Fans of Quill Award winner Patrick Rothfuss' first work, The Name of the Wind, which received a number of positive reviews when it was published in 2007, eagerly have awaited the recent release of The Wise Man's Fear. These novels, which are the first two installments of Rothfuss' Kingkiller Chronicle trilogy, offer some of the most compelling fantasy writing to emerge in years. For the generation that was raised on Harry Potter, Rothfuss' books present a more mature storyline which captures the magical experience of that series in a way more appealing to 20-somethings than to children.
"Mature" tends to get thrown around as a euphemism for "dark," but in many ways Fear is an upbeat work. Certainly there is drama and hardship, but there is no impending world-altering threat along the lines of a Voldemort figure or the armies of Mordor - save for the main character's occasionally mentioned quest for personal vengeance, but more on that later. The maturity comes across in the themes (violence, poverty, racism, sex) and in Rothfuss' writing style. Fear unfolds slowly, ambling along in a way which might exasperate the impatient reader but that I found rather comforting. The novel is roughly 1,000 pages long, but much less happens than might be found in a book half that length. Despite the slow pace, Fear has a powerful pull, and I found myself reading the whole novel cover to cover in one sitting, a feat I haven't achieved since the Harry Potter series.
The most easily identifiable source of this book's appeal is the likability of its main character, Kvothe. Kvothe is fiercely brave, sharp as a tack, funny and everything from a master musician to a skilled swordsman by the end of the novel. In short, it would be incredibly easy to hate a character like him if he were written by a less-skilled author. The line between a compelling and an arrogant protagonist can be a difficult one to walk, but Fear handles it well. It's refreshing to follow the progress of a hero who doesn't have to rely on luck or the assistance of his companions to solve every problem he faces.
The Kingkiller Chronicle is Kvothe's story recounted to a scribe years later. In many ways, it is a story filled with clich
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