I am about a third into Wise Man's Fear and I am bubbling over with questions.
I recommend you do not read this if you have not 1) read Name of the Wind and 2) gotten at least to this part of Wise Man's Fear
Of course, as I intend to read in every spare moment until I finish the book, very soon there will be spoilers for the totality of both books.
Okay. I have a question that is completely random. But, Denna says to Kvothe once "There you go again, with your sevens" referring to him using sentences with seven words in them. Strange, random fact that means nothing? Or means something very significant. Thoughts?
Yes, I have been looking to see if he always uses seven words. Of course he doesn't, but that seems an odd thing to throw in there, doesn't it?
The story Kvothe told Wil and Sim when he was drunk - the one about the beggar seeking shelter at a fire. He eventually meets the Ruh, but he passes up an Amyr who cannot give him anything...this seems like another insignificant little story but the stories Kvothe tells are NEVER insignificant. So are we meant to learn something from this besides the little tidbit about how to gain hospitality from the Ruh? Especially given that at this time Kvothe is desperately searching for ANY information about the Amyr?
Anyway, I am loving the series so far. Enough that I will text lines of it to my mom just to share how amazing it is! She is reading Name of the Wind right now. I'm driving her crazy with hints and tidbits from Wise Man's Fear.
Posted by fugu13 (Member # 2859) on :
quote:Okay. I have a question that is completely random. But, Denna says to Kvothe once "There you go again, with your sevens" referring to him using sentences with seven words in them. Strange, random fact that means nothing? Or means something very significant. Thoughts?
This is a reference to an admissions question that Elodin asks him in NotW, something like "Do you know the seven words that make a woman fall in love with you?"
quote:The story Kvothe told Wil and Sim when he was drunk - the one about the beggar seeking shelter at a fire. He eventually meets the Ruh, but he passes up an Amyr who cannot give him anything...this seems like another insignificant little story but the stories Kvothe tells are NEVER insignificant. So are we meant to learn something from this besides the little tidbit about how to gain hospitality from the Ruh? Especially given that at this time Kvothe is desperately searching for ANY information about the Amyr?
Posted by Belle (Member # 2314) on :
Ahhhhh!!! Thank you! I knew I had heard something about seven words before. Thanks so much, fugu.
Posted by 0Megabyte (Member # 8624) on :
Yep, the seven words thing is really quite sweet. To recap:
He mentions that they exist to Denna, who points out that he's already said them to her: "I was wondering where you were going" I believe.
And he keeps saying things that touch her, which are only seven words. Usually without thinking about it. It's really painfully cute.
Posted by Belle (Member # 2314) on :
speaking of sweet, I just read the scene where he shows her the selas flower in the Maer's garden.
quote:"I wouldn't lie to you," I said, then reconsidered. "No that's not the truth. I would. You're worth lying for. But I wasn't. You're worth telling the truth for too."
By the way, last sentence - seven words! Posted by 0Megabyte (Member # 8624) on :
At this point I think Rothfus is just throwing those seven-word sentences on purpose. I mean, obviously on purpose, but even the ones that aren't brought up are on purpose, too.
So, what does everyone think of Denna, anyway? Her relationship with Kvothe is a frequent source both of adorable sweetness and hair-tearing frustration.
Posted by Belle (Member # 2314) on :
In all actuality, I'm unsure. I think I like her because Rothfuss wants me to like her. Maybe when we know more of her story, I'll understand. But she is so unreliable, so undependable. He is solidly devoted to her but she flits from person to person just using people.
She's definitely using Kvothe, but what for? And to what end?
Another question - this is called the Kingkiller Chronicles but we know next to nothing about the king. Does he need killing? It seems odd that I am now about halfway through the second book and this king has yet to make an appearance besides being mentioned in passing.
Posted by TheGrimace (Member # 9178) on :
on 7 words: it is a deliberate theme(?) in the books, which is mentioned (as already pointed out) by Elodin and in other places. There's also a lot of less explicitly pointed out 7-word phrases that are just beautifully poetic. I got to ask Pat about this at one of his signings last year and he confirmed that it was purposeful, and also that he had to work long and hard to develop and work in all that poetry.
