The Merchant Prince

I admit, I requested this book because the figure on the cover looked like Timothee Chalamet in historic costume and I did not expect much from it, but Faire’s scheming characters surprised me and I really do hope there will be more books in this series, following these characters.

Augustus, representing his noble merchant family and serving as magistrate for his homeland, Venocia, despite his youth, returns his first solo voyage for the family and finds things have been badly mismanaged in his absence and must now be salvaged. Fortunately, Augustus is wise beyond his years in business, though less so in marriage.

Marielle is his new bride as well as a point of view character, somewhat surprisingly. She is an intelligent young woman, though initially overwhelmed by where her marriage has brought her. She is a quick learner, though, and takes to her new role rapidly. When Augustus’s homecoming is marred by setbacks and complicated by familial conniving that is intriguing to the reader, he and Marielle unite to help Augustus recover his usurped position.

The politicking and plotting in this book was thoroughly pleasing to me. I also liked reading about Stixis, their Othello/Chess/Go game. I would be very bad at it, but I like the idea of it. Further, I appreciated the nod to the poor Galapagos tortoise, who (in our world) was too delicious for sailors to resist eating, and so never made it back to Europe despite everyone’s best intentions.

There are occasional typos, like being “weary” instead of “wary” or “here, here” instead of “hear, hear” or “then” instead of “than,” but they don’t detract from a reader’s overall comprehension. More distracting are modern words in their modern usage like “stuff” or “I get it,” but I still don’t consider it a major issue, and as this is a debut novel, I suspect Faire will polish his craft and eradicate such infelicities in the future.

A historical fantasy story of Augustus. He leaves his home at a young age and returns to his home to find out that everything has changed. His father was killed and now he must survive his rise to power. This is an interesting take on the life of Augustus, and it is suitable for young readers who might be interested in historical fiction. The story was unique and creative.
Disclaimer: Thank you NetGalley and BooksGoSocial for this copy and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

If you know Renaissance Florence history you that this is a fantasy retelling as the name of the houses is different but it's not so far from the real history.
Augustus made me think about Lorenzo De Medici, il Magnifico, but he could be any of the Medici in XV century.
The author is a good storyteller and I enjoyed the story.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this arc, all opinions are mine