Patrick Rothfuss

[Dornish First Sword]

Id like that also Illifer so if you find one please keep us informed.

 

[Heather Myst]

There are several threads at SFFWorld. Patrick Rothfuss The Kingkiller Chronicle Positivity Fan Thread - sffworld.com

 

[Perpetual Man]

It's easy enough to start one or two here... just remember to put (MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS) in the thread title.

There are a couple floating around here already, but they've gone dormant...

 

[IlliferThePenniless]

Heather-

Everything over there seems to degenerate into "Rothfuss is the best!!!!!!" "No Rothfuss SUCKS!!!!!!" pretty quickly. Reading through all that makes me tired. Maybe i'll make one here...

thanks for the advice.

 

[IlliferThePenniless]

So I've started a spoilery Wise Man's Fear thread here:

http://www.sffchronicles.co.uk/forum/530842-wise-mans-fear-contains-spoilers.html

I'd love to hear everyone's crazy speculation and crack pot theories.

 

[Rosemary]

I thoroughly enjoyed 'Name of the Wind'!

Just received my copy of 'Wise Man's Fears' but as I am half way through reading another book, I'm afraid it will have to wait in my bookcase for a little longer!

He does have a Facebook site which I enjoy reading and he has a wonderful sense of humour as K. Reihl mentioned further back in this thread.

 

[Perpetual Man]

I've just finished my last book and am going to start Wise Man's Fear next, so I'll join the new thread as soon as I've really got going. Or finished

 

[Caledor]

I managed to read most of it the day it came out and I grudgingly slept for a few hours before I got up and finished it the next day.

It was a great read. The characters' personalities and the history and land all have a very plausible realism that I find refreshing in a fantasy novel. Its not all doom and gloom realism like george rr martin, but the story doesnt have things magically pop up constantly just when the character needs them most either. The story starts off and ends with Kvothe at the Academy, but shows a progression of his abilities and knowledge to where you no longer wonder about how he came to be the wise, "all knowing" kote the inkeeper. The meat and bones of the story is when Kvothe leaves the Academy for a little while and travels to another kingdom. This takes up about 2/3rds of the book with Kvothe off on adventures. These adventures teach him 10x as much as he ever learned at the Academy. Also, Denna and Kvothes relationship becomes less of a puppy dog obsession and turns into actual feelings with depth. Exploring both the frustration and struggle as well as the excitement and happiness of two real people with their own lives and their own feelings. Though there's nothing fairie tale about the telling, so dont be afraid you'll have to deal with some romance novel drivel. It doesnt bog the story down either, since its only a small part of the story told here and there. Also towards the end of the story there is the occasional sexual reference and even some sex thrown in there. It doesnt go into graphic detail but I figured Id mention it. As a teenage boy, of course kvothe and his friends are going to be getting some new interests, and the book does a good job reflecting this. It was extremely long, but I never once wanted to be done with it. I saw several places where the author could have broken the story up into smaller books, but it doesnt ruin the story. It's probably the biggest reason why its taken so long to come out with this second book though, as he just had so many things happening and going on. I eagerly look forward to the completion of the series, but Im kind of scared that I might be waiting another 3 or 4 years before it comes out.

 

[Red 13]

Caledor, you forgot to put a SPOILER WARNING!!
I'm only about 100 pages from the end so its not too bad but some people havn't read it yet!

 

[Caledor]

Caledor, you forgot to put a SPOILER WARNING!!
I'm only about 100 pages from the end so its not too bad but some people havn't read it yet!

I was purposefully trying not to give any spoilers. If you see anything in there thats more than just a general overall picture of the story then Ill msg a mod asking them to edit or remove it, but my intent was only to give those people who were wanting more information a rough idea of what the story is about. After rereading what I wrote, I still feel that its no more than what you would learn from reading a synopsis or summary somewhere. There's another thread that says "Spoiler Alert" in the title where Ive been posting my specific thoughts and guesses about the series.

 

[Heather Myst]

Heather-

Everything over there seems to degenerate into "Rothfuss is the best!!!!!!" "No Rothfuss SUCKS!!!!!!" pretty quickly. Reading through all that makes me tired. Maybe i'll make one here...

thanks for the advice.

Your right Illifer. There is a lot of traffic on that site but it can get pretty crazy sometimes. I almost shut down the website when I posted that I enjoyed the Sword of Truth books. The thing I love the most about this site is that people are very friendly and tolerant of other peoples opinion.
Thanks for starting a new Wise Man's thread here.

 

[drosdelnoch]

Woohhoo, my copy finally landed, not so much a book as a bludgeoning instrument.

 

[Perpetual Man]

Woohhoo, my copy finally landed, not so much a book as a bludgeoning instrument.

Tell me about it, combined with the last book I read, I think I might have two blocks toward building a house...

 

[SFF Fan]

I read the Name of the Wind and while I really did enjoy it very much, I thought it was overrated. Don't get me wrong, it was a fantastic novel, but it was not without its flaws. The pacing was really erratic, I found a lot of it unrealistic (and no, not in the good, magical fantasy way...just contrived coincidences that did not pay off in terms of dramatic value), and important characters and plot points were either (in my eyes) underdeveloped. He tells things in described flashback that should have been told outright, like meeting that girl that lived beneath the University. It has also been praised as highly original, and don't get me wrong it was as original as it had to be and then some, but not outstandingly so. I actually found it very similar to the fantasy novel I was planning on writing. (Not that I'm comparing myself to him, I'm not nearly as good a writer as he is, and obviously he could not have plagiarized off me, but my point is it's not like a lot of those concepts were hard to come up with).

This all being said, I only reacted the way I did after reading it because it was hailed as SO good, like it had revitalized the fantasy genre or something (mind you I am new to fantasy...perhaps the genre is really that bad)? Still, Patrick Rothfuss is a very talented writer if that work is anything to go by and by no means do I give Name of the Wind a negative review. I'll be in for a real treat when I go to read The Wise Man's Fear. I'm just not SO impressed that I'll shell out for the hardcover (in Canada books tend to be very expensive). I do have it on reserve at the library though, and look forward to reading it.

 

[Corn! Corn! Corn!]

^ I've read and really enjoyed them both.

I'm just curious, what books are you so impressed by that you'd "shell out for the hardcover?"

I want to know if I've read them.

 

[Gumboot]

This all being said, I only reacted the way I did after reading it because it was hailed as SO good, like it had revitalized the fantasy genre or something (mind you I am new to fantasy...perhaps the genre is really that bad)?

I understand exactly what you mean. I am very much that way with films. It's very rare that I really love a film that people have raved about before hand. The nice exception to that was The Hunger Games but I think that was because I saw the love given the film as akin to the teen psychosis over Twilight and thus went into it without very high expectations because of all the hype.

To address your last point though, yes the fantasy genre is that bad. 99% of fantasy novels are a) awful and b) identical.

Still, Patrick Rothfuss is a very talented writer if that work is anything to go by and by no means do I give Name of the Wind a negative review. I'll be in for a real treat when I go to read The Wise Man's Fear.

My personal view on his writing is somewhat like my view on A Song Of Ice And Fire; it's either a masterfully crafted work of art, or it's a literary equivalent of Lost (that is, they're making it up as they go along, and have no idea what the point of anything is). The problem is you don't know which it is until the series is finished.

My gut instinct at this juncture is that Rothfuss is a storytelling master and Martin is taking us all for a ride, but it will be very interesting to see how each of these tales unfolds. Obviously my hope is that both are masters.