Kingkiller Chronicle by Patrick Rothfuss

[Marty]

I'll be the one to say it: I cannot wait for Tuesday for a little Wise Man's Fear by the ever-bearded and ever-awesome Patrick Rothfuss!

CAN I GET AN AMEN?

[Devonin]

Crap that's Tuesday? If ever there was a book I'll buy in hardcover, it's this one!

[Stephan]

I already have it. My store sold it since Wednesday. Apparently, they don't like release dates.

[Marty]

Ah, curse you! How is it so far?

[Stephan]

I have no clue, I've been moving, so didn't have time to read yet!

[Michael]

I can't wait to read it... but obviously I'm not yet!

I get burned by living in Australia. I bought the hardcover from overseas so I have to wait for it for 2+ weeks. It would be more tempting to buy the trade paperback in one of the local stores and just start reading if book prices in Australia weren't so high.

[Stephan]

I have finally finished reading The Heroes, and will start Wise Man's Fear tonight. Can't wait!

[Marty]

Just started it last night. I'm working on the Locus review stuff but I had to have a little taste. And it tastes like amazing!

[Stephan]

It *is* amazing, actually!

[PipHunn]

@Michael - pssht!
As if living in Australia is an excuse for not having read WMF yet!

Some of us are more dedicated / crazy than others....
http://www.write-thing.com/2011/03/08/wise-mans-fear-patrick-rothfuss-part-1/

[Stephan]

Hahahaa!! I absolutely love that blog! And I agree, living in Australia isn't an excuse! C'mon I live in Holland, that's practically the third world when it comes to English books, and I had it three days before its release.

The fact that I'm on page 965 now doesn't reflect well on me, does it?

[Devonin]

Got it, and it ruined my life for several days, by not allowing me to get NEARLY enough sleep two nights in a row. Easily as good as Name of the Wind, and just as much my new number one "Second novel" as NotW was my number one "First novel"

[Stephan]

My review will be published tomorrow. I really look forward to seeing your reactions on my thoughts. I can tell you, though: I gave it five stars.

[James]

So, we have a review of The Name of the Wind up on the site, and it was a 5-star review. Wise Man's Fear also got a 5-star review. Now, I haven't read Wise Man's Fear, but I have recently finished NotW, and... I was not impressed. I seriously do not see why the novel was heralded with such praise - it's beyond me, honestly.

To start off with, the plot is incredibly slow. The scenes where they're actually in the inn and Kvothe is telling his story? Awesome. I love it. There's something fantastic about an innkeeper having this awesome past that makes me incredibly intrigued. Top it off that he has this badass demon apprentice? Even more awesome! But when it actually gets to telling Kvothe's story, I got bored beyond belief. At least when they reached the part where Ben disappeared. When he was learning magic and everything, it was fun. But then he enters the school and it's completely boring.

He enters the school because he wants to find out more about the Chadrian, but then after one attempt of looking in the library (and subsequently getting kicked out), he doesn't pursue it again. It ceases to matter to him when you have all this other stuff going on (zomg Denna!, I'll get to her later) that is obviously much more important than what the Chadrian did in his life. I mean, seriously. I just don't get that. And then it's mentioned that there's a town burning and he's all, "zomg it's the Chadrian, I have to go search!" - it makes very, very little sense.

And now we're to Denna. I hate her. I flat-out hate her. She's a bit of a slut, and she's luring Kvothe along with her womanly ways. There's really not anything good to say about her, so I'm just not going to say anything bad (aside from the slut comment, I guess).

The ending was also incredibly disappointing. He's battling a dragon, yes, but there was no sense of danger. I didn't care one way or another whether the town got destroyed, or even if Kvothe died. The scene was laid out beautifully and there was an element of suspense, but I just didn't care one way or another about the outcome.

So, all in all, I gave the book 3 1/4 stars in my own little rating using our system, and yeah. I'm probably going to read WMF sometime, but it won't be anytime soon.

[Devonin]

For people who like that sort of thing, it's the sort of thing those people will like.

I considered it to be the best debut novel I've ever read, and I internally rank debut novels as percentages of Name of the Wind. I loved Wise Man's Fear, and I'm going to be anticipating the third book more than anything else (including Memory of Light) until it comes out.

