Rise of a Merchant Prince (Serpentwar Saga)

Book Description

Surviving the wrath of the fearsome Sauur—a hideous race of invading serpents—noble Erik and cunning Roo have delivered a timely warning to the rulers of the Midkemian Empire, and are now free to pursue their separate destinies. Erik chooses the army—and the continuing war against Midkemia's dread enemies. Roo lusts for wealth and power—rising high and fast in theworld of trade. But with luxury comes carelessness and a vulnerability to the desires of the flesh. And a beautiful seductress with her ruthless machinations threatens to destroy everything Roo has built and become—summoning catastrophe into his future . . . and terror into his world.

Customer Reviews:

Different and good........2006-04-24

Mr Feist departs from his prior action/fantasy to deliver political and commercial intrigue in a fantasy setting. Quite good.

Roo's the Man!.......2006-02-26

When Roo kicked butt generating wealth in the market and put his enemies to shame, it was just too much for me. True, this isn't what you'd call classic style fantasy, but it still has many elements. I love it when they go back after coming from down under and Barrets Coffeehouse, the site of Roo's greates manipulation of the market. Man, what an awesome story.

**A book I would also recommend is The Unsuspecting Mage by Brian S. Pratt. This, the first installment of The Morcyth Saga is a great beginning for a new author. Battles, magic, gods, secret passages and intrigue, all the elements of a classic epic fantasy! Any fantasy reader will enjoy it

Good continuation to a fantatic story.......2006-01-09

Rise of a Merchant Prince by Raymond Feist is the second book in the Serpent War Saga, the first book being shadow of a Dark Queen. This book seems to polarize fans of Feist, as they either love it or abhor it. Me, I really enjoyed this novel for several reasons. 1) It is a deviation from standard fantasy novels in that it doesn't focus on things that are `out of this world so to speak 2) the character development (mainly Roo's) is second to none, and 3) Feist can pen a tale with the best fantasy writers in the business today. With that said, there are a few things that I Wasn't overly fond of, but I will touch on those later in this review.

The main plot of this book is just as the title implies, which is the rise of a merchant prince who is Roo or Rupert Avery. There are a few sub-plots to continue the over-riding story of the saga as well, such as the Serpent's continuing domination of their continent and how that is being dealt with by the main characters Erik and the rest of the army. When I firs found out the plot centered on Roo and dealt a lot with being a merchant and trading etc, I was a little apprehensive as it didn't seem like all that interesting of a book to read. Yet, Feist MAKES it interesting. I have read some reviews on-line that say the pacing of this book is slow; but quite honestly, I didn't see that at all. In fact, I thought the book was hard to put down. There is just enough written about Erik and the army to move that story along, but this book is clearly written for Roo and the emergence he makes as a merchant and how powerful he becomes. With that said one of my complaints is it seemed almost to easy for Roo to advance as he does, but for fear of writing spoilers I won't say more.

As I mentioned above the character development of Roo is fantastic. Feist really does a great job at defining Roo and allowing the reader to see just what makes him tick. The character development of the rest of the cast of this saga seems to be lacking a bit in that nothing much new is really introduced for Erik or Calis. It almost seems like Feist was overly concerned with Roo that he may have `misplaced' the development of the other characters a bit. A minor detail, but none-the-less a little bothersome for those who really enjoy character development and the twists it can bring.

Overall, I thought this was a very good book and right on par with what I have become accustomed to when I crack open a Feist book. If you are a fan of Feist, I think you will enjoy this one if you know what to expect. If you are looking at starting to read a new series and are thinking about this series, I would caution you, and suggest you read Magician: Apprentice first and start from the beginning and get the background, you can't go wrong with that book. All in all a solid read and a enjoyable read for a fantasy reader.

Awesome!!!!.......2005-09-06

Raymond Does it again I loved this book, Rupert Avery is the entrupanuer of all ages i swear and Erik von Darkmoor is awesome I loved this Second installment as much as the first it was both riveting and Exciting it kept me turning the pages again and again i loved it.!!!

