupid mistake to fall into so obvious a trap with the fertility clinic. Would an investigative reporter really make such a dumb error? No.
3. The weird transcripts which just seem like lazy writing.
4. This particular book was way too focused on the "real world". If I wanted to read a book about the DEA or FBI, I'd pick up a DEA or FBI book.
5. Speaking of the DEA, it's ridiculous to think that Miriam's old boyfriend is one of the few people who stumble upon Matthias. I could maybe see a storyline where the government somehow finds out that a lowly DEA agent was the prior love interest of Miriam & so then grooms him to become a spy & her lover again. But the way it actually happened defies belief.
6. A pretty grim view of "fairyland" for women. Though I suppose this could be realistic, I don't like to read about women being punched, jailed, forced to marry against their will, have their tongue cut out, etc. I read fantasy & sci fi to get away from nastiness. I'm hoping by the end of the series there'll be a happy ending in this regard & Miriam will Change everything.
7. The mother giving in to doing what everyone wants.
8. I adore the narrator, but I'm still annoyed by the writing which makes her say "pause" or repeat a number of the same phrases.
I'm too tired to write long flowing paragraphs so here's what annoyed me in bullet form.
1. Yet another situation where Miriam again trusts someone immediately and he immediately trusts her back risking death/jail for someone he doesn't know while an instantaneous love interest blooms. That only happens in YA novels & romance movies, & it's an off note in the series just like with Roland.
2. Miriam making the stupid mistake to fall into so obvious a trap with the fertility clinic. Would an investigative reporter really make such a dumb error? No.
3. The weird transcripts which just seem like lazy writing.
4. This particular book was way too focused on the "real world". If I wanted to read a book about the DEA or FBI, I'd pick up a DEA or FBI book.
5. Speaking of the DEA, it's ridiculous to think that Miriam's old boyfriend is one of the few people who stumble upon Matthias. I could maybe see a storyline where the government somehow finds out that a lowly DEA agent was the prior love interest of Miriam & so then grooms him to become a spy & her lover again. But the way it actually happened defies belief.
6. A pretty grim view of "fairyland" for women. Though I suppose this could be realistic, I don't like to read about women being punched, jailed, forced to marry against their will, have their tongue cut out, etc. I read fantasy & sci fi to get away from nastiness. I'm hoping by the end of the series there'll be a happy ending in this regard & Miriam will Change everything.
7. The mother giving in to doing what everyone wants.
8. I adore the narrator, but I'm still annoyed by the writing which makes her say "pause" or repeat a number of the same phrases.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 26, 2009
These books keep managing to get worse. The first one had a fantastic concept that drew me in, but the execution made me wince: The writing is quite frankly terrible, and I'm sorry to say it keeps getting worse. I'm pretty sure there's a point in this book when the author randomly starts inserting the wrong character's name in a scene in which the named character could not possibly appear. The author gets the name right again ... three pages later. The editing, if there was any, is amateurish. I really hope this book was self-published. But it gets two stars instead of one because the plot was intriguing enough that I kept reading.
June 9, 2017
Fuck this book.
It's your protagonist being sized up to be a broodmare for the entire book.
The character goes from business savvy, smart, if a little far fetched, so some simpering idiot who gets pushed round by everyone. I tried to push though it thinking she would get some of her character from the book.
It's literally page after page of her being trapped in shitty boring world 2 without making and changes to it. Just when you think something good will happen the plot will fall apart and with each plot falling apart the characters around her get more and more obviously malevolent to the point of incredulity. It's bleak to the point of boring.
DO NOT BOTHER.
It's your protagonist being sized up to be a broodmare for the entire book.
The character goes from business savvy, smart, if a little far fetched, so some simpering idiot who gets pushed round by everyone. I tried to push though it thinking she would get some of her character from the book.
It's literally page after page of her being trapped in shitty boring world 2 without making and changes to it. Just when you think something good will happen the plot will fall apart and with each plot falling apart the characters around her get more and more obviously malevolent to the point of incredulity. It's bleak to the point of boring.
