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Romancing Mister Bridgerton is a 2002 historical romance novel written by Julia Quinn, published by Avon. It is the fourth novel of Quinn's series of Regency romances about the Bridgerton siblings and tells the story of Colin, the third eldest child of the family.

The novel has been a New York Times, Apple Books, USA Today, and Publishers Weekly bestseller, both at the time of publishing and after the debut of the TV adaptation. It is being adapted as the third season of Netflix's Bridgerton series, one of the platform's most popular shows.

Plot

The novel takes place in London in 1824, but includes some flashbacks, such as in the prologue. In 1812, 15 year-old Penelope Featherington accidentally caused 20 year-old Colin Bridgerton to fall off his horse into a mud puddle. He laughed it off and she became enamored with him.

In 1813, Penelope made her debut and Lady Whistledown's Society Papers, a thrice-weekly, single-sheet newspaper of society gossip, began to be published by the psuedonym Lady Whistledown. Penelope spent time with Eloise Bridgerton and so occasionally encountered Colin, believing her feelings for him will always be unrequited.

In 1820, Penelope overheard Colin telling his elder brothers that he is "certainly not going to marry Penelope Featherington!" They realized she was there but she played it off with dignity.

Now, in 1824, Penelope is considered a spinster at the age of 28, with her unpleasant mother Portia repeatedly implying that they will live together into their old age. Colin has returned from his frequent travels and Portia wonders if Felicity, the youngest Featherington sister, could marry him. Meanwhile, Colin enjoys some brandy with his eldest brother and privately reflects that he travels so much because he is restless and without purpose.

At Violet Bridgerton's birthday party a week later, Colin surprises Penelope as she eats an éclair. While they talk, the cream from the half-eaten éclair falls to the floor. Colin dares Penelope to hide the remaining pastry in a nearby potted plant, which she does. Continuing their conversation, Penelope surprises Colin with her wit and he invites her to dance. After the dance, the prickly dowager Lady Danbury talks to the pair and announces a contest to the entire party: whomever can unmask Lady Whistledown will win £1000. Penelope boldly suggests Lady D could be Lady Whistledown. The next day, Penelope and the Bridgertons speculate about Lady Whistledown's identity and the strategies one might use to find her.

A few days later, Penelope is waiting for Eloise in the Bridgerton drawing room, when she sees Colin's travel journal laying open on the table. She reads the open pages, where Colin evocatively recounts the beauty of Cyprus. Colin catches her reading and is furious. While gathering his journal, he cuts his hand on a letter opener and Penelope helps him staunch the blood. She apologizes but also reassures him how excellent his writing is, especially how he combined description with his own longing for home. Colin expresses his lack of purpose and complains that Lady Whistledown only refers to him as a charmer and nothing more. Penelope tries to be sympathetic, but challenges him to see that being universally liked is much better than being a spinster. She tells him that as a well-off man, if he is unsatisfied, he can change his life as he wishes.

Later, Colin recalls the only other time he'd unintentionally insulted Penelope: several years earlier, his mother had begun suggesting Penelope as a potential bride, leading him to protest aloud to his brothers, which Penelope overheard. He decides to apologize at the Smythe-Smith musicale. At the musicale, Penelope and Lady Danbury bond over their sympathy, potentially shared with Lady Whistledown, for the one Smythe-Smith girl who knows how unmusical the others are. Lady Danbury muses that Penelope could be Lady Whistledown. After the performance, Colin and Penelope apologize to each other. Penelope encourages him to publish his travel journals and Colin thinks about how important she is to him.

Two days later, Colin visits Penelope to share his suspicion that Eloise is Lady Whistledown. Penelope disagrees and they argue. Eventually, Penelope asks Colin to kiss her and he does. They both enjoy the kiss, but get self-conscious, quarrel, and he leaves. Later, he argues with Eloise about whether she is Lady Whistledown.

A few days later, Lady Whistledown announces her retirement in her Society Papers. It is the main topic of conversation at the Macclesfield ball that evening. Colin arrives intending to apologize to Penelope, when Cressida Twombley (née Cowper) announces that she herself is Lady Whistledown. When Cressida tries to collect the £1000, Lady Danbury does not believe her and demands proof.

