Things are going badly for the clan in SF's new novel Merchant, a very popular series by Charles Strauss. In a vicious civil war for control of the kingdom of Neugen, their army is mobilized into a siege that cuts the siege in two parallel worlds simultaneously.

Duke of Angbar, the tribal leader, has been hit by a stroke: Plotters are already conspiring to prepare for a deadly dance. Miriam, rescued from a narrow point in the new Britain, finds the hopes of young people, the progressive factions that focus on them.

But do they want it as a leader or as a picture? It soon found itself in a desperate struggle for power. Meanwhile, without knowledge of the clan, researchers working in the US government have achieved a technological breakthrough.

The war on terror is about to be transient.

I want that book.