DO NOT BOTHER.
May 29, 2007
Pretty bad. This series has really degenerated.
September 19, 2012
Don't bother...
February 1, 2021
Readers massively moan that nothing happen in the novel, blaming the author and even justifying him (few who still remain loyal after such a setup) by the fact that something else was written simultaneously with the Clan Corporate because the third part of "The Merchant Princes" is so boring and eventless. Well, I beginning to wonder if I read that book.
Because at for me, a lot of things are happening, and a story is becoming more and more exciting. First of all, the expansion that began in the second book into a New-Britain - the world is accidentally (but we all know that randomly is an unconscious pattern) opened by the heroine. Let me remind you that this a steampunk version of reality that did not survive the economic revolution, in the progress was moving at a different pace than in our country.
Невольница чести
Люди в большинстве романтизируют королевскую власть, глядя на беззубые современные конституционные монархии Европы. Но на самом деле. монархия - лишь нарядное имя для наследственной диктатуры. Не то, во что вы хотели бы попасть. Most people had an overly romantic view of what a monarchy-not the toothless, modern constitutional monarchies of Europe, but the original a monarchy was just a fancy name for a hereditary dictatorship. And that wasn't anything you wanted to get caught up in.
Проглядев рецензии, где читатели массово стенают , что в романе ничего не происходит, пеняя автору, и даже оправдывая его (те немногие, кто еще сохраняет лояльность после такой подставы) тем, что одновременно с The Clan Corporate писалось что-то еще, потому третья часть "Принцев торговли" так скучна и бессобытийна. Так вот, я начинаю сомневаться, что читала ту самую книгу.
Потому что, как по мне - очень много всего происходит, а история становится все более захватывающей. Ну, во-первых, развивается начавшаяся во второй книге экспансия в Новую Британию - мир, случайно (но мы-то с вами знаем, что случайность - суть неосознанная закономерность) открытый героиней. Напомню, это стимпанковый вариант реальности, не переживший экономическую революцию, в котором прогресс двигался иными темпами, чем у нас.
С точки зрения технического развития, это такая поздневикторианская эпоха (ну, чуть модифицированная): газовые рожки для освещения, топят углем, отчего в городах смог, но есть трамвай на электрической тяге, крайне несовершенные автомобили и дирижабли (парашют тут не изобрели). Химической промышленности, как таковой, не существует. Следовательно, две ключевые области применения: полимеризация и фармакология в загоне.
Напомню, пластмассы сделали доступным массовое производство предметов потребления, унифицировав стандарты нынешней жизни: бедные и богатые равно ездят на машинах и пользуются гаджетами, эконом от лакшери отличают классность, цена и комфортабельность. Что до лекарств, они беспрецедентно снизили детскую
и женскую в родах смертность и одновременно увеличили продолжительность жизни. Всего этого Новая Британия лишена.
С точки зрения экономики, высокая покупательная способность местного фунта, эквивалентного чуть не ста пятидесяти долларам США, насколько сопоставление вообще возможно в случае с такими разными реальностями, Чарльз Стросс четко обозначает возможные сложности, с которыми сталкиваешься уже на стадии приведения к общему знаменателю. Так вот, высокая стоимость фунта обеспечивается золотом, оборот которого строго контролируется государством, примерно как валюта в СССР с теми же последствиями для замешанных в операциях по незаконному обороту. Но золото очень дорого.
Одежда дорогая (нет легкой промышленности и массового производства прет-а-порте) некрасивая и неуклюжая, хотя получше, чем в Грюнмаркте (мир Средневековья, родина Клана). Но эти шальварные костюмы, боги мои! А служанка и вовсе может ходить по городу в замызганном переднике даже в свой выходной. Тоиссь, индустрия моды и красоты тоже практически отсутствует (простите, увлеклась о своем, о девичьем, а надо ведь еще за политику, потому что именно она здесь рулит.)
