Charles Stross
"Empire Games" has actually been kicking around since 2001, when I first wrote the proposal for the original "Merchant Princes" series. Back then, MP was going to be a tetralogy of big fat thrillers; it turned out that the first book I wrote was published in two volumes, the second planned book ended up as four, and the third? Well, that's the entire "Empire Games" trilogy!
In book 1 ("The Bloodline Feud" in omnibus form, originally "The Family Trade" and "The Hidden Family") I introduced my protagonists, a knotty problem, and had my main character Miriam take decisive action to get out of a personally unpleasant situation ... but actions have consequences, and in the rest of the Merchant Princes books, these played out at length (up to and including wars and revolutions).
"Empire Games" picks up the story a generation later, when the initial shock waves that reverberated around the world have died down, as a new crisis emerges ...
In book 1 ("The Bloodline Feud" in omnibus form, originally "The Family Trade" and "The Hidden Family") I introduced my protagonists, a knotty problem, and had my main character Miriam take decisive action to get out of a personally unpleasant situation ... but actions have consequences, and in the rest of the Merchant Princes books, these played out at length (up to and including wars and revolutions).
"Empire Games" picks up the story a generation later, when the initial shock waves that reverberated around the world have died down, as a new crisis emerges ...
More Answered Questions
Jessica Joaquim
asked
Charles Stross:
I assume you've realized that maybe it is possible that CASE NIGHTMARE GREEN is going to hit the world at the same time as the Big Apocalypse in Dresden Files. Any chance there could be a crossover short story (or maybe even a novel) wrote by you and Jim? Sort of a Good Omens 2.0 that I can dream about?
Rikhard Von Katzen
asked
Charles Stross:
A popular theme in a lot of older space opera was the eugenically bred ubermensch line. Often this line of ubermensch is helped out by mysterious superhuman intelligences: Kinneson's line from the Lensman stories, the Instrumentality of Mankind from Cordwainer Smith and the Lazarus Long clan of Heinlein. Was this a conscious influence on the Remastered and their Unborn God in Iron Sunrise?
About Goodreads Q&A
Ask and answer questions about books!
You can pose questions to the Goodreads community with Reader Q&A, or ask your favorite author a question with Ask the Author.
See Featured Authors Answering Questions
Learn more