Wise Man's Fear

[Aldern Foxglove]

I actually think Denna is a very well conceived character. She is only touched upon fairly lightly in the first book and we effectively see her from Kvothe's enamored point of view. In Wise Man's Fear we get more glimpses into what makes her like she is and I think her behavior makes a lot of sense.

 

[innerdude]

Okay, short update:

I'm now 800 pages in.....and I'm still generally satisfied with the overall arc of the story.

But....

Oh....Emmm....Geee.....

****SPOILERS MAY BE AHEAD****





The 85-page Felurian sub-plot was one of the worst, contrived, asinine things I've seen in a fantasy novel in a long time.

It was so bad, that on a small level, it's sort of tainted the whole "Rothfuss Experience" for me. If anyone wanted to disagree with positive reviews of Rothfuss' work overall, all they'd have to do is point to that section of Wise Man's Fear for proof.

In fact, I'm almost half-convinced myself that it simply didn't happen. Sort of like, if you pretend that Star Wars Episodes I, II, and III didn't happen, it makes Episodes IV, V, and VI more palatable.....but in the back of your mind, you still know that it they DID HAPPEN.

It was sort of a breaking point for me too with the whole "Kvothe is amazingly awesome at everything." In fact, his inexperience with women was the thing that made him relatable in a certain sense. Yeah, he was awesome at magic, yeah, he was a world-class musician, yeah he was incredibly smart.

But that element of social awkwardness, that hidden-teenage-boy complex of being awkward around girls was what kept him grounded.

And that's now gone. Now he's not only the awesome-est mage and musician ever, he's now (literally) the world's greatest lover. *GAG*

And talk about being a total Deus Ex Machina invention. No buildup, no foreshadowing, one minute we're walking in the forest with the mercenaries, the next minute Kvothe is naked 24/7 and banging the faerie queen night and day. And apparently the whole point was to have him talk to the arrogant oracle/tree figure?

Wow. Just....wow. So, so, so bad on so many levels.

Which really, really sucks because the first 700 pages are brilliant.

 

[Stumblewyk]

I'm thoroughly in the "annoyed by Kvothe"-camp, and because of that I just *can't* make myself like TNotW.

That being said...in an age of Twilight and Harry Potter, I fully understand why people love these books and this author. And that's not an insult. It's easy, engaging reading. It just didn't tweak my "I love this" bone. =/

 

[Aldern Foxglove]

No foreshadowing? It was foreshadowed in both books, and before they entered the forest. I really enjoyed the first part of it, but felt it went perhaps a little long.

 

[Dioltach]

I can't wait to get my hands on Wise Man's Fear. I read The Name of the Wind when it first came out, and thought it was the best fantasy I'd read in years, perhaps even the best I'd ever read. I tried to explain to friends what was so brilliant about it, but I couldn't. Then later I re-read it, and I was hooked again right from page 1, with the description of the "silence of three parts". A short descriptive passage to set the atmosphere, but it's a clear example of the evocative style that Patrick Rothfuss has mastered.

About Kvothe and whether or not he's a Mary Sue: Yes, he's good at lots of things. He's a genius, that's pretty much his defining character trait. On the other hand, that's also the premise of the story, and a source of much of the conflict. OK, so he's not as socially awkward as Sheldon Cooper, but he's no master of charisma. He annoys people by thinking that he's better than them, and he admits to cheating being part of how his "legend" came about. Basically, he actually has to work to achieve things, which is something a Mary Sue never has to do.

In some ways he's like Hornblower: also a genius with an air of mystery, but one that's consciously cultivated, and with clear limitations (mostly as to their physical abilities) and weaknesses (women ...). They both have to work hard to get where they are, and their situations are a source of constant worry.

 

[Crothian]

So far I'm very much enjoying it. I'm about 700 pages into it and it has really taken me places that I enjoy. I like the musical aspects of the books; those cannot be easy to write and I think he does them well.

 

[Shade]

Reading it now...

 

[Mort]

I loved the first book. Extremely well plotted and well-paced. The second book had some good elements but the pacing was horrible the fairy subplot was awful and the Adem subplot had some issues for me. But mostly, Rothfus leaves so much open that I can't see how he can possibly finish in one more book. My current theory is that the 3rd book will wrap up the subplot to the near present or near present and there will be a further trilogy from there. If not there will have to be an awful lot in the last book or it will have to move very very fast.

On the Mary Sue angle (possible spoilers ahead):




Kvothe is telling the story, and as an old psych professor once told me "you're always the hero in your own story." Even if he is trying to tell it "warts and all." And even in the story he doesn't always succeed. His confrontations with Ambrose, for example, he may get in his shots but overall Ambrose tends to come out on top.

When in the "real world" the current Kvothe (as opposed to the one in the story) is shown as essentially a broken man: he's running from something and in hiding. When he tried sympathy (which per the story he's good at) it failed miserably, when he tried to use Ketan (essentially martial arts) he gets the snot beaten out of him by 2 thugs. He may be a Mary Sue in his story (and even there he fails often and I wouldn't actually classify him as such) but in the real world he not only fails often it's implied he failed big time and is a shadow of his former self as a result. I actually think this must be Rothfus in a way satirizing the Mary Sue concept.

Anyway - great series but I think the second one suffers from "second book syndrome" where it drags and seems to bite off a bit more than it can chew.

 

[Crothian]

But mostly, Rothfus leaves so much open that I can't see how he can possibly finish in one more book.

I don't think one should expect this series to be like a Nancy Drew novel were everything conveniently gets wrapped up nicely in a bow by the end of the story. I fully expect the story will complete Kvothe's story but like real life there will be many questions left unanswered.

 

[Mort]

double post