The series largely follows Miriam Beckstein, a technology journalist raised in a familiar "normal" Earth, who discovers she was born in a parallel world and is a member of this bloodline.

[4] His agent advised him that if he wished to sell more books without breach of contract and also to avoid self-cannibalization, he should branch out genres, and encouraged Stross to try his hand at a fantasy series.

This allowed Stross to explain the magic in the series with background science fiction without worrying about breach of contract, but also satisfying his desire for a consistent explanation of what was "really" going on behind the scenes.

[4] One of the themes that Stross wanted to explicitly explore in the series was that of the development trap, or more generally developmental economics, the issues involved in helping poor and stratified societies to rapidly "catch up."

While some countries such as South Korea became rich powerhouses, others such as Thailand have only modernized somewhat, and some states like Somalia remain desperately poor, just with access to cell phones and guns.

Krugman qualified his praise of the economics with a proviso that the books "are, first and foremost, great fun" with a "rollicking plot," and not a bland essay about the implications of such trade.

Inside is a design not unlike a Celtic knot, and when she focuses on it, she is transported to a parallel world of a feudal Massachusetts whose technology is mostly in the Dark Ages—except for the men on horses armed with guns, and an upper class that has access to "imported" baubles from Miriam's normal Earth.

She also understands that the drug trade will only last so long; anonymity and carrying large amounts of raw cash are growing steadily more suspicious.

The story also includes Miriam's exploration of a third world largely unknown to the Clan, where Massachusetts is part of "New Britain" and the British monarchy fled to America; this nation has roughly Edwardian mores and 1930s technology.

She is warned that in six months, a large Clan meeting will occur at Beltaigne, and her rivals – including her own blood grandmother Hildegarde – are likely to motion to have her declared incompetent, which would deny her the funds held in trust that was her inheritance.

Both to research the hidden family, as well as to build her own personal base of power separate from the alternative of marrying a Clan noble and throwing herself under his faction's protection, most of the book concerns Miriam's efforts in New Britain.

The Clan still does not trust the upstart; Miriam is largely kept isolated in the first parallel world of Gruinmarkt, a virtual prisoner, and unable to travel unchaperoned.

This language study will allow agents to communicate if they can reach Gruinmarkt via captured couriers outfitted with Battle Royale-esque time bombs on their heads.

The plan goes awry as their defector source begins to grow restless and realizes that he is being held by the military now, not by law enforcement, and witness protection is not forthcoming.

A trapped Miriam learns her fate: she is to be spared for her indiscretions, but only to be tied down in a political marriage, the only thing that can satisfy the more conservative instincts of the Clan.

Miriam's great-uncle Henryk, the king's head of spies, explains that if she marries Creon, his affliction would not affect his children, so she could produce potential world-walker Clan members to eventually reign.

Miriam is treated by a Clan fertility doctor and reluctantly goes forward with the plan after she is threatened with her ailing mother losing access to medical care, despite her strong aversion to marrying for "duty."

Agent Fleming is sent by the government to the banquet as well as part of a plan to make contact with her and turn her into an informant, posing as a captured West Coast courier.

All the plans fall to pieces when the anti-Clan Prince Egon launches a coup, correctly fearing he would be denied the succession, and potentially murdered, had Creon produced an heir.

Reviews noted that The Clan Corporate suffers from a similar issue as the first book; it is clearly the first part of a two-part story, and ends on a cliffhanger with its plot threads still hanging.

In New London, the equivalent of New York City in Timeline 2 and Niejwein in Gruinmarkt, Miriam seeks out one of Erasmus Burgeson's Leveler contacts, Lady Bishop, for aid and shelter.

The situation in New Britain is not good: the King has dismissed Parliament, another colonial war rages overseas, and the Treasury is paying its bills by printing money, leading to stagflation.

The situation is complicated by the fact that Miriam's mother seemingly arranged for her to be artificially inseminated by Prince Creon during her examinations, meaning she is pregnant with the heir to the throne.

He immediately takes to the field, moves with a small detachment; does not dress in royal frippery, but as a normal officer, and keeps body doubles around; and has an elite guard armed with modern Earth weapons such as MP5s.

Publishers Weekly and other reviewers praised the book, although thought the addition of the government subplot meant that the characterization was spread a little too thinly with not enough room to develop all the characters' plots.

In Timeline 2 (USA) DEA Agent Mike Fleming finds himself targeted by his superiors at the Family Trade Organization (FTO) and running out of time to stop the Clan's planned terrorist attack.

When Miriam Beckstein, Brilliana d'Ost, Olga Thorold, and Huw and Hulius Hjorth are seen again in 2020, they are high-ranking citizens, prepping to launch New Britain's first astronaut into orbit.

Suspicious of her work with the government, Kurt tells Rita about the time the Stasi tried to recruit him as an informer and gives her a dog-eared copy of The Grasshopper Lies Heavy, with the cryptic message, "You should read this."

When Yul is nearly caught, New Britain's Department of Para-historical Research (DPR) decides Paulette must be retired, as she knows too much, and Brilliana proposes voluntary or semi-voluntary extraction vs. liquidation.

It seems New Britain's King-in-Exile, John Frederick Charles of Hanover, has teamed up with the Dauphin, Louis, of the French continental empire, to foment dissent in the new government during Sir Adam's declining health.