Так вот, с точки зрения политической, Новая Британия полицейское государство, где Большой Брат смотрит, сообразно имеющимся техническим возможностям (скромным что радует). Политическое вольнодумство строго контролируется и пресекается помещением в трудовые лагеря. За хранение самиздатовской брошюры Маркса, например, (которого здесь казнили) вполне можно схлопотать срок.
Вы уже поняли, что наша девочка захочет делать здесь бизнес. Да не по убогой схеме "наркотрафик-предметы технологического прогресса", принятой к обращению в Клане. Нет, переправив некоторое количество золота в слитках и обзаведшись стартовым капиталом. Поклонница игры с ненулевой суммой, она предполагает импортировать технологии, внимание! - которые в нашем мире не заняли ведущих позиций, потому что прогресс двигался по пути сингулярности, отбрасывая одни перспективные решения ради других, еще более перспективных. Чтобы понятнее: кто сегодня смотрит фильмы на видеокассетах? А ведь еще двадцать лет назад технология VHS казалась вершиной прогресса и совершенством в чистом виде.
А вз��мен, и это идея ее напарницы по редакционным расследованиям Полетт, вместе с которой были уволены - взамен нужно приносить в наш мир произведения искусства, погибшие в войнах. Один только Дрезден чего стоил мировой культуре. Это даже не будет торговлей подделками, подлинные Леонардо и Рафаэль - любая экспертиза подтвердит. Вот обожаю Стросса за такие идеи. И за отсутствие снобского пренебрежения торговлей, традиционного в интеллектуальной среде.
Начать решают с производства автомобильных тормозов. скоро, однако, сказка сказывается, да нескоро дело делается. Прелести тоталитарного государства обнаруживают себя уже на стадии становления мастерских, а кроме того, семья, которой Мириам-Хельга на блюдечке с голубой каемочкой принесла целый готовый рыно�� сбыта, не готова отойти от привычной практики ради головокружительных перспектив прогрессорства, которое предположительно улучшит общие условия жизни и в Грюнмаркте.
Поработай-ка ты курьером на благо общего дела, деточка. А потом, будь любезна, в королевский дворец. У них там намечается прием, на котором ты обязана присутствовать, у королевской четы к тебе дело. Какое? Там скажут. Там говорят. Правящая династия очень не отказалась бы иметь наследниками людей, обладающих способностями странников.
Всего-то и нужно, что сочетаться законным браком с младшим сыном принцем Креонтом (это который имбицил? нет, он от природы не скудоумен, дебилизм - последствие несоблюдения диеты при фенилкетонурии - загуглите. я очень удивлялась). А чтобы простимулировать согласие, твоя мама у нас. Очень надеемся, что ее не придется подвергать пыткам.
Каково? И это при том, что в нашем мире УБН активизируется в расследовании деятельности клана после удачно вброшенной инсайдерской информации, а Полетт удается нарыть сведения о многомиллионных вливаниях в клиники, занимающиеся репродуктивной сферой. Сложите два и два: к чему заниматься ненадежной генной селекцией дома, когда наш мир предоставит сколько угодно суррогатных матерей, готовых выносить детишек представителям клана с той самой гетерозиготой. То-то же. а вы говорите, ничего не происходит.
Because at for me, a lot of things are happening, and a story is becoming more and more exciting. First of all, the expansion that began in the second book into a New-Britain - the world is accidentally (but we all know that randomly is an unconscious pattern) opened by the heroine. Let me remind you that this a steampunk version of reality that did not survive the economic revolution, in the progress was moving at a different pace than in our country.
Невольница чести
Люди в большинстве романтизируют королевскую власть, глядя на беззубые современные конституционные монархии Европы. Но на самом деле. монархия - лишь нарядное имя для наследственной диктатуры. Не то, во что вы хотели бы попасть. Most people had an overly romantic view of what a monarchy-not the toothless, modern constitutional monarchies of Europe, but the original a monarchy was just a fancy name for a hereditary dictatorship. And that wasn't anything you wanted to get caught up in.
