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I just finished reading this book and wow! I love the writing style, the characters are great, setup is wonderful. I've been meaning to read this forever and got reminded again by Tycho from Penny Arcade. If you haven't read it yet it's out on paperback and worth the $9.
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I just finished reading this book and wow! I love the writing style, the characters are great, setup is wonderful. I've been meaning to read this forever and got reminded again by Tycho from Penny Arcade. If you haven't read it yet it's out on paperback and worth the $9.
I was genuinely surprised by how much I liked this book. Definitely worth it!
Just started it on Thursday and I can't put it down. It doesn't sound spectacular or like anything new on paper but once you pick it up it kind of grabs you.
The only thing I didn't like is
IIRC the author has had some serious medical issues, thus the long time we're waiting for the sequel for this excellent book.
THE NAME OF THE WIND is a fine novel with several glaring problems, notably Kvothe's Gary Stu-ness and the completely superfluous draccus interlude at the end of Book 1 (apparently inserted at the insistence of the editors who felt the book needed more action). Such things would sink other books, but Rothfuss' fine prose style and sense of humour keeps things ticking over despite these problems.
He certainly isn't the best new fantasy author in years and years. Abercrombie, Abraham and Lynch, possibly Peter Brett and Pierre Pevel, are recent debut authors who are batting in the same league, whilst Sanderson is also okay, if of slightly weaker prose skills.
As for the much-delayed second book:
Rothfuss hasn't been ill. That's Scott Lynch, who's been suffering severe bouts of depression as well as swine flu whilst writing the third book in his LOCKE LAMORA series.
Rothfuss did have a traumatic death in his family, however, followed by the birth of his first child, both of which have had a major impact on the writing of THE WISE MAN'S FEAR. He turned in a second draft a few weeks ago and is waiting for feedback from his editor before they decide how much more work needs to be done and when to move the book to publication status. At the moment the book is not available and will almost certainly not be published before the start of 2011.
THE NAME OF THE WIND is a fine novel with several glaring problems, notably Kvothe's Gary Stu-ness
I hate that expression with an unbridled passion, along with any who use it. It's a pathetic excuse for an insult hurled at characters in place of legitimate criticism of them. I especially hate it when applied to fantasy settings and heroic stories where some characters should be just that damn good.
Please don't use it again.
I hate that expression with an unbridled passion, along with any who use it. It's a pathetic excuse for an insult hurled at characters in place of legitimate criticism of them. I especially hate it when applied to fantasy settings and heroic stories where some characters should be just that damn good.
Please don't use it again.
It is a legitimate term used in internet shorthand as people know what it means. I will use it where and when I deem appropriate.
However, if you wish clarification, the criticism is that Kvothe is the most amazing singer, musician, warrior and magic-user who ever lived. We are not particularly shown any convincing reason why this should be so, only that Kvothe bends his mind to a task and instantly excels at it without much in the way of practice (even the 'present-day' Kvothe is only in his early 30s, an age at which true masters of whatever form they are pursuing are still learning). Kvothe basically picks up a skill and in short order is vastly superior at it then people who have been pursuing that skill for decades.
THE NAME OF THE WIND is written in a prosaic, semi-realistic style. It isn't a Tolkien-style legend-in-progress prose style. As such, the characters need to be shown to be developing realistically. Kvothe does not.
There is a glimmer of a possibility that Kvothe's amazingness is tainted by his entire backstory being written from his own (unreliable) POV and influenced by the legends established elsewhere about him, and these will be undercut in later volumes in the series. As it stands, Kvothe is not a well-developed, convincing, three-dimensional character. The quality of the writing and the overall enjoyability of the book means this not as much of a problem as it would be for a less accomplished author, but it remains a notable flaw in the book.
THE NAME OF THE WIND is a fine novel with several glaring problems, notably Kvothe's Gary Stu-ness
I hate that expression with an unbridled passion, along with any who use it. It's a pathetic excuse for an insult hurled at characters in place of legitimate criticism of them. I especially hate it when applied to fantasy settings and heroic stories where some characters should be just that damn good.
