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3.77 AVERAGE
3.77 AVERAGE
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Loved reading about the economics of Midkemia. Feist created a page-turner about someone getting rich in medieval times- that's impressive.
Roo is a POS. I don't hate that, because not all characters need to be perfect, or only slightly flawed. But don't get it twisted- he is a POS.
The pacing got a bit weird near the very end. It's like Feist realized he spent over 350 pages only on Roo, and forgot he needed to make some progress on the Serpent War. The whiplash POV changes were just a bit odd.
Roo is a POS. I don't hate that, because not all characters need to be perfect, or only slightly flawed. But don't get it twisted- he is a POS.
The pacing got a bit weird near the very end. It's like Feist realized he spent over 350 pages only on Roo, and forgot he needed to make some progress on the Serpent War. The whiplash POV changes were just a bit odd.
adventurous
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
slow-paced
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
A large focus of the book was on Ru's rise in business in Krondor. This reminded me a lot of Pillars of the Earth and was a bit boring. I didn't enjoy Ru's very obvious and predictable infatuation with Sylvia.
It only got more interesting towards the end with the development of the serpent war part.
It only got more interesting towards the end with the development of the serpent war part.
I was actually quite disappointed in this book :(
The first book had Erik as the main character, with Roo being his best friend who was very ambitious. This book had Roo as the main character and he just disappointed me from about halfway through. He rose to wealth (obviously, the book is called Rise of a Merchant Prince), they way he did it though was quite sneaky, bordering on illegal, which didn't bug me as much as him cheating on a wife he married out of pity. I was extremely disappointed in Roo. Some of the new characters were cool, I liked Jason (who worked for Roo as his accountant), and I liked Dash and Jimmy (Duke James (a.k.a. Jimmy the Hand's) grandsons) they were fun. This book really picked up about 300 pages in when we jumped across the sea to where Erik and Calis (along with some other men) went to raid the underground cave they found was the Panathians lair. I look forward to the next book which will be more exciting, the next stage of the story. I wonder who will be the main character...
Overall though I was quite disappointed in this book, it was more a commerce book that an action packed fantasy adventure. Though it can be seen why this one is important for the series (as you will find out when you read it).
The first book had Erik as the main character, with Roo being his best friend who was very ambitious. This book had Roo as the main character and he just disappointed me from about halfway through. He rose to wealth (obviously, the book is called Rise of a Merchant Prince), they way he did it though was quite sneaky, bordering on illegal, which didn't bug me as much as him cheating on a wife he married out of pity. I was extremely disappointed in Roo. Some of the new characters were cool, I liked Jason (who worked for Roo as his accountant), and I liked Dash and Jimmy (Duke James (a.k.a. Jimmy the Hand's) grandsons) they were fun. This book really picked up about 300 pages in when we jumped across the sea to where Erik and Calis (along with some other men) went to raid the underground cave they found was the Panathians lair. I look forward to the next book which will be more exciting, the next stage of the story. I wonder who will be the main character...
Overall though I was quite disappointed in this book, it was more a commerce book that an action packed fantasy adventure. Though it can be seen why this one is important for the series (as you will find out when you read it).
An enjoyable mess of a book.
It follows Roo, who is Erik's best friend, and who was part of the "Dirty Dozen" team in the first book. His main goal in life is to become a filthy rich merchant, and this book details how he goes about that. This story, for what it is, I liked very much. Roo is not a simple character, and he's a bit of a jerk.
Because of the limitations in scope of this story, there is very little in the way of high fantasy. If you pulled this story out of its setting, it could just as easily have been told in a novel by Dickens or Trollope. Roo has trouble with the local guilds. He uses his wiles, and his less than perfect ethics, to launch his career. He gets involved and marries a girl he doesn't love to advance his ambitions. Hell, there's even a long section in the book on the intricacies of the grain futures market, where Roo and his fledgling syndicate set about cornering the market on grain, based on their inside information that the upcoming crop is plagued by locusts.
I know all of this sounds dull, and not the stuff of fantasy. But it makes for a good story anyway, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Here's the problem. This is the second part of "The Serpentwar Saga", so Feist feels honor bound to advance the overall plot. The way he does this is only tangentially related to the main arc of the book. And Feist does a really poor job of integrating the two. Moreover, the main story really isn't all that interesting. Eric and Calis and Nakor go off again to the other continent to break some eggs (literally). They are the eggs of the Pantathians, and that's what it has to do with advancing the story. Then make another "shocking" discovery on their mission. And they get into a bunch of trouble and are, of course, rescued. All with an obligatory poignant and surprising death.
The pieces fit together in the way that a jigsaw puzzle does when you start forcing stuff that doesn't belong, or when you start cutting up your pieces to fit. It doesn't make for a good overall book. But the book that I think wanted to write, the one of the title, I enjoyed quite a bit. He just didn't fit it that well into his overall saga.
At least this time there was no Pug ex Machina, so that's a plus. I will get around to the third book at some point, but I'm no longer in a rush.
It follows Roo, who is Erik's best friend, and who was part of the "Dirty Dozen" team in the first book. His main goal in life is to become a filthy rich merchant, and this book details how he goes about that. This story, for what it is, I liked very much. Roo is not a simple character, and he's a bit of a jerk.
Because of the limitations in scope of this story, there is very little in the way of high fantasy. If you pulled this story out of its setting, it could just as easily have been told in a novel by Dickens or Trollope. Roo has trouble with the local guilds. He uses his wiles, and his less than perfect ethics, to launch his career. He gets involved and marries a girl he doesn't love to advance his ambitions. Hell, there's even a long section in the book on the intricacies of the grain futures market, where Roo and his fledgling syndicate set about cornering the market on grain, based on their inside information that the upcoming crop is plagued by locusts.
I know all of this sounds dull, and not the stuff of fantasy. But it makes for a good story anyway, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Here's the problem. This is the second part of "The Serpentwar Saga", so Feist feels honor bound to advance the overall plot. The way he does this is only tangentially related to the main arc of the book. And Feist does a really poor job of integrating the two. Moreover, the main story really isn't all that interesting. Eric and Calis and Nakor go off again to the other continent to break some eggs (literally). They are the eggs of the Pantathians, and that's what it has to do with advancing the story. Then make another "shocking" discovery on their mission. And they get into a bunch of trouble and are, of course, rescued. All with an obligatory poignant and surprising death.
The pieces fit together in the way that a jigsaw puzzle does when you start forcing stuff that doesn't belong, or when you start cutting up your pieces to fit. It doesn't make for a good overall book. But the book that I think wanted to write, the one of the title, I enjoyed quite a bit. He just didn't fit it that well into his overall saga.
At least this time there was no Pug ex Machina, so that's a plus. I will get around to the third book at some point, but I'm no longer in a rush.
Perhaps Feist's best book, but hampered by the fact that a) you really need to read the preceding books to appreciate the context of this one and b) the sequels take a much more drably traditional route to resolving many of the plots, and generally speaking most of the promise here isn't actually followed up on. Full review: https://fakegeekboy.wordpress.com/2011/09/19/the-reading-canary-the-serpentwar-saga/
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No