The Wise Man's Fear

I loved it until the halfway point, at which it turned into an uninteresting erotic fanfic. Disappointed!

Wow. This was a long one. For the most part, it was very engaging, but there were a few times I was thinking “I get it. Get on with it, already.” However, overall it was it was a good book, and I am looking forward to the next book.

HOW IS THIS SERIES SO GOOD. HOW.

Just a little bit of time to grow on me, but I'm really glad I stuck with it. I think I prefer this book to the name of the wind. It has a lot more adventure and plot lines than the first book, and it also has a number of more interesting characters. We get to learn about the Adem, the Fae folk, and a number of interesting places. The mystery surrounding our main character increase rather than decrease, and I fear it will still be a long time before we see the third installment. Bast still remains my favorite character although he's even more confusing now than before.

As, an English major, One of my favorite points is how Rothfuss deals with language. He understands that language both shapes and reflects the cultures to which it belongs. He even go so far as to invent subtle sign languages and discuss the differences body and facial expressions have on a conversation. The fact that he does this more than once is the most impressive part of his world building.

The Book remains as a slow of a burn as the first volume, and I don't recommend it for anyone looking for a quick, light fantasy. However, for those who want a truly epic adventure with regular surprises and truly unique World building, this series will not steer you wrong.

It took me 3 months to read this book. Rothfuss' prose is fun and witty and suspenseful when he wants, and I really dig the layered storytelling. We've got Kote the Innkeeper telling the major story about Kvothe, and Kvothe himself hearing and telling stories within the bigger story. I enjoy the little poems interspersed throughout, and I love the magic school (although I did notice a lack of female professors, I don't usually notice that type of thing, but I did this time). There are several female characters, all of whom have a unique characterization, and that's wonderful.

But overall, the pacing was so ... boring, I just didn't look forward to reading this book during my allotted “reading time”. And it took me 3 months because I would rather read other books. The whole Ferulian and martial arts training sections just absolutely dragged on and on for me. I found Kvothe's time with the Maer to be unintriguing, and mostly pointless. Obviously, there are some very important pieces of the plot happening in these 3 sections, but there was too much fluff and filler.

I'm glad I finished the book, I'll definitely be reading the 3rd installment. The ending leaves me wanting so much more.

I never thought I'd ever finish a 1000+ page book in a little over 2 weeks. That's how good this follow-up novel is.

The continuing story of a living legend in hibernation; detailing how he became the man of legend. This book goes into more of the mysterious and fantastical legends about Kvothe's past. They're too good of pay-offs to mention here, but this book is a great example on how such a well-fleshed out character in book 1 becomes even better. It's amazing how much happens in this book, yet how little is resolved regarding our main character.

One of my biggest reservations about this series is how, since the story is being told by Kvothe later in his life, the sense of peril could be minimized because you obviously know that he makes it through whatever is thrust upon him. To battle my reservation, Rothfuss makes KVothe's journey so much one of legend that the scenarios feel important. Kvothe makes it through, but these rights of passage are so huge in the making of Kvothe that peril takes a back seat.

I, like every other reader of this series, am waiting on bated breath for book 3, and it can't come soon enough!

I will say that the journey through the woods and Kvothe's time in Ademre seem to be very drawn out and could've used some trimming. When so much other potentially interesting things were glanced over and rushed through, I didn't need a good chunk of the story being about tracking footprints through a forest.

Absolutely incredible. For me it's in the language Patrick Rothfuss is using. Everything seems so magical, even the simplest things. The story is engaging enough, but it's the characters that really stand out. The way the characters are introduced and described in this book - it's just amazing. After few sentences you already feel attached to them and feel like you've known them for years. Brilliant work and I just can't wait for the next part in the series. But first a short novel with Auri, can it get any better? Don't think so.

Huh. In het begin van het eerste boek zegt Kvothe dat hij zijn verhaal gaat vertellen en dat het drie dagen zal duren om het te vertellen. Dit is dag twee.