Проглядев рецензии, где читатели массово стенают , что в романе ничего не происходит, пеняя автору, и даже оправдывая его (те немногие, кто еще сохраняет лояльность после такой подставы) тем, что одновременно с The Clan Corporate писалось что-то еще, потому третья часть "Принцев торговли" так скучна и бессобытийна. Так вот, я начинаю сомневаться, что читала ту самую книгу.
Потому что, как по мне - очень много всего происходит, а история становится все более захватывающей. Ну, во-первых, развивается начавшаяся во второй книге экспансия в Новую Британию - мир, случайно (но мы-то с вами знаем, что случайность - суть неосознанная закономерность) открытый героиней. Напомню, это стимпанковый вариант реальности, не переживший экономическую революцию, в котором прогресс двигался иными темпами, чем у нас.
С точки зрения технического развития, это такая поздневикторианская эпоха (ну, чуть модифицированная): газовые рожки для освещения, топят углем, отчего в городах смог, но есть трамвай на электрической тяге, крайне несовершенные автомобили и дирижабли (парашют тут не изобрели). Химической промышленности, как таковой, не существует. Следовательно, две ключевые области применения: полимеризация и фармакология в загоне.
Напомню, пластмассы сделали доступным массовое производство предметов потребления, унифицировав стандарты нынешней жизни: бедные и богатые равно ездят на машинах и пользуются гаджетами, эконом от лакшери отличают классность, цена и комфортабельность. Что до лекарств, они беспрецедентно снизили детскую
и женскую в родах смертность и одновременно увеличили продолжительность жизни. Всего этого Новая Британия лишена.
С точки зрения экономики, высокая покупательная способность местного фунта, эквивалентного чуть не ста пятидесяти долларам США, насколько сопоставление вообще возможно в случае с такими разными реальностями, Чарльз Стросс четко обозначает возможные сложности, с которыми сталкиваешься уже на стадии приведения к общему знаменателю. Так вот, высокая стоимость фунта обеспечивается золотом, оборот которого строго контролируется государством, примерно как валюта в СССР с теми же последствиями для замешанных в операциях по незаконному обороту. Но золото очень дорого.
Одежда дорогая (нет легкой промышленности и массового производства прет-а-порте) некрасивая и неуклюжая, хотя получше, чем в Грюнмаркте (мир Средневековья, родина Клана). Но эти шальварные костюмы, боги мои! А служанка и вовсе может ходить по городу в замызганном переднике даже в свой выходной. Тоиссь, индустрия моды и красоты тоже практически отсутствует (простите, увлеклась о своем, о девичьем, а надо ведь еще за политику, потому что именно она здесь рулит.)
Так вот, с точки зрения политической, Новая Британия полицейское государство, где Большой Брат смотрит, сообразно имеющимся техническим возможностям (скромным что радует). Политическое вольнодумство строго контролируется и пресекается помещением в трудовые лагеря. За хранение самиздатовской брошюры Маркса, например, (которого здесь казнили) вполне можно схлопотать срок.
Вы уже поняли, что наша девочка захочет делать здесь бизнес. Да не по убогой схеме "наркотрафик-предметы технологического прогресса", принятой к обращению в Клане. Нет, переправив некоторое количество золота в слитках и обзаведшись стартовым капиталом. Поклонница игры с ненулевой суммой, она предполагает импортировать технологии, внимание! - которые в нашем мире не заняли ведущих позиций, потому что прогресс двигался по пути сингулярности, отбрасывая одни перспективные решения ради других, еще более перспективных. Чтобы понятнее: кто сегодня смотрит фильмы на видеокассетах? А ведь еще двадцать лет назад технология VHS казалась вершиной прогресса и совершенством в чистом виде.
А вз��мен, и это идея ее напарницы по редакционным расследованиям Полетт, вместе с которой были уволены - взамен нужно приносить в наш мир произведения искусства, погибшие в войнах. Один только Дрезден чего стоил мировой культуре. Это даже не будет торговлей подделками, подлинные Леонардо и Рафаэль - любая экспертиза подтвердит. Вот обожаю Стросса за такие идеи. И за отсутствие снобского пренебрежения торговлей, традиционного в интеллектуальной среде.
