The Wise Man's Fear / Patrick Rothfuss

The Wise Man's Fear
by Patrick Rothfuss
book 2 of The Kingkiller Chronicles

fantasy
first published 2011
read in February 2013

rated 7 out of 10: well worth reading

There is just one problem with this book: it is tedious.

Look, we started book one with the hero going to magic school. There was a lot of detail but fine, it's a new world, let's get some detail about this new world. But really!

Half way through book two and we are still getting details of life at school... Sure, we know that the hero carries a grudge. His aim in life is to find and kill seven evil dudes. But come on! How many times do we need to be told that no-one knows anything about these evil dudes?!

Okay, there is a second problem. The hero is borderline ratbag. Remember that other book series about a boy at magic school? Remember the one book where Harry Potter was a teenage creep? That was an uncomfortable story -- hard to like the hero -- but it fitted in with a boy growing up -- and it was just one book of seven.

Kvothe, the hero of Fear, is short-tempered. He rejects his teachers teachings. He initiates cruel tricks on his enemy. Okay, that's his style. Doesn't make it any easier to like him though.

So he continues with school for the first half of this book. Then grudgingly accepts the advice of his friends and goes overseas for experience, adventure and letting the heat die down. Has one slow adventure. Goes to another school. Has another relatively quick adventure.

You can see that all of this is building up, to give him the skills to defeat his seven major enemies. Can't it go just a littler faster?!

War, they say, is weeks of boredom interspersed with minutes of mortal fear. The joy of a novel is that the author can say that... then skip past the weeks of boredom. Rothfuss skips very little...

Not that he gives us boredom... But he gives us enough detail of the slow build-up that we -- or at least I -- find it tedious.

I also have a small fear...

Is this book two of a trilogy?

Or will The Kingkiller Chronicles continue on... forever...?

If book three brings a conclusion -- then great, it's a fascinating series, worth the effort of reading. If book three ends -- and the hero had yet to battle his enemies... then I believe that I shall give up.

All very well to build a unique and interesting world. I just hope that there is a point to it... And by that I mean, I hope that there is a story to be told... A story with a beginning, a middle -- and an end.

I have no objection to a story which leaves openings for subsequent stories. But first, I want the current story to reach a satisfactory conclusion.

This book is well worth reading. The series is still waiting to be rated.

====
Problems ? Solved

The Name of the Wind / Patrick Rothfuss

The Name of the Wind

category: fantasy, author:

Patrick Rothfuss

book 1 of Kingkiller Chronicle
original copyright 2007

read in February 2012

Agamedes' opinion: 8 out of 10: really quite good

This is a book of contrasts... A pastoral introduction with the hero retired and waiting to die, interspersed with enough violent action to tell us that the story is not really over. A flashback narration with enough here-and-now action to keep us on our toes. A standard getting-an-education and coming-of-age tale with enough mystery, threat and interest to make me want to read more...

It's a story of a young man developing the skills and knowledge needed to survive. Skills that will make him a killer. By the end of this book one, he has only some of the necessary knowledge -- and none of the killer skills. Yet the journey-so-far has been fascinating.

The flashback style lets us know that the hero will be both hated and feared. Yet he saves innocent lives and helps those in need. It is clear that he would send money home to his grey-haired mother, if he had a mother at all.

As I read The Name of the Wind I could not help thinking, this is Tom Brown's Schooldays, with magic. Worse, this book is just the introduction; it's book one of Kingkiller Chronicle and we have not yet even met a king. This book should be boring.

This book is not boring.

This is no non-stop-actioner, yet The Name of the Wind grips the reader.

Okay, on the down side...

A lot of the incidents draw us on, with strong characters and imaginative settings. (Unbelievable but imaginative. That's good; this is a fantasy.) Yet the incidents appear to go nowhere. The story is somewhat episodic.

This may be the fault of being "book one". But it is a weakness.

Read as a standalone book, The Name of the Wind is a series of related anecdotes rather than a complete novel. Yes, there is a satisfactory conclusion. But it is simply a cliff-hanger, even though the hero is at least left standing safely on a ledge.

This is a book of contrasts... A build-up of tension rather than a strong plot with a climactic conclusion. A clear path forward but with an inconclusive ending. A book which should be boring, yet it inspires the reader to want to read more.

I enjoyed this book. I enjoyed the characters and the fantasy universe. I would have liked a better conclusion, even if this is only book one.

I definitely want to read more.

..o0o..

These reviews are provided by Agamedes Consulting. For an independent and thoughtful review of your processes, problems or documents, email nickleth at gmail dot com.

PissWeakly: the Index