Gripping. A great book!.......2005-07-14

In this sequel to Shadow of a Dark Queen, author Raymond Feist takes us back to his magical world of Midkemia. Now that they have returned to the Kingdom of the Isles, Erik von Darkmoor has decided to reenlist in the fight against the dark powers that threaten his world, while Rupert Avery has decided to follow his original plan of marrying a rich merchant's ugly daughter and building a mercantile empire. But, life is going to prove interesting to both. Becoming a merchant prince is no cakewalk, and Roo will find his abilities taxed to the limit. And, the dark power rising in Novindus has not been deterred from its purpose.

Raymond Feist's Riftwar books were great, with epic adventure and magic, while his later books enjoyed a somewhat smaller scope. This book succeeds in walking on both sides of the street. While armies marshal and wizards weave great spells, we also follow the life of a man trying to build up his wealth and his personal life. And, I must say that it succeeds in doing both admirably.

I love stories of wizards and armies, and one gets a bunch of that here. But, I must say that I was surprised at how much I enjoyed Mr. Feist's tale of Roo Avery. I was captivated by the choices he made, both for good and for ill.

I am surprised to say that I enjoyed this book as much as I did the Riftwar books and Shadow of a Dark Queen! The action is gripping, grabbing you right on the first page, and drawing you along. Yep, this is a great book, and a wonderful addition to my fantasy library. I loved to presence of Boldar Blood, and hope that Mr. Feist will consider writing a book that develops the Hall of Worlds more!

I loved this book, and highly recommend it to you!

The Clan Corporate (The Merchant Princes, Book 3)

Average customer rating:

Boring and Wooden
An important 'bridge' to the Merchant Princes series
What a huge disappointment!
Not bad! Not bad at all
Wait for Book 4

The Clan Corporate (The Merchant Princes, Book 3)
Charles Stross
Manufacturer: Tor Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0765309300
Release Date: 2006-05-16

Book Description

Miriam Beckstein has gotten in touch with her roots and they have nearly strangled her. A young, hip, business journalist in Boston, she discovered (in The Family Trade ) that her family comes from an alternate reality, that she is very well-connected, and that her family is too much like the mafia for comfort. In addition, starting with the discovery that women are family property and required to breed more family members with the unique talent to walk between worlds, Miriam has tried to remain an outsider and her own woman. She started a profitable business in a third world, outside the family reach (recounted in The Hidden Family). She fell in love with a distant relative, but he died saving her life. Now, however, in The Clan Corporate, Miriam may be overreaching. And if she gets caught, death or a fate worse is around the bend. There is, for instance, the brain-damaged son of the local kingwho needs a wife. But theyd never make her do that, would they?

Customer Reviews:

Boring and Wooden.......2007-10-06

I am a big Charles Stross Fan, and enjoyed the first two books in this series. This book drags, and seems like one big setup for the next book. Mirium doesn't do one interesting thing in the whole book, and hardly seems like the same character. Skip it.

An important 'bridge' to the Merchant Princes series.......2007-09-24

Let us be honest, this series is not Stross at his finest. His other books like Iron Sunrise, Singularity Sky, Accelerando, Glasshouse and The Atrocity Acrhives are far more creative and cutting edge stories. Nevertheless, I find this Merchant Princes series readable and this book in particularly I found sufficent to keep my interest. Without a doubt book three is a bridge book for the series, but it is one that cannot be skipped since allegiances in the storyline switch and what appear to be important characters for next book(s) are introduced.

What a huge disappointment!.......2007-09-13

Where to start? Well, this book picks up where The Hidden Family (Book 2 in the Merchant Princes series) leaves off... and does nothing. It just sits there boring as heck.

