Book Description
Original space opera novel by Charles Stross.
From the Back Cover
In a universe where the unseen but never unfelt force known as the Eschaton maintains the laws of relativity and cause-and-effect with an iron fist, the Festival comes to Rochard's World and changes it forever. The Festival seeks only to entertain and be entertained: it promises whatever you want and has the power to deliver it, even to the poorest beggar on the planet. Rochard's World belongs to the New Republic, a state governed rigidly by hierarchy and tradition and ideology.
The New Republic despatches a war fleet to deal with the threat, never imagining what will happen when ideologies and cultures from either side of a technological singularity collide.