With The Wise Man’s Fear (Amazon), relative newcomer author Patrick Rothfuss has produced what his fans have been praying for ever since the 2007 release of the first book in his series The Kingkiller Chronicle: a sequel worthy in every way in which we might judge it.

The 2007 release of the first book in the series, The Name of the Wind (Amazon), was a triumph for Rothfuss. The lengthy novel, which had many years of genesis, instantly became a critically acclaimed hit upon release and vaulted the author from obscurity in a university teaching position onto the world literature stage, as well as achieving him financial success.

The release of The Wise Man’s Fear will only magnify that success.

Rothfuss’ follow-up effort is an intensely meaty book. It is packed full of both of those essential elements to any modern story – plot and character development. In addition, with its release Rothfuss proves himself a master at those arts specific to the fantasy genre – the slow-burning nature of long fantasy series, as well as the gradual revelation of the mysterious nature of magic and the half familiar, half alien world around the protagonist that fantasy worlds constitute.

The reader gets their hands on the details of so many of the story elements that were hinted at in the first book, in a way that is intensely satisfying. Its protagonist, Kvothe, starts to master some of the power which he manifested during The Name of the Wind, and there are some truly thrilling scenes in The Wise Man’s Fear when this happens. His life also starts to gain a degree of stability. This is exactly the sort of thing you want from the second book in a major trilogy.

However, new elements are introduced into the story, and while progress is made on its greater mysteries, there is clearly so much more to come – and likely much that Rothfuss plans never to completely explain to the reader, so that mystery will remain even after the third book in the series is published.

Then, too, there are twists in The Wise Man’s Fear. The development of plot and character takes place in ways which you both do and don’t expect; and at times I felt when reading it that Rothfuss was playing a gentle game of sleight with the reader – sleight because of the degree of deception which is involved – but gentle because it’s a game which both the author and the reader will relish.

As with The Name of the Wind, The Wise Man’s Fear kicks off in the inn of Kvothe, its major character. Kvothe – his civilisation’s most notorious magic-worker and trouble-maker, is still telling the story of his life so that his would-be biographer, Chronicler, will be able to get it down on paper.

That story takes readers back to the University where Kvothe is studying magic, and once again we are plunged into his chaotic life – his financial struggles, his difficulties with other students and his growing understanding of various aspects of the mystic and mundane arts – including his developing musical talent.

Yet this time the game of life is played a little more powerfully by Kvothe, with his growing personal resources.

Traditionally the practitioner of any craft or art goes through three stages in learning it. Firstly they struggle as an apprentice, then find their feet as a journeyman, and finally – they become a master.

The Wise Man’s Fear is Kvothe’s journeyman story. He knows many basics. His life has evolved past the lowest levels of survival. And yet all this means is that the challenges, rivals and opportunities he faces are higher still.

Many of the same characters from The Name of the Wind are also present, but like Kvothe, they do not remain static picture postcards, nor are they around simply to be plot elements. Powerful personalities such as Ambrose, Elodin, Devi and more develop both independently and within Kvothe’s understanding of them, and in a way which is appropriate, given the book’s plot.

And of course Kvothe’s love interest Denna remains in the picture … and their relationship is just as fascinating and at times tortured as you would expect it to be.

Without wanting to wax too lyrical about it, all of this adds up to a book which anyone who describes themselves as a fantasy fan must pick up immediately – and, given the late timing of this review, likely already has. The Kingkiller Chronicle is every bit as amazing as its major rivals – A Song of Ice and Fire, The Wheel of Time and even The Lord of the Rings – but it is a tighter, more personal story, and a great deal more tortured. And those whose personalities lead them to enjoy the darker sides of human emotions and the striving of heroes plagued with them will likely enjoy Rothfuss’ efforts more than those of his progenitors.

I would most directly compare The Kingkiller Chronicle to Robin Hobb’s masterly Assassin’s series. A similar tortured hero awaits readers; a hero of limited means but great latent abilities. But Kvothe’s tale is made ever more potent by the reader’s awareness that he is not personally an innocent; sometimes his flawed personality leads him to make the wrong choices; unlike FitzChivalry Farseer, few would classify Kvothe as particularly noble.