Начать решают с производства автомобильных тормозов. скоро, однако, сказка сказывается, да нескоро дело делается. Прелести тоталитарного государства обнаруживают себя уже на стадии становления мастерских, а кроме того, семья, которой Мириам-Хельга на блюдечке с голубой каемочкой принесла целый готовый рыно�� сбыта, не готова отойти от привычной практики ради головокружительных перспектив прогрессорства, которое предположительно улучшит общие условия жизни и в Грюнмаркте.
Поработай-ка ты курьером на благо общего дела, деточка. А потом, будь любезна, в королевский дворец. У них там намечается прием, на котором ты обязана присутствовать, у королевской четы к тебе дело. Какое? Там скажут. Там говорят. Правящая династия очень не отказалась бы иметь наследниками людей, обладающих способностями странников.
Всего-то и нужно, что сочетаться законным браком с младшим сыном принцем Креонтом (это который имбицил? нет, он от природы не скудоумен, дебилизм - последствие несоблюдения диеты при фенилкетонурии - загуглите. я очень удивлялась). А чтобы простимулировать согласие, твоя мама у нас. Очень надеемся, что ее не придется подвергать пыткам.
Каково? И это при том, что в нашем мире УБН активизируется в расследовании деятельности клана после удачно вброшенной инсайдерской информации, а Полетт удается нарыть сведения о многомиллионных вливаниях в клиники, занимающиеся репродуктивной сферой. Сложите два и два: к чему заниматься ненадежной генной селекцией дома, когда наш мир предоставит сколько угодно суррогатных матерей, готовых выносить детишек представителям клана с той самой гетерозиготой. То-то же. а вы говорите, ничего не происходит.
April 25, 2022
לא יודעת. מצד אחד קראתי ביומיים והייתי ממש שמחה שיתרגמו את שאר הסדרה, מצד שני זה ממש מעצבן כשספר נגמר ב cliff hanger מוחלט בלי שום פתרון של כלום. בפרט כי לא תרגמו את ההמשכים
June 22, 2024
Už som si vybavila, prečo som v sérii nepokračovala, keď som čítala anglickú verziu.
V prvých dvoch knihách lákalo hlavne objavovanie sveta a osud hlavnej postavy. Teraz, keď už vlastne vieme čo je a kde je a ako funguje, tak sa veľký kus čara stratil a väčšina je o mocenských vzťahoch a politike a ani línia hlavnej postavy sa nevyvíja spôsobom, ktorý by potešil, hlavne keď hlavná postava vŕši chyby. Budem si musieť dať prestávku, kým sa pustím do ďalšej časti.
V prvých dvoch knihách lákalo hlavne objavovanie sveta a osud hlavnej postavy. Teraz, keď už vlastne vieme čo je a kde je a ako funguje, tak sa veľký kus čara stratil a väčšina je o mocenských vzťahoch a politike a ani línia hlavnej postavy sa nevyvíja spôsobom, ktorý by potešil, hlavne keď hlavná postava vŕši chyby. Budem si musieť dať prestávku, kým sa pustím do ďalšej časti.
June 17, 2021
This book isn't terrible, but compared with the rest of the series (have read #1, 2, this 3, 7, 8), it's flat, boring and implausible. Especially in the back third of the book, the author seems to have lost the plot - giving in to poorly conceived story threads, out-of-character errors by the characters, and action that just makes absolutely no sense in the real or imagined world.
I could list the dozen blunderingly terrible things the author does to mechanize the machinations, but there's no point. This would be hidden for spoilers, and you'd realize I was right, but not read it if you believed me. I wish I could have done the cliff's notes for this volume to get it over with. It was painful in long slogging stretches just to get through it. I kept hoping it would improve, but alas, most of our favorite characters do things that are so stupid or unlike anything they *would* do, it was hard to finish, hard to stomach. If book 4 - 5 - 6 continue in this way, I'll be surprised, but I'm now bracing for more author unforced errors in my amusement and continuation of the series.