Please don't use it again.
What the heck is all that about? LOL.
I don't think Kvothe actually qualifies though. Sure he picks up everything he does very quickly, but one of the major themes of the book is; despite this 'knack' he still finds himself knee deep in trouble without solutions to problems.
He nearly get's himself expelled for practicing sympathy when he tried to thumb his nose at the professor. Sure he got off the hook...you know with three lashes. Which indirectly led to him being forbidden from the Archives.
His own genius with sygaldry barely raises the eyebrow of his Master and get's him forbidden from making similar items (the flash light).
His arrogance get's him kicked out of the university in the long run and almost killed on a couple of occasions.
He's certainly not flawless when it comes to emotions and even some social situations leave him tongue tied.
A true Mary Sue is good at everything and better at it then anyone with no flaws, anything less is a hero in a fantasy. The name really shouldn't be used unless the character fits that exact description.
I do agree that the thing with the draccus felt a little pointless though, wasn't a huge fan of that part. Nothing compared to winning his pipes.
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Hey guys, I just did a quick check of Amazon, and they list a book titled Wise Men's Fear by the same author as the sequel.
It appears to be currently available.
Unfortunately its not, Amazon has had it ‘available’ for the last year or so. The author only just recently submitted the final draft to his publisher, so I would imagine that it’s still a couple of months off.
You can find the authors blog here: http://www.patrickrothfuss.com/blog/blog.html
Scipion del Ferro addressed most of my issue.
In short, a Mary Sue isn't simply a character who is exceptionally talented, it's an object for wish fulfillment. It's a character who is infallible. Kvothe clearly isn't, not at any point. He's a character destined for tragedy, loss, and colossal personal failures to match his successes. He spends the vast majority of Name of the Wind miserable, crushed under his own arrogant mistakes and his abject poverty.
Your characterization of him as the "most amazing singer, musician, warrior, and magic-user who ever lived" is not only inaccurate on its face. He is a talented musician, skilled actor, and has both talent and skill as a magic-user. None of which make him the best at any of these respective things. Many times the fact that he is so overawed by many other characters in Name of the Wind is shown. Further, we frequently are shown behind the curtain how his 'legend' has grown, and how so much of it is built off of deception and misconception.
He didn't pick up Sympathy and become greater than people who were doing it for decades. He picked up sympathy after years of training and was the equal of many others who had a few more years invested. He didn't suddenly pick up the lute and know how to play it, and he could hardly be described as the greatest that ever lived. He never so much as picks up a blade in Name of the Wind, so how you offer that he's a warrior at all is beyond me. We have a single off screen fight between a 30 year old Kvothe against enemies who's competency we don't know, and we have a whole lot of him getting the crap beat out of him in his younger years.
Your description of him as a character that lacks three dimensions I find lacking. I found him to be one of the most three dimensional characters I've seen in some time, a character who has acute victories and failures, who has very realistic goals and who makes very honest mistakes. Given your criticisms I have to wonder if you even read the book.
Regardless, defining characters who are talented or powerful within the fantasy genre as Mary Sue invariably leads to the term being overused, and to its meaning being deluded. You could describe virtually any major character from the vast majority of the fantasy novels of the past hundreds as a Mary Sue if you limit the definition to characters who are more competent than most everyone else. You could go so far as to define most of the characters from Myth as such. Beowolf, Hercules, and Odysseus are all by your measure Mary Sues.
Wise Man's Fear Release Date:
That's his deadline date. Given how late the novel is, I'm really surprised he's nailed the date so precisely, given that by his own admission there are something like 50 'issues' in the book that need to be addressed before September, and he's only nailing a few every few days.
Still, a Spring 2011 release would get it out at the same time as Scott Lynch's similarly-delayed REPUBLIC OF THIEVES, which would be good timing for Gollancz (their UK publisher, who publish both authors).
I note the lengthy reply I posted in response to Peter Stewart's post above on the same day has disappeared. Interesting. Might have been a browser issue.
What is his deadline date? It clearly states his expected Publishing/Release date is March 1, 2011. Nowhere did I imply September was his release date; I left the blog for the reader to interpret.