First off, it is almost as if another writer has taken over the series. This new writer has decided that Miriam was far to interesting, too active and too successful in her first two books, so now she will undergo a radical personality change and sit around and learn etiquette (slowly) on a backwards world while allowing others to run her businesses for her.

Regardless of whether it can be explained logically (the author attempts to do this somewhat) it is just plain boring and not why I am reading the series. I am reading the series because I enjoy reading about a winner, who is rebellious and sees ways to improve the system and goes out and ACTS ON those ideas and succeeds with those ideas and conquers her foes and doubters and ignores their objections and demands that she fit into the system.

But Miriam becomes complacent and boring. That is the worst thing that an author can do - make the main character boring.

Furthermore, much of this book centers on new characters back in the boring USA. The excitement of this series is to be found in the two alternate universes and their new and interesting scenarios. I already KNOW what the USA is like and what boring DEA agents and policemen are like. On the other hand, New Britan is interesting, and dark and watching Miriam walk all over and all around the government there is interesting and fun.

Reading about her submission to the clan and her inaction is boring.

So I gave this two stars - basically for the same reason that the primary reviewer stated - because you have to read it to get to the next book in the series. I hope it returns to the original ideas quickly.

Not bad! Not bad at all.......2007-09-12

I haven't read the prequels, but I really enjoyed this book. The concept is an interesting one and the main character, Mirriam, is sooo believable. As is the dialogue (sp?) between her and her relatives and friends. I do wish that it had been laid out better though. Having the story switch between Miriam's and Mike's (with Mike's storyline taking place three months before Miriam's) was pretty confusing.

Wait for Book 4.......2007-09-03

As others have said, this book makes no sense without the first two. It is not a stand-alone novel, and not much actually happens in it. It is clearly a bridging device between books 2 and 4. I'd guess that, once the entire series is out, book 3 will be seen as the weakest and could probably have been edited down to a much smaller section of a larger novel.

I recommend you wait for book 4 and then buy 3 and 4 together. That way you might have something to read.

The Merchants' War: Book Four of the Merchant Princes

Average customer rating:

The Merchants' War: Book Four of the Merchant Princes
Charles Stross
Manufacturer: Tor Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0765316714
Release Date: 2007-10-16

Book Description

Miriam Beckstein is a young, hip, business journalist in Boston. She discovered in The Family Trade and The Hidden Family that her family came from an alternate reality, that she was very well-connected, and that her family was too much like the mafia for comfort. She found herself caught in a family trap in The Clan Corporate and betrothed to a brain-damaged prince, and then all hell broke loose.

Now, in The Merchants' War, Miriam has escaped to yet another world and remains in hiding from both the Clan and their opponents. There is a nasty shooting war going on in the Gruinmarkt world of the Clan, and we know something that Miriam does not; something that she's really going to hate--if she lives long enough to find out.

Average customer rating:

Good characters and interesting setting.
Time Travel Extraordinaire
Not Free SF Reader
Initially slow going, then picks up...
Not your typical Stross?

The Family Trade (Merchant Princes)
Charles Stross
Manufacturer: Tor Fantasy
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

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ASIN: 0765348217
Release Date: 2005-05-03