The next day, Colin heads to Penelope's home to make his apology, when he witnesses her climbing into a hired hack alone, something simply not done by a lady like herself. He has his carriage follow her to a church in the East End, where he sees her hide an envelope in a pew. He confronts her, reads it, and learns that Penelope herself is Lady Whistledown, writing one last column to denounce Cressida's lie. They get in his carriage to go back to Mayfair, arguing intensely. In their passion and in such close quarters, they begin to kiss again. When they exit the carriage at Penelope's home, he proposes to her. They go inside so Colin can ask her mother, only to find the entire Featherington family gathered. Lady Featherington instantly misinterprets Colin's presence as an intention to propose to Felicity and misses numerous hints to the contrary. They eventually sort out the confusion and Colin makes his intentions towards Penelope clear.

A few days later, Penelope and Eloise are chatting about the engagement announcement. Eloise had turned down six proposals and thought she and Penelope would be old maids together. While she's happy about Penelope's engagement, it has also made her reevaluate her own choices. She continues to be evasive about who she's writing letters to. After another amorous encounter with Penelope, Colin visits Daphne to ask how he might know whether he's in love.

Reception

At the time of its release in 2002, Romancing Mr. Bridgerton spent four weeks on the New York Times bestseller list, peaking at #9. It has also been a Publishers Weekly Bestseller. It was a finalist for the 2003 RITA award, the highest distinction in romance literature. It received a B+ from All About Romance, as well as AAR's awards for Best Couple 2002, Best Heroine 2002, and Top 100 Romances in 2010, 2013, 2017, and 2018.

In 2021, following the premiere of Bridgerton season one on Netflix, Romancing Mr. Bridgerton returned to bestseller lists, spending multiple weeks on both the New York Times, Apple Books, and USA Today lists. Again, following the premiere of season two, several of the Bridgerton books, including Romancing Mister Bridgerton, returned to bestseller lists such as Publishers Weekly.

Adaptation

The Bridgerton series on Netflix has been one of the platform's most popular series, watched by more than 82 million accounts. Romancing Mister Bridgerton, the fourth novel in the series, is the basis of the third season of the show, displacing An Offer from a Gentleman. Season three will premiere in two parts on May 16th and June 13th, 2024. Luke Newton plays Colin Bridgerton, Nicola Coughlan portrays Penelope Featherington, and many of the cast from the two previous seasons renew their roles, with the exceptions of Phoebe Dynevor and Regé-Jean Page.

Romancing Mister Bridgerton will receive a TV tie-in reprint on May 7, 2024.

Perhaps the Stars

Perhaps the Stars is the fourth book in Terra Ignota, a quartet of science fiction novels by the American author Ada Palmer. It was published on November 02, 2021. It was a finalist for the 2018 Locus Award for Best Science Ficiton Novel. It is preceded by Too Like the Lightning (2016) Seven Surrenders (2017), and The Will to Battle (2019).

Set in the year 2454, the Earth of the Terra Ignota quartet has seen several centuries of near-total peace and prosperity, but the World Civil War has now begun. Perhaps the Stars presents itself as a chronicle of those global escalations and preparations. It is narrated by the Ninth Anonymous a.k.a. 9A, and self-confessed unreliable narrator Mycroft Canner, a brilliant, infamous, and paroled criminal who often serves the world's most powerful leaders.

Setting

Advanced technology has led to the advent of a near-utopian golden age. However, the tensions among political groups, such as over distribution of land, population, and income, has escalated into preparations for a global war. Though there were initially seven Hives, they have each shifted into new governance systems or collapsed.

Like book three,

Style

Perhaps the Stars is the longest book in the quartet.

Like The Will to Battle, this is written as a chronicle of events as they occur, rather than a recent history. Mycroft, the usual narrator, is presumed dead until chapter ten, so the Ninth Anonymous a.k.a 9A narrates. After Mycroft returns, the narration switches between him and 9A. 9A's voice differs significantly from Mycroft's: less Eighteenth century syntax, only rare interludes by the Reader or Hobbes, and the use of they/them pronouns for most people.

