Homer's Travels: Book: Patrick Rothfuss' "The Wise Man's Fear"

Thursday, March 15, 2012

Book: Patrick Rothfuss' "The Wise Man's Fear"

I've been waiting for this book for a while.  "The Wise Man's Fear: The Kingkiller Chronicle: Day Two" is the sequel to Patrick Rothfuss' first book "The Name of the Wind" which I read back in 2009.  I really liked the first book.  I liked it a lot.  The second book was delayed several times to my consternation and to that of the other fans of Rothfuss' writing.  The book finally came out in 2011, a year later than had been advertised, and I finally got my hands on a copy at my local library.

First of all, the second book is huge - 994 pages - but like the first is reads smoothly and comfortably and I had no problem powering through it.  Rothfuss has an easy to read style.

The book picks up where the first ended and continues the development of the main character, young Kvothe, as he learns the magic of Rothfuss' world and moves from one adventure to another.  You see him develop from a naive young boy to a more worldly young man.  As in the first book, Kvothe is a little too perfect. I like the story enough that was able to forgive this issue.

The book doesn't flow as well as the first.  It felt like Rothfuss had a stack of a dozen or so adventures and he tried to stitch them all into a coherent story.  He succeeds ... somewhat ... though some of the transitions from one story to another are rather jarring.

My understanding is that this is a trilogy.  If this is true, I think the story should have been advanced farther than it was. Either the third book is going to be packed with a huge amount of development or a lot is going to be skipped.  I'm looking forward to the third book.  I am curious how it will be wrapped up. I just hope it doesn't take another four years til I get to read it.

Highly recommended if you like fantasy.

2 comments:

  1. I love fantasy! But I'm terrible at buying books. I still haven't bought the first you recommended, so I read your reviews instead :)

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