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A review by pewter
The Wise Man's Fear by Patrick Rothfuss
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.75
Oh dear. Rothfuss' clever writing, amazing magic system, and excellent world-building struggles to make up for shallow characters and meandering plot points in the second installment of the Kingkiller Chronicle.
The Wise Man's Fear suffers from a lack of flow. The novel reads like a list of plot-points that Rothfuss needed to include, but didn't know how to put together. The result: 4 or 5 very distinct stories about Kvothe being awesome, ending almost exactly where we began.
To be clear, this isn't all bad: it is exciting to see the world that Rothfuss has built, and refreshing to see some new characters and cultures. New mysteries are introduced (though almost no old ones resolved), and old, tired plot points (student rivalry, continuing financial struggles) are thankfully put on hold while we explore a more adult world - a world where Kvothe's unending snark, intelligence, magical abilities, and musical talents are still often, but not exclusively, the solution to all his problems. And Kvothe is such an asshole, that when he does something genuinely kind, it seems out of character or strange.
Unfortunately, we see Rothfuss true weakness divulged: character development. Throughout all his travels, Kvothe's attitudes don't change. Not one bit. And there's plenty of opportunity - in fact, one of the last main adventures focused on Kvothe having to learn new languages and new ways of thinking and acting, and new societal norms - and amazingly he walks away without any growth at all.
Somehow, Kvothe spends months with a community of Adem, and doesn't pick up any of the lessons on Lethani? He gains their trust, learns the culture, earns his place... and 5 days later he murders an entire troop of (bad) people without blinking an eye, and then sabotages Ambrose some more for no reason. Seriously? He doesn't even discuss the transition back into his own language, or any of the mindfulness or lessons. This is infuriating, and shows that the author simply needed a quick way to give him sword skills and nothing else. Lazy prep work for book 3.
The meandering tangents could have been incredibly satisfying if the protagonist, Kvothe, came back from them with any character development at all. Kvothe commits some pretty dark deeds with his arcane abilities, but it doesn't matter. There is no consequences for the snarky, smartass Kvothe. Inexplicably, the climax of this book was somewhere near the midway point, with everything else seemingly tacked on as either preparation for the next book, or cringe-worthy author self-insert.
However, the largest issue in the book was not the pacing, the character development, or the meandering. It was revelation that the books poor writing and attitudes re: women were not just Kvothe's childish narration, but the author's real feelings.
Author fantasy is the only reason Kvothe could have spent so long fucking a sex goddess. It was completely unrelated to the rest of the story and was only added to make Kvothe good at even more things. And now he's a woman expert? Good lord, Rothfuss, this is an embarrassing revelation on what you think women are! And if it's Kvothe that feels this way, not you, why would I want to read it?
Kvothe's new (inexplicable) sexual prowess in this book suddenly give way to incredibly misogynistic moments such as "each woman is like an instrument, waiting to be learned, and finely played, to have at least her own true music made" (WOW) Almost all his new female teachers and peers all want a piece. Are there any women in this series that aren't sexual objects? Even his friend Denna has become this treasure that he yearns for, just out of reach.
All in all, this book is cringey male fantasy at it's ugliest. The beautiful writing and lovely world-building cannot hide the problems. The protagonist Kvothe: the smartest, most talented, most clever, funny, snarky student has now gained the best physical abilities and best sexual powers, and he didn't even have to learn or change anything! My eyes cannot roll far enough. Kvothe - the protagonist built for internet trolls and incels - makes it very hard to enjoy such a lovingly built world.
2.75 stars because there was some pretty clever rhyming fae couplets that attention wasn't called to at all - deserved to be read out loud. But that's all you get, Rothfuss, unless your next one really nails it out of the park.
The Wise Man's Fear suffers from a lack of flow. The novel reads like a list of plot-points that Rothfuss needed to include, but didn't know how to put together. The result: 4 or 5 very distinct stories about Kvothe being awesome, ending almost exactly where we began.
To be clear, this isn't all bad: it is exciting to see the world that Rothfuss has built, and refreshing to see some new characters and cultures. New mysteries are introduced (though almost no old ones resolved), and old, tired plot points (student rivalry, continuing financial struggles) are thankfully put on hold while we explore a more adult world - a world where Kvothe's unending snark, intelligence, magical abilities, and musical talents are still often, but not exclusively, the solution to all his problems. And Kvothe is such an asshole, that when he does something genuinely kind, it seems out of character or strange.
Unfortunately, we see Rothfuss true weakness divulged: character development. Throughout all his travels, Kvothe's attitudes don't change. Not one bit. And there's plenty of opportunity - in fact, one of the last main adventures focused on Kvothe having to learn new languages and new ways of thinking and acting, and new societal norms - and amazingly he walks away without any growth at all.
Somehow, Kvothe spends months with a community of Adem, and doesn't pick up any of the lessons on Lethani? He gains their trust, learns the culture, earns his place... and 5 days later he murders an entire troop of (bad) people without blinking an eye, and then sabotages Ambrose some more for no reason. Seriously? He doesn't even discuss the transition back into his own language, or any of the mindfulness or lessons. This is infuriating, and shows that the author simply needed a quick way to give him sword skills and nothing else. Lazy prep work for book 3.
The meandering tangents could have been incredibly satisfying if the protagonist, Kvothe, came back from them with any character development at all. Kvothe commits some pretty dark deeds with his arcane abilities, but it doesn't matter. There is no consequences for the snarky, smartass Kvothe. Inexplicably, the climax of this book was somewhere near the midway point, with everything else seemingly tacked on as either preparation for the next book, or cringe-worthy author self-insert.
However, the largest issue in the book was not the pacing, the character development, or the meandering. It was revelation that the books poor writing and attitudes re: women were not just Kvothe's childish narration, but the author's real feelings.
Author fantasy is the only reason Kvothe could have spent so long fucking a sex goddess. It was completely unrelated to the rest of the story and was only added to make Kvothe good at even more things. And now he's a woman expert? Good lord, Rothfuss, this is an embarrassing revelation on what you think women are! And if it's Kvothe that feels this way, not you, why would I want to read it?
Kvothe's new (inexplicable) sexual prowess in this book suddenly give way to incredibly misogynistic moments such as "each woman is like an instrument, waiting to be learned, and finely played, to have at least her own true music made" (WOW) Almost all his new female teachers and peers all want a piece. Are there any women in this series that aren't sexual objects? Even his friend Denna has become this treasure that he yearns for, just out of reach.
All in all, this book is cringey male fantasy at it's ugliest. The beautiful writing and lovely world-building cannot hide the problems. The protagonist Kvothe: the smartest, most talented, most clever, funny, snarky student has now gained the best physical abilities and best sexual powers, and he didn't even have to learn or change anything! My eyes cannot roll far enough. Kvothe - the protagonist built for internet trolls and incels - makes it very hard to enjoy such a lovingly built world.
2.75 stars because there was some pretty clever rhyming fae couplets that attention wasn't called to at all - deserved to be read out loud. But that's all you get, Rothfuss, unless your next one really nails it out of the park.