Along those lines, there are a number of conversations in Wise Man's fear that are also in verse or some sort (even though they aren't visibly so)...
As for the story, it definitely fits in with later events. As you mention, there is nothing in these books which is done flippantly.
As for Denna, you see more and more how she's really just another version of Kvothe, and thus I can sympathize with both sides of that relationship... It wouldn't work in a normal sense, but at the same time I can't hold it against either of them because I see the kinds of things that they end up going through which make each of them disappear or hard to find etc...
Think of how many times Kvothe finds Denna just to have her say that she's been searching for him for weeks just like she has, but they've both been ships passing in the night (as it were).
General assessment of the book (finished it yesterday) as good or better than Name of the Wind. Give me another read through and I'll officially call one my favorite book of all time and the other my close second... Sorry Ender... you're still in the top 3, but you've been bested.
Posted by Belle (Member # 2314) on :
I'm a little bogged down at the moment. I'm at the part of the book where he is studying in Haert and has already been given his sword (Caesura - good name!). This and the section where he dallied with the faerie queen have felt long to me, did anyone else feel these sections dragged a bit?
Posted by Kwea (Member # 2199) on :
A little, but still really good.
Posted by Belle (Member # 2314) on :
Finished it. Still very good.
So, what has happened for kvothe to lose all his power and ability? He can't do sympathy, he could not use the Adem fighting techniques on the two soldiers Bast hired. And we get the continuing description of him as a man waiting to die.
Still no real mention of a king that must be killed. Wonder how long we'll have to wait until the next one??
Posted by 0Megabyte (Member # 8624) on :
I kind of hope, or is it a wish, that the king is somehow Ambrose. Or, better, just have him die regardless!
Also, I bet I know why Kvothw is powerless. His name must have been changed.
Posted by fugu13 (Member # 2859) on :
As I speculated on another forum, I think the best current guess is the person referred to as being killed in Imre, where the cobblestones can't even be mended, is Ambrose.
I suspect the King will turn out to not be all that important except as a name for Kvothe (personal guess: King of Vintas, for obvious reasons). I'm more interested in the angel he's been "rumored" to have killed -- and that's all but confirmed by the text. Specifically, I think he killed one of the Amyr, likely because the Amyr killed or wanted to kill Denna (though the latter bit is more speculative). One of the original Amyr, from when Lanre burned all the cities but one (I also think the burned cities are in/over the mountains, and the last remaining city was somewhere in the region here, probably Atur, but maybe Imre (it is on the end of the road). Regarding the road, that was definitely not built by the Aturan Empire, roads are built outward from centers of power. I expect Myr Tariniel is located in those mountains (we're told it was atop high mountains) on the right of the map, and the road comes from/goes to it. On the subject of those mountains, I expect the inn is right near them, in Vintas, given there need to be mountains nearby tall enough to stop the Scrael (mostly), plus an area of devastation on the other side, plus Modeg and Ademre make no sense for the inn's location.
Posted by fugu13 (Member # 2859) on :
Oh yeah, and something pretty much as definite as it gets:
Kvothe's mother is the Lady Lackless who disappeared. This is heavily foreshadowed in the first volume, when Kvothe is singing a raunchy song about Lady Lackless, and his mother gets him to stop, then says he can make it up to both her and Lady Lackless if he does some chores. Of course, the end of WMF fairly screams it at us already, what with the disappearing along with some Ruh.
edit: coincidentally, I just realized that would make Kvothe higher ranked and closer to the King's throne than Ambrose. I almost wonder if the King he "killed" is himself . . .
Posted by Belle (Member # 2314) on :
fugu I thought the same thing about his heritage - completely agree he is the son of the other Lady Lackless. Is the box that he tries to open at the end the same one he was shown? Or a different one?
Did the Lady Lackless (the current one) react so forcefully to him because she recognized him? She did have chestnut curls, right? So the red hair might have been a tip off.
Posted by plaid (Member # 2393) on :
Finished!