Het eerste boek was al een beetje disjointed, met erg duidelijk van elkaar afgescheiden onderdelen, maar dit leest nóg meer als een verzameling kortere boeken: Kvothe op de universiteit (Harry Potter on steroids), Kvothe bij de Maer (hofintriges en dingen), Kvothe op zoek naar bandieten (een wel erg traag stuk), Kvothe bij de feeënprinses (enfin, -achtig), Kvothe in Ademre (of ‘Kvothe in teenage fantasy dreamland', gelijk ze zeggen), Kvothe terug naar Maer en dan terug naar de universiteit.

Min of meer rode draden blijven:

* zijn eigenste the Woman, Denna, die alsmaar bijft opduiken en weer verdwijnen, en waar iets raars mee aan de hand is (of beter, met haar baas/mecenas/pooier/meester/I dunno)

* Kvothe's zoektocht naar de Chandrian, een groep van zeven schlechte schlechteriken waarvan bijna iedereen denkt dat het sprookjesfiguren zijn, en de Amyr, een sort tempeliers gevormd tegen de Chandrian die een paar eeuwen geleden illegaal verklaard werden en waarvan nu zowat alle sporen verdwenen zijn (of onderdrukit, TUM TUM TUMMMM)

* de raamvertelling, waar Bast, compagnon van Kvothe, de uitgebluste Kvothe-de-herbergier wil wakker schudden uit zijn ‘ik wacht op mijn eigen dood'-gedoe

Gho ja. Erg oneven van stijl en ritme, vaak honderden pagina's zeer traag en dan potentieel interessante stukken gewoon overgeslagen, en ik denk dat ik mij al kan inbeelden waar het allemaal naartoe gaat — maar toch kijk ik uit naar het vervolg. Dat er verdomme nog niet is, grrr.

En oh ja: mijn kop eraf als Rothfuss dit verhaal in één boek rond krijgt.

Fantastic.

I read the hell out of this book, just like the first one. I took every opportunity I could to squeeze in a little reading time, because this was a book, like the first, that had me constantly wondering and caring what happens next. Rothfuss does a great job of hinting at what's coming while never quite allowing us to see the whole picture. For example, in this entry, we meet Meluan who Kvothe helps his patron court. There are ample clues to tell us that she is actually Kvothe's aunt, but this isn't revealed in this book, so we are left wondering just how this will come around to influence the story in the last volume, which I am now impatiently waiting for. Sigh.

That was a great book, very entertaining and interesting. The story seemed to wander at times until I remembered that this was a chronicle, not a story.

З

Executive Summary: I've seen several people say they didn't enjoy this book as much as [b:The Name of the Wind 186074 The Name of the Wind (The Kingkiller Chronicle, #1) Patrick Rothfuss http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1270352123s/186074.jpg 2502879]. I guess I'm the opposite. The things that mostly annoyed me in the first book costing it that extra star that all of my friends seemed to give it were gone or reduced in the sequel.Full ReviewOne of my major gripes about [b:The Name of the Wind 186074 The Name of the Wind (The Kingkiller Chronicle, #1) Patrick Rothfuss http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1270352123s/186074.jpg 2502879] was the main character. In many books an unlikable main character is easily enough to ruin a book. For some reason, I didn't find it the case here.Kvothe is a prodigy in many things, but at the same time, I find him incredibly arrogant and lacking in common sense. Mr. Rothfuss's narrative, supporting characters and beautiful prose kept me interested in the story despite this.With the sequel we find Kvothe is a little older, and thankfully a little wiser. As the story progresses, he is humbled, and bested on several occasions, and by the end of book I started to like him rather than loathe him as I mostly did through [b:The Name of the Wind 186074 The Name of the Wind (The Kingkiller Chronicle, #1) Patrick Rothfuss http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1270352123s/186074.jpg 2502879].With this book we also get several changes of scenery. About half of book follows Kvothe on adventures outside of the University where he always seems to be especially arrogant and stupid to me.He is a lot more cautious and humble outside of that setting. This doesn't prevent him from being his own worst enemy from time to time, but it is reduced to a more tolerable level for my liking.Mr. Rothfuss loves to embed stories within stories within stories, and this book is no different. There are some really great stories told that seem unrelated to main narrative at times, but you really have to wonder.I like the idea of a “bard” main character rather than the stereotypical fighter/magician type. Through most of two books Kvothe travels not with a sword, but a lute.My favorite part of this series has to be the supporting cast. In particular I love Auri and Devi, and want to know more about both. Like Kvothe I'm intrigued by Denna, and want to know what secrets she's hiding.His friends Wil and Sim and the university are great as well. Mr. Rothfuss introduces some interesting new supporting characters in this book as well. I particularly liked Tempi, and learning about the Adem.I blew through this much lengthier sequel in about a week, and if not for work, I probably would have finished it much sooner. I had been avoiding staring this series for the very situation I now find myself in: stuck waiting for the 3rd and final book to come out. Thankfully I have many other books to keep me distracted in the meantime.