There are, of course, flaws in the book.

Rothfuss’ unwillingness to tell certain large narrative threads such as Kvothe’s trial are simply skipped; with the reader being disconcertingly jumped ahead in the protagonists’ timeline to maintain the pace of the tale. Then too, once or twice too often Rothfuss lets minor story arcs drag out too long; at times the reader longs for the plot to return to a somewhat more normal setting so that certain mysterious elements of Kvothe’s world don’t lose their potency.

Many of the same themes from the first book, particularly during Kvothe’s time at the University, are re-hashed and could have been trimmed down.

And course, there is the problem of the wider story.

Clearly, Kvothe’s story has not yet ended, as he is still alive to tell it; in The Wise Man’s Fear the boundary between current and past events has started to fray. Frankly, I have no idea how Rothfuss plans to resolve the fact that by the end of the third and last book in the series, he will be up to date with current events in Kvothe’s world; current events which he will also need to address.

Given that The Kingkiller Chronicle is very much a coming of age tale, it seems clear that it will lose its potency if Rothfuss decides to create second series based around Kvothe’s life but focused on events following its conclusion. Yet one can feel Rothfuss in The Wise Man’s Fear already looking for the next story.

One way to get around this would be for the next series to also take place in Kvothe’s world and deal with current events – but from a different character’s perspective, with Kvothe being an active character in that world but not the protagonist. This will test Rothfuss’ writing skill. Unlike several of his contemporaries – Brandon Sanderson, for one – Rothfuss has not yet demonstrated an ability to steadfastly write the stories of other characters than Kvothe. It will be interesting to see what his plans after The Kingkiller Chronicle are.

And there will be plans. After all, Rothfuss is also a young man who has just come into his power ☺

All in all, if you read The Name of the Wind, I have no doubt you will read, if you haven’t already, The Wise Man’s Fear. The Kingkiller Chronicle is one of the best, if not the best, fantasy series of this decade. It’s a masterpiece – and I commend it to you.

Ever since Patrick Rothfuss published The Name of the Wind in 2007, much of the fantasy-loving book world has been living in a state of suspense, wondering whether the US author could follow such a strong debut up with a worthwhile sequel. Well, it looks like we can rest easy — early reviews of that sequel — The Wise Man’s Fear — are in, and they are nothing if not positive.

Writes Pat at Pat’s Fantasy Hotlist:

“So was it, in the end, worth the four years it took to be published? Let me set your mind at ease. For those who enjoyed The Name of the Wind, you can safely go ahead and pre-order The Wise Man’s Fear. It’s everything its predecessor was, and then some!”

Pat adds that if you didn’t like the first book (and, let me say, I understand that not everybody enjoys the sort of deep introspective and slightly tortured fantasy fiction that The Name of the Wind represents), you might as well not get Rothfuss’ second effort. However, what is fantasy without a bit of walking on the dark side? ;)

Jo Walton, writing on Tor.com, appears to agree with Pat:

“The Wise Man’s Fear was worth waiting for. It’s about as good as this kind of fantasy can possibly get … I thoroughly enjoyed the experience of immersing myself completely in the world and the events. It’s such a great world, and the people are like real people, and what happens is endlessly entertaining. The only caveat I have is that there’s likely to be another long wait for the third one. But … it’s worth it.”

I have to say, personally, The Wise Man’s Fear is one of the fantasy books I am most looking forward to in 2011. Bring on the continuation of Kvothe’s tale :)

Acclaimed fantasy author Patrick Rothfuss is offering fans a chance to get their name into the pages of his upcoming second book, The Wise Man’s Fear.

The author — who wowsered the fantasy literature community with his 2007 book The Name of the Wind — is currently finalising the much-anticipated sequel.

Readers have a number of options to try and make the cut, and several entries will be chosen after a couple of raffles. However, Rothfuss notes in an entry on his blog detailing the plan, he might simply pick a few more. “If I look through the entries and see a suggested name that looks cool to me, I might tweak it a bit and use it in the book. Simple as that. I’m always on the lookout for cool names,” he wrote.

