The Wise Man's Fear

[Suttree]

Just scored it early a few hours ago...pretty ace so far. More to come when I finish.

 

Discuss as more people get it!

[Jarviee]

Haven't even heard of it. I hope it rocks.

 

Let me know because when I finish my reread of the WoT series I will need a new series to move onto.

[hotpocket2006]

Oh em gee!!!!!!!! I am so jello you have no idea! Can't wait to get the book. Maybe I will come and steal it from you

[Red2111]

whats it about??

[el Nynaeve]

whats it about??

 

It's the second book of the Kingkiller Chronicle by Patrick Rothfuss. The first book is called The Name of the Wind: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Name-Wind-Kingkiller-Chronicle/dp/0575081406/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1298900674&sr=8-1

 

I have pre-ordered my copy of Wise Man's Fear. Can't wait to get my hands on it, currently rereading Name of the Wind in preparation.

[jwillis7]

Just scored it early a few hours ago...pretty ace so far. More to come when I finish.

 

Discuss as more people get it!

i hate you.........not really, i went by a few book stores today hoping someone would have put it out early but no luck. I cant wait till tomorrow

[Suttree]

Just scored it early a few hours ago...pretty ace so far. More to come when I finish.

 

Discuss as more people get it!

i hate you.........not really, i went by a few book stores today hoping someone would have put it out early but no luck. I cant wait till tomorrow

 

HAHA, yeah I have a good hook with an indie bookstore in LA. You pay cash and they stagger the purchase until after the release date so the author still gets credit for the sale.

 

200 pages in and so far it is better than NotW. Much more polished and he has grown as an author without a doubt. In truth it makes me wish Brandon hadn't rushed TGS and ToM quite so much.

[el Nynaeve]

I just got my copy through the post (thanks Amazon for being excellent and prompt). I'm supposed to be job hunting but it's so tempting to crack it open and start reading.

[jwillis7]

i'm on page 200 and i really like it so far

[Kivam]

whats it about??

 

It's the second book of the Kingkiller Chronicle by Patrick Rothfuss. The first book is called The Name of the Wind: http://www.amazon.co...98900674&sr=8-1

 

I have pre-ordered my copy of Wise Man's Fear. Can't wait to get my hands on it, currently rereading Name of the Wind in preparation.

 

Yep, I just had my copy of the Crippled God delivered by Amazon and got notice that WMF shipped, so I'm in a good mood.

 

BTW, Pat happens to be a really good guy. He came and did an "Ask the Author" session with the Writer's Guild a few years back (when NotW had just released) so as far as I'm concerned, he's a Friend of Dragonmount and you all should go buy his books. The fact that they rock is secondary

[Kivam]

whats it about??

 

Story-within-a-story biography of Kvothe, who . . . well, I'll just give you the text from the marketing material for Name of the Wind:

 

My name is Kvothe, pronounced nearly the same as "quothe." Names are important as they tell you a great deal about a person. I've had more names than anyone has a right to. The Adem call me Maedre. Which, depending on how it's spoken, can mean The Flame, The Thunder, or The Broken Tree.

 

"The Flame" is obvious if you've ever seen me. I have red hair, bright. If I had been born a couple of hundred years ago I would probably have been burned as a demon. I keep it short but it's unruly. When left to its own devices, it sticks up and makes me look as if I have been set afire.

 

"The Thunder" I attribute to a strong baritone and a great deal of stage training at an early age.

 

I've never thought of "The Broken Tree" as very significant. Although in retrospect, I suppose it could be considered at least partially prophetic.

 

My first mentor called me E'lir because I was clever and I knew it. My first real lover called me Dulator because she liked the sound of it. I have been called Shadicar, Lightfinger, and Six-String. I have been called Kvothe the Bloodless, Kvothe the Arcane, and Kvothe Kingkiller. I have earned those names. Bought and paid for them.

 

But I was brought up as Kvothe. My father once told me it meant "to know."

 

I have, of course, been called many other things. Most of them uncouth, although very few were unearned.

 

I have stolen princesses back from sleeping barrow kings. I burned down the town of Trebon. I have spent the night with Felurian and left with both my sanity and my life. I was expelled from the University at a younger age than most people are allowed in. I tread paths by moonlight that others fear to speak of during day. I have talked to Gods, loved women, and written songs that make the minstrels weep.

 

You may have heard of me.

 

[Werthead]

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.

[Owayn The Traveller]

Wise Man's Fear = The Name of the Wind.