When reading a sequel, I like to re-read the previous book(s). I wasn't able to do that here, though I did brush up with the author's and other summaries of [b:The Name of the Wind 186074 The Name of the Wind (The Kingkiller Chronicle, #1) Patrick Rothfuss http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1270352123s/186074.jpg 2502879]. I gave that book 4 stars, and through the first third of this one, I wondered whether 5 might have been more appropriate.The first third of the book is great - interesting and fun, with mysteries and likeable characters. And then, for no good reason I can see, Rothfuss suddenly takes us off on a couple of long digressions that lead to little. Remember the 7th or 8th of Robert Jordan's books? Where you'd read 500 pages and realize that virtually nothing actually happened? The back half of this book is like that. It's very well written, but despite that, not terribly interesting. In part, that's because it just doesn't move fast enough to be the middle of a trilogy. At its end, Kvothe is still a teenager, and Rothfuss has set up a number of loose ends that will need tying. The book reads more like the setup for a 5-6 book series. As Liviu notes in his review, it's hard to see how Rothfuss will satisfyingly tie this up even in a 1,000 page conclusion.Also, Rothfuss, whose first book I liked in large part because of realistic, engaging characters, gets a bit lazy in places here. Some of the players and actions are lightly-painted stock, and they don't fit well with what we expect from a talented writer. More troubling is a hint of Heinlein-Jordan syndrome - a proliferation of women who know everything and can do no wrong. In individual characters, that's great. As a general rule, it's no more enticing than Doc Smith's (or Heinlein's) rule of strong, silent men to whom all women submit.All in all, a good book, well worth reading, but not as worthy a successor as I had hoped for.

Enjoyed the hell out of this one, like the last. Ate it right up. That said, a few concerns:

• First, if one more person's mouth makes a line (grim or otherwise) I'm going to lose it.

• Second, Kvothe is what, 17 now? Maybe 18? By the end of the book? Two books in and like two years have passed? It's a trilogy. I'm enjoying this long adventure but I'm wondering what's going to happen to get everything into the third book. It sounds like, maybe, there will be another trilogy after this, that's ... maybe AFTER the story is told? I'm alright with that. But I'm still kind of wondering how we get there.

• And yeah, I'm still a little let down by the fact that neither book has had an arc, really. It's all leading to something, hopefully in book three (book six?), which is cool, but I'd like a sub-arc. Something to tie the book together, while the overarching narrative continues on its long, long way.

• There isn't even a release date for book 3 yet? When you've got a story like this that is really one big book in three parts, not three books, you've got to get it out there!

So I just finished Patrick Rothfuss's second “Kingkiller Chronicles” novel, Wise Man's Fear. In general, not quite as good as Name of the Wind, but still a brilliant novel. Rothfuss has a command of the language and ability to paint with words that's just awe inspiring. I'm not going to be spoilery in this, well, more of a reaction than a full review. But I must be specific in mention how, in Wise Man, there's a picnic scene near the end that is heartbreakingly beautiful and, and gut wrenchingly tragic. Rothfuss is able to manipulate emotion with words the same way his Kvothe can do it with song. Even the almost-Tom Bombadil-superfluous segment of his adventures in the land of fey is a roller-coaster of drama.

