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Title: A distinct lack of snark
Review: Let me start by saying I love Charles Stross. His Laundry Files series is snarky and well-written, funny and with good and complex characters.That's why this book was such a disappointment. If this exact book had been written by someone with less potential, I'd probably have enjoyed it more -- but I bought it being familiar with Stross' track record on his later novels, and was expecting more than I got.The book's biggest flaw, besides an incomprehensible political situation with warring clans of merchants, is that so much of the story comes from exposition. Rather than having his characters really experience the world, and the story being shown rather than told, the characters spout huge blocks of expository dialogue, so they end up telling you more than showing you.I'd say stay away from this one. It's not horrible, but it's not interesting enough to try and slog through the dialogue and the politics to try to find the nuggets of good story.
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