[James]

I'm just not really sure what exactly the appeal of it is. I'm normally open to other people's tastes, but... I just can't think of a single reason why this was a 'zomg awesome' book. It was a pretty good debut, and I did like the story, but it just wasn't a 5-star read for me.

[Stephan]

You know, this book isn't meant to be your general fantasy novel. It doesn't thrive on exciting scenes and great suspense. Instead, it is a very honest character study with a bit of mystery thrown in. The engaging thing is in the way Kvothe handles the dilemmas of every day life at the university. And those things have been amazingly well-written.

Yeah, sure, if you look for a pageturner with great pacing and suspense, you're not gonna like the book. It is not that. Instead, it is philosophical and poetic, the characters are amazing... And if you hate Denna? Well, good for you! You do realize Rothfuss is setting her up to be hated, right? The book almost starts with Kvothe mentioning she betrayed him. The fact that you hate her only proves to me that Rothfuss is a good author.

[James]

I guess I'm just a whore for action, then. I do not like literary fantasy at all.

[LucidLunatic]

What I love best about The Name of the Wind is the writing. It truly approaches poetry in places. That and being able to see these grand adventures through the eyes of someone who didn't think they were so grand at the time. Kvothe doesn't go into things considering himself a hero- though unlike the 'anti-hero' archetype he doesn't actively avoid it either. After all, he fairly intentionally begins to build his own reputation. He simply pursues his own, very human, goals and ends up doing the incredible on the way. I can't even think of the last fantasy book I read where a recurring plot point was getting enough money to live on a day-to-day basis.

[caleighm]

To be honest I don't even know if I'd consider it "literary fantasy" -- I think NotW transcends the genre completely and I'd recommend it to people who don't read fantasy at all. (Like I just did with my mom. Hehe.)

For some crazy reason NotW reminds me of Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel. Wolf Hall is not even remotely close to fantasy, but both books have this fabulously complicated and extremely interesting & sophisticated person at the heart of it. Also, both books are structured and written just ... masterfully is the only word I can come up with. I felt like Rothfuss had me in the palm of his hands when I read it -- everything was set up perfectly for what followed, everything reflected everything else, it had a whole internal self-contained life ... Not sure how to explain it, but I didn't feel like I was just reading an action-packed story (probably because it isn't an action-packed story -- it's a character sketch, like Stephan said).

Actually, more than even a character sketch, it just felt like a really good, well-crafted BOOK. Does that make sense? It wasn't just describing a series of events; it was great example of the art of storytelling and the power of the novel genre.

Bah! I just finished it this afternoon, so I'm still incoherent with admiration.

But yes, James, if the book has one flaw it's that not enough crazy adventures actually happen. But I think that will come in the next two books.

[Stephan]

The second book is actually much the same as the first book. But I agree with you. It's the fact that Rothfuss has thought about every single word he has written. Every word has a meaning in the whole of the book. There's not one word there for the sake of being there. As I said in my review of The Wise Man's Fear: it's like a master musician is singing us a song!

[Stephan]

What I love best about The Name of the Wind is the writing. It truly approaches poetry in places. That and being able to see these grand adventures through the eyes of someone who didn't think they were so grand at the time. Kvothe doesn't go into things considering himself a hero- though unlike the 'anti-hero' archetype he doesn't actively avoid it either. After all, he fairly intentionally begins to build his own reputation. He simply pursues his own, very human, goals and ends up doing the incredible on the way. I can't even think of the last fantasy book I read where a recurring plot point was getting enough money to live on a day-to-day basis.

Yeah, definitely! I never really thought about it that way. The great thing is, that these day-to-day things are written in a way that never bores you.

[Devonin]

If anything I think the problem is a cognitive disconnect about what it is you're actually reading.

Yes, the physical book in your hand, written by Patrick Rothfuss is a piece of Fantasy Fiction, but the plot of the story is the recounting of an Autobiography, which we happen to be reading in the first person. Have you ever read many autobiographies or biographies in general? What we're seeing in NotW and WMF is actually very much what reading a really well-written autobiography is like. You spend a long time going into depth on the few hallmark events you feel shaped your life, and tend to just pass over other things that while maybe exciting, weren't as significant.