It was more of a comment about Rothfuss then your post.
Many years experience has shown that writers should NEVER, under any circumstances, give a 'definite' release date for their book until it is 100% completed, fully edited, handed in to their publishers and ready to go.
Rothfuss started off well in the blog post by announcing his deadline date (September 2010), but then goes on to say the book will definitely be in then and published in March 2011. Given the criticism he's received for announcing prior dates and then breaking them (including the now-infamous assertion that the whole trilogy was completed in full before THE NAME OF THE WIND was published), this is a risky strategy.
It was more of a comment about Rothfuss then your post.
Many years experience has shown that writers should NEVER, under any circumstances, give a 'definite' release date for their book until it is 100% completed, fully edited, handed in to their publishers and ready to go.
Rothfuss started off well in the blog post by announcing his deadline date (September 2010), but then goes on to say the book will definitely be in then and published in March 2011. Given the criticism he's received for announcing prior dates and then breaking them (including the now-infamous assertion that the whole trilogy was completed in full before THE NAME OF THE WIND was published), this is a risky strategy.
Gotcha. Duly noted.
Rothfuss has completed THE WISE MAN'S FEAR. It's a little late, but apparently the UK and US publishers are all set to get it out on 1 March 2011 regardless.
Rothfuss has completed THE WISE MAN'S FEAR. It's a little late, but apparently the UK and US publishers are all set to get it out on 1 March 2011 regardless.
Yay! Can't wait!
Sequel is out now!
The Wise Man's Fear by Patrick Rothfuss
Kvothe the Bloodless, Kvothe the Arcane, Kvothe the Kingkiller. He is a legend but the real man is an enigma. A man named Chronicler is trying to find out the truth behind the legend by convincing Kvothe to tell him his life story, a task so long it will take three days to complete.
On the second day, Kvothe relates more of his time at the Commonwealth University, his ongoing feud with another student named Ambrose and his increasingly proficient studies in various areas. He also tells of his time spent in Vintas, serving a nobleman seeking to woo a lady, and learning the arts of combat in far Ademre. But how much of Kvothe's story is truth and how much is his own fabrication?
The Wise Man's Fear is the sequel to The Name of the Wind and the second in The Kingkiller Chronicle trilogy. Since the trilogy was originally one extremely long novel split into three parts, The Wise Man's Fear has little preamble and not much of the climax. It starts, we follow the story for a time, and then it ends with little resolved. For a novel that is 1,000 pages long in hardcover, that should be a fairly damning comment.
Rothfuss's saving grace is his immense writing skill. He could make the telephone directory sound warm and interesting, and whilst the book is extremely long most of the chapters are short and snappy. The narrative is divided into two distinct sections, basically Kvothe in the University and Kvothe out in the world, and these sections are themselves fairly episodic. Whilst Kvothe's hunt for information about the Chandrian, the mysterious creatures that killed his family, provides a narrative spine of sorts, sometimes dozens of chapters pass without this plot element being as much as mentioned.
As a result The Wise Man's Fear feels less like a novel and more like a collection of tightly linked short stories (a feeling added to by the fact that one episode in the novel, The Road to Levinshir, was previously published as a separate short story almost a decade ago). This dichotomy - a very episodic book presented as a single novel - creates problems for pacing and consistency, with some of the episodes and stories being fascinating and others being tedious, whilst several more interesting-sounding incidents (like Kvothe standing trial for a misdemeanour) are skipped over in a couple of paragraphs. The Name of the Wind suffered from this as well, such as the incongruous and dull draccus incident towards the end of the book, but due to its much greater length The Wise Man's Fear is even more prone to it. Kvothe's dalliance with a famous Fae temptress goes on for far too long and winds up feeling a bit like the porn version of Tom Bombadil, whilst Kvothe's training montage with the Klingon Aiel Dothraki Vikings of the far north-east is just plain dull. Those who found Kvothe insufferable and Gary Stu-esque in the first novel will likely plain hate him here, as he picks up a ton more skills (including unarmed and armed combat, more magical skills and several more languages) with ease.
