Dark State

Dark State is the second book in the thrilling Empire Games series – set in the same world as Charles Stross' The Merchant Princes series.In the near future, the collision of two nuclear superpowers – in two different timelines – is imminent. One America is experiencing its first technological revolution, whilst a parallel United States is a hi-tech police state. But both are poised to wreak destruction.In Miriam Burgeson’s America, internal politics are pulling the government apart. But if one of her agents secures a high-profile defection, civil war may be averted. Rita Douglas, rival US spy, arrives during this crisis. Her world is rocked when she realizes Miriam is her mother, who gave her up for adoption as a baby. But what impact will this have on the conflict?Then the US discovers another timeline, and the remains of an advanced society. Something annihilated that civilization – and Rita’s people are about to rouse it.

Sheer brilliance: when Stross is in this mood, nobody else comes close, High-octane thriller action, mixed in with personal drama and some fantastically sympathetic characters, Plenty of fun . . . vivid, Stross's ferociously imaginative world-building is on full display here . . . few other writers can match him for humour, creativity and sheer density of ideas, Charles Stross blurs the boundaries of genre until they become meaningless. When intrigue, politics and suspense are so well executed, it doesn't matter which realm, dimension or timeline the participants hail from. Add to that a sense of mischief, wit and humour and Charles Stross gives you the full package

Charles Stross was born in Leeds, England, in 1964. He has worked as a pharmacist, software engineer and freelance journalist, but now writes full-time. Stross has won two Hugo awards and been nominated multiple times. He has also won the Locus Award for Best Novel, the Locus Award for Best Novella and has been shortlisted for the Arthur C. Clarke and Nebula Awards. In addition, his fiction has been translated into around a dozen languages. His novels include the popular Merchant Princes and Laundry Files series. Stross lives in Edinburgh, Scotland, with his wife Feorag, a couple of cats, several thousand books, and an ever-changing herd of obsolescent computers.