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Monday, September 29, 2008

Rise of a Merchant Prince by Raymond Feist



Amazon summary: Rise of a Merchant Prince (Serpentwar Saga)

So first let me say that this is not a kids book by any means. I don't think I have many (or any) readers, but if you have stumbled onto this blog and are under the age of 16, you can just stop reading now because Raymond Feist is an Adult author. Thanks.

OK, so now that the young'uns have left, let me say that this was the most disappointing book for me. In the past I have wondered if we were going to be stuck in repetitive plots over and over again, and I think that Feist's readers or editors must have voiced similar concerns, because in this book he drastically changes his strategy. Instead of the same action-packed fantasy/adventure story, we now get a poor attempt at a medieval Wall Street drama with a mistress around every corner. While I applaud the attempt at something different, this was not a success. More than half a dozen books by this author in this world, and I find myself having trouble staying interested. That is crazy.

What I think is even worse is that he has a REAL story going on in the background as a sub-plot, and that should have been the real story. Yes, that was a carbon copy of the 3 or 4 previous books, but repetitive or not, at least I enjoyed those books. I can't tell if he was trying to add the story line for interest, or if it was supposed to be competing for the main plot line. If it was the latter, it lost, unfortunately.

Oh, and while I am ranting, the moral depravity increased another notch in this book. Not so much that I won't read the next one, but enough that I find it sad. Thus the warning for young readers.

Date Completed: 9/25/08
Rating: 2.9

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