A bunch of comments:
-- The bit with Felurian did drag; it’s the only section I skimmed. The Ademre section was also kinda slow, but was perked up by the occasional interesting line from Kvothe. The book’s at its most fun when Kvothe is getting in and out of trouble; when he doesn’t have much dialogue, the book slows down a lot.
-- Kvothe’s blood magic to kill off the bandits was WAY freaky.
-- Somehow I’d forgotten about Kvothe’s mother being a noblewoman and thus likely being Lady Lackless’s sister; when I was reading the bit where Lady Lackless disses the Ruh I thought this was just Rothfuss’s way of getting Kvothe out of Vintas without Kvothe becoming totally rich. Much more interesting to have him be Lackless’s nephew!
-- “Comparative female anatomy”… *snort* Glad to see that Kvothe’s finally getting involved with woman; it was stretching credulity to have so many beautiful women throwing themselves at Kvothe and Kvothe being shy/oblivious.
-- Chronicler was probably infected by the zombie soldier.
-- I think Lorren is one of the Amyr or is one of their allies or somesuch, and he’s been working at hiding/hoarding all the books that mention the Amyr and the Chandrian.
-- I was surprised that Kvothe hadn’t been kicked out of the University yet by the end of the second book. But I suppose that’ll happen early in the 3rd book. I can’t imagine that there’s much more for him to do at the University besides figure out the mystery of the Four Plate Door.
Posted by Belle (Member # 2314) on :
I think your idea about Lorren is a good one - either him or the linguist, the former chairman. The door I think holds secrets of the Amyr, that is where all the books are being moved to.
I think Auri knows something important about the Amyr as well. The Underthing will prove to be very important in the third book, I'm certain of it.
Is it coincidence do you think, that Denna's name is so similar to denner, which is the most addictive substance in this world? Or does Rothfuss just really like things that begin with D? (Devi being another example).
Posted by plaid (Member # 2393) on :
I still don't know what to make of Denna. Early on I thought she might be one of the Chandrian; now I think that *she's* normal but that her patron's one of the Chandrian.
Bredon must have some kind of Amyr/Chandrian connection, what with the mention of pagan rites and all.
Posted by TheGrimace (Member # 9178) on :
I'm glad I'm not the only one who used to have an inkling that Denna could be one of the Chandrian (though I think that's less and less likely at this point).
I'm wondering what others think about the connection between Laclith (the woodsman mentioned at the beginning of NotW) and the Lackless family (it was mentioned that Laclith is one of the regional variants of the family name). Its one of the few areas where I'm thinking it's just a "small world" phenomena, but almost every other detail in the books threads together so well that it's hard to believe anything in there is just happenstance...
I like the idea of Kvothe's name having changed and/or having given/lost power over it to someone being the reason he has lost some skill. Prior to that I was thinking (especially in relation to the robbery in book 2) that perhaps he purposefully lost the fight in order to not feel guilty over killing relatively "honest" criminals...
Also, the fight with the bandits in the woods was incredibly disturbing, but at the same time it was so right for the story. As was the other moment of extreme darkness with the "Ruh" kidnappers.
Posted by 0Megabyte (Member # 8624) on :
Yes. Now we see why arcanists can be so feared in this world. Those who fear them have legitimate reason to!
As for Kvothe himself, his fight with the bandits was disturbing for the power he used, not for some emotional change in Kvothe himself. He was fighting a battle he was supposed to be fighting, killing definite bad guys, and trying to keep his allies (LEEEROOOOOOOY JEEEEENKINS!) from being torn apart. The magic he used, though, was much scarier than calling down fire and lightning. Though he did that too, in the end!
The fight against the kidnappers, though... well, that was actually more disturbing. I suppose the thing to keep in mind is that you don't want to piss Kvothe off. Posted by plaid (Member # 2393) on :
quote:Originally posted by TheGrimace: I'm wondering what others think about the connection between Laclith (the woodsman mentioned at the beginning of NotW) and the Lackless family (it was mentioned that Laclith is one of the regional variants of the family name). Its one of the few areas where I'm thinking it's just a "small world" phenomena, but almost every other detail in the books threads together so well that it's hard to believe anything in there is just happenstance...