Make no mistake, #7 and #8 in the reboot (with Rita) are AMAZING. #1 and #2 were both pretty good, IMO. This one just sucked by comparison, and it's not because I don't like the style or presentation of the author's political views. This book is a turkey, overdone and without flavor. It has a few choice bits, but only a few.
I could list the dozen blunderingly terrible things the author does to mechanize the machinations, but there's no point. This would be hidden for spoilers, and you'd realize I was right, but not read it if you believed me. I wish I could have done the cliff's notes for this volume to get it over with. It was painful in long slogging stretches just to get through it. I kept hoping it would improve, but alas, most of our favorite characters do things that are so stupid or unlike anything they *would* do, it was hard to finish, hard to stomach. If book 4 - 5 - 6 continue in this way, I'll be surprised, but I'm now bracing for more author unforced errors in my amusement and continuation of the series.
Make no mistake, #7 and #8 in the reboot (with Rita) are AMAZING. #1 and #2 were both pretty good, IMO. This one just sucked by comparison, and it's not because I don't like the style or presentation of the author's political views. This book is a turkey, overdone and without flavor. It has a few choice bits, but only a few.
August 19, 2008
Miriam Beckstein (American business journalist) found out in Book 1 of this series that her family comes from an alternate world. a family of world-walkers, who think disturbingly similarly to the Mafia.
Miriam, (now Countess Helge) tries to be a 21C modern woman, starting her own business and running her life as free from her manipulative and political family. however, for the Clan, women are for breeding and not much else.
the culture clash lands Miriam in plenty of trouble...and in our world, the DEA has found out about the Clan...
i didnt read Book 2, but that was no impediment. i like and empathise with Miriam - although i did feel her lack of patience and subtlety brought about the very manipulation and trouble she tried to avoid.
the switch in view points got a little confusing occasionally, as Stross shows us machinations and happenings in both worlds, through various narrators but once i'd figured out people's names, it was a fast & furious easy but thoughtful read.
Miriam, (now Countess Helge) tries to be a 21C modern woman, starting her own business and running her life as free from her manipulative and political family. however, for the Clan, women are for breeding and not much else.
the culture clash lands Miriam in plenty of trouble...and in our world, the DEA has found out about the Clan...
i didnt read Book 2, but that was no impediment. i like and empathise with Miriam - although i did feel her lack of patience and subtlety brought about the very manipulation and trouble she tried to avoid.
the switch in view points got a little confusing occasionally, as Stross shows us machinations and happenings in both worlds, through various narrators but once i'd figured out people's names, it was a fast & furious easy but thoughtful read.
January 24, 2015
I really want to like this series more than I do. It has glimmers of what I really love about Stross books, but I keep coming out less than fully engaged. This volume finds Miriam completely closed off from the 3rd parallel world, and with the clan removing her from power over the business she started there. It's frustrating, because I can't say that it's unrealistic, after all she's trying to handle affairs in 3 different worlds, with the majority of a six family clan arrayed against her, so how much could one person do. On top of that, the DEA, FBI, CIA and NSA (if I'm remembering the right set of acronyms) are also working against her in world 2 (our world), so it makes sense that she would be struggling to maintain any grip on events. I want her to succeed, because she is an interesting character, when given room to breath. I'm still committed to reading the rest of the series, I just hope there some payoff.
Read
December 23, 2009http://nhw.livejournal.com/501940.html[return][return]Gosh. The best of the "Merchant Princes" series so far. Miriam Beckstein attempts to play the game by her own rules, but there are plenty of her relatives who have been playing it better for much longer... We see more of Miriam the former investigative journalist rather than the startup manager this time, and her ex-boyfriend turns up. Ends on a great cliff-hanger (unlike the first book). No economics lectures (unlike the second book). Can't wait until it comes out.
