Capitalism in Krondor...
If you are new to the works of Raymond E. Feist, I strongly recommend that you start this series from the very beginning. First there was the Riftwar, then there was the Serpentwar: the volume you need to read first is entitled Magician and takes you through the childhood of the characters who began it all. That is a masterful work, as are all the others in these two series. Rise of a Merchant Prince, sadly, in my opinion, is not.
Those of you who have read the following:
Magician
Silverthorn
A Darkness at Sethanon
Prince of the Blood
The King's Buccaneer
Shadow of a Dark Queen
should read this book. It lets you into some of the secrets of Rupert Avery, sees him and Erik back in the condemned cell for a night, and goes into Avery's business dealings at some length and in some detail. It introduces the bad, bold Sylvia Esterbrook and her scheming, greedy father, takes us through a couple of wild romps with Jimmy and Dash, grandsons of Prince James, formerly Jimmy the Hand, juvenile criminal of Krondor, who brighten up the narrative somewhat, and dwells in not great enough length on a cursed mission led by Calis the half-elf to wipe out the Pantathian Serpent Priests, the irrepressible and courageous Bobby de Loungville, whose valour and loyalty would bring tears to the eyes of a lump of rock, and the newly-promoted Erik, former tavern boy, blacksmith's apprentice and condemned criminal.
One of the difficult things to swallow about this novel is that Rupert Avery is neither a particularly interesting nor an heroic character. He's loyal to his friends, but only those who are useful to him, neglectful of his wife and daughter and motivated by little other than money. And he keeps his brains in his trousers. His saving graces are courage, intelligence and tenacity: if one could only add strength of character and willpower to the list he would be a hero like his boyhood friend Erik.
The other problematic aspect of Roo's tale is that the real action is taking place far away, in the breeding caves of the Pantathian Serpent-Priests, but the author only allows us a cursory glance at Erik, Calis, Bobby and company while dwelling far too lengthily on the fairly uninteresting and not devastatingly brilliant business coups of Avery and colleagues.
Perhaps Feist is telling us something very important here, something about reality and heroism; perhaps he has taken heroic fiction about as far as it can go, but I have to confess that the word 'potboiler' came to mind in the third chapter and stayed with me till the end of the novel.
Having said that, you need to read this if you are working through the series, and if you happen to be a Ferengi, you will enjoy it very much. It is not a difficult book to read, nor is it tedious; it is simply that Feist has set such a high standard in previous works that this was something of a let-down. Less realism, more heroism, would have gone down a treat.
Magician
Silverthorn
A Darkness at Sethanon
Prince of the Blood
The King's Buccaneer
Shadow of a Dark Queen
should read this book. It lets you into some of the secrets of Rupert Avery, sees him and Erik back in the condemned cell for a night, and goes into Avery's business dealings at some length and in some detail. It introduces the bad, bold Sylvia Esterbrook and her scheming, greedy father, takes us through a couple of wild romps with Jimmy and Dash, grandsons of Prince James, formerly Jimmy the Hand, juvenile criminal of Krondor, who brighten up the narrative somewhat, and dwells in not great enough length on a cursed mission led by Calis the half-elf to wipe out the Pantathian Serpent Priests, the irrepressible and courageous Bobby de Loungville, whose valour and loyalty would bring tears to the eyes of a lump of rock, and the newly-promoted Erik, former tavern boy, blacksmith's apprentice and condemned criminal.
One of the difficult things to swallow about this novel is that Rupert Avery is neither a particularly interesting nor an heroic character. He's loyal to his friends, but only those who are useful to him, neglectful of his wife and daughter and motivated by little other than money. And he keeps his brains in his trousers. His saving graces are courage, intelligence and tenacity: if one could only add strength of character and willpower to the list he would be a hero like his boyhood friend Erik.
The other problematic aspect of Roo's tale is that the real action is taking place far away, in the breeding caves of the Pantathian Serpent-Priests, but the author only allows us a cursory glance at Erik, Calis, Bobby and company while dwelling far too lengthily on the fairly uninteresting and not devastatingly brilliant business coups of Avery and colleagues.
Perhaps Feist is telling us something very important here, something about reality and heroism; perhaps he has taken heroic fiction about as far as it can go, but I have to confess that the word 'potboiler' came to mind in the third chapter and stayed with me till the end of the novel.
Having said that, you need to read this if you are working through the series, and if you happen to be a Ferengi, you will enjoy it very much. It is not a difficult book to read, nor is it tedious; it is simply that Feist has set such a high standard in previous works that this was something of a let-down. Less realism, more heroism, would have gone down a treat.