One of the things about Name of the Wind that kept me on the edge of my seat and constantly unsettled (in a good way), is the way he constantly changes the fortunes of his picaresque hero on a dime. One minute Kvothe is doing something so brilliantly, he succeeds at something so skillfully, that I would be shaking my head incredulously if not for being thrilled by the process of success. A success that almost invariable makes me think in some small voice, “Oh, that's a bit too convenient. He can't lose, now!” And then, before the thought is fully formed–wham! Kvothe is blindsided by a problem, an issue, a challenge, a loss that is actually worse than the previous success was wonderful, in such a way as to make me gasp and wonder, instead, “Yikes! How the heck is he going to recover from that? That's really going to cost him.” And then, what follows, is an entirely believable and well-earned overcoming of misfortune.

The one problem I had with Name of the Wind was that the ending felt anti-climactic. But, when you consider, it's really meant to simply be a first act, it works okay–especially since I was able to carry right on into the next book.

The problem(s) I had with Wise Man's Fear is that it felt too much like his escapades were unearned, and Marty Stu-ish. Such as the afore-mentioned time in fey with a “lust goddess.”

[caption id=”attachment_608” align=”alignnone” width=”300” caption=”“When Larry Met Mary””][/caption]

(Oh, that's funny. Re-reading that comic's title, I just realized realized the very connection to the complaint I just made above! Duh! [Larry Stu is another name for Marty Stu, which are both variants of Marry Sue. See trope link.])

And then his excursion into the realm of, yeah, what's essentially the equivalent of a ninja-factory, and all the fantasy sexinating he does there. (Another tangent: His time there reminded me way too much of the hero Anjin-san's sexedumacation of the free and lusty way of feudal Japan in James Clavell's Shogun.) It just didn't have the same realism of the first book.

But then, what we're reading in these two books, is the bildungsroman of a man who would become a legend, a subject of fantastic tales. He has to develop as a young man from urchin to world-wise proto-myth. He has to have the adventures and experience to create the mythic figure. And, I said before he doesn't seem to earn the rather too-good-to-be-true romps, and as I think of it, he does... but doesn't. sigh

Before he enters fey (like, literally stumbles into it from out of nowhere),  he has an experience during a fight that is rather horrific. It's horrific for him, and it's wonderfully and properly horrific for the reader. On the surface it's an event that should be worthy of a positive turn for him. A piece of Kvothe's “soul,” if not his sanity, should have been harmed in that event. But, then, really, it's not. Rothfuss creates this event, this scene, that should have been extremely formative to Kvothe's psyche, but it's dropped almost as soon as it's over. He does have a very negative event in fey with an enchanted tree (not as silly as it sounds–it's described quite wonderfully!) that does in fact harm him and he carries the pain through the rest of the book. But, in my opinion, the tree event is a far lesser terror than what happens in the battle, and the lasting reactions and terribly flipped.

...unless, it's intentional. Unless the the reason why Kvothe is able to shrug off the one and let the other emotionally haunt him, is very telling of the kind of man he becomes. If so, well, it needs to be more apparent in book three.

And, speaking of the man he becomes, this is the last thing that bothers me: The books are the story of Kvothe's early life wrapped around a frame narrative of the man that he became telling his story. But the man in the “present” is constantly shifting, as if Rothfuss isn't very solid on who Kvothe is these years later. One minute he feels like he's in his 50s and has done and seen many great things before essentially retiring, and the next minute, he's only a couple years older than the character he's telling the story of. It's very shaky.

Okay, the criticism aside, Wise Man's Fear, not as good as Name of the Wind, is still one of the best fantasy books I've read. The emotion feels so authentic, the drama is compelling, the dialog is extremely believable, the writing is endlessly skillful yet completely painless to read. The wait for book three has been two days long for me and is already interminable!

Every bit as good as the first, and it left me wanting more. Will be avidly awaiting the third book!