Gendered language

By default, almost all characters use gender-neutral language, with "they/them" the predominant pronoun used. Mycroft, the primary narrator, finds his world's obsession with gender-neutrality oppressive, so often uses gendered pronouns to refer to other characters, assigning genders based on the characters' personalities and roles, as they relate to traditional Western gender roles. For instance, Chagatai is referred to using "she/her" pronouns because of their fierce, lioness-like strength when protecting their nephew from attack. The author has explained that Mycroft frequently "misuses" gendered pronouns, just as people in real life often make mistakes when using gender-neutral pronouns. Also, in its chapter at the start of Seven Surrenders, Sniper advises the reader to not "trust the gendered pronouns Mycroft gives people, they all come from Madame". Mycroft sometimes varies the gendered pronouns he gives characters. For instance, Carlyle is mostly referred to using she/her pronouns starting with Seven Surrenders, whereas in the first book Carlyle is referred to with he/him pronouns.

(This article uses the pronouns that Mycroft uses, changing when he changes.)

Plot

September

The World Civil War has begun.

The Saneer-Weeksbooth bash'house is destroyed and the cars run rogue, stranding everyone in their geographic locations and almost half the world away from home at the time of system failure. The narrating Ninth Anonymous, 9A, finds themself in Papa's office in Romanova and begins publishing to calm and guide the world, even as they mourn Mycroft's apparent death. The corrupt Deputy Commissioner General almost captures 9A and Carlyle but is arrested by Censor Su-Hyeon instead.

A schematic map of the seven hills of Rome, on which the fictional Romanova is based.

Cornel MASON and Vivien Ancelet declare war against each other on behalf of their Hives and factions. Isabel Carlos is made Emperor of Europe. The Cousins survive a Nurturist coup. They and the revived Red Crystal humanitarian faction devote their efforts to peace-making. Many people leave or switch Hives.

Carlyle Foster realizes that upcoming religious holidays could pose a huge danger to many people and comes up with a solution to prevent the war becoming tinged with religious hatred.

Censor Su-Hyeon, Senate Speaker Jin Im-Jin, and Senator Charlemagne Guildbreaker, Sr. establish a neutral Alliance Triumvirate (with 9A the secret fourth). Together, they get all factions, including the Myrmidons, to design and wear uniforms.

9A Tully Mardi publishes a pamphlet on the humane internment of prisoners of war. Isabel Carlos is made Emperor of Europe. Fake U-beasts begin attacking remote outposts, framing Utopia, which the Triumvirate disputes. The Masonic Emperors' Oath is leaked, including a clause to nurture and 'away-follow' Utopia added before Cornel MASON's ascension. The global communication system goes down. Work begins to build and organize a Pass-It-On network with alternative technologies (like morse code, mirrors, lasers, and rumors).

Factions begin to carve out territories in Romanova, battling over bridges, hilltops, and raillines. Huxley, secretly guarding 9A since Mycroft's 'death,' shares Utopian aerial images with 9A. Su-Hyeon reveals to 9A that Toshi Mitsubishi has been hiding nearby since before the cars went down. Together, the three are able to precisely map the Romanovan factions and territories in real time.

October

9A says, "Boats are the real apples of discord." Boats can block or establish lines of supplies and communication. The Masons and Mitsubishi fleets race and battle to capture Almagest, a floating Utopian space elevator. The Utopians hold on. The Hiveguard-leaning Mitsubishi solidify against Remaker Utopia and Masons.

In the highly populated Rhine-Ruhr region (Germany) an anti-Hiveguard purge in response to an attempt to free Prospero Saneer.

9A figures out what happened to Sniper when they went missing over the summer. They'd been captured by Perry-Kraye and auctioned to Julia Doria-Pamphilli, who'd kept them paralyzed for sexual slavery in a dollhouse prison for months. They were only able to move for occasional exercise and only able to communicate in order to write the (heavily edited) chapter for Mycroft's history which begins Seven Surrenders. Back in August, Carlyle had figured it out and blackmailed Julia into releasing Sniper and helping Carlyle return the Sensayers' Conclave to ethical functionality.

November

9A now sends thrice-daily news updates across the pass-it-on network. The network also institutes Safe & Well reports, communicating survivors and hope. Battles rage in the Far East and the Rhine-Ruhr. Tully Mardi develops a "peacewash" which can stain skin pink to mark non-combatants. People wearing "Bluesmocks" are reported where the monsters attacked earlier in the war.

December

Cousins launch a ship of information towards the Americas. Some among the pass-it-on network accuse 9A of Utopian bias. Papa, MIA since the cars went down, is safe & well in the Graylaw hub of Dhaka. Isabel Carlos goes missing and Europe erupts in battles and rage.