Book Description

A bold fantasy in the tradition of Roger Zelazny's Chronicles of Amber, The Merchant Princes is a sweeping new series from the hottest new writer in science fiction!Miriam Beckstein is happy in her life. She's a successful reporter for a hi-tech magazine in Boston, making good money doing what she loves. When her researcher brings her iron-clad evidence of a money-laundering scheme, Miriam thinks she's found the story of the year. But when she takes it to her editor, she's fired on the spot and gets a death threat from the criminals she has uncovered.Before the day is over, she's received a locket left by the mother she never knew-the mother who was murdered when she was an infant. Within is a knotwork pattern, which has a hypnotic effect on her. Before she knows it, she's transported herself to a parallel Earth, a world where knights on horseback chase their prey with automatic weapons, and where world-skipping assassins lurk just on the other side of reality - a world where her true family runs things.The six families of the Clan rule the kingdom of Gruinmarkt from behind the scenes, a mixture of nobility and criminal conspirators whose power to walk between the worlds makes them rich in both. Braids of family loyalty and intermarriage provide a fragile guarantee of peace, but a recently-ended civil war has left the families shaken and suspicious.Taken in by her mother's people, she becomes the star of the story of the century-as Cinderella without a fairy godmother. As her mother's heir, Miriam is hailed as the prodigal countess Helge Thorold-Hjorth, and feted and feasted. Caught up in schemes and plots centuries in the making, Miriam is surrounded by unlikely allies, forbidden loves, lethal contraband, and, most dangerous of all, her family. Her unexpected return will supercede the claims of other clan members to her mother's fortune and power, and whoever killed her mother will be happy to see her dead, too.Behind all this lie deeper secrets still, which threaten everyone and everything she has ever known. Patterns of deception and interlocking lies, as intricate as the knotwork between the universes. But Miriam is no one's pawn, and is determined to conquer her new home on her own terms.Blending the creativity and humor of Roger Zelazny, the adventure of H. Beam Piper and Philip Jose Farmer, and the rigor and scope of a science-fiction writer on the grandest scale, Charles Stross has set a new standard for fantasy epics.

Customer Reviews:

Good characters and interesting setting........2007-09-13

This series reminds me a great deal of Doris Egan/Jane Emerson's "Gate of Ivory" books. Female heroine finds herself in dire straits in a world she is not familiar with and she has an unknown "magical" power.

This is the first book of the Merchant Clan series and sadly it is the best. Book 2 (The Hidden Family) is nearly as good, but Book 3 (The Clan Corporate) is almost so different that it seems to have been written by another author.

Overall, Stross is a readable writer. I use the term "readable" in many of my reviews because that is the first, and most important, thing that I look for in a book. I've read a ton of books, and I'm tired of forcing myself to trudge through a difficult-to-read book to find out how it ends. So I score highly on whether the book was entertaining and fun to read. Stross is readable in most cases, and that earns him points.

Next, I look for one of two things - a plot that forces me to finish the book because I want to see how it ends, or a character that is so good that I want to find out how things turn out for them.

Stross succeeds in both cases here. I'd give him four stars for the plot and five stars for the character. Miriam/Helge is an interesting character and I found myself enjoying her "take charge" attitude throughout the book. The plot is also interesting, once you get past the rather cliche premise. Without spoiling anything, I will say that you will just have to accept the first part of the book and move on, or you won't enjoy any of it. It is a fantasy genre, and it has a fantastic setup. Once past that, the plot is fairly interesting.

BE FOREWARNED THOUGH, this is NOT a complete book. It ends abruptly with little or no plot resolution. Book two (The Hidden Family) is simply the second half of this book. Buy them both, or you will be frustrated when you come to the end of this book.

I gave this book four stars, and would have given it four and 1/2 if I was able to do so. Overall, it is a very readable and enjoyable piece of fantasy-fiction and worth your time if you enjoy this sort of writing. Stross is a (mostly) solid and readable writer and I recommend most of what he has written to sci-fi and fantasy readers.

Time Travel Extraordinaire.......2007-09-04

I will admit that in the beginning, I was not sure if I would enjoy this book. However, the more I read - the more it captured my interest and it became a 'I can't put this down' type of book. I admire Stross for his innovative storyline of moving from one time line into another and back again. I have always known there were parallel timelines and parallel universes. In quantum physics all things are possible. I thoroughly enjoyed Stross' ability to be outrageous. His storyline reminded me of Alice in Wonderland. In one sense this is Through the Looking Glass. For those who want a new genre of science fiction, I recommend this book. Bettye Johnson, award-winning author, Secrets of the Magdalene Scrolls.

