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A review by cavalary
The Narrow Road Between Desires by Patrick Rothfuss
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
This doesn’t fit how I think of Bast. But to call what I remember about a secondary character that I didn’t care much about to begin with vague would be an understatement, nearly ten years after reading The Name of the Wind and The Wise Man’s Fear and nine after reading The Slow Regard of Silent Things, which isn’t even relevant in this matter. So I’ll take it for what it is, a faerie tale without the sort of action that’d be expected of one, a children’s story that merely threatens to become dark for a moment and then backs well away even from that while also skipping over any bits of content that’d tend to be considered unsuitable for children, for one reason or the other. I guess I could call it a wholesome story, and one that may be said to be so in spite of its main character.
Based on the above, you might think that it shares quite a few similarities with The Slow Regard of Silent Things, but I’d disagree, at least if you scratch beyond the surface. It’s written well and achieves what it intends, the author’s note doing a good job of explaining just what that is, but it’s not what I’d normally read or enjoy and just that note and the target bothered me even more, considering my stance on children and, especially, those who have them. I even considered lowering the rating, but decided to just take the story itself into account, judge it based on what it aims to be and not what I’d have wanted from it, and appreciate the fact that it shows that the author hasn’t completely forgotten about the series. So, if you take it for what it is and enjoy this sort of thing, it’s pretty good, at least as far as I can tell. But if you hope for something to at least match The Slow Regard of Silent Things, to leave aside the main books in the series, you’re unlikely to find it here.
Based on the above, you might think that it shares quite a few similarities with The Slow Regard of Silent Things, but I’d disagree, at least if you scratch beyond the surface. It’s written well and achieves what it intends, the author’s note doing a good job of explaining just what that is, but it’s not what I’d normally read or enjoy and just that note and the target bothered me even more, considering my stance on children and, especially, those who have them. I even considered lowering the rating, but decided to just take the story itself into account, judge it based on what it aims to be and not what I’d have wanted from it, and appreciate the fact that it shows that the author hasn’t completely forgotten about the series. So, if you take it for what it is and enjoy this sort of thing, it’s pretty good, at least as far as I can tell. But if you hope for something to at least match The Slow Regard of Silent Things, to leave aside the main books in the series, you’re unlikely to find it here.