Mycroft Canner, thought dead for 95 days, communicates that they are safe & well. He recounts the odyssey he had been on, struggling to travel through the Mitsubishi-held Mediterranean with the crew of a ship called the Shearwater. He is retrieved and brought to Romanova. The narration

January

In light of Emperor Isabel Carlos' disappearance, remorseful Ganymede honorably declares himself Marshal of the European and Humanist forces on the Emperor's behalf. He makes the Mitsubishi split into Remakers (they are J.E.D.D. Mason's) and Hiveguard (J.E.D.D. Mason is theirs) factions. Ganymede chases the latter until they must invade and begin the Battle of Romanova. Ganymede follows and the Hiveguard surrender. The Blacklaws remain independent.

The Cousins send a delegation, led by Lorelai Cook. When she greets Ganymede, her body explodes, killing them both. It turns out that it was a human U-beast (highly illegal). The factions fall into chaos. Utopia offers a "wish grant," to connect the Romanovan Alliance group to Papadelias in Dhaka. Papa reveals he has worked for Madame all along and demands the reinstatement of his falsely accused officers. Huxley reveals that Utopia and Gordian, though currently both Remakers, are competing for J.E.D.D. Mason's favored choice to remake the world.

The officials of Romanova split up, with Jin Im-Jin, Carmen Guildbreaker, and Julia Doria-Pamphilli remaining in the city. The rest board a Utopian Dreadnautilus and head for Alexandria.

February

The Dreadnautilus intercepts a distress call from the Numantia, besieged by Perry-Kraye and Croucher. They capture one of the attacking ships, which carries a message from Martin Guildbreaker and holds Tully Mardi prisoner. Achilles arrives and scares the enemy off. The Romanovan group proceeds to Alexandria, where they are escorted to a cell where J.E.D.D. Mason is imprisoned for refusing to take the Masonic Oath. Martin's message reveals the identities of those who stole the Oath. Cornel MASON passes sentence on them.

The Second Battle of the Almagest begins. The Masons are forced to retreat. Cato Weeksbooth arrives. They fix Achilles' cybernetic systems. The other space elevators, held in trust by the Cousins, fire harbinger weapons at Luna City, the Mars base, and other space assets. Just as J.E.D.D. Mason despairs of his friendship with this universe's God over such a travesty, Achilles' system connects to Alexander, a giant space robot imagined by Apollo and created by Bridger. With O.S.' help, this "machina ex deo" deflects most of the harbingers.

A week later, the Masons and some Reservation forces prepare to take Casablanca and all the Cousins' holdings. J.E.D.D. Mason considers the out-going Utopian and in-going Gordian branches of the "trunk-war". He, Mycroft, and 9A realize and convey to MASON what Gordian's secret role in the conflict had been thus far.

March

Cornel MASON causes Andō's death. Mycroft realizes Cornel is in danger, escapes Alexandria, and goes missing. Bryar Kosala causes Cornel's death and destroys the Almagest. Achilles in his Alexander armor unleashes his rage upon every faction complicit in MASON's death. J.E.D.D. Mason still refuses to take the Masonic Oath because they do not know the three words Cornel changed. Cinna Semaphoros is made Imperial Vicar. 9A is made acting Emperor, which causes their narration to become less tidy. Contact is made with the Americas, where Vivent Ancelet is holding things together well.

April - October

The scattered factions coalesce again into Hiveguard and Remaker. In mid-April, Hiveguard forces attack Alexandria and seriously injure 9A. They are hospitalized for the next several months. At first this is due to legitimate injury, but 9A soon realizes that Su-Hyeon is keeping them trapped on behalf of Gordian, a second coup like that of the Romanovan Triumvirate. In late August, 9A is recused by Carlyle Foster, Bo Chowdhury, Huxley, Xiaoliu, and Dominic. 9A makes Huxley the Masonic Prefect and realizes that Carlyle has guessed they are 9A, which makes Carlyle the 10th Anonymous.

J.E.D.D. Mason goes on a hunger strike, demanding Felix Faust answer to Gordian's actions, which he happily does. He is holding J.E.D.D. Mason's loved ones hostage and is willing to trade them for Bridger's relics, which will prioritize Gordian's quest for peaceful immortality over Utopia's struggle for space. 9A, as acting Masonic Emperor, consents to a limited alliance with Gordian while J.E.D.D. Mason makes his decision.

