Scan barcode
A review by artemisg
The Wise Man's Fear by Patrick Rothfuss
adventurous
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Super late review but I'm trying to review everything I read this year so I'm getting to my backlog. I loved this book a lot, as you can see. I am such a sucker for fantasy, and I stand by this world having one of the best practical magic systems in fiction. I loved seeing more magic, and the concept of naming is so interesting.
Originally, I preferred this to the first novel in the series, I loved to see the characters at the University become more fleshed out and I am now a Wil and Sim stan. I genuinely really enjoyed the majority of the University chapters, mainly due to the dynamics between characters. But as the novel wore on, I became less invested, this 900 page book covers about a year of Kvothe's life (something like that I'm not 100% sure), and as exciting as that year was, I would have loved to hear about more. This is not to say I didn't thoroughly enjoy the book, this book is great. The first novel covered birth to age 16 - with particular ages having more detail, obviously - and I just have no idea how Rothfuss can write another book covering ages 16 to the ambiguous age Kvothe is now.
A second gripe I have with this book is the weird sex escape Kvothe goes on with a magical sex fairy, where he impresses her with his sex despite it being his first time? Just let him impress her with his ability to name the wind and do magic? Like, the boy doesn't need to be good at everything, and he already proved his prowess when he literally almost killed her. Also, Denna kind of sucks. Initially I thought maybe Rothfuss is just bad at writing women, but Auri, Fela, Mola, Devi, and Vashet are dope. Although, they are just there to advance Kvothe's story, and the majority of them are a little bit in love with him so.... I digress. Denna still kind of sucks, which is a shame because I adored her in the first book.
When the story picked up, I was absolutely taken, as much as I would have loved to hear about the dangerous trip to Vintas, I appreciated the humour in skipping it. And once we got to Vintas the political intrigue was so great, and I loved how morally grey the Maer was. I loved seeing Kvothe somehow both in his element and out of his depth. Also, his badassery with the bandits was great, despite how drawn out the trip was. Going with the theme of badassery, I loved his training with the Adem, although it was so unrealistic within the timeline, I really hoped he would stay there for a bit longer. Loved his defence of his identity as Edema Ruh, and how it didn't get him a patron but the next best thing, it just would've been too simple for him to get a patron, and he ended up on top anyway, absolutely finessing the system.
Overall, a great book, and as much as I want the next one right now, it was satisfying enough that I can live with a long wait - thank god I didn't read it when it came out I wouldn't have had that patience (also I was 9).
P.S. Kvothe selling his arrowcatch for like 8 talents when it should've gone for 25 - socialist king <33
Originally, I preferred this to the first novel in the series, I loved to see the characters at the University become more fleshed out and I am now a Wil and Sim stan. I genuinely really enjoyed the majority of the University chapters, mainly due to the dynamics between characters. But as the novel wore on, I became less invested, this 900 page book covers about a year of Kvothe's life (something like that I'm not 100% sure), and as exciting as that year was, I would have loved to hear about more. This is not to say I didn't thoroughly enjoy the book, this book is great. The first novel covered birth to age 16 - with particular ages having more detail, obviously - and I just have no idea how Rothfuss can write another book covering ages 16 to the ambiguous age Kvothe is now.
When the story picked up, I was absolutely taken, as much as I would have loved to hear about the dangerous trip to Vintas, I appreciated the humour in skipping it. And once we got to Vintas the political intrigue was so great, and I loved how morally grey the Maer was. I loved seeing Kvothe somehow both in his element and out of his depth.
Overall, a great book, and as much as I want the next one right now, it was satisfying enough that I can live with a long wait - thank god I didn't read it when it came out I wouldn't have had that patience (also I was 9).
P.S. Kvothe selling his arrowcatch for like 8 talents when it should've gone for 25 - socialist king <33
Content Warnings
Minor: Rape