But Rothfuss does seem to be more overtly pulling the wool over the reader's eyes here. Kvothe reports on his badass fighting skills but then in a 'present' incident is unable to effectively defend himself from attack. Is this because he overrated his combat abilities, or because he's rusty, or because he deliberately holds back? The reader is invited to decide. Anomalies in Kvothe's story are also pointed out by Chronicler, and Kvothe admits to occasionally sprucing up his story. He's not exactly an unreliable narrator on the scale of Severian in The Book of the New Sun, but Rothfuss is at least letting the reader know that Kvothe himself might not be the best person to tell his tale, but he's all we've got to go on.
Elsewhere, plot elements are carefully alluded to rather than being spelt out, such as the motivations and identity of Denna's mysterious employer, or the relationship between Kvothe and a minor character that Kvothe himself is totally oblivious to. There is an impressive degree of subtlety running through this brick-thick tome that will no doubt raise questions and discussions that will keep fantasy forums busy until the final volume is released.
Rothfuss's powers of prose and characterisation remain highly impressive. The writing is rich and atmospheric, setting the scene perfectly, and Rothfuss has a keen eye for detail, humour and warmth (though in this book slightly more undercut by bitterness and cynicism), but those hoping for the story to explode into life, become bigger and more epic, will be disappointed. In a way Rothfuss is writing an anti-epic fantasy, with the focus narrowly on one character and the ordinary events that have been inflated out of all proportion. This forces the reader to keep downplaying expectations, since Rothfuss isn't playing the same game as a lot of other epic fantasy authors.
The Wise Man's Fear (****) is a difficult book to review, as it's well-written, sometimes compulsively page-turning and features some extremely well-played and subtle storytelling. On other, briefer, occasions it's tediously dull, cloying and prone to attacks of purple prose (particularly in the frisky fairy section). The book is also monstrously overlong and could have been split into two or three more focused, shorter books without too much of a problem. But Rothfuss is too good a writer to let the book's many issues sink it, and the book ends with the reader left wanting to know what happens next, which is the key thing. The novel is available now in the UK and USA.
Wise Man's Fear was very good. Slow in some parts, but that was to be expected in a thousand page book.
Bumped for W.E. Ray.
W.E. Ray, I highly suggest that you stop loafing and lollygagging and get reading, boy!
It's awesome.
The prologue is written in an entirely different style than the rest of the book. I highly suggest you consider continuing on!
Finished reading name of the wind earlier this week. I enjoyed it, reasonably. Well written and a great hook at the start. I just guess I didn't get all the buzz around this book. And I was vaguely annoyed that the whole 700 pages of it is really just a setup to the next book. It was OK, a promising debut and as I said I'm impressed with the author's writing style but I can't say I'm excited to read the rest (that and I really wish there were more stand-alones on the market).
Finished reading name of the wind earlier this week. I enjoyed it, reasonably. Well written and a great hook at the start. I just guess I didn't get all the buzz around this book. And I was vaguely annoyed that the whole 700 pages of it is really just a setup to the next book. It was OK, a promising debut and as I said I'm impressed with the author's writing style but I can't say I'm excited to read the rest (that and I really wish there were more stand-alones on the market).
Hee hee! And that's just set up for the next book!
Finished reading name of the wind earlier this week. I enjoyed it, reasonably. Well written and a great hook at the start. I just guess I didn't get all the buzz around this book. And I was vaguely annoyed that the whole 700 pages of it is really just a setup to the next book. It was OK, a promising debut and as I said I'm impressed with the author's writing style but I can't say I'm excited to read the rest (that and I really wish there were more stand-alones on the market).
Ok, what do you have? It is set up for the next book, but it's brilliant. It makes you want
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Showtime pick up KINGKILLER CHRONICLE prequel TV series.
The three novels themselves will be adapted as big-budget feature films (as soon as Lionsgate find a production partner or Rothfuss finishes the third book), so the TV show will be a prequel and will feature new adventures in the world of Temerant.
Hhm. Will it feature ANY of the Chandrin or even earlier than that?