Nice, hadn't caught that!
I'm thinking that maybe the Lockless family and their relatives all have parts to the puzzle of the box/lock/door(s), so perhaps Kvothe will look up the Lacliths at some point to learn about their part of the puzzle?
Posted by Damien.m (Member # 8462) on :
I had to come out of my lurking to gush about how good this book was. It completely exceeded my expectations.
I think we can definitely call it that Kvothe's mother Laurian changed her name and that she was Meluan's sister Netalia Lockless.
Kvothe shares a song that his father used to sing about his mother:
Dark Laurian, Arliden's wife, Has a face like a blade of a knife Has a voice like a prickledown burr But can tally a sum like a moneylender. My sweet Tally cannot cook. But she keeps a tidy ledger-book For all her faults I do confess It's worth my life To make my wife Not tally a lot less...
Not tally a lot less = Netalia Lockless, so it becomes: It's worth my life To make my wife Netalia Lockless...
Posted by airmanfour (Member # 6111) on :
quote:Originally posted by Damien.m: I had to come out of my lurking to gush about how good this book was. It completely exceeded my expectations.
I think we can definitely call it that Kvothe's mother Laurian changed her name and that she was Meluan's sister Netalia Lockless.
Kvothe shares a song that his father used to sing about his mother:
Dark Laurian, Arliden's wife, Has a face like a blade of a knife Has a voice like a prickledown burr But can tally a sum like a moneylender. My sweet Tally cannot cook. But she keeps a tidy ledger-book For all her faults I do confess It's worth my life To make my wife Not tally a lot less...
Not tally a lot less = Netalia Lockless, so it becomes: It's worth my life To make my wife Netalia Lockless...
So far you're winning this thread by 12.
Posted by Kwea (Member # 2199) on :
Going though and reading it a second time starting tomorrow. I got some of this stuff the first time around, but not all of it.
Good catch, Damien!
Posted by Belle (Member # 2314) on :
Damien totally wins the thread!
Good catch, indeed Damien!
So we move the idea of him being a Lockless from "theoretical" to "definitive" based on that, I think.
Posted by 0Megabyte (Member # 8624) on :
Pity his aunt is such a... witch. Yes, let's use that word.
Posted by Kwea (Member # 2199) on :
Guess what The Chronicler's last name is, too......lol.......Devan Lochees...
[ March 19, 2011, 01:56 AM: Message edited by: Kwea ]
Posted by AchillesHeel (Member # 11736) on :
My local Borders is going out of business, and I have been wanting to buy a Rothfuss book since his remarks about Firefly. And today Niel Gaiman praised him on his blog so I was basically forced to go out and get anything thing that said Rothfuss on it, but my store had already completely sold out of all things Patrick Rothfuss. Not a single title on the shelf, Ender's Game was also not in attendance.
Posted by TomDavidson (Member # 124) on :
Go with Amazon. It's both cheaper and more convenient.
Posted by Belle (Member # 2314) on :
And the books are definitely worth getting. I definitely think they need to be owned, not just borrowed from a library, for instance. They definitely hold up to a re-read (or two, or three!) because there are so many tidbits to discover on future readings.
Posted by Belle (Member # 2314) on :
Good lord almighty, I just re-read my post and realized I used "definitely" three times in three sentences.
I definitely need to inject some new vocabulary into my posting habits. Posted by Jake (Member # 206) on :
Definitely.
I hate it when I realize that I've done something like that. I'm startled by how frequently it happens if I don't read over a post before clicking "Add Reply".
Posted by AchillesHeel (Member # 11736) on :
I am curious as to wether there have been any artistic renderings of a sympathy lamp. Kvothe's thieves lamp is such a regular part of the story and I always wonder about the size and weight of such a thing, ofcourse he keeps a great many things in his cloak but a normal lamp would be too big.
Posted by advice for robots (Member # 2544) on :
I'd like to know what the shaed cloak looks like. For some reason I didn't think it was visible at all outside Fae, but people could see it. Why did Kvothe wear it so openly? It seems like he would have wanted to keep it hidden, just because it marked him so obviously.
