Rise of a Merchant Prince

I’ve been reading Feist’s Magician novels for some 20 years now, starting from a chance introduction from a college friend during a lazy summer day while looking for something to pass my time. Feist is definitely among my favorite authors. I enjoyed Rise of a Merchant Prince along with the rest of the Serpent War Saga.

My review is with respect to the quality of its e-book digitalization.

As I’ve been working overseas for many years, without access to my print library of Feist’s work, I decided to purchase the Kindle Editions for a nostalgic re-read (downloaded Nov 2015). I have to say that I’ve been somewhat disappointed with the product received.

Many subsections are not formatted correctly with paragraphs concatonated and sections merged together. If I wasn’t already familiar with the story, it could lead to some confusion. In one particular section, notably when Roo approaches Erik for a loan, minor continuity details of the exchange with the Duke have been omitted. Overall it’s as if the person(s) responsible for digitalization and editing haven’t read the story before or proofed the work for continuity before release.

It’s a shame that the digitalization was so poorly completed; it detracted from my ability to enjoy the story again.

Should the publisher update the editing, I will likewise be happy to update my review.

I’m enjoying the book and series and would rate this 5 stars is it wasn’t for the terrible editing of the Kindle edition.

My word is it bad. There are typos everywhere and paragraphs that should not flow directly into each other do. For example, two separate section of the story but in the same chapter that should be separated by a line break but are not. It’s jarring and takes me out of the story. Far enough out that I’ve stopped reading to make this complaint. It’s like the publisher just slapped a paperback on the scanner and sent it off to Amazon without proofing it first.

I love the Serpentwar saga, but this ebook is terribly formatted. Any non-chapter transition is lost. The usual visual indicators… font changes, spacing… are completely absent, leading to a jarring and confusing reading experience.

I’ve always thought this book stood out as a little different. Some people might argue that it is really unneeded as it doesn’t advance the plot of the Serpent War much. However, I like the more personal story of Rio and his rise to wealth. It gives a different perspective of the world, that you wouldn’t see in most fantasy settings. The Kindle edition could do with some editing as you go from one sentence talking about Roo, to the next talking about Calis on the other side of the world with no page breaks.

A continuation of a fantasy series that is really enjoyable. Most of the book didn’t follow up on the previous book, but I’m sure it will all tie together in the end. The book has interesting characters, a great plot, as long as you don’t mind spending time reading a series that is going to be two more books after this one. Well worth the time.

Galaxyaudiobook Member Benefit

- Able to comment

- List watched audiobooks

- List favorite audiobooks

- Bookmark will only available for Galaxyaudiobook member