[Mr Ares]

Finished this last night. Some of it really dragged, but on the whole it was quite good. Does anyone else think that the king Kvothe is going to kill will be Denna's Mr Ash? (I'm aware of the theory stating that Ash's real identity is Bredon, but it's very easy to square the two - he's not king yet, but will be by the time Kvothe kills him.)

[hotpocket2006]

lol I was like AHA I know who Mr. Ash is! lol But I do figure Kvothe and Mr. Ash will eventually fight, and Kvothe will kill him. Never thought of him being the king,and I don't think it's Mr. Ash who will be king. I figure Mr. Ash has

 

 

 

Something to do with the Chandrian. Ambrose is the king Kvothe kills eventually. Muahahaha. Stupid Git.

 

 

I also read a super interesting theory that I should've picked up on when reading, but didn't

 

 

Lady Lackless, the one who ran off with the Ruh, is Kvothes mother so that makes the woman who gave Kvothe the wooden ring his aunt. It all fits perfectly. So that's quite interesting.

 

[Tynaal Consen]

I can't buy it here yet :(

[alligator]

I still haven't been able to read this... :(

[Suttree]

I also read a super interesting theory that I should've picked up on when reading, but didn't

 

 

Lady Lackless, the one who ran off with the Ruh, is Kvothes mother so that makes the woman who gave Kvothe the wooden ring his aunt. It all fits perfectly. So that's quite interesting.

 

 

Yeah pretty sure that is the case. We have this from NotW

 

 

I brought the tripod back and helped her set it over the fire. “Also, Lady Perial is just a character. Lady Lackless is a real person, with feelings that can be hurt.” She looked up at me.

 

“I didn’t know,” I protested guiltily.

 

I must have struck a sufficiently piteous figure because she gathered me in for a hug and a kiss, “It’s nothing to cry over, sweet one. Just remember to always think about what you’re doing.” She ran her hand over my head and smiled like the sun. “I imagine you could make it up to both Lady Lackless and myself if you found some sweet nettle for the pot tonight.”

 

Netalia Lackless is the sister who was stolen away, and the song Arliden writes for Kvothes mom goes

 

Dark Laurian, Arliden’s wife,

Has a face like a blade of a knife

Has a voice like a prickledown burr

But can tally a sum like a moneylender.

My sweet Tally cannot cook.

But she keeps a tidy ledger-book

For all her faults I do confess

It’s worth my life

To make my wife

Not tally a lot less...

 

That is Tally for short and the last line sounds very much like Netalia Lackless.

 

Seven thing stand before

The entrance to the Lackless Door

One of them a ring unworn

One a word that is forsworn

One a time that must be right

One a candle without light

One a son who brings the blood

One a door that holds the flood

One a thing tight held in keeping

Then comes that which comes with sleeping

 

If he is indeed a Lackless heir that would make Kvoth the "son who brings the blood"?

[jwillis7]

over at Tor they did a spoiler thing that looked at some hidden stuff like the not tally a lot less, here is the link very cool read

 

http://www.tor.com/blogs/2011/03/sleeping-under-the-wagon-more-spoilers-for-patrick-rothfusss-the-wise-mans-fear

[JenniferL]

I am now calling this book "Kvothe's Semester Abroad". I think it's a difficult book to judge on it's own. It's the middle part of the story, after all.

[SingleMort]

lol I was like AHA I know who Mr. Ash is! lol But I do figure Kvothe and Mr. Ash will eventually fight, and Kvothe will kill him. Never thought of him being the king,and I don't think it's Mr. Ash who will be king. I figure Mr. Ash has

 

 

 

Something to do with the Chandrian. Ambrose is the king Kvothe kills eventually. Muahahaha. Stupid Git.

 

 

I also read a super interesting theory that I should've picked up on when reading, but didn't

 

 

Lady Lackless, the one who ran off with the Ruh, is Kvothes mother so that makes the woman who gave Kvothe the wooden ring his aunt. It all fits perfectly. So that's quite interesting.

 

 

In response to your first spoiler. I think it would be a bit too convenient if that was the case.

 

In response to your second spoiler. I was under the impression that those events happened quite recently, not years ago.

 

Here's a crazy theory of my own (unless someone else has already said it.)

 

 

What if Bast is Kvothe's son? I mean so far Kovthe has only met one other of the Fae who's he's had a LOT of sex with. And we know that time in their world seems to pass a lot quicker than time here. And surely there has to be some personal connection between Bast and Kvothe other than that of apprentice and arcanist. I mean Kvothe doesn't seem to be the sort of person to just take some apprentice at the drop of a hat, and Bast seems to really care about Kovthe.