The Merchants Series by Charles Stross

The first I heard of this series I put off reading it for fear of getting bogged down in an intricate and plodding story of business practices in a fantasy world. When I read the The Folding Knife by K J Parker I found it enjoyable but trying at times. A series of books of this type may have been tiresome.

I was pleasantly surprised to find that it was more of an adventure series that straddled the "Perils of Pauline" type adventure. The damsel in distress is the central character that provides the viewpoint among the parallel worlds of 14th century feudalism, 18th century industrialism, and 20th century (contemporary) infosphere.

The series takes a harsh (accurate) view of the Bush-Cheney presidency and its infrastructure. The existence of secret military excursions is disturbing and prescient.

I hope Stross finds the time or will to either put a cap on the series or at least add another novel. The multiverse is still barely understood and our protagonist is still struggling in precarious circumstances.