"Name of the Wind" - NerdCon Oct10 No Date for Book 3 Yet

Pirate Bob wrote:

Me: Enabled.
Book: Ordered.
Vacation in 3 weeks: Readin' time!
Thread: Marked for later.

You could have both books read by then if they grab you like they did me and the missus - better make a backup plan! May I suggest Steven Brust?

Loved every second of this book. Complaints noted and ignored. I can not get enough of his storytelling.

Anyone else think Kote is not actually Kvothe?

In a sense, Kote isn't the same as Kvothe; Kote is an Innkeeper who settled after wandering the world for a few years. Kvothe is a legend in his own right, with a huge string of adventures and impossible feats under his belt.

I quite liked it. Not as engaging or "wow" as the 1st book. My problems are all problems you would have with a very good book and in no way would I mean these to be taken that I dislike the book but...

Spoiler:

The world building is quite bad. There is zero chance I would take this world as real or credible or would function. This hurts the book the most.

I'm with the group that dislikes Denna. I mean I get why he likes her and all that (their witty banter is well done) but unresolved sexual tension is really annoying 2 books in.

Rothfuss can not pull off villainousness or bad characters. They come as to one-dimensional.

A bit too much foreshadowing. The main reason this book succeeds is the friction between who Kvothe is now, who Kvothe was plus the actual legendary aspect. This mostly works but things get bogged down when you already know are going to happen, happen but are not interesting enough on their own. The Adem time being the biggest case although I think the most annoying case was Meluan where anyone with half a brain could see it coming.

Anyway besides all that I really like it. Being in that world just has a great happy feel and there are parts that make me want to cheer. I'm not waiting for the 3rd as much as I was for the 2nd but I will read it.

Anyone else think Kote is not actually Kvothe?

Spoiler:

Also for those strings that could be real:
Meluan and Kvothe are related.
Denna is working for the Chandrian.

Love the idea of Cthaeh. Brings up so many interesting ideas.

I didn't mean metaphorically. I mean literally two different people.

Nietzsche wrote:

I didn't mean metaphorically. I mean literally two different people.

Think back to when Kvothe was first learning sympathy in the first book, and it becomes much less metaphorical, although it remains highly metaphysical.

The narrator has already called the innkeeper Kvothe dozens of times, I fear. Unless we're going for an unreliable narrator (in the framing scenes), Kote is Kvothe.

I'm wondering if there will be more books after book three. I hope so!

I think there will be more on the name of the person changes and thus the person changes as Kvothe's conversation with Elodin alluded to, but I still think Kote is Kvothe. Interesting idea though...

drdoak wrote:

I think there will be more on the name of the person changes and thus the person changes as Kvothe's conversation with Elodin alluded to, but I still think Kote is Kvothe. Interesting idea though...

Plus, I don't think it would be possible to fool Bast about something like that.

Spoiler:

Meluan and Kvothe are related.

Spoiler:

I was thinking that same thing. I can't remember the story of Kvothe's mother. But the first thing that popped into my mind was that Meluan is his aunt. That Kvothe's mother is Meluan's sister than ran away with a trouper.

I think the parallels between the book and real life are interesting. By knowing someone's name, you have power over them. We see this today with celebrities: their lack of privacy and the amount of upkeep it takes to maintain your name after it has become household.

fangblackbone wrote:
Spoiler:

Meluan and Kvothe are related.

Spoiler:

I was thinking that same thing. I can't remember the story of Kvothe's mother. But the first thing that popped into my mind was that Meluan is his aunt. That Kvothe's mother is Meluan's sister than ran away with a trouper.

I'm pretty sure that this is the case.

drdoak wrote:

Loved every second of this book. Complaints noted and ignored. I can not get enough of his storytelling.

This, bolded and italicized in [size=24][color=red]24 point red text[/color][/size].

I finished and then went back and started reading the spoilered sections to see what I've been missing. I gave up at page 5. Apparently I've been missing a lot of people angry about not being told the story they want to hear and instead are told the story Rothfuss wants to tell. Perhaps I'm just an easy-to-please simpleton -- I don't discount the possibility, quite honestly -- but I would have changed nothing. It's pitched as a written account of a verbal account of a self-proclaimed hero, captured during the telling. I take it as that and enjoy the ride.

It's going to be a long wait for the third.

I think, Coldforged, that it's more that we think Rothfuss is telling us what we he thinks we want to hear.

Don't get me wrong, I loved the books, but the fantasy Batman schtick does get a little tiresome.

I love the book but it's just not as strong as Name of the Wind. Most 2nd books have this feeling and it's because authors try to set up the events and world of the 3rd book. The good news is most finale's end really well. (I'm talking heroic fantasy not any other genre)

My wife and I totally love both books. I'm done, she's about halfway through the second.

"Fantasy Batman" is funny and accurate, but I couldn't care less; I can't wait for book three. I'm sure I'll re-read the series many times over the course of my life.

Oh, me too. I can love them while simultaneously being a bit irritated with them in spots.

After further thought, and to hopefully reduce my snarkiness, I think I understand where people are coming from. There are many legitimate complaints one could levy that are rather conveniently protected under the umbrella of "ah, but this is an oral history." I'm unsure why I give Rothfuss a pass aside from to say that I just really enjoy the words I'm seeing. I don't care that I spent a slew of pages betwixt the comely jugs of Felurian, or that we didn't get to hear about a certain set of adventures and misfortunes and we did hear about another, etc. I find myself forgiving Rothfuss things that I hold many other authors firmly to. Others cannot and I understand that. I disagree for whatever ill-defined reasons, but I understand.

ColdForged wrote:

I find myself forgiving Rothfuss things that I hold many other authors firmly to.

It's the righteous beard.

Fed, CF, you two are in good company, so fear not.

Malor wrote:

I think, Coldforged, that it's more that we think Rothfuss is telling us what we he thinks we want to hear.

Don't get me wrong, I loved the books, but the fantasy Batman schtick does get a little tiresome.

You know, I'm pretty sure that a good author will fall somewhere inbetween telling us what he wants to tell and telling us what he wants to hear, so I can't really see this as a bad thing. As for the fantasy Batman Schtick, well, for anyone getting tired of it, in all fairness to Rothfuss, he was very upfront with that in the first book, where he goes on about Kvothe's many names.

Double posted for her pleasure. I think I'll make a Kvothe shirt. "Felurian? Hit it."

For those of you who haven't seen today's Penny Arcade comic, it considers a common talking point in this thread. There are mild spoilers for those who haven't finished The Wise Man's Fear.

So, while this isn't precisely related to Kvothe, or the books in question, it is Patrick Rothfuss the author. So what is it? Well, it's probably the best book reading ever, taken on a cellphone cam at a romance novel convention that the aforementioned Mr Rothfuss was invited to, wherein he read a sex scene from Wise Man's Fear, and offered to go halfsies on dialog with Amber Benson:

Note - the reading is from Amber Benson's book, not Rothfuss's. Still fun.

What.......is the name of that book?

"Hooker on the Red Line"...I believe.

Rather appropriately, it's called "Serpent's Storm".

So I just finished re-reading Wise Man's Fear and it was much better on a second read. Has anyone else taken a second run through?

I finished a second run through them both not too long ago. I definitely enjoyed it, although I came away feeling a bit more let down at the end knowing that there's a wait for the next book.

I just finished the first two up for a first time and loved them both. Really want this next book badly now.

We should take up a collection for leg manacles for Rothfuss; we can let him away from his desk on alternate Sundays, but only if he's good.