Kingkiller Chronicle

[Laughing Fool he/him]

I hate anthologies. I'm usually only interested in one or two of the stories, and I loathe paying like $40 for the one short story I'm interested in.

[GreyPilgrim he/him]

In all honesty, much as it is cool for us to get little stories like Bast's and The Slow Regard of Silent Things, I wish Patrick would just focus on Doors of Stone. At this rate, it is going to be longer between the release of NotW and WMF before DoS comes out! And DoS is supposed to be significantly shorter than WMF. He doesn't need all these distractions, no matter how good they are.

That said, I will gladly fork over the 12 bucks for the Kindle version of Rogues. And however much it is for TSRoST.

[The Rooster he/him]

I get all of my anthologies from the Library. I don't want to shell over full price for something I'm only going to consume a portion of.

[GreyPilgrim he/him]

That's actually genius. I doubt my library will carry Rogues, though, and I don't feel like waiting months for it. Plus, as I see it, if I am ever in a rut and need a new author, I can sample writing in anthologies.

[Laughing Fool he/him]

I just read The Lightning Tree from GRRM's Rouges anthology. Bast centric Short story. It's excellent. Evey one go read it so we can discuss!

I haven't finished reading it just yet...

...but the part where Bast convinces Kvothe to accept Crazy Martin's liquor as payment, and Bast says, "Ask for five or six boxes. It's getting cold at night. Winter's coming." And Kvothe responded with, "I'm sure Martin will be flattered." made me laugh out loud.

There is no way that was a coincidence; it's clearly a nod to GRRM.

[GreyPilgrim he/him]

So Pat said this in his blog post yesterday if you missed it:

This is something I’ve known for a while, but I’ve been keeping it under my hat. Making sure I really liked it. Making certain I was sure of it. Names are important things, or so I hear.

But I can’t think of a better reason for letting it out of the bag than the delightful conclusion of this fundraiser.

The world is called Temerant.

Say it with me: Temerant.

Temerant.

So that's pretty cool. I like calling the world Temerant about ten thousand times more than saying "the Kingliller world" or "the Four Corners world".

[Swimmingly he/him]

It has a meaning in Latin, too! As far as I can tell, it's "they who are defiling". Which, given the [insert various spoilers about how the entire place is messed up and requires trigonometry to use a compass] kind of makes sense, over the long scale.

[Argent he/him]

I personally dig the 90s sitcom image on the blog post.

[Quiver he/him]

So. I'm thinking of picking up a copy of the Kingkiller Chronicles.

Anyone want to pitch it to me? What's it like?

[Swimmingly he/him]

It's probably some of the most beautiful prose, tight characterisation, and breathtaking world building that I've ever seen. The thematic aspect is handled masterfully, and, whether you like tight, sanderson-esque energy magic, LeGuin style mystical command, or capricious illusion, there are ample amounts. I would honestly say that Rothfuss's work is better than Sanderson in many ways, though he's nowhere neat as prolific.

[Argent he/him]

"The most beautiful prose," while a true description, doesn't even come close to conveying how amazing Rothfuss' writing can be. I must've read his books at least 4 times each, and every time I reread them, I find something new I hadn't noticed before, some new clever way he wordsmiths his way to beauty. I am pretty good at words, but it would take a person far more skilled than me to give a proper tribute to Pat's genius with the language.

[Swimmingly he/him]

Like a perfect poem, like a turning wheel, like a swift and winding river, and nothing at all like any of them. It's difficult to describe it, but the world of the story fits it the same way an theatre fits a play - every element, as it is, is perfect for the moment, and yet it isn't the only moment, or the only story, and it would be perfect for any of them.

Really, this is the best way to sell the prose: When a character's dialogue shifts to poetry and prose, not merely conversation, you can hardly tell the difference, and it never feels pretentious. Unless it's supposed to.