The raffle will finish on November 15, and any money raised will go to Rothfuss’ charity of choice, Heifer International. Rothfuss has already received an enthusiastic response from readers in the comments on his blog. “WooHoo! I’ve thrown my name in the hat!” wrote one. “Good luck everyone!”

Patrick Rothfuss

Congratulations are in order this week to The Name of the Wind author Patrick Rothfuss, following the birth of a son with his partner Sarah.

“She started having contractions Friday night, and we had the baby Tuesday morning. So no matter how you count it, it was long,” Rothfuss wrote on this blog this week. “The end result is pretty good though. Little Oot is healthy and happy. He resembles his daddy in that he likes boobs and sleeping. Everything else will be sorted out later.”

Rothfuss has earlier posted that “Oot” is a temporary name he has assigned to his son until he was born and received something more permanent.

The author’s blog has been inundated with comments from fans congratulating him and his family on the newborn – 208 at last count. “Way to reproduce! We need more Rothfusses (Rothfi?) in the world,” wrote one.

Rothfuss is currently working on the second volume of his The Kingkiller Chronicle, entitled The Wise Man’s Fear. He has previous disclosed that he has submitted the first draft of the manuscript to his editor, but it’s unclear when the book is due to be published.

Patrick Rothfuss

Most of fantasy author Patrick Rothfuss‘s students don’t know he’s the most important fantasy author to make a debut in the past few years, according to Rothfuss himself.

The author — who wowsered the fantasy literature community with his 2007 book The Name of the Wind — is currently finalising the much-anticipated next book in the series, entitled The Wise Man’s Fear.

It is likely not an exaggeration to say that almost every fantasy book fan in the known universe is waiting with bated breath for Rothfuss to finish the book, as is chronicled in this hilarious comic strip Rothfuss posted on his blog.

Rothfuss’s normal job is teaching English at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point in Wisconsin in the United States of America. But according to a new, wide-ranging interview with the author, published by Spanish site FantasyMundo, his students are unaware of his celebrity status.

“Some of my students know,” says Rothfuss. “Occasionally one brings a book up for me to sign after class. But most of them don’t know who I am, or care. It would be different if I was teaching creative writing classes. But, alas, I’m not.”

Commentary
Hilarious stuff!

Having Patrick Rothfuss as your English teacher and not knowing about it would be like having Joss Whedon as your film studies tutor and not knowing that he was the creator of the legendary Buffy, Angel, Firefly, Dollhouse TV series and more.

However, Rothfuss is right; many university students remain completely oblivious to the background of the lecturers who are teaching them. I studied English at the University of Sydney, and we had a few celebrity lecturers who were known for other things than simply because they taught Postmodernism 1A.

But most of our classes had no idea. In fact, most of the students in my classes had no great interest in studying English at all. The few that did mostly turned out to be writers or journalists of some description, or at least fanatical readers.

Many of us science fiction and fantasy fans spend hours at work or in meeting dreaming about what we’re going to read next. I’m sure many of Rothfuss’s students spend their time daydreaming of anything but that; while one of the masters of modern fantasy sits right in front of them.

Ah, the irony.

Says Speakman:

I chained him to the Suvudu booth at the San Diego Comic Con and wouldn’t let him go until he had given me an interview. We thought it would only go 10 or 15 minutes. Turns out Pat had a lot to say about his debut, its sequel and what his life is like now.

He talks about his initial thoughts on Comic Con, his panel and the definition he has for urban fantasy, the structure of his trilogy and the future, the interesting story he wants to write when he is a stronger writer, his craft of writing and revision of Wise Man’s Fear, what happened to the “yearly” release of his books and woman cats.

There are four parts to the interview:

Commentary
The Name of the Wind was the best fantasy book I read by far last year, and I can’t wait to read its sequel, The Wise Man’s Fear. Everyone that I have recommended the book to was floored by it. This man is a legend. And, he wears t-shirts proclaiming the greatness of Buffy creator Joss Whedon. Could Patrick Rothfuss get any more legendary?