Book Review: Wise Man’s Fear

Book: Wise Man’s Fear

Author: Patrick Rothfuss

Rating: 4.5 stars.
Length: 994 pages
Why I read: Because I loved The Name of the Wind and Pat's blog.

Quotes: “There are three things all wise men fear: the sea in storm, a night with no moon, and the anger of a gentle man.”

“No man is brave that has never walked a hundred miles. If you want to know the truth of who you are, walk until not a person knows your name. Travel is the great leveler, the great teacher, bitter as medicine, crueler than mirror-glass. A long stretch of road will teach you more about yourself than a hundred years of quiet introspection”

This book was the much awaited sequel to The Name of the Wind and it was worth the very long wait. The book follows Kvothe through more of his problems at the University with studying, financial issues, troubles with a rich asshole bully, and his heart’s desire. Much of the book is spent away from the University as he waits on important nobles and learns new languages and fighting skills abroad. One thing I love about Kvothe is his love of learning for learning’s sake. He very much believes that knowledge is power but wants to gain as much knowledge as possible regardless of the power it bestows upon him. He just wants to learn- something I relate with very closely considering I never really want to leave school. Regularly I found myself forgetting that he was only 17 years old but I guess it makes sense due to his forced early maturation because of harsh circumstances and since like most fantasy it was set in a medieval-esque setting 17 isn’t that young. It was occasionally jarring to me though in parts where his age seemed unrealistic. But then he’d reveal his innocent side and be bashful around females. Speaking of females one part I thought dragged on wayyyyyy too long as the Felurian scenes- yes so he got to frolic with a faerie and learn a bunch of sex techniques but eventually I got tired of hearing about them romping in the woods or the river or among the butterflies.

            Overall it was a great fantasy novel and did not feel as long as the nearly 1000 pages looked. Very much worth the wait. I am a little disappointed that it didn’t have as much music in it as Name of the Wind. You know how a lot of people attempt to verbally describe music and it just falls flat? Pat Rothfuss is not like that. He is a master at describing music; in fact there was a scene in Name that almost made me cry because the description of the music was so beautiful and powerful.