I really enjoyed “The Wise Man's Fear”. It has earned a five star rating in my opinion for great story telling and a different form of adventure than I have read before. It has also made me want to rethink the review I gave to the first book in the series due to a better understanding of what Rothfuss is trying to do within each book.

Rating aside there was an odd change of direction after Kvothe's time with Felorian. I am still now sure what I think of that entire 200+ page section. I still really enjoyed the book I am just not sure about the sudden focus shift.

The things that capture your imagination are the short stories told within the book. Beautiful! Can't wait for the last book:-)

First time in a long while I'm actually waiting in anticipation for the next book to be released

Even better than the first book. This IS the best fantasy series without a shadow of a doubt.

I fell in love with this author when, after having read his first novel, The Name of the Wind, I was checking out his profile and saw he was wearing a t-shirt that said “Joss Whedon is My Master Now”.

Since I have a t-shirt that says “Willing to be Joss Whedon's Baby Mama”, I determined at that moment that Rothfuss and I are soulmates.

The Wise Man's Fear is the second installment in the Kingkiller Chronicle, a fantasy series detailing the life and times of Kvothe, a legendary warrior-mage who is now trying to live the peaceful, non-descript life of a rural innkeeper. The Wise Man's Fear picks up the story-within-a-story style begun in The Name of the Wind, told as Kvothe relates the true story of his past to a Chronicler. The story doesn't, however, lose any of it's potency or it's immediacy for all that.

Despite its length of 1008 pages (Hey, it's epic fantasy. What did you expect?), I didn't skip a single page. OK, the descriptions of the boobs and general nekkidness of one of the fae characters, Felurian, started to get a little old after a while, but I still didn't skip ahead. There were even nights I burned the 2AM oil just so I could finish one. More. Page. Maybe one more. After this one I'll stop. I'll stop at the next break. Next chapter, maybe.

If you are a reader, you know how that works. I haven't found a fantasy novel that's done that for me in a while.

BEST PART: Rothfuss' development of the Adem culture was, for me, the best part of the novel. I hope someday Rothfuss writes a novel just about the Adem mercenaries and their schools. The whole idea of their language and how emotions were expressed was brilliant. I experienced the whole “I wish I'd thought of that” surge of writer's envy.

Both The Name of the Wind and The Wise Man's Fear are driven by extremely well developed, fleshed-out characters. Rothfuss doesn't seem to be in a rush to get us to the end prematurely (I like that in a man/author :))and is willing to go the extra mile with his world-building and include all the fascinating details that make reading fantasy novels worthwhile.

Read the books in order. You won't be able to pick them up out of sequence and enjoy them fully. These books are to be savored.

WORST PART: The damn book weighed 3 lbs. I tore the bottom out of a new purse hauling that thing around. Next time I'll buy and read it on my Kindle, and purchase the hardback for the shelf.

Take good care of yourself, Rothfuss. Eat healthy, exercise, and look both ways when you cross the street, because I expect you to be around to write these books for a long, long time.

I loved this book just as much as [b:The Name of the Wind 186074 The Name of the Wind (Kingkiller Chronicle, #1) Patrick Rothfuss http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1270352123s/186074.jpg 2502879]. Can't wait for the next book to hear the end of the story. I like the way the way the story is told as a Kvothe telling the story of his life i the book. It works very well. The narrator of the Audible is just as good in the 2nd book as the first. Highly recommend the book, no matter the format.

I am liking this book so far. The series is great. There is just enough good stuff happening for the main character that it doesn't get depressing.

Worth the wait x10.

Ended up devouring this in just over two days and my only regret is that I finished it so quickly instead of savoring it :(
People with a much better grasp of the English language than I have reviewed this better than I ever could - so what can I really say? I laughed (a lot), I cried, I was totally enthralled with the storyline to the point that I gave up all pretense of working and simply sat reading at my desk for two days. This series is definitely in my top 5 favorite fantasy series of all time, cant wait to buy a special edition matching set of 3.

...I honestly dont know what some of the twits on here are thinking with one or two stars.

Well....I suppose its back to stalking Rothfuss' facebook for updates on the 3rd book ;)