Review of The Wise Man's Fear by Patrick Rothfuss

BOOK DESCRIPTION FROM GOODREADS

Day Two: The Wise Man's Fear.
"There are three things all wise men fear: the sea in storm, a night with no moon, and the anger of a gentle man."

An escalating rivalry with a powerful member of the nobility forces Kvothe to leave the University and seek his fortune abroad. Adrift, penniless, and alone, he travels to Vintas, where he quickly becomes entangled in the politics of courtly society. While attempting to curry favor with a powerful noble, Kvothe discovers an assassination attempt, comes into conflict with a rival arcanist, and leads a group of mercenaries into the wild, in an attempt to solve the mystery of who (or what) is waylaying travelers on the King's road.

All the while, Kvothe searches for answers, attempting to uncover the truth about the mysterious Amyr, the Chandrian, and the death of his parents. Along the way, Kvothe is put on trial by the legendary Adem mercenaries, forced to reclaim the honor of the Edema Ruh, and travels into the Fae realm. There he meets Felurian, the faerie woman no man can resist, and who no man has ever survived. Under her tutelage, Kvothe learns much about true magic and the ways of women.

In The Wise Man's Fear Kvothe takes his first steps on the path of the hero and learns how difficult life can be when a man becomes a legend in his own time.

The words of Patrick Rothfuss will haunt you. They will invade your thoughts before you read, while you read and no doubt long after you have closed the book. Tell this story to a room filled with the world’s finest authors, minstrels, poets, actors and sideshow entertainers and they will laugh, they will shed tears, they will nod at the complexity, and they will weep that their own art looms in the shadows of the story they just heard. After The Name of the Wind (Day One [book 1] of the Kingkiller Chronicle) I was left awed and subdued by the mastery of this wonderful storytelling. In all honesty, I did not have any worries about how the continuation would turn out. Pat’s effort and resolve to take the necessary amount of time to put this epic tale together have definitely paid off. This story is long, dauntingly so. But the real horror I faced was that the end was coming faster and faster and thoughts of that in between reading were actually quite depressing. I felt like I was a ten year old kid who was just taken to Disneyworld for the first time and then told that I had to leave after only a few short hours of riding the best rides in the world. I am not even going to highlight my favorite parts of the book because I could in no way, shape or form do them the justice that they deserve. The whole book resonated within me like a new sun with my mind its closest planet. Twists and turns in the plot reverberated my thoughts back to me like only a set of ninety year old twins could finish each other’s sentences. Each scene is laid out perfectly and rich with detail. I loved it and that is really all that I can say. Except, Go out and read these books. Thank-you Patrick Rothfuss! I am deeply in your debt for the story that you shared with me. Godspeed.

Review of The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss

BOOK DESCRIPTION FROM GOODREADS

The story revolves around Kvothe, an enigmatic red-haired innkeeper who, as he shares his incredible life story with a renowned scribe, turns out to be much more than he appears. Born into a family of nomadic court performers, Kvothe's unconventional education was broadened by spending time with fellow travelers like Abenthy, an elderly arcanist whose knowledge included, among other things, knowing the name of the wind. After his parents are brutally murdered by mythical beings known as the Chandrian, Kvothe vows to learn more about the godlike group, and after suffering through years of homelessness, he finally gets his chance when he is admitted into the prestigious University. But the pursuit of arcane knowledge brings with it unforeseen dangers, as the young student quickly learns.

With the release of his first novel, Rothfuss (who has already been compared to the likes of Terry Goodkind, Robert Jordan, and George R. R. Martin) is poised to be crowned the new king of epic fantasy. The Name of the Wind won't just impress longtime fantasy fans; it will absolutely blow them away -- an unprecedented, utterly breathtaking storytelling tour de force. Paul Goat Allen

Dear Mr. Rothfuss, Pat if I may... Simply put, I am having a love affair with your book. This first part of a planned series has the consistency, taste and appeal of my Mom's mashed potatoes. Please don't get me wrong and hear me out. The perfect blended texture of butter, sour cream, lightly shredded cheddar cheese is all the mouthwatering happy a mash potato loving boy like me could ever ask for. These things just stick to your insides with a deep rooted love meant to warm the spirit. After four reads and dozens of times picking it up and perusing my favorite and most memorable passages, I still don't think I can even scratch the surface of the elation I get from it. So please forgive my slight injustice at expressing how your book has affected a single life. At times it is truly like the wind the way you have woven your words together with only what I can imagine is the instinctual touch of patience, wisdom and natural/raw talent of a master craftsman. I think that if you look into this book as I have, you can quite literally see the blood and tears that went into it. It is truly something amazing in my opinion when you can read a few sentences, then again slower in your mind read them again and it is as if those words sink deep into you, become a part of you that you can breathe them out and smile because somewhere there is someone that can put down on paper what it is really like to feel. Just one of the ingenious aspects that makes this book so interesting is that, while our astute author can weave words together like an unknown to our world magic, he is writing about the life and experiences of a man that makes it his goal in life above many, many, many other things to understand the power of words and names. And to put the cherry on top of the proverbial sundae, said master namer is the one recollecting the events in only the way a story teller of his caliber can... Perfectly. Like Kvothe's family the Edema Ruh (traveling performers) the stage of this story is laid out with vibrant colors, precision detail and a world that jumps off the page at you. There are so many intricacies to this story that it would be impossible for me to relate the wonderful world that opens up to anyone searching for the greatest story ever told. In conclusion, there is something that I feel that I cannot leave out. Something that pushes the respect I have for the author above all else. A connection to which makes all the above jumbled adoration certain. That in the very heart of this story there is a very humbled boy that is in love with a girl. And with that love an unspoken knowledge of how he feels for her and the crystalline pedestal he has placed her on. That same knowledge that whispers its hints that despite the thousands of poems, songs, and declarations that have spoken it, there are no words that will ever describe the love you feel for her. In the words of Forrest Gump, "That's all I have to say about that." With the release of day two of the Kingkiller Chronicles fast approaching, my anticipation has me almost completely off my book reading rocker. There is not a worry in my head that the future of kvothes life will keep me blissfully entwined in the words he speaks for many years to come. Truly, a story for the ages. Thank-you Pat, your awesomeness knows no bounds.