Rise of a Merchant Prince is a delight to read. You know how in stories the soldiers will be facing certain death and will have the "what could have been" conversation? "I would have gone home and married that pretty lass" or "Oh, if only I could return and fulfill my dream of becoming a famous bard" or whatever. And you feel sad for a future that will never come.

Except, in Rise of a Merchant Prince, the "what could have been" actually gets played out! A character had goals, dreams, aspirations? Watch them live out their life! It's so refreshing. It's so real. It brings the characters to a different level of depth than their soldier martyr counterparts above. People live, people move on, and people keep striving towards their own happiness.

I found the second novel in the Serpentwar Saga to be much more affecting and full of humanity than the first. While Shadow of a Dark Queen was more thrilling, with higher stakes, Rise of a Merchant Prince manages to be interesting in a down-to-earth way, while maintaining the same level of quality as the first.

I highly recommend the series.