By the end of WMF I was also wondering what exactly was on those crumpled papers on Kvothe's desk. He won't even let Bast look at them. I wonder if it's more than just his attempt at writing his story.
At the very end, did Bast just beat up those soldiers, or do you think he killed them? And why, if they were in league with him?
Posted by Kwea (Member # 2199) on :
He killed them, because they touched his master, and because they beat him so badly. Fae are not bound by the same morals we have, and that type of double dealing is fairly common. He was setting them up to be killed in the first place, hoping Kvothe would realize who he was and do it, and he could hardly leave them alive to brag about their new "partner".
I believe the Shaed cloak looks pretty much like a regular cloak outside of the Fae, other than the fact that is moves a bit even without wind. It's main function is to not be noticed, and allow it's wearer to not be noticed, so I don't think most people CAN notice it is something different. Well, at least that has been it's main purpose SO FAR...
Posted by Belle (Member # 2314) on :
Oh he definitely killed them.
I am sad that we will have to wait to hear the rest of the story. So many threads unresolved. I hope Rothfuss writes quickly without sacrificing quality.
Posted by advice for robots (Member # 2544) on :
quote:Originally posted by Kwea: He killed them, because they touched his master, and because they beat him so badly.*** Fae are not bound by the same morals we have, and that type of double dealing is fairly common. ***He was setting them up to be killed in the first place, hoping Kvothe would realize who he was and do it, and he could hardly leave them alive to brag about their new "partner".
I'm not disputing you here, and this does sound like a very reasonable explanation. But how do you know this about Rothfuss' Fae? I don't recall any description of it in the books. Did Rothfuss explain this elsewhere?
Posted by mr_porteiro_head (Member # 4644) on :
Heh. I listened to the audio book instead of reading a dead tree version, and to me, Qvothe went to work for the mayor, and ended up with a cloak made out of shade.
Posted by advice for robots (Member # 2544) on :
Apparently the reader didn't know either Vintish or Fae pronunciation.
Posted by mr_porteiro_head (Member # 4644) on :
That's OK -- neither do I.
Posted by Jake (Member # 206) on :
Porter, what did you think of the audiobook? A friend of mine started listening to it and gave up (just reading the thing instead) because she found the reader's style so annoying.
Posted by Geraine (Member # 9913) on :
I am almost done with the book and I really love it. I do think however that this book kind of went overboard with sex. The first book was innocent enough. I thought it was almost comical that Kvothe didn't kow a whole lot about women. The relationship with Denna was innocent and sweet.
In this book it seems like once Kvothe hooked up with Felurian, all of the sudden he was transformed into this all knowing and horny ladies man.
I'm fine with it, it just seemed like the book focused a little too much on the sex and not enough on the story. It's probably just me though :/
That being said, I absolutely love the book and can't wait until the third. I really hope that Rothfuss will continue to write in this world he has created. There is so much lore he has written that to end all stories set in that world would leave me extremely sad.
Posted by AchillesHeel (Member # 11736) on :
Maybe he will follow in the footsteps of Mercedes Lackey in this respect, she wrote the Heralds of Valdemar trilogy and wrote a couple of other trilogy's riffing off of little things she wrote in passing. I accidentally read them more or less in chronological order and thorougly enjoyed her world and its heroes, most of all was The Last Herald-Mage trilogy and that was just story barely mentioned in the first book she wrote of Valdemar.
Posted by mr_porteiro_head (Member # 4644) on :
quote:Originally posted by Jake: Porter, what did you think of the audiobook? A friend of mine started listening to it and gave up (just reading the thing instead) because she found the reader's style so annoying.
I thought the audio book was fantastic.
Posted by Jake (Member # 206) on :
Cool. After I asked the question I remembered that it had been the audiobook for NotW that she disliked so strongly, rather than that of WMF.
Posted by plaid (Member # 2393) on :
quote:Originally posted by Geraine: That being said, I absolutely love the book and can't wait until the third. I really hope that Rothfuss will continue to write in this world he has created. There is so much lore he has written that to end all stories set in that world would leave me extremely sad.
