Prince of the Blood

Prince of the Blood

Raymond E. Feist

First published 1989Original language EN

7.77.7 / 10
Score out of 10138 ratingsConfidence 48%: this much of the score is the readers’ own
368
Pages
about 7 h
Reading time

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Our view

Feist strikes a light, humorous note in “Prince of the Blood”, a tale set at the handover between two generations. In style it stands apart from his Riftwar epics. The carefree twins Borric and Erland, sons of Prince Arutha, have to grow up when Borric is named heir to the throne. Some readers who do not usually care for privileged young nobles report warming to this pair as the story goes on.

The view of the BookRank editors, written from readers’ ratings and comments. It does not affect the score or the book’s place in a ranking.

About the book

Prince of the Blood is a work that explores strength and weakness, hope and fear, and what it means to be a man—in a kingdom where peace is the most precious commodity of all. If there were two more impetuous and carefree men in the Kingdom of the Isles, they had yet to be found. Twins Borric and Erland wore that mantle proudly, much to the chagrin of their father, Prince Arutha of Krondor. But their blissful youth has come to an end. Their uncle, the King, has produced no male children. Bypassing himself, Arutha names Borric, the eldest twin by seconds, the Royal Heir. As his brother, Erland will have his own great responsibilities to shoulder. To drive home their future roles, Arutha sends them as ambassadors to Kesh, the most feared nation in the world. Borric and Erland will be presented to the Queen of Kesh—the single most powerful ruler in the known world—at her Seventy-fifth Jubilee Anniversary. But they have not even left Krondor when an assassination attempt on Borric is thwarted. Aware that he is being provoked into war, Arutha does not rise to the bait. His sons’ journey will not be deterred, for nothing less than peace is riding on it. Yet there is to be no peace for the young princes. When their traveling party is ambushed, Borric disappears and is presumed dead—sending Erland into spirals of rage and grief as he is forced to navigate alone the court intrigues at Kesh. But unbeknownst to anyone, Borric lives and has escaped his captors.

Reading order · Krondor's Sons

Full order & progress →
  1. Prince of the Blood
    Prince of the Blood1989 · 138 ratingsThis book
    7.77.7 / 10
  2. The King's Buccaneer
    The King's Buccaneer1992 · 117 ratings
    7.87.8 / 10

Where the score comes from

The sources average 7.5 across 138 ratings — not yet many, so the reader vote carries 48% of the weight and the rest pulls toward the Fantasy average of 8.0. That is how 7.7 comes out.

SourceAverageRatingsWeight
Open Library7.118 13%
Hardcover7.5120 87%

Frequently asked

How long is Prince of the Blood?

It has 368 pages — shorter than 85% of the ranked books in Fantasy.

If you liked this

The same shelf — Fantasy — and a score of 7.7, the closest to this book.