Mafias and Banks

Luis Salinas, the new ambassador to Thailand, who knows he's going to get his hands dirty in the next four years – if he makes it that long. He's accompanied by his wife, Claudia, and their daughter Ester. Aware that the familiar constellation of life in the embassy is about to change radically, the staff gear up in nervous anticipation. Life does change, but in a way that Luis would never have imagined it. He must not only cope with the chaos and corruption he was expecting, but also with the implosion of his family life, as Claudia and Ester become involved in affairs that might seriously damage relations between Spain and Thailand. Will the glamorous, globe-trotting diplomatic life swallow up Luis or will he continue to fight for integrity and morals?           

Over the course of four decades, the personal lives of a quartet of Newcastle friends—Nicky, Geordie, Mary, and Tosker—intertwine with various political machinations, often for the worse: slum housing projects, police corruption, the rise of Thatcherism, political sleaze, and specific events like the 1984 Miners' Strike.

On a terraformed post-disaster Mars, a group of child security agents rebel against the adults who betrayed them and the oppressive Earth government.