I was actually quite disappointed in this book :(
The first book had Erik as the main character, with Roo being his best friend who was very ambitious. This book had Roo as the main character and he just disappointed me from about halfway through. He rose to wealth (obviously, the book is called Rise of a Merchant Prince), they way he did it though was quite sneaky, bordering on illegal, which didn't bug me as much as him cheating on a wife he married out of pity. I was extremely disappointed in Roo. Some of the new characters were cool, I liked Jason (who worked for Roo as his accountant), and I liked Dash and Jimmy (Duke James (a.k.a. Jimmy the Hand's) grandsons) they were fun. This book really picked up about 300 pages in when we jumped across the sea to where Erik and Calis (along with some other men) went to raid the underground cave they found was the Panathians lair. I look forward to the next book which will be more exciting, the next stage of the story. I wonder who will be the main character...

Overall though I was quite disappointed in this book, it was more a commerce book that an action packed fantasy adventure. Though it can be seen why this one is important for the series (as you will find out when you read it).