Not Free SF Reader.......2007-09-03

If Roger Zelazny's Amberites are Supermen, then Charlie Stross' Clan
members are on the level of street hood that Daredevil and Batman deal
with. No reality maniuplation, just the ability to travel between two
worlds, or dimensions, or something like that.

The protagonist, Miriam, is a journalist. She stumbles across something one day, and everything goes to hell.

This, is, of course associated with who her real parents are, and the ability to world walk.

The 'other world' is far more primitive, so, of course the
world-walking Clan has an advantage, with access to information,
technology, and money from 21st century America.

Miriam and the Clan are the target of guerilla assassins, and
probably traitors. There seems to be more than one group at work in all
these nefarious schemes.

This, of course, is a classic series set up. It doesn't annoy you,
the writing is good, and it leaves you wanting to find out what
happens.

So, if you want a fantasy that isn't Tolkien pastiche #6423, and
more of the urban variety, with gangsters, or you are an Amber fan,
quite likely you will enjoy this.

Initially slow going, then picks up..........2007-08-28

I came across this series as a recommendation on Amazon's plog. It sounded interesting so I decided to give the series a try via my public library. I won't go too much into the plot summary as that's been discussed in various reviews here and is on the book jacket.

As others have mentioned, the premise of parallel worlds is not new, but the way in which each series deals with such worlds and how they operate are certainly a continual source of creativity. Then, of course, there are the colorful characters and how they interact.

The Family Trade certainly brings an interesting variation to the alternate universe story. Rather than another world in which the technologic advances are far beyond present-day Earth and the protoganist has to catch up, it is Earth which has advanced much further than the other world, or world(s), as the case may be, and the inhabitants that need to catch up. Throw in one world that appears based on medieval society with uses for the modern world and a giant dash of Mafia politics, then another world in which history deviates from present Earth since the mid 1700s on, and you have the makings of an intriguing story verse indeed.

Unfortunately, in this first of Mr Stross's The Merchant Princes series, the book really doesn't hit its stride till midway, after which the story flow moves much more swiftly and smoothly. The first half deals essentially with Miriam trying to understand and absorb the new world she's discovered. Aside from Miriam's annoying tendency to talk to herself about almost every little thing, this part is serviceable, if a bit flat. There's a great deal of information for both Miriam and the reader to absorb as well.

The pace picks up once Miriam has gotten some of the basics of this new world down and then has to survive pretty much by the seat of her pants. She's intelligent and thwarts multiple assassination attempts without being some sort of superhero caricature. She uses her brains and what weapons she has available to her; these in themselves make Miriam stand out from many other books in the sci-fi/fantasy genre. On the other hand, I do have to cavil at the fact that though she is an investigative journalist, she clearly forgot that data should always be backed up, and if it's hot, as in life-threatening data, always have multiple copies stashed in various places.

The romance element of this story is weak. I think the story could have been made stronger by not including this element at this time or by making it more plausible at least. The author made an attempt to provide a rationale, essentially 2 outsiders who are lonely and understand their isolation come together, but there wasn't really much chemistry between them, for this reader at least, and their relationship went from nil to 60 in virtually no time.

I gave 3 stars for the slow first half, the weak romantic thread that would have been better served to be cut, and the very, very abrupt ending.

Not your typical Stross?.......2007-08-07

Charles Stross is one of the most prolific and diverse writers of SF at the moment, so it's not really fair to try to nail down what constitutes "typical Stross." But, most of his other books have left me a bit cold-- they were funny, smart, chock full of cool ideas, clever, and yet I never could quite connect with the books and particularly found the characters to be a little thinly drawn.

The Merchant Princes books (starting with this one) is quite different on all of these fronts. The Family Trade et al., is certainly frothier and not nearly as jampacked with crazy, cool ideas and analyses (though certainly the book isn't fully lacking in these), and the quasi-Fantasy motif was initially surprising (though really despite the packaging it is science fiction in the end), but the characters (particularly the protagonist) are so fun and engaging that I couldn't wait to dive into the next one. And the next one. These aren't the books Stross will be remembered for in decades to come (and he will be remembered) but they're the ones that I enjoyed the most.

