The Wise Man's Fear by Patrick Rothfuss
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Kvothe matures quite a lot in this second book. After The Name of the Wind he is young, brash, and very talented. The events of Wise Man's Fear temper that brashness. Still, we are left with none of the larger questions answered. We know that Kvothe survives as he is narrating his own tale, but that doesn't completely eliminate the suspense as he tells it. One thing I'm glad to see from time to time throughout both of these books is for Kvothe to fail. Too often a hero is able to deftly snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. Kvothe is extremely talented, but he is fallible as well.
I'll be eagerly looking forward to book three to see where this story goes.
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Review: The Wise Man's Fear
Review: The Name of the Wind
The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I'm not usually one for medieval fantasy, so when Sword & Laser talked this book up I gave it a pass. Recently one of my friends impressed upon me just how good it was and that I really needed to give it a read. So with some trepidation I succumbed to the pressure and grabbed a copy on my nook. I'm so glad that I did.
I think back on [b:Shadow and Claw|40992|Shadow and Claw (The Book of the New Sun, #1-2)|Gene Wolfe|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1317791854s/40992.jpg|40575] and see that in Kvothe I have a compelling character who excels at telling his own story. If the story of Severian were told with even half the style that Rothfuss has shown here I might have continued reading the series. I really enjoyed the style, humor, and development of the story.
I highly recommend this book to any reader. It is the first book in a series, so don't look for any closure. However, the story itself is very worth it.
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