Some scenes of Kvothe dealing with bandits waylaying him on the road might be exciting, the weeks long trip between one very important place and another is not remotely as important to HIM and to HIS STORY than what happens at both of those places. This is exactly the kind of story that has "And the weeks/months passed" all over the place.

[caleighm]

Devonin nailed it on the head. That's exactly what NotW is -- a fantasy autobiography. So yes, the form's different.

Brilliant analysis!!

[Devonin]

[myyrdneopia]

Saw that on Pat's blog. Absolutely hysterical!

[Benni]

I'm not scrolling up for fear of spoilers, but I just started this series today and am very excited!!

[Stephan]

Whooohoo! Keep us updated!

[Marty]

I had a chance to finally read WMF and it was everything I could have hoped for and more! Beautiful prose, great story and a slowly emerging world that has a ton of depth to it. I won't post any spoilers, but if you look at Tor.com, they are doing a re-read of the series as well as spoilers and theories from WMF and they have some very interesting ideas about where it is all heading. Can't wait for The Doors of Stone!

[aspargus]

Hate to say it but this is terrible stuff.
His writing is engaging in sympathetic way (here is the bad boy made good, by his own crook, while impressing the establishment while oppressed by the jealous) and the 'magic' ideas he uses are novel in that no-one has tried to integrate the 'Golden Bough" and Ursula LeGuin before; all the while maintaining some kind of Dungeonmaster level progression thing. But the late chapters that butchered political life, martial arts training and the kamasutra just makes the authors life experience questionable, his audience blatantly clear, and the whole thing a waste of my time.

Good fantasy still resides in the older folks: Jack Vance,Ursula LeGuin & Gene Wolfe, etc..
Had high hopes but this is a disappointment geared toward an age of basic crapulence.

[Devonin]

I'm not sure you'll find much agreement here, unless "an age of basic crapulence" to you is everybody under 50. This is not a website populated by teens, and yet it's one of the most highly regarded books we've reviewed.

Maybe a few parts were a little hokey, but to suggest that he's -butchered- these things is to ignore a whole -slew-of popular successful writing that is -miles- worse than this.

[aspargus]

When compared to earthsea, lyonesse, all of gene wolfes fantasy efforts, silverberg, etc...it really makes me wonder. Rothfuss has good ideas, his emotional message is there, the formula is appropriate, execution is sometimes suspect and maybe that isn't all his fault.

Anyway: comparison is the point. I liked Rothfuss at first. I liked Martin and others. They just don't measure up. They pale and fade away. I can't read them like I do Gene Wolfe, Jack Vance, Robert Silverberg and Ursula LeGuin. I am always hoping to read the next author for our genre and they don't appear.

[Stephan]

I must confess I haven't read any of the authors you mention. I should probably check them out, if they are so much better than Rothfuss.

[Devonin]

I'm just wondering what it is about Fantasy that you latch onto so fiercely if the only Fantasy you seem to enjoy was written decades ago or by authors who have stayed true to form since decades ago. I recently read Roma Eterna by Silverberg and while it was alright, was nowhere near of the quality I'd consider to be -great- fantasy.

For all I know, you may consider that to be the worst thing Silverberg ever wrote (And goodness knows he's written more than any dozen other fantasy authors) but the point stands that I've seen you be incredibly critical of Rothfuss and Erikson, who are both authors that I enjoy -very- much, without really saying much about -why- you dislike them or what it is about the ones you -do- like that you like more, beyond saying "I like these people better, and I keep hoping someone will be like these people, only they aren't"

Fantasy as a genre has changed over the past 60 years, and while I guess it's unfortunate if it's moved in a direction you don't personally enjoy, substituting "I don't personally enjoy the direction fantasy has taken" with "Current fantasy is objectively worse than older fantasy" is a little disingenuous at best, and borderline trolling at worst.

[Rebecca]

I'm finally reading NotW! I'm halfway through right now and I'm very much enjoying it.

[Stephan]

You finished it, right? How did you like it?

[Rebecca]

I liked it enough to almost buy a copy of WMF instead of just waiting until July to borrow yours.