Rating: ![5 stars](http://www.reviewfocus.com/images/stars-5-0.gif) Summary: Absolutely Gripping Review: This is one of Feist's best works!I was enthralled by the story from the very beginning. It is very fluid, and gets the blood flowing. All throughout, I was eager for Roo to be successful, and the storyline completely immersed me. I read the whole thing in one sitting -- I just couldn't get myself to put it down. Whatever you do, don't start reading the book the night before you have to go to school, work, or leave your house for any reason! So far, I've read it twice, and I can see myself reading it a few more times as well. Feist is definitely up there with Heinlein as one of the very best...
Rating: ![4 stars](http://www.reviewfocus.com/images/stars-4-0.gif) Summary: A very very DIFFERENT story from Feist. Review: A book focused on one character? A book focused on commerce? A book with more intrigue than adventure? What happened to our good old Feist? I suppose a change wasn't necessarily a bad idea. I guess Feist needed some way to stretch out the series. Not much happens in this novel, at least not the main storyline. Oh sure, they go kill some Pantathians and encounter a demon but still. The bulk of the book was about Roo's quest to get rich. Like I said, strange. Still, the book was a fun read. Like all of Feist novels, it is good for beginners to the fantasy genre. Serious fans should check George R.R. Martin's series, A Song of Ice and Fire.
Rating: ![4 stars](http://www.reviewfocus.com/images/stars-4-0.gif) Summary: We get to read a book about a whole person for a change! Review: The thing that makes me recommend this book so highly is that Feist begins to fully develop Roo as a person (and one that we may not particularly care for at first glance). I won't give away the plot, but we see in Roo a completely rounded person. Roo struggles with the decisions that we all have to make everyday in our lives. He doesn't always make the most noble or even the best decisions. God knows, in my life, I haven't; so, who am I to judge? After reading this book, I had to keep reminding myself of that fact; that's what made the story so real and believable, seeing parts of ourselves (those parts we are proud of as well as those parts we never want others to even know about) in the lives of the characters. This type of writing is what made the earlier works so outstanding. Unfortunately, he seems to have strayed from this in some of his later work. I hope that this shows that Feist is returning to this style of writing and I hope he sticks with it.
Rating: ![5 stars](http://www.reviewfocus.com/images/stars-5-0.gif) Summary: Feist is Just Amazing!!! Review: WOW. That is the only word needed to describe this book. I have read all of Feist's books and I have come to praise him as an author. He is just amazing when it comes to capture a readers interest. This book has everything that I could possibly want. Even though there wasn't as much magic used as in previous books, Feist replaced this with a very interesting story of a merchant, who we all love already, rising to great power. This is definitely one of Feist's more catching books because he uses many more stories and quests of money and power rather than the usual magic and warfare, which are also included. This book is one I couldn't put down. Raymond Feist deserves much praise for this one.
Rating: ![4 stars](http://www.reviewfocus.com/images/stars-4-0.gif) Summary: Very good and different Review: Although this book might disappoint some fantasy fans, I think Feist did a remarkable job in portraying a story about someone who is not a very glamorous character. When I was reading Shadow of a Dark Queen, Roo seemed to be just a character to fill in the gaps, since he was small, ugly, and seemingly without talent. While reading Merchant, I found the way Feist wrote of him quite refreshing as he is neither all bad or all good, but a very well-rounded character. Good to see a few non-royalty characters who don't have everything at their disposal (although I do enjoy reading about the con Doin's). The entire business side of the story was interesting as it dealt with more of the inner workings of Krondor. I will have to say that the ending of this seemed fairly abrupt and a little convenient, but overall I was pleased and the book didn't finish all problems, leaving some of them to be solved in later books.
Rating: ![5 stars](http://www.reviewfocus.com/images/stars-5-0.gif) Summary: Greed is Good, Greed Works.... Review: I was truly tired of reading other authors make their characters wealthy beyond imagination simply by finding it in a dungeon and slaughtering everything in sight. Roo's ambition for commercial conquest became a driving force of greed that could only be rivaled by the ensuing armies of the Emerald Queen. This is by far my favorite book by Feist.
Rating: ![5 stars](http://www.reviewfocus.com/images/stars-5-0.gif) Summary: Business/Fantasy Review: This book is one of my favorite fantasy novels of all time. That's mainly because it contains one of the most deft and clever pieces of market manipulation I've ever read. I won't spoil it for those who haven't read it but Roo's exploits in this book are fresh every time I read them (and I have read this book several times). This book seems to take all those dry business novels and makes them exciting simply by putting it in a fantasy environment. I mean if you think that it's tough being a business man today imagine how hard it would be in a world where monsters could come along and eat you and your shipment. I love it!
Rating: ![2 stars](http://www.reviewfocus.com/images/stars-2-0.gif) Summary: Short Advance. Review: As the title suggests, Rise of a Merchant Prince is primarily about Roo Avery. Much of the first novel is about Erik, though Roo is there in most of the novel. To me 'Rise' has many plot twists that are too convient and sudden: Erik suddenly pulled out of the main story, Roo's father in law's murder, and even the ending. In terms of advancing the plot in the series, maybe a third of the novel is devoted to it. It felt like the novel took awhile to really go and when it did, it barely went anywhere. The ending feels very arbitrary and unnatural. While I plan on reading the rest of the series, I can only hope they are better than this one. Roo is a more complicated character than most of Feist's characters in having a different set of morals than most of his usual characters that are usually easy to guess their actions. I have to give Fiest credit for trying new things with his characters.
Rating: ![2 stars](http://www.reviewfocus.com/images/stars-2-0.gif) Summary: Adequate, but just barely Review: I picked this up expecting an exciting sequel to Feist's page-turning Shadow of A Dark Queen but was disappointed to discover little more than a flimsy pseudo-sequel that reads more like a business text than a fantasy novel. Most of us fantasy readers have little interest in syndicates, trading enterprises, etc., even if they do involve the beloved Roo Avery. Roo is revealed as a rather unappealing and shallow character; Erik's presence in the story is tantalizing, as he appears but is scarcely granted any character development. This addition to the series doesn't add much, nor does it satisfy any of the curiosities left behind at the end of the first novel. Still, it's not as bad as it could be.
Rating: ![5 stars](http://www.reviewfocus.com/images/stars-5-0.gif) Summary: Another great saga in the world of "Midkemia" by Feist Review: This book brings alive a mixture of medieval life mixed in a fantasy world. Robert E. Feist has a knack for giving his books a flare of the "real" world of medieval times along with the mixture of fantasy much like "Lords of the Rings" by "Tolkien". I recommend ALL of his books from the "Midkemia" world that encompasses his stories. This is book 2 of 4 in this series. This saga picks up where the "King's Buccaneer" left off.
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