Patrick Rothfuss Kingkiller Chronicles

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Hasto_sl

shitlord
60
1
Has anybody else read this series yet? It is a 3 book series and I have read the 2 that have been released so far. An amazing fantasy series in my opinion. Would love to hear some other peoples views on them.

Would also be nice to get suggestions of any similar series.
 
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Grimmlokk

Ahn'Qiraj Raider
12,190
132
So I was reading a thing and it lead me to reading the way Kvothe describes himself early on.

The Adem call me Maedre. Which, depending on how it's spoken, can mean The Flame, The Thunder, or The Broken Tree.
...
I've never thought of "The Broken Tree" as very significant. Although in retrospect, I suppose it could be considered at least partially prophetic.
So, the Cthaeh prophecy tree thing...Kvothe is "The Broken Tree"...so much like the King he must kill, does Kvothe kill the tree? And/or break one of it's prophecies somehow?

Just something I thunked all on my own that I'm sure has been thunked many many times. Didn't recall it being discussed here.
 

Malkav

French Madman
2,686
1,583
The books are great, I love almost everything in it....E.xcept the fucking Kvothe/Denna dynamic. God damn it it's getting on my nerves. It just feels too forced for the sake of drama.
 

Azrayne

Irenicus did nothing wrong
2,161
786
The books are great, I love almost everything in it....E.xcept the fucking Kvothe/Denna dynamic. God damn it it's getting on my nerves. It just feels too forced for the sake of drama.
Yeah, I wrote a big rant about this on the old board, the whole Denna thing is silly and totally unrealistic in that kind of setting. Putting aside their ridiculous and frustrating relationship, single teenage girls do 'not' wander around the country side making a living for themselves in medieval settings, that's a 1 way ticket to rapeville and lying dead in a gutter.

IMO she's probably some idealized projection of his teenage crush or his first GF or his wife or some shit, these characters usually are.
 

Malkav

French Madman
2,686
1,583
I can folder the whole "teenage girl traveling" under my suspension of disbelief.

But I can't get over their dramatic relationship. God, their whole argument in the second book was cringe worthy to me. "Your sponsor is obviously abusive with you, don't go on with him" -> "Don't tell me what to do!". I mean, ugh, come on.
 

Azrayne

Irenicus did nothing wrong
2,161
786
Yeah I agree. It's one thing when he's this awkward kid, but when he's older and has hooked up with that fairy chick and is getting pussy left and right and supposedly so awesome with women, it makes no sense.
 

Grimmlokk

Ahn'Qiraj Raider
12,190
132
The Denna thing in general, and how he still reacts like a retard after fucking the goddess of fucking for months in particular, is a pretty widely despised angle.
 

Archangel_sl

shitlord
208
5
I read the first book, and then twice more in immediate succession, becauseit was hands-down the best fantasy book I had read in a loooong time, and though I own the second, I have yet to read it because I am afraid of the "middle of the story lull" and I don't want to ruin how awesome the first book was to me. When the third is out, then I will read them all together, so I don't have to wait for any plot holes to be spackled.
 

Golt_sl

shitlord
239
0
Most of the romance in this series is pretty terrible imo, and the rest of the books outside of it are what make it worth it. His 'kidnap' by the sex goddess and then subsequent sleeping with every woman he meets and is the best lay they've ever had etc etc, extreme wish fulfillment that he shouldn't have gone into. And then ontop of that the Denna issue, bad distraction from the main storyline which is bad ass.
 

Himeo

Vyemm Raider
3,260
2,799
The romance in the first book was annoying but tolerable. The romp in sexland could have been better if it was shorter. The relationship after sexland makes no sense at all. When I reread the books, I just skip chapters where Denna shows up. Less rage worthy that way.

Edit (five years later): If you haven't read this series yet give it a hard skip. Rothfuss won't finish this "trilogy" for decades if ever.

Series is dead on arrival.
 
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Void

Experiencer
<Gold Donor>
9,374
10,987
I'm just finishing up so have 7% of the book left where a lot could change I suppose, but my complaints (other than the Denna thing which I pretty much agree with all of you on) mostly revolve around the fact that he's almost blatantly "multi-classing" his character to make sure we know how badass he is. He started with bard training, with a bit of roguery thrown in and then refined by his time in that shit city as a beggar kid, then learned enough magery to do cool shit, then went and learned some politics under the maer (along with some strategy playing that game with the lesser royal guy), then learned how to lead men while also learning how to track and do rangery stuff, then went and learned self-discipline and combat from the mercenary folk...oh yeah, and while doing all those things, also became the world's greatest lover.

