Clearly, Stross is a big nerd, because he's written something like Zelazny's Amber, but instead of being all about magic and the battles between Order and Chaos, it's about economics and history.

It's almost the opposite of high fantasy, which is quite cool. My only quibble with this book (and it's sequel) might be that the lead character is a little too capable. She's a journalist with a med school background, but ends up holding her own against special forces/CIA types. Fortunately, she doesn't do anything too ridiculous, she just acts intelligently and gets lucky sometimes, so it's not unbelievable, but it's certainly convenient.

Politically, it does seem to have an awfully rosy view of modern capitalism, and I have some issues with the lead character's ethics. Of course, modern capitalism is probably preferable to medieval feudalism. I'd love to see China Mieville's take on the same story background.