9A recruits Eureka Weeksbooth, Tully Mardi, and Toshi Mitsubishi to fight against Gordian, along with Bo and Huxley. Danaë de la Trémouïlle Mitsubishi (now Marascala and Acting Chief Director of Homeland) and Lesley Sniper Saneer (now Guardian a.k.a. Commander-in-Chief of the Hiveguard) request to meet with 9A. Together, they press J.E.D.D. Mason to make some decisions about how He will remake the world. They declare a ceasefire. 9A takes a moment to note that Madame was wrong: most of the people leading towards war's end and a better world are not men or masculine.

November

Mycroft reclaims the narration. The remaining antagonistic forces besiege Alexandria. Thisbe, who has been secretly causing the panics and massacres throughout the war, infiltrates J.E.D.D. Mason's cell. Chagatai, immune to Thisbe's movie-scent magic, kills her. Bryar Kosala makes camp on top of the palace, daring Achilles to fire on his friends to get at her. He descends from space in his Alexander armor and kills her with its hand. Then, he lets Cato out and he revives her. Sniper takes the opportunity, kills Achilles, and is caught, effectively ending the war. 9A visits Sniper. They have a heart-to-heart and Sniper joins the ongoing struggle against Gordian.

(In the audiobook, the following part is spoken in the varying voices of 9A, Mycroft, and Saladin.) On the way out, 9A puts on Mycroft's old hat and completes a transformation that had been in process for months. Mycroft, watching the tape later and narrating, realizes this is how he came back after Atlantis: Saladin became him. 9A has done the same.

December

Sniper and Ockham Saneer free the King of Spain, who upon returning home, like Odysseus, finds Madame in bed with Perry-Kraye and shoots him. Madame is killed soon afterwards by a trap Perry-Kraye left behind.

Characters

These are characters who figure significantly in this novel. For a full list of the entire quartet's characters, see the main article for Terra Ignota.

The ◎ symbol is used to denote Hiveguard. The Ⓥ symbol is used to denote Remakers. Allegiances are as listed at the beginning of the book or as characters appear, but they shift throughout the narrative.

Ⓥ Remakers

Confirmed

• Jehovah Epicurus Donatien D'Arouet "J.E.D.D." Mason: Former shadow co-leader of every Hive. Currently Commander-in-Chief of the Remakers. Other names/titles used by various Hives include: Jed, Tai-Kun, Xiao Hei Wang, Jagmohan, T.M., Mike, Porphyrogene, '`Aναξ (Anax). Twenty-one years old.
• "Madame" Joyce Faust D'Arouet (Blacklaw): J.E.D.D. Mason's biological mother. Former madam of the Gendered Sex Club. Blacklaw. Wears a large white wig, elaborate gowns, many gems, and doll-like makeup.
• Mycroft Canner (Servicer): a brilliant polymath and infamous convicted criminal. He serves his sentence as a Servicer, works for many of the most powerful world leaders, and secretly protects Bridger. He is thin and stooped, with curly overgrown hair, reconstructed limbs, distinctive scars, and slightly dark skin. Wears a round, shapeless hat. Thirty-one years old. Of Greek descent.
• Outis (ex-Humanist Servicer): A Servicer, Mycroft's apprentice, (fictional) editor of the series, and the Ninth Anonymous (9A). Their crime was murdering the murderers of their ba'sib. Of Greek descent.

