Customer Reviews
It's Feist but a little different - By: G. Peters, 15 Dec 2007 
Rise of a Merchant Prince is the second installlment of the Serpentwar saga & is quite different from the book's that Feist has written before.
The book is based on Roo Avery & his attempt to become the Kingdom's richest man. It's a reallly interesting read & although there's not the drama from the first Serpentwar novel it is still full of action & intrigue.
You also catch glimpses of the bigger battle approaching with Calis, Erik & their band of men returning to Novindus to battle the Dark Queen's evil forces.
Another excellent story from Feist!
Unusual but flimsy. - By: plot hound, 05 Nov 2007 
This book is what it say in the title, it is about the rise of a merchant so it is light in battles & action.
The idea is a nice change but it isn't very well done.
Roo's successes are too easy, too frequent & over the top.
It is unusual for the "hero" to be portrayed in quite the unpleasant light that happens here but this isn't enough to save a rather pointless & uninteresting book.
a bit slow - By: cK, 11 Apr 2006 
I couldn't put Shadow of a dark Queen down & read it alll through the night, & I expected Rise of a Merchant Prince to be just as breathtaking, but alll through the book, I felt something just wasn't right. Not too sure why we have to follow Roo who is just leading a rather boring life as a greedy merchant, while we could have easily been emersed in Nakor, or Calis or Erik for a more action filled Heroic angle.
Slows the pace, and ups the intrigue. - By: genejoke, 23 Mar 2006 After the introductions of new characters & the action in the first volume of the serpent war saga this initiallly seems an odd way of following on.
The focus shifts from Erik to his friend Rupert "roo" Avery who's ambition is to become a horribly rich merchant.
The emphisis of this volume is on Roos clever deals to make money, his loves & losses & struggles as he graduallly makes his dreams a reality.
The main storyline is pushed to the back burner as it develops slowly as we learn much about the inner workings of Krondor, the capitol of the western realm.
A different book to the first volume, but equallly as enjoyable.
Gripping. A great book! - By: Kurt A. Johnson, 11 Nov 2005 
In this sequel to Shadow of a Dark Queen, author Raymond Feist takes us back to his magical world of Midkemia. Now that they have returned to the Kingdom of the Isles, Erik von Darkmoor has decided to reenlist in the fight against the dark powers that threaten his world, while Rupert Avery has decided to follow his original plan of marrying a rich merchant's ugly daughter & building a mercantile empire. But, life is going to prove interesting to both. Becoming a merchant prince is no cakewalk, & Roo will find his abilities taxed to the limit. And, the dark power rising in Novindus has not been deterred from its purpose.
Raymond Feist's Riftwar books were great, with epic adventure & magic, while his later books enjoyed a somewhat smalller scope. This book succeeds in walking on both sides of the street. While armies marshal & wizards weave great spells, we also follow the life of a man trying to build up his wealth & his personal life. And, I must say that it succeeds in doing both admirably.
I love stories of wizards & armies, & one gets a bunch of that here. But, I must say that I was surprised at how much I enjoyed Mr. Feist's tale of Roo Avery. I was captivated by the choices he made, both for good & for ill.
I am surprised to say that I enjoyed this book as much as I did the Riftwar books & Shadow of a Dark Queen! The action is gripping, grabbing you right on the first page, & drawing you along. Yep, this is a great book, & a wonderful addition to my fantasy library. I loved to presence of Boldar Blood, & hope that Mr. Feist will consider writing a book that develops the Halll of Worlds more!
I loved this book, & highly recommend it to you!