February 22, 2017
I read the first two in this series, and have read quite a few other of Stross' books, but the start of this one, focused on the politics of the steam punk & medieval worlds was too far from my interests. Had to put it down.
August 23, 2008
It's just getting silly, at this point.
April 8, 2015
I couldn't even get into it.
June 28, 2021
I don't know why I'm still reading this. The book is just good enough to keep my attention.
July 14, 2023
Stross has explained well the languors one may experience reading this entry in the series. They have to do with being a newbie at figuring out how much recap to include and being contractually required to break a long novel into halves for Tor. This, the first half of a story arc, thus encompasses less action than we are accustomed to seeing in a Stross tale. Having said all that, it isn't bad. The Miriam / Helge character retains interest even if her scope for action is sharply circumscribed for long portions of this tale. I think some reader frustration at the novel has to do with being forced to marinate in the consciousness of a woman outrageously at the whim of older men and women regarding her reproductive freedom and bodily autonomy. I mean, imagine if people in the real world had to submit to this kind of intrusive determination? (Yeah, I might be suggesting that this novel has frightening latter day relevance not anticipated when it was first composed in the early aughts—paging Dr. Atwood...) Perhaps anticipating some of this weakness, Stross brings back a person from Miriam's past in the person of a DEA agent named Mike. His scope for action is also limited by powers above him in a nice mirroring of Miriam's situation. The novel ratchets all these pressures up on the two main characters, then brings them together in a literally explosive conclusion that naturally makes one want to get to the next book. So if Merchant Princes 3 amounts to a fair amount of throat-clearing so we can get to Merchant Princes 4, well, I can think of few authors I'd more easily tolerate this kind of laying of groundwork than Stross. It isn't his best (by a long shot) but it isn't nearly as bad as it worst detractors make it out to be. If you are in on the series, this installment will feel like a necessary if quiet continuation leading to a clearly more action-packed sequel.
July 26, 2023
Miriam's ambitions come crashing down, taking the plot along with them. Although she managed to dodge all of the assassination attempts in the first two books, she couldn't avoid being caught up in the family politics. It turns out that being female and child bearing age isn't such a great thing in a repressive feudal society where arranged marriages are the norm. Why it took her 3 books to figure this out is unclear though, since it was pretty obvious to everyone else (including the reader) from the moment she set foot in the castle. As a result, she spends half the book in "woe is me" mode, locked in a gilded cage to keep her out of trouble. The smart capable independent woman from book 2 has been reduced to a moody rebellious petulant teenager. While her grief, frustration, and rage are certainly understandable and relatable, it's not particularly attractive or entertaining.
More troubling is the outrageously preposterous coincidence of her ex-boyfriend randomly being one of the handful of people who are aware of the alternate world. In what multiverse does that make sense?! I hope this is explained somehow in the next book, because it's a hard pill to swallow.
Overall, the pace is a bit slow for most of the book, with politics taking precedence over action. But at least there's an exciting climax, and the inevitable cliffhanger ending (I read that Stross was forced to break up the work into more volumes than he'd originally intended, accounting for some of the choppiness). Worse, the great characters that enlivened the first two books were largely absent, which increased not only Miriam's sense of desolation, but ours as well.
More troubling is the outrageously preposterous coincidence of her ex-boyfriend randomly being one of the handful of people who are aware of the alternate world. In what multiverse does that make sense?! I hope this is explained somehow in the next book, because it's a hard pill to swallow.
Overall, the pace is a bit slow for most of the book, with politics taking precedence over action. But at least there's an exciting climax, and the inevitable cliffhanger ending (I read that Stross was forced to break up the work into more volumes than he'd originally intended, accounting for some of the choppiness). Worse, the great characters that enlivened the first two books were largely absent, which increased not only Miriam's sense of desolation, but ours as well.
