Dark State, Charles Stross
Dark State, Charles Stross
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Dark State
A Novel of the Merchant Princes Multiverse (Empire Games, Book II)

Author: Charles Stross

Narrator: Kate Reading

Unabridged: 13 hr 56 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 01/09/2018


Synopsis

Hugo Award-winning author Charlie Stross dives deep into the underbelly of paratime espionage, nuclear warfare, and state surveillance in this provocative techno-thriller audiobook set in The Merchant Princes multi-verse

Dark State ups the ante on the already volatile situations laid out in the sleek techno-thriller Empire Games, the start to Stross' new story-line and a perfect entry point for new listeners, in The Merchant Princes series.

In the near-future, the collision of two nuclear superpowers across timelines, one in the midst of a technological revolution and the other a hyper-police state, is imminent. In Commissioner Miriam Burgeson’s timeline, her top level agents run a high risk extraction of a major political player. Meanwhile, a sleeper cell activated in Rita's, the Commissioner's adopted daughter and newly-minted spy, timeline threatens to unravel everything.

With a penchant for intricate world-building and an uncanny ability to realize alternate history and technological speculation, Stross' prose will captivate listeners who like hi-tech thrillers, inter-dimensional political intrigue, and espionage.

About Charles Stross

CHARLES STROSS (he/him) is a full-time science fiction writer and resident of Edinburgh, Scotland. He has won three Hugo Awards for Best Novella, including for the Laundry Files tale “Equoid.” His work has been translated into over twelve languages. His novels include the bestselling Merchant Princes series, the Laundry series (including Locus Award finalist The Dilirium Brief), and several stand-alones including Glasshouse, Accelerando, and Saturn's Children. Like many writers, Stross has had a variety of careers, occupations, and job-shaped catastrophes, from pharmacist (he quit after the second police stakeout) to first code monkey on the team of a successful dot-com startup (with brilliant timing, he tried to change employers just as the bubble burst) to technical writer and prolific journalist covering the IT industry. Along the way he collected degrees in pharmacy and computer science, making him the world’s first officially qualified cyberpunk writer.

About Kate Reading

Kate Reading is the recipient of multiple AudioFile Earphones Awards and has been named by AudioFile magazine as a “Voice of the Century,” as well as the Best Voice in Science Fiction & Fantasy in 2008 and 2009 and Best Voice in Biography & Culture in 2010. She has narrated works by such authors as Jane Austen, Robert Jordan, Edith Wharton, and Sophie Kinsella. Reading has performed at numerous theaters in Washington D.C. and received a Helen Hayes Award for her performance in Aunt Dan and Lemon. AudioFile magazine reports that, "With subtle control of characters and sense of pacing, Kate’s performances are a consistent pleasure."


Reviews

Goodreads review by Bradley on January 18, 2018

This second (or eighth) novel in Stross's Merchant Princes universe is continuing the new and interesting tack that began in Empire Games. First of all, some background. There's three alternate timelines and world-walkers, jaunters, and on our timeline, there's now tech that allows us to hop timeline......more

Goodreads review by David on January 09, 2018

I always look forward to Stross's books, and I've been following his stories of world walkers since the start of the Merchant Princes sequence (in its original, six volume, form). So this is the 8th book in that series I have read, and I'm glad to be able to say that Stross is successfully keeping t......more

Goodreads review by Balthasaar on January 15, 2018

Stross's America from timeline #2 is the scariest distopia that I believe that I've read because it's so firmly anchored in our own reality. Just one additional big terrorist attack in 2003 (i.e. the previous Family Trade books) & the country went full-on Authoritarian Police state by 2020. Was frus......more

Goodreads review by Jonathan on January 15, 2018

Charles Stross remains true to form in the middle entry of the Empire Games trilogy. I'm trying to review everything I read this year, which puts me in the awkward position of reviewing a single book far into the series. I definitely find myself preferring Empire Games to the Merchant Princes series,......more

Goodreads review by Mark on January 11, 2018

This is the second book in the Empire Games trilogy, which is itself a loose continuation of the earlier "Merchant Princes" series. Stross is applying his fearsome imagination to a scenario of alternate timelines where a limited number of people are able to switch between worlds. Being Stross, this......more


Awards

  • Kirkus Reviews Best Books of the Year