The Hidden Family: Book Two of Merchant Princes

Average customer rating:

Good followup to Family Trade
Not Free SF Reader
An Improvement
Quality fluff
Continuing Saga of Cross-parallel Universe Based Family Business

The Hidden Family: Book Two of Merchant Princes
Charles Stross
Manufacturer: Tor Fantasy
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

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ASIN: 0765352052
Release Date: 2006-05-02

Book Description

In the tradition of Roger Zelazny's classic Amber novels, the second volume of Charles Stross's thrill-a-minute saga of multiple worlds. Miriam, a hip tech journalist from Boston, discovered her alternate world relatives in The Family Trade, and with them an elite identity she didn't know was hers. Now, in order to avoid a slippery slope down to an unmarked grave, Miriam, known as Lady Helge to the Family, starts applying modern business practices and scientific knowledge to a trade dominated by mercantilists -- with unexpected consequences for three different timelines, including the quasi-Victorian one exploited by the hidden family. Charles Stross is one of the big new SF writers of the 21st century, and the saga of The Merchant Princes is his most ambitious work yet.

Customer Reviews:

Good followup to Family Trade.......2007-09-13

This series reminds me a great deal of Doris Egan/Jane Emerson's "Gate of Ivory" books. Female heroine finds herself in dire straits in a world she is not familiar with and she has an unknown "magical" power.

This is the second book of the Merchant Clan series and it is very nearly as good as the first. Book 3 (The Clan Corporate) is almost so different that it seems to have been written by another author.

Overall, Stross is a readable writer. I use the term "readable" in many of my reviews because that is the first, and most important, thing that I look for in a book. I've read a ton of books, and I'm tired of forcing myself to trudge through a difficult-to-read book to find out how it ends. So I score highly on whether the book was entertaining and fun to read. Stross is readable in most cases, and that earns him points.

Next, I look for one of two things - a plot that forces me to finish the book because I want to see how it ends, or a character that is so good that I want to find out how things turn out for them.

Stross succeeds in both cases here. I'd give him four stars for the plot and five stars for the character. Miriam/Helge is an interesting character and I found myself enjoying her "take charge" attitude throughout the book. The plot is also interesting, once you get past the rather cliche premise.

This book is really just the second half of The Family Trade and picks right up where the Family trade left off. Even to the point of having little or no explanation as to what happened in the previous book.

I would NOT suggest buying this book as a standalone. It would make little or no sense without having read The Family Trade beforehand.

This book does not wrap up neatly, but it is not nearly as abrupt as the first book ended.

Not Free SF Reader.......2007-09-03

The follow-up to the Family Trade. The tone is a little different. In
the first book Miriam is trying to find out what the hell is going on,
and what the hell all this Clan craziness is. Staying alive is also
rather tricky, as is dealing with a primitive, horse-level society.

Here, she is a lot more in control, she has a plan, is setting up things on more than one world.

The hook here is that, the 'sixth' family of the Clan, lost a long
time ago, are involved. Just not in the way people with think.

This discovery gives Miriam an advantage she looks to exploit, hard, to put her enemies on the back foot.

The writing here is just as high quality, the plans of the various
characters continue to unfold with plots, betrayals, murders, etc. None
of which is too surprising for a bunch of people making money by
interplanar drug smuggling.

As Miriam points out, sardonically, they need to be bootstrapped
intot he industrial age, as with anti money laundering and terrorism
laws in the USA, the whole business model is in trouble. That was
highly amusing.

Oh, and it appears the story is not finished yet, it appears, but
the end here would be a satisfactory place to leave if you didn't want
to go any further. It would be rather confusing without reading the
first book, I think.