[GreyPilgrim he/him]

I agree; part of what makes Rothfuss's writing so amazing is the fact that it can be so poetic while simultaneously being almost totally transparent. He has the perfect balance between functional prose (à la Brandon, existing only to convey ideas, though he is becoming a little more poetic) and purple. Rothfuss's writing is flowery in all senses of the word. It is majestic. It radiates beauty. But it is not excessively beautiful; you will never notice a lot of the nuance of his writing if you're not looking for it. Rothfuss is one of the few writers whose writing I can sit down and just let flow over me. It is not over or under descriptive. It has a literally perfect rhythm (and I do not use "literally" unless I mean literally).

I could go on and on, but I think you get the point now, Quiver. I love Pat's books, and there is a group here who are nearly as dedicated to him as we are to Brandon. (Yes, Swimmingly, Argent and I are among them. Look back in this thread and it be pretty easy to tell.)

However, I have to admit that Rothfuss's books are not perfect either. His worldbuilding is nearly on par with Brandon's, true, but his plotting is not the strongest. Rothfuss can tell a darned good story, and he can tell it well, but the plot itself often leave a bit to be desired. But plot is not nearly as important to Kingkiller as it is to most other fantasy novels. Pat focuses on story, not plot, if you understand what I mean.

So if you are ready to be taken on a literary journey, step into the Waystone Inn and listen to Kvothe's tale. But if you just want to be taken away by a fascinating plot, you may want to reconsider. But I suggest you read the books. You shouldn't regret it.

[Swimmingly he/him]

I never had any problems with the plot; what did you see wrong with it?

[Left he/him]

Well all the side plots in book two that just keeeept going. The fact that we still don't know much about the Chandrian, the continual foreshadowing about the one Lord at the school that's supposed to get Kvothe kicked out.

[GreyPilgrim he/him]

It's not that the plot is bad, I just personally don't find it to be great. It is definitely somewhat on the generic side, i.e. "Boy's parents die, he vows to find out about and destroy their killers", plus the whole magic school thing. Kid goes there, is great, makes a mortal enemy, etc. And I never really enjoyed the plot points around Kvothe's financial issues. And as LeftInch said, the side plots and side plots of side plots and side plots of side plots of side plots and so on of WMF can get a bit annoying. And also the fact that neither book has a really solid plot resolution. What I really mean to point out is that Kingkiller neither possesses or is about the tight plotting that an appreciator Brandon's books likes. There are still some great aspects of the plot, however it is the characters, the characterization, the prose, Rothfuss's sense of the "shape" of a story and his world that make his books amazing.

[Argent he/him]

I almost have to wonder whether the books are about Kvothe's personal life much more so than they are about his adventures, exploits, and power. Some of the best scenes in both books were between Kvothe, old(er) or young(er), and other characters he knows well, especially Denna. In that sense his pursuit of the Chandrian is really more of a side quest - though, if that's the case, then we run into the problem of Pat breaking promises he's made to the readers... But I think I am okay with this, either way. I've found it counterproductive to try to shoehorn the story into any of the models I am used to. Kingkiller is, to me, about a beautiful game story.

[Swimmingly he/him]

I think we're going to be very happy with day 3, personally. Day one was introduction. Day two was setting things up. Day three should use all of that.

[SmurfAquamarineBodies he/him]

Have there been any hints as to when the next book comes out?

[GreyPilgrim he/him]

I haven't heard any real hints yet, and I read Pat's blog, follow him on Facebook and read his Twitter feed, so I am pretty sure there aren't yet. The thing is that he agonizes so much over all of the phrasings and word choice that it takes him forever to write a book. Plus, he did the Bast story for Rogues and TSRoST, which have definitely taken up a ton of his writing time. And Worldbuilders. I would be surprised if we saw Day 3 before late 2015 if not 2016. But Pat could step up the pace now that he is back on track. But I doubt it.

[Swimmingly he/him]

And The Slow Regard Of Silent Things.

[GreyPilgrim he/him]

*cough* *cough* TSRoST *cough* *cough*

[SmurfAquamarineBodies he/him]

Thanks.

[Argent he/him]

All in the favor for TSRoST being the worst book acronym in existence, displacing the previous contender, TFioS?

[GreyPilgrim he/him]

I don't know; SfSitFoH is pretty bad.