The Wise Man’s Fear by Patrick Rothfuss – Book Review

Rating: 5/5

Genre: high fantasy

First published: 2011

Author: Patrick Rothfuss

Synopsis: My name is Kvothe.
I have stolen princesses back from sleeping barrow kings. I burned down the town of Trehon. I have spent the night with Felurian and left with both my sanity and my life. I was expelled from the University at a younger age than most people are allowed in. I tread paths by moonlight that others fear to speak of during day. I have talked to Gods, loved women, and written songs that make the minstrels weep.
You may have heard of me.

***SPOILER ALERT This is the second book in the series, and therefore the following review may contain some minor spoilers for The Name of the Wind.

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This was one behemoth of a book. I loved it!

Kvothe’s story continues and more and more little pieces fall into place. We get to meet Felurian and we get to see other places other than the University, which is exciting. We get to see Kvothe be a smartass in several different countries and learn how he gained a couple more of his nicknames. Kvothe is a little bit more grown up in this one. Not much. But a little. In more than one way. Still a smartass though.

Probably my favourite part of this book was the time he spent with the Adem. They’re so fascinating. I love the detail that went into creating all these different customs and cultures. That’s masterful worldbuilding, that is!

One thing that worries me ( I don’t know if “worries” is the right word) is that more than half of the first book and the entirety of the second one happens in less than two years. At the end of this one, Kvothe is 17. Present day Kvothe is maybe 25. He goes ‘missing’ when he’s 23 maybe. That means we have 6 years of story to cover in the last book.

My general thoughts about the writing, worlbuilding and characters are pretty much the same for The Name of the Wind. The storytelling is amazing, the writing is so atmospheric and it just sucks you right in. There isn’t much more that I can add without going into it and spoiling things, which I don’t want to do.

I feel this review is very lacking. But I don’t know what to say. I don’t know how to capture the essence of this book. Or this story, really. You just need to read it to understand it. But it’s worth reading.