Probable

• Dominic Seneschal (Blacklaw, pseudo-Mitsubishi): A polylaw investigator, sensayer, and J.E.D.D. Mason's abrasive personal valet. A Blacklaw with aggressive, anachronistic style: brown hair in a ribboned ponytail, all-black 18th century European clothes, and a rapier. Temporary leader of the Mitsubishi Hive, though not a member. A female assigned 'he' pronouns; intensely masculine in gender expression.
• Mycroft 'Martin' Guildbreaker (Mason): A polylaw investigator for Romanova and Minister to J.E.D.D. Mason. A Familiaris Regni, member of Ordo Vitae Dialogorum and Nepos, one of the Emperor's inner circle and absolute subject of his will. Thirty-two years old. Of Persian descent.
• Heloïse D'Arouet (Cousin): A nun raised at Madame's, devoted to J.E.D.D. Mason.
• Gibraltar Euphrates Chagatai (Blacklaw): J.E.D.D. Mason's cook. She is large, strong, and bearded. Blacklaw. Of Mongolian descent.
• Saladin: Mycroft's ba'sib, lover, and secret accomplice. Thought dead since childhood by all but Mycroft. Wears Apollo Mojave's Utopian coat, full of weapons. Of Greek descent.
• Cornel MASON (Mason): Emperor. Black-haired and bronze-skinned, he wears a square-breasted suit in an exclusive shade of iron gray. His black right sleeve indicates his sole right to order execution. His left foot is prosthetic, the original having been removed during the Masonic Testing of the Successor.
• Xiaoliu Guildbreaker (Mason): Martin's spouse. Born Mitsubishi, he is the first non-Mason to join the Guildbreaker bash' in generations. The Masonic judge in Ockham Saneer's terra ignota trial. A Familiaris Regni and member of Ordo Vitae Dialogorum. A female assigned 'he' pronouns.
• Cinna Semaphoros (Mason):
• Achilles Mojave (Blacklaw): A composite of the ancient Greek Achilles, a world war soldier, and a future war soldier, brought to life by Bridger and made permanent by his destruction. Commander of the Myrmidons (soldier Servicers).
• Patroclus Aimer: Animated plastic toy and Achilles' partner.
• Felix Faust (Gordian): Headmaster of the Brill's Institute & Gordian Hive. Seventy-eight years old with a voyeuristic, playful, and sarcastic nature. Of European descent.
• Carlyle Foster-Kraye de la Trémouïlle (ex-Cousin Blacklaw): a sensayer (spiritual counselor). The illegitimate child of Danaë and Casimir Perry/Marion Kraye. Blonde and gaunt, thirty-one years old, of European descent. A male assigned he/him and she/her pronouns in different periods of the narrative.
• Huxley Mojave (Utopian): Mycroft's keeper. Has a black lion U-beast companion. Wears a coat of storms.
• Mushi Mojave (Utopian): First entomologist on Mars. Wears a coat depicting billions of ants.

◎ Hiveguard

Confirmed

• Ojiro Cardigan Sniper (Humanist): Current leader of the Saneer-Weeksbooths, 13th O.S. A world-famous athlete, performance artist, model, and professional living doll. Sniper is genderfluid and intersex, assigned 'it' pronouns. Sniper's Humanist boots are leather rimmed with metallic stripes for his Olymic medals. Of Japanese, European, and South American descent.
• Lesley Juniper Sniper Saneer (Humanist): adopted by the Saneer-Weeksbooths after her own bash' was killed in a flying car accident. A compulsive doodler. Ockham's spouse. Energetic, with curly black hair. Her Humanist boots are made of screen cloth, on which doodles change every day. Of Chinese and African ancestry.
• Aesop Quarriman (Humanist): The one unelected Humanist Senator chosen annually by heroics. Originator of the bull's eye symbol. Born in Antarctica. Her Humanist boots are fitted polymer for protection and mobility, with many Olympic medal stripes.

Probable

• Ockham Prospero Saneer (Humanist): Former leader of the Saneer-Weeksbooth bash' and 12th O.S. Quite muscular and knightly, Ockham possesses the extremely rare right to use lethal force. His Humanist boots are steel and leather. Of Indian and possibly Mestizo descent.
• Eureka Weeksbooth (Humanist): a Cartesian set-set who directly interfaces with the car system data via sight, sound, smell, touch, temperature, and taste. Female and assigned 'they' pronouns. Of Chinese descent.
• Thisbe Ottila Saneer (Humanist): another of Bridger's secret protectors and a witch. Besides helping her bash' run the cars, Thisbe is an award-winning "smelltrack" creator for movies. Black-haired, dark-skinned, and confident. Her Humanist boots depict a mountainous brush-pen landscape. Of Indian and possibly Mestizo descent.
• Tully Mardi/Mojave (Graylaw): The last surviving Mardi, hidden by the Utopians in Luna City on the Moon for the thirteen years since the murder spree. Graylaw Hiveless. Tall and dependent on crutches from growing up in low gravity. Nine years younger than Mycroft.
• Ganymede Jean-Louis de la Trémouïlle (Humanist): Former Duke President of the Humanist Hive. Brother of Danaë Marie-Anne de la Trémouïlle. He wears ostentatious 18th century garb to complement his blue eyes and golden shoulder-length hair. Of French descent.
• Vivien Ancelet (Humanist): President of the Humanist Hive. Formerly Censor and Anonymous. Spouse of Bryar Kosala. Wears slim, shoulder-length dreadlocks. His Humanist boot material resembles old parchment with two layers of script and have Olympic medal and French nation-strat stripes around the soles. Of French and African descent.
• Julia Doria-Pamphili (European): Head of the Sensayers' Conclave a.k.a. Pontifex Maxima (high priestess). A vocateur specializing in intense one-shot sessions and Mycroft's court appointed sensayer. Expresses a distinctly feminine gender. Of Italian descent.