October 9, 2025
When I rate or review a book I try to both consider its value as a book, is it well constructed, does it flow, is there an interesting story or characters or both? I also as I must give my personal reaction. Did it appeal to me on some level. This may vary a lot depending on my mood and I've been know to rate the same book at 3 stars on first read and then five stars on a second read some time later.
I am a fan of Charles Stross' Laundry Files series and I wanted to like The Merchant Princes series too. A friend with similar tastes loves them. I started out wanting to read the whole series but have stopped after book four.
They're well written with strong women characters and interesting takes on some What if alternative history themes. Sadly these What ifs turn dystopian in other worlds with serfdom and abuse and hierarchies common. The books would also be more enjoyable if we weren't seeing that transition to fascism happening in real time in the USA. Even the inherited ability for a few people of one family to jump from one specific America to another doesn't help when wars and potential disasters lurk in each.
CW
If you're OK with Succession mixed with Game of Thrones but with portal stepping and no dragons you may like these books. If America and the rest of the world survive the waves of right wing ideologies I may like these books more in a few years too.
I am a fan of Charles Stross' Laundry Files series and I wanted to like The Merchant Princes series too. A friend with similar tastes loves them. I started out wanting to read the whole series but have stopped after book four.
They're well written with strong women characters and interesting takes on some What if alternative history themes. Sadly these What ifs turn dystopian in other worlds with serfdom and abuse and hierarchies common. The books would also be more enjoyable if we weren't seeing that transition to fascism happening in real time in the USA. Even the inherited ability for a few people of one family to jump from one specific America to another doesn't help when wars and potential disasters lurk in each.
CW
If you're OK with Succession mixed with Game of Thrones but with portal stepping and no dragons you may like these books. If America and the rest of the world survive the waves of right wing ideologies I may like these books more in a few years too.
May 30, 2022
Kolmas ja ka viimane eesti keelde tõlgitud raamat sarjast Vürstkaupmehed. Esimese osa lugemist alustasin hooga, mis teose keskel rauges. Teise osa alustamiseks tuli tükk aega hoogu võtta, kuid lõpuks hakkas jälle ladusamalt minema. Kolmanda osa võtsin jälle hooga kätte, kuid keskel hakkas venima. Lõpus oli ka isiklik pettumus, sest ma lootsin raamatu sisututvustuses lubatud ootamatut pööret hoopis teisel kujul, kuid selle osas on autor siiski halastamatu realist.
Võrreldes eelmiste teostega rändab peategelane, meie maailmas majandusajakirjanik Miriam ja feodaalsugemetega paralleelmaailmas mõjuvõimsa Klanni kuninglikus soost järeltulija Helge, oluliselt vähem erinevate maailmade vahel ringi ja peab rohkem leppima kammitsetud eluga. See ei sega aga teistel isikutel ringirändamisega tegeleda. On siingi osas ootamatuid pöördeid. Samas ei tunne ma, et lugu oleks minu jaoks sellise koha peal pooleli jäänud, et tingimata veel edasi lugema peaksin. Strossil on teisigi teoseid, ehk katsetan kunagi nendega. Või kui tõesti peaks elus nii igav hakkama, siis võib ju need kolm raamatut veel rahulikumalt ja süvenenumalt uuesti läbi lugeda.
Võrreldes eelmiste teostega rändab peategelane, meie maailmas majandusajakirjanik Miriam ja feodaalsugemetega paralleelmaailmas mõjuvõimsa Klanni kuninglikus soost järeltulija Helge, oluliselt vähem erinevate maailmade vahel ringi ja peab rohkem leppima kammitsetud eluga. See ei sega aga teistel isikutel ringirändamisega tegeleda. On siingi osas ootamatuid pöördeid. Samas ei tunne ma, et lugu oleks minu jaoks sellise koha peal pooleli jäänud, et tingimata veel edasi lugema peaksin. Strossil on teisigi teoseid, ehk katsetan kunagi nendega. Või kui tõesti peaks elus nii igav hakkama, siis võib ju need kolm raamatut veel rahulikumalt ja süvenenumalt uuesti läbi lugeda.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 157 reviews