I mean, I enjoy the book and enjoy the way he writes. It just seems like he takes forever to accomplish each step, when he could have probably cut it in half and made it so I am not eager for each "phase" to end. At this pace, with all of the things he is purported to have done and all of the things I hope he does (Chandrian stuff), the final book is going to have to be over 2000 pages long, and at the pace he writes I'll be waiting a good 5 years minimum.
 

Azrayne

Irenicus did nothing wrong
2,161
786
^ That's a good point, there's no way this series ends after one more book. But it wouldn't be modern fantasy if it did :|
 

Malkav

French Madman
2,686
1,583
And it's easy to see where this is going.

Denna will be abducted/brainwashed by the Chandrian, and he will want to save her and it's gonna end badly.

Hell, it has already started with her "mentor" giving her false material to write a song which depicts the Chandrian's boss in a good light.

During their argument in the second book after she sang her song to him, that's the point I found interesting. She was definitely involved with the Chandrian and the foreshadowing was very important to the serie, but the way the argument was depicted was dumb and cringe-worthy.

Seriously? "BUUUUT! The Chandrian are bad guys!" "No, you're wrong, and what would you even know about it?"

I swear, Kvothe is a dumbass sometimes. He knows very well that the Chandrian are killing off anyone badmouthing them, and suddenly he learns that the love of his life is writing a nice song about them, under the guidance of a mysterious "mentor" she won't talk about and who is abusing her. Does that not even click in his fucking brain? He can be so intelligent and with a good intuition most of the time, but whenever Denna is involved, he just turns dumb as a rock.
 

Archangel_sl

shitlord
208
5
I'm just finishing up so have 7% of the book left where a lot could change I suppose, but my complaints (other than the Denna thing which I pretty much agree with all of you on) mostly revolve around the fact that he's almost blatantly "multi-classing" his character to make sure we know how badass he is. He started with bard training, with a bit of roguery thrown in and then refined by his time in that shit city as a beggar kid, then learned enough magery to do cool shit, then went and learned some politics under the maer (along with some strategy playing that game with the lesser royal guy), then learned how to lead men while also learning how to track and do rangery stuff, then went and learned self-discipline and combat from the mercenary folk...oh yeah, and while doing all those things, also became the world's greatest lover.

I mean, I enjoy the book and enjoy the way he writes. It just seems like he takes forever to accomplish each step, when he could have probably cut it in half and made it so I am not eager for each "phase" to end. At this pace, with all of the things he is purported to have done and all of the things I hope he does (Chandrian stuff), the final book is going to have to be over 2000 pages long, and at the pace he writes I'll be waiting a good 5 years minimum.
You're one of the few people I've seen who have caught onto that little structural tidbit. I had the good fortune to correspond with Pat for a few months when NOTW first hit the stands a few years ago, because it reminded me so closely of the structure of another project I had seen and worked on. "Multi-classing" is exactly what he was/is doing with Kvothe, because he played Kvothe in various D&D games for more than a decade, and this whole series holds scraps from the rp-Kvothe's adventures. I'm not surprised that you felt things took forever to get things done, because that's what happens in games, you're supposed to go to X, but another player needs to visit Z along the way, and then a eally awesome thing happens to your character that changes him forever, and simply has to go in the book, which in turn delays you from going to X like you were supposed to.
 

Void

Experiencer
<Gold Donor>
9,374
10,987
That's probably the first time I've ever been right about anything then, so I'll make sure to celebrate!

Like I said, I enjoy every sentence that he writes, and while I'm reading it I don't specifically think "Jesus this is taking forever," but when I look back on what I just read after a particular session, it is pretty easy to think that I'd love for him to move on to something new. And then of course when he blatantly leaves something out, like the boat trip to see the Maer where he lost everything, and clearly says there is a ton of stuff that happened and he's definitely never going to tell it...you just sort of wonder why he didn't summarize a few other parts as well. Still, I am enthralled and drawn in while reading, it is just in retrospect that I always wondered when the hell it was going to end.