A Few Coincidences

I am reading SM Stirling's Emberverse series in which many people, including the present Queen of England, have died and Prince Charles has become King Charles III. By coincidence, I recently heard part of a radio drama by Val McDermid in which many people are dying and the Queen is too ill to perform state functions so the Prime Minister asks Prince Charles to dissolve Parliament.

By another coincidence, I am rereading Stieg Larsson's The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo in which Mikael Blomkvist reads Val McDermid's The Mermaids Singing. The phrase "...mermaids singing..." is part of a poem by John Donne which Neil Gaiman quotes at the beginning of his novel, Stardust.

The Poul Anderson Appreciation blog has found many connections between SM Stirling, Poul Anderson and Neil Gaiman. We have also discussed Stieg Larsson in relation to Poul Anderson, e.g., see here.