In one of his interviews -- I think the one up at Amazon? -- he said he plans to write more stories about this world. (But he said there'd only be the one more book about Kvothe, because that was the proper amount of story to tell.)
Posted by mr_porteiro_head (Member # 4644) on :
quote:Originally posted by Jake: Cool. After I asked the question I remembered that it had been the audiobook for NotW that she disliked so strongly, rather than that of WMF.
Yeah, the first NotW audiobook was pretty bad. They've since made a new one, done by the same people that then did WMF. It's good.
Posted by Geraine (Member # 9913) on :
quote:Originally posted by plaid:
quote:Originally posted by Geraine: That being said, I absolutely love the book and can't wait until the third. I really hope that Rothfuss will continue to write in this world he has created. There is so much lore he has written that to end all stories set in that world would leave me extremely sad.
In one of his interviews -- I think the one up at Amazon? -- he said he plans to write more stories about this world. (But he said there'd only be the one more book about Kvothe, because that was the proper amount of story to tell.)
That is good. I'm fine with there only being one more story about Kvothe. I wouldn't mind a book that focuses on a different time period, such as when the Amyr had power.
Posted by plaid (Member # 2393) on :
quote:Originally posted by 0Megabyte: I bet I know why Kvothe is powerless. His name must have been changed.
I really like this. It's got a lot of different possibilities -- Kvothe changed it by mistake... Kvothe changed it to work some powerful magic... Kvothe changed it to help hide himself...
I like the latter. How about if Kvothe gave Denna his name, with the idea that she'd return it later when he was safe, only she didn't? Then he's all melancholy and feeling lost and betrayed, but then after he's finished telling his tale to Chronicler, Denna can suddenly show up at the Inn and give him back his name, and then Kvothe can set off to make things right again.
Posted by AchillesHeel (Member # 11736) on :
I would like to learn more about the Adem, especially because I think that writing about Adem people in Ademre would be infinitly tedious.
Edit to clarify.
Without the lens of Kvothe and his barbarian eyes, I believe writing about the Adem with an Adem protagonist would be complex. Not to mention funny... "man-mothers"
[ April 11, 2011, 04:44 PM: Message edited by: AchillesHeel ]
Posted by AchillesHeel (Member # 11736) on :
quote:Originally posted by plaid:
quote:Originally posted by 0Megabyte: I bet I know why Kvothe is powerless. His name must have been changed.
I really like this. It's got a lot of different possibilities -- Kvothe changed it by mistake... Kvothe changed it to work some powerful magic... Kvothe changed it to help hide himself...
I like the latter. How about if Kvothe gave Denna his name, with the idea that she'd return it later when he was safe, only she didn't? Then he's all melancholy and feeling lost and betrayed, but then after he's finished telling his tale to Chronicler, Denna can suddenly show up at the Inn and give him back his name, and then Kvothe can set off to make things right again.
Y'know, the Adem did give him a name. Or atleast she told him his name that he didnt know, that name may hold power over him and one way or another he does not have Caesura anymore. When the Adem have your name and you break a two thousand year old sword, something bad will happen to you.
I half expect Kvothe to return to Felurian in the end, as Rothfuss is so fond of musing "if this were a story" he would return to his beuatiful piksie and she would grant him his freedom for spreading her song and growing her ego. But its not that kind of story, is it?
Posted by stars (Member # 12556) on :
I'm glad I found this post! The thing about Lackless has been bothering me since the 1st book!
Here's some speculation about future plot (pure imagination)
Kvothe found out the secret of the archieve door, which is related to the Amyr. Denna got tangled up with her patron, who is Cinder. Driven by loss, Kvothe leaves for the Maer's court for access to his/ the Lockless's libary, which contains the rest of the secret. Though deemed less than human, the Maer's wife recognize him because: 1. someone insulted his mother and he mentioned her noble blood; 2. he played a song by his mother from her childhood, which his aunt overhears; 3. the box is part of the amyr puzzle, and only a heir to the "power" have the right to open it, and Kvothe did.