Neutral

• Bryar Kosala (Cousin): Chair of the Cousins Hive. Looks tall and imperious, but is deeply kind. Spouse of Vivien Ancelet. Of Indian descent.
• Jin Im-Jin (Gordian): Speaker of the Universal Free Alliance Senate in Romanova, whom Mycroft calls its Grandpa. At least 150 years old. Of Korean descent.
• Charlemagne "Carmen" Guildbreaker, Sr. (Mason): A well-respected Alliance Senator, whom Mycroft calls the Senate's Grandma. A Familiaris Regni. Martin's grandparent. Bearded. Of Persion descent. A male assigned 'she' pronouns.
• Jung Su-Hyeon Ancelet-Kosala (Graylaw): Censor. Tiny, with black hair. A female assigned 'he' pronouns. Of Korean descent.
• Ektor Carlyle 'Papa' Papadelias (European): Romanovan Commissioner General. Obsessed with the details of Mycroft's case. One hundred and two years old. Of Greek descent. A female assigned 'he' pronouns.
• Cato Weeksbooth (ex-Humanist Utopian): A brilliant but unstable science teacher and assassin. Volunteer at the Museum of Science and Industry (Chicago), teaching children. Of Chinese descent.
• Kenzie Walkiewicz (Minor Graylaw): Child who figures out communication method linking the Romanovan island to the mainland. Appointed Special Communications Officer and Interim Minor Senator.

Undeclared

• Isabel Carlos II a.k.a. Spain (European): King of Spain and former Prime Minister of the European Hive. 59 years old, with nearly black hair. Of Spanish and Chinese descent.
• Hotaka Andō Mitsubishi (Mitsubishi): former Chief Director of the Mitsubishi Executive Directorate, husband of Danaë Marie-Anne de la Trémouïlle. Of Japanese descent.
• Danaë Marie-Anne de la Trémouïlle Mitsubishi (Mitsubishi): A world famous beauty, incredibly adept at social manipulation and gentle interrogation. Named for the Danaë of Greek mythology. Blonde-haired and blue-eyed. Intensely and expressively feminine. Of French descent.
• Casimir Perry/Marion Kraye (European): Former Prime Minister of the European Hive. Leader of the anti-Madame conspiracy faction.
• Croucher/Thersites: An animated toy soldier. Deserter. A composite with the character in the Trojan war who embodied ugliness and criticism.
• Lorelai "Cookie" Cook (Cousin): Romanovan Minister of Education. A Nuturist faction leader, opposing the creation of set-sets.
• Castel Natekari (Blacklaw): The Rumormonger of Hobbestown and Blacklaw Tribune. Baker, retired leader of the Algheni Group. Has black hair and a scar on her left cheek. Of Indian descent.

Deceased

• Bridger: a 13-year-old boy who could "miracle" toys or representational objects to become real. Fair skin with blondish brown hair, very beautiful.
• Apollo Mojave (Utopian): Named for the Greek god Apollo and the Mojave desert. Golden-haired. Fifteen years older than Mycroft at time of death.

Reception

Publishers Weekly praised the novel's, "wry humor and the ingenious depth." Paul Di Filippo of Locus said readers will, "enjoy the mental and emotional workout." The Washington Book Review praised the book as "Innovative, mesmerizing and full of fun." Barnes & Noble wrote that it is, "transformative, challenging, and engaging."

Kirkus Reviews wrote, "Still intriguing and worth pursuing, but the strain may be beginning to show." Liz Bourke of Tor.com suggested the book is more a philosophical/political exploration couched in novelization, writing, "Ambitious, certainly. Interesting? Yes. Successful? Not, at least, as a novel."