An Improvement.......2007-08-22

The first volume of this trilogy, THE FAMILY TRADE, did not do all that much for me. It was an interesting and different idea but I never really got into it. As a result, it took a long time for me to pick up the second volume. I'm glad I finally got around to it.

Miriam is a girl of modern society. She is a business reporter in the high tech field and has been raised in modern America. In the first volume of this series, she learned that she was not really from around here. She is from an alternate reality version of earth still stuck under the feudal system. What makes her special is that people of her family have the ability to cross dimensions. This has proven quite lucrative for them as they become, in effect, very effective drug smugglers. When Miriam goes back to her home world, she upsets the power structure and learns that her mother was a fugitive from an arranged marriage. This leads to multiple attempts on her life.

In this installment, Miriam has her own ideas how the world(s) ought to work. She starts to piece together some of the assassination plots from the last book and comes to the realization that there is yet a third world she can get access to. This one has more of a Victorian level of technology. She figures she can make a fortune by importing technological innovation. Unfortunately, this world is also home to a distant branch of her family who are involved in a deadly feud with her own branch. They are all the more deadly since her branch does not even realize that this new branch or its world even exists. She also stumbles on an effort to take over her own family.

It is a story of intrigue and ingenuity versus the status quo and vested interests. I found myself quite taken with it and am starting the third volume immediately.

Quality fluff.......2007-08-08

This is good fantasy. Which is to say, it is a little lame, but it is good lame. If you need a book to get you through the subway ride, this is a great candidate.

Continuing Saga of Cross-parallel Universe Based Family Business.......2007-07-26

Our protagonist discovers new aspects of the family talent for world walking.

She has also decided that changes need to be made in the families business model and she proposes to demonstrate her ideas by implementing them.

Meanwhile, there are at least two different groups around who seem bent on assasssinating her.

There are still two more books to go. I intend to get them when they come out in paperback. I'll wait until then. I am not so gripped by the story that I will pay hardcover prices to see what happens next.

Average customer rating:

Wright and Fallingwater

Merchant Prince and Master Builder
Richard Louis Cleary , and Frank Lloyd Wright
Manufacturer: Carnegie Museum of Art
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0880390360

Customer Reviews:

Wright and Fallingwater.......1999-08-01

Frank Lloyd Wright advised in his autobiography that "no home should ever be on a hill"; instead, it should be "of the hill, belonging to it." Just as gestalt theory described the holistic connections between figures and backgrounds, Wright emphasized the interdependence of an architectural structures and their surroundings. It is said that he always decided the site before considering a building's style, its spatial orientation, or the materials with which to build it. Of all his projects, there may be no better example of that than Fallingwater (c. 1938), a small but elaborate home in the woods (commissioned by a wealthy Pittsburgh department store owner named Edgar J. Kaufmann) in which the building is embedded in the landscape, making it inseparable from the waterfall, woods, and cantilevered rock ledges of its location. While much has been written about Fallingwater as a completed structure, less has been said about its preparatory drawings, the friendship between merchant prince and master builder, and the dozen projects that Wright and the Kaufmanns intended to build (few of which were ever realized) from 1934 until the architect's death in 1959. This is the full-color catalog for an exhibition of fifty of the more than 600 Wright drawings for projects commissioned by Kaufmann, which opened on 10 April and continues through 3 October 1999 at the Heinz Architectural Center at the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh. (Copyright by Roy R. Behrens from Ballast Quarterly Review, Vol. 14, No. 4, Summer 1999.)

Merchant Princes: An Intimate History of Jewish Families Who Built Great Department Stores (A Kodansha Globe Book)

Average customer rating:

the world's foremost jewish history does it again
Great book! For history buffs who like the personal side.

Merchant Princes: An Intimate History of Jewish Families Who Built Great Department Stores (A Kodansha Globe Book)
Leon A. Harris
Manufacturer: Kodansha Amer Inc
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Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1568360444

Customer Reviews:

the world's foremost jewish history does it again.......2001-09-01

Ken libo has shown an excellent ability to convey jewish history time and time again.. This book is no exception.. It's very readable, and will not let you down. If you want to concieve the struggles and successes of jews and others in the early twentieth century; buy this book.

