Gollancz, 2012. 994 pages.
Rating: ★★★★ (4 stars)
Source:
Tome Books
I read Patrick Rothfuss's debut,
The Name of the Wind (Kingkiller Chronicle #1), a few months back and thoroughly enjoyed it. It was the kind of book I love to stumble upon: inventive, engaging and utterly absorbing. Rothfuss writes both beautiful prose and effortlessly natural dialogue, he weaves a highly believable, vibrant world and his characterisation is simply stunning. This is the kind of fantasy that draws you in completely and for me it was one of those reading experiences I treasure dearly.
That said, then, I had high expectations for
The Wise Man's Fear. This book picks up pretty much where the first left off and within the same unique structure. The tale opens on day two of Kvothe's recounting of his life and adventures to Chronicler, our story within a story, which is in turn delightfully scattered with further layers of storytelling within Kvothe's own tale.
The first 350 pages certainly did not disappoint. We return to Kvothe's time at the University, a setting I loved from the first book. We are reunited with a wonderful cast of characters, Kvothe's friends Wil, Sim and Fela, Denna (his one true love), the eccentric and brilliant Elodin, Master Namer, devious Ambrose, and delightful, tragic Auri, to name but a few. Each character is very much their own being, sparkling with life. Not a single one feels two-dimensional, and the interactions between the them were dynamic and captivating. And while this part of the story in many ways repeats situations encountered in
The Name of the Wind (rivalry with Ambrose, pining after Denna etc.), it all still felt fresh and engaging.
About a third of the way though the book, however, Kvothe departs the University for a term following his arrest and trial resulting from his bitter feud with Ambrose. Thus the story takes itself off in a new direction, to a new part of the map, visiting intriguing new places and meeting new characters. We visit Vintas, where Kvothe enters the service of the powerful Maer, foils poisoners, hunts down bandits, stumbles into the Fae realm (and has lots of sex!), and even chases the wind to the very edge of the map.
While I did find this shift exciting, a part of me also pined after the University. This unfortunately meant it took me a little while to engage with this part of the story, to let go and flow with the adventure as it unfolded. There were a couple of sections I felt dragged on a little too long at the time of reading them, though curiously they have grown on me in hindsight. This is perhaps through benefit of being able to step back and view the book as a whole, getting a clearer picture of how Kvothe's experiences are falling together to create the enigma and legend he will become. These events both shape Kvothe as a person and the tales that are already being told about him (each of which claims its own spot on the spectrum of truth).
Throughout these adventures Kvothe also inches forward, very slightly, in his quest for knowledge on the deadly Chandrian. This book builds a tantalising feeling of dark, deadly secrets hiding just out of reach, both those to be discovered by Kvothe himself and those to be revealed to the reader as the story unfolds. We are still quite in the dark regarding the events that lead Kvothe to his present exile, and I am very much intrigued to see how everything comes together in book #3.
Kvothe is a fantastic character and he invokes a lot of emotion in the reader. I find him both highly likable and highly infuriating. His is clever and charming, loyal and passionate. He also has many flaws and finds himself in all manner of trouble, yet always seems to land on his feet. Underneath all this, however, is a lurking feeling that something is about to give, about to go terribly wrong, about to spiral off into something
very big. It is precisely this feeling that kept me hooked, even through the slower parts of this book. We know something spectacular is going to happen, but are blind to the what, when and how. We are drip-fed just enough information to keep us from going mad, but so much is still deliciously mysterious!
Overall, I really enjoyed this book and highly recommend the series. Yes, I did find it dragged in a couple places, but the beauty of the storytelling and the brilliant world Rothfuss has created far outweighs any of that. This is a gem of a novel and made me a very happy book fiend. Now I just have to wait patiently for the next book...
This week's musing: Do you know of any local authors in your area, and –if so– have you met any of them?
At this event, I brought her second novel, Cooking with Bones, which is as wildly original and magical as her first. The book starts: “My sister is a formwanderer: she is a mirror of want. Each person she meets sees what they want, when they look at her. And she changes for each pair of eyes.” I found this an intriguing idea, and love the way it is used in the book. This book is very much an exploration of identity, of individual hopes, wants and dreams. Like Snake Ropes it is also full of mystery, a quest for truth told though the eyes of the characters who narrate the book.
