Review by thewallner - The Wise Man's Fear

thewallner 's review for:

The Wise Man's Fear by Patrick Rothfuss

4.0

CW: mention of SA in review

I really enjoy this series and am hopeful that the author will finish it someday. The storytelling is captivating, and I’m invested in finding out how the story ends.

I do have a problem with it though - that I felt in the first book, The Name of the Wind, and really just solidified in this one - and that is the attitudes toward women. The series takes about 400 pages to even introduce a female character and when it does, it’s through the lens of a 14 year old boy who is completely obsessed with her and flattens her into a one-dimensional character. Unfortunately, The Wise Man’s Fear doesn’t do much to rectify the situation. There are a few more female characters, which helps, but the protagonist still holds such a weird view toward women. He’s either objectifying them or saving them at every turn.

I think the thing that was the nail in the coffin for me, was when he responded “not all men” after saving two women who had been held hostage and raped repeatedly.

I just…

There are other weird moments around the treatment of women in these book too, you don’t have to look very hard.

Content Warnings