Tag: Patrick Rothfuss

Reviewing Rothfuss, Pt. II, A Theory of Kings

A couple of weeks ago, I finished The Wise Man’s Fear and posted a scattered reflection. I was broken, but my own Fulcrum had been found. Founded. The answer is yes, I’m still reeling from the hangover it left. So, as in tradition with hair of the dog, I picked up his novella, The Slow Regard of Silent Things. After setting it down a second time, my appetite still wasn’t sated and I made a mistake—I delved into fan theories about Rothfuss’s work. Come on, I’m hungry for more.

Most theories panned by fans are ludicrous, but, shifting though hours of other’s research and making notes of my own, I found that many of Kvothe seem to fit.

In fact, Captured in Words posited that—if you hadn’t guessed already, spoilers abound—the knowledge of Kvothe’s Lacklass blood is canon at this point. I know, it’s daring. Bold at the very least. But it’s also probably correct, because a lot of these things just make sense. Tally them up, love, because here comes another one.

Considering this to be true, something donned my thoughts, nose-deep in fan theories. The trilogy is coined the Kingkiller Chronicle, right? But mention of any king beside the High King himself has been lacking, and Modeg’s Rule has only been mentioned in passing. Based on Pat’s style, doesn’t it make sense that if the title of his trilogy is based on a certain action, as in the murder of a king, then the action would have been hinted at far before the third installment? It seems entirely too sloppy, considering what we’ve seen Rothfuss do in the past.

Then it struck, and my head still vibrates with the reverberations. What if we have seen the King? What if we’ve been alongside him since day one? I know, this is getting a little sketchy, but if Kvothe ends up having Lackless blood, there might be the small chance that he comes into inheritance of the throne, or, at least Lacklass lands. Kvothe’s every reader knows that he wouldn’t accept the responsibilities of the former.

But Kvothe kill himself? “Not possible, He’s alive to tell the story!” you scream at me, your tomatoes bouncing from my forehead.

Well, yes, in a way he is still alive, but he isn’t the Kvothe we’ve grown beside. He has become Kote, has presumably changed his true name and become someone entirely different. A form of death and rebirth, and a behavior that Elodin suggests is abhorrently dangerous in The Name of the Wind. (There’s our mention from the beginning, our foreshadowing, if you will.) What if he changed his name and effectively killed the king he was supposed to become?

This, in reality, only leaves me more dumbfounded. What did you do, Kote? Why have you thrown away everything you’ve built? And where the hell is Denna? Please stop beating us with your walking stick, Pat. It’s grown old.

Also, watch this:

Kvothe – Kote = VH

VH are missing. His voice and his hands. What just happened?

I have one last: We might actually have a release date for Doors of Stone. Check out this wonderful ruby.

A Review of Rothfuss

Ah, Patrick Rothfuss, a master and connoisseur of fine writing, or so I’ve thought for most of the years I’ve read his work. I fell in love with his writing style when I first encountered it. Who couldn’t? Readers can find more lore, detail, and character building in his worlds than most others have accomplished throughout their career, and he hasn’t finished his first trilogy. (What’s taking so long, Pat? We want it!)

I’ve read the Name of the Wind and the Wise Man’s Fear twice, just finishing both for the second time this year. Being rather young on the first go-round (I was barely into my third cell phone in 2011), I was in complete awe of the worlds he built. After the first time finishing, I closed the cover, tears rolling from my eyes, and consequently didn’t read anything else for a week. It was a book hangover of the worst kind. The second time I finished, I found myself closing the cover, tears rolling from my eyes, again wishing for more. Fan boys the world over eagerly await the third installment and the film production(s). (Praise Tehlu it’s in Miranda’s hands.) I ended the second reading, however, with  more awareness than I did the first, and with less stars in my eyes.

Yes, Rothfuss is a master at writing. I just can’t give the second reading as much praise as I did the first. His word usage, espeically toward the end of WMF, gets incredibly repetitive and his grammar becomes lackluster at best. Especially in the (SPOILERS) Interlude sections of the book, the writing seems lazy, even in supposed page-turning, action-heavy areas. I suppose this will be imitated in parts of the Doors of Stone, the trilogy’s next installment, as the style felt somewhat related to the plot and certain foreshadowing.

The biggest snag for me in the books was the utter convenience. I could be wrong here–I don’t have nearly as much experience as Rothfuss–but whenever he had certain convenience to wrap us parts of the plot, he did. The lead up to things that haven’t been mentioned in several hundred pages is missing, and sometimes, these events, items, or whatever they tend to be, are referenced in passing. It’s almost like Rothfuss remembers that his story asks unanswered questions, so he throws the audience a piece of stale bread for its patience.

There’s also the “Ahem,” (SPOILERS AGAIN), Deus Ex Machina of the Draccus in the end of NotW.

I understand he’s dealing with deadlines, and editing something as large as his second installment in the Kingkiller Trilogy is a nightmare in itself. He’s also very active in the community and his career doesn’t revolve around writing. So we can’t spend all our time picking through the story. If he’s doing more, we should be too, right?

I can’t willingly give The Name of the Wind or The Wise Man’s Fear anything less than Five Stars. I’m a little biased, and I’m not the only one. His fan base is growing. I stand at the forefront, clutching my signed copies of his books, impatiently waiting for Doors of Stone. I highly recommend checking out the series if you haven’t. And if you have, there are countless discussions over at Rothfussians on Goodreads regarding his books. There are some pretty good theories about his worlds too, and some of them are eerily accurate. Check them out if you have time.