Kingkiller Chronicles **Possible Spoilers**

quote:

---

Are there any "epic" style chapters or events in this book?

---

What are you getting at with this?

Like big battles?

quote:

---

Kvothe

---

I think you mean Reshi.

quote:

---

What are you getting at with this?

---

Like Chandrian battles or one shows up or something. I'm just tired of the old I gotta make more money to supply my dating habits and tuition thing.

quote:

---

Like Chandrian battles or one shows up or something. I'm just tired of the old I gotta make more money to supply my dating habits and tuition thing.

---

Not the series for you. It is not traditional in a lot of ways and not a lot of "major" things happen in the traditional sense. It is definitely more subtle in some ways.

However, there is a build up and a pretty clear and tense action event. But not what you are expecting.

quote:

---

Have you read epic fantasy before? Wheel of Time, Game of Thrones, Kingkiller...it's like 70% fat. It's what makes it so great but sometimes so frustrating. At least Rothfuss is just focused on one main character which should make it easier to bring the story together. I also like all the mundane, everyday life stuff it makes it more real and enjoyable to me. Fleshes out the world. Its what made Harry Potter so unique to other fantasy series

---

What the hell are you blathering about? Have you read the Kingkiller Chronicles? If not, then you have no idea what the frick I'm talking about. If you don't think I've read "epic fantasy," then you don't post much on this board.

Good fiction, whether fantasy or not, advances a story in a fashion that makes you engaged as a reader. Any time a story goes off the path and does so for an extended period of time and in no way meshes the divergence with the main plot line, it is a waste of space and is the author masturbating. Period. Which is why I hope Rothfuss ties it all in because I truly believe he is a talented writer.

I have not read Wheel of Time. I have no desire to. However, Game of Thrones has no extraneous events. Everything matters, even if it is minuscule. Everything ties back in to the overarching plot. Read Blood Song. Read The Gentlemen Bastard Sequence (which itself has tangents, but they at least relate back to the main plot). Read the Chronicles of the Black Company. The Lightbringer Trilogy. The Night Angel Trilogy. Anything by Joe Abercrombie. You'll notice that the plots are not just intricate, but they do not meander. They don't wander far afield.

Discussing the manner in which a blade is made, folded over itself, beaten, tempered, folded, beaten, tempered, etc. is fine. Details enrich the scene and authenticity of the world. That's not what Rothfuss did in "The Wise Man's Fear." He took what, at most, should have been a one chapter divergence of the story and spun it into a third of the book. It didn't seem to have a place and felt like it needed to be weeded out, particularly given the fact that his next book is supposed to finish the trilogy and there are 8 million loose ends to tie up.

If you like the mundane, everyday life stuff, then read K.J. Parker. She's right up your alley. Me? I prefer to have a story that goes somewhere. I don't want to be bogged down in details. Fleshing out a world is a work of art and should not cause the reader to wonder why he's reading what he's reading. Saying something like this:

"The greying grass swayed in the wind, its length causing it to bend over itself and weep in the dark morning light. A sea of grey wisps. Black clouds brewed in the east and the horses whinnied and stamped."

Is far more effective than going on at length about the genus and species of the fauna prancing through the grass field. Unless that fauna is important for some reason.

The former conveys mood, sets the tone, and sets the setting. It may even serve to advance the plot in its own right.

The latter unnecessarily details extraneous shite that has no effect on the story. Why should I care about the taxonomy of the fauna? Setting, like everything else in a story, should be important. Nothing should be thrown away. Wise Man's Fear appeared to have done that, not just with one chapter, but with a major portion of the book. Again, that's why I hope he ties it together.

quote:

---

Are there any "epic" style chapters or events in this book?

---

i highly recommend his time with the Fae. Very gripping 4 chapters.

quote:

---

i highly recommend his time with the Fae. Very gripping 4 chapters.

---

quote:

---

This is what I'm worried about. I have read Eragon, Drizzt, GoT.... I need to know that it matters. A whole damn book about getting money for tuition has nowhere near the importance as moving the story along and keeping the story alive.

I love his writing but he got off tangent way too much so far.

---

Well, to be fair, the money issue and the schooling are not tangential. It is his history after all, and that's a major part of what shapes him and makes him into the character he is. If you read the next book, which I recommend, you'll see what I'm talking about. Rothfuss got bogged down a bit. It's still worth reading and is good stuff, just clearly something that Rothfuss wanted to have in there a lot and his editor caved.

I get it. I just wish it would move a little faster than it is at the University and music playing.

It does pick up a bit. But its not on the grand story type deal. These arent world changing events or anything of the sort.

This is a one man show. This is 1 guys life story.

Keep going man, its epic is the small things. There are great moments that are going to make you look at all the different things youve read before anew.

I personally love the subtlety of the way Rothfuss handles magic. Vs say the Dragonlance type.