Great book! For history buffs who like the personal side........1999-06-18

This is a great book. It's chock full of history told in an easy-to-read style. Leon Harris reveals the struggles and successes of 12 of the earliest Jewish retailers of America including Levi Strauss, Sears, Roebuck, Neiman, Marcus etc. It appeals to readers on many levels. First it is an historic account of the people whose names have become so familiar as store-names that we have forgotten there were ever people with those names. "Merchant Princes" includes many personal anecdotes about the founders of the stores and their families, retailing practices of yester-year and what these merchants did with their incredible wealth. Told by a Jew, about Jews, it reveals in surprisingly candid ways the ostracism of Jews in this country addressing how this all began. It's a book you can put down and pick up at any point without losing the flow. Jews will love it. Gentiles will be impressed. I was!

Conrad Von Soest: Painter Among Merchant Princes (Studies in Medieval and Early Renaissance Art History, 16)

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Conrad Von Soest: Painter Among Merchant Princes (Studies in Medieval and Early Renaissance Art History, 16)
Brigitte Corley
Manufacturer: Brepols Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1872501583

Book Description

The Westphalian artist Conrad von Soest played a significant role in the development of North European art around 1400 and his elegant and luxurious altarpieces highlight a fascinating period of German social and economic history. He lived and worked in Dortmund, where he found his patronage among the well-educated and cosmopolitan merchant-princes of the Hanseatic cities whose 'Medici'-like life-style, affluence and influence permeated the cultural life of Northern Germany. In reflecting the chivalric tastes of his patrons, Conrad developed an oeuvre that established him as a major exponent of the International Courtly Style. His complete output is discussed, catalogued and reproduced in this book: the illustrations include striking details, infra-red photographs and comparative material. Dr.Corley analyses the subject, iconography, style and technique of the famous Niederwildungen and Dortmund altarpieces as well as the smaller scale panels, and she examines the artist's influence over later German masters of the School of Cologne. The book provides students of Northern European art with the first comprehensive monograph on this highly-skilled master, and should make a significant contribution to the reference literature on International Gothic.

Alexander T. Stewart: The Forgotten Merchant Prince

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Alexander T. Stewart: The Forgotten Merchant Prince
Stephen N. Elias
Manufacturer: Praeger Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0275941884

Book Description

This is the first major biography of Alexander T. Stewart, known during his lifetime as "The Merchant Prince" for his success in retail, wholesale, and manufacturing in New York City. At the time of his death in 1876, Stewart was one of the three wealthiest men in America, along with William B. Astor and Cornelius Vanderbilt. But, because he died with no surviving children, his name has all but been forgotten. In this work, Stewart is revived, his remarkable success as the "father" of the department store examined, and his great contributions to retailing acknowledged and recounted. Not only a definitive account, this story of a major figure in America's Gilded Age, as told by Stephen Elias, is also an absorbing tale. This work fills a gap in the literature on American history and the history of our retail trade. It will be of use to historians, students of merchandising, and those interested in New York's golden age.

The Merchant Prince of Poverty Row: Harry Cohn of Columbia Pictures

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Another solid film book by Bernard F. Dick

The Merchant Prince of Poverty Row: Harry Cohn of Columbia Pictures
Bernard F. Dick
Manufacturer: University Press of Kentucky
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0813118417

Customer Reviews:

Another solid film book by Bernard F. Dick.......2000-09-20

Although not as detailed or as well-written as it could be, this is a sold book focusing on one of the most talented (as well as one of the toughest) studio presidents ever. Vulgar, often hated, Cohn is still a fascinating figure in Hollywood history. Highlights of this book include Clifford Odets actual Eulogy for Cohn and information about the relationship between Frank Capra and Cohn.

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