After that, Kvothe is formally granted a title with his heritage proven. He looks like a noble and pulled the trick off in NOTW cause he's a noble. Dear god, i'd give anything to know the scene between Meluan and Kvothe. I really liked her, despite her hatred for the Ruh.
Posted by AchillesHeel (Member # 11736) on :
Wow... if you feel like vicarious embarrassment watch this nsfw video of Patrick Rothfuss and Amber Benson at romance convention.
Posted by manji (Member # 11600) on :
Hilar hilar.
Posted by Belle (Member # 2314) on :
stars, welcome to Hatrack! You are most welcome because you have exquisite taste in literature.
You have some interesting ideas and like you I can't wait to see what really happens.
The door HAS to be related to the Amyr. And I agree, the mysterious patron - everything points to Cinder.
Posted by stars (Member # 12556) on :
Thanks, Belle. There's one thing i'm really curious about. Does Kote process Kvothe's abilities? I mean, the failed attempt to set the man on fire and the soldiers thing suggests he doesn't, but in the name of the wind he killed 5 spider fae and even Bast was impressed. And there was the part where he got mad when the chronicler mentioned Denna and a bottle exploded.
Posted by Belle (Member # 2314) on :
Yeah, I wondered about that too. He did manage to kill the spiders and the bottle did explode. So something is going on and it's not simply explained.
We know he had trouble doing sympathy - but that does not mean he no longer has access to the names he has learned.
I'm not sure. We will find out - and I am anxiously awaiting that!
Posted by AchillesHeel (Member # 11736) on :
About Cinder being the patron, Kvothe's parents were killed by Cinder for doing exactly what Denna is doing. So if the prerogative of the chandrain is stay hidden why would they have a human kicking up old information so soon after two instances where they risked being overt to remove the danger or being learned of? The Maer has a connection to the chandrian as well as Lady Lackless and the patron but the Maer doesnt travel so he cant be the patron, but what about Kvothe's friend? the one who practices paganistic things, surely his sole role in the book cant be to play a board game with a lonely teenager. Hes rich, travels and has unusual tendencies in his personal life, perhaps he knows about the Maer's fascination with the Amyr and only introduced himself expecting to meet someone whose purpose was related to the Maer's mutual interest. Sure he is written as a nice guy, but Elodin was really cool until he told a boy to jump off a roof.
Posted by manji (Member # 11600) on :
Denna's version of Lanre is a considerably more favorable interpretation. Perhaps Arliden's version of Lanre was not to Lord Haliax's liking?
Posted by plaid (Member # 2393) on :
I'd guess that (because words and names have power) that the Chandrian are working at re-establishing their power by eliminating their bad PR and, now, financing good PR...
Posted by FormerlyAchilles (Member # 12253) on :
The chandrian are quietly feared but no one looks for thier weaknesses or hunts them, and so long as those with the ability to find out (the university, nobles with personal library's) consider them to be silly stories then they are safe. What can a pot or a song do to hurt them? for some reason they fear these things, remember that Haliax mentioned singers in the same sentence as the Amyr so they truely do fear it.
Posted by AchillesHeel (Member # 11736) on :
... I always thought Rothfuss used the Gaiman approach to "names have power" in which opinion wouldnt really do anything. Liking the chandrian doesnt make them stronger, but knowing thier names and the signs of thier presence can hurt them.
Posted by Damien.m (Member # 8462) on :
The thing that bothers me most about this series is not knowing how many books there will be. There are rumours that the trilogy will tell Kvothes story up to the Inn and a second trilogy will follow Kvothe in the present day.
These rumours seem to stem from VERY unreliabe sources quoting Rothfuss at signings and a review on Amazon quoting a publishing source, but with no evidence.
I wouldn't take any notice of these rumours except from The Wise Man's Fear we know that the Chandrian are still alive in the present because Kvothe is reluctant to name them out loud.
There seems to be too much of the story left leading to the Inn as it is without the Chandrian showing up at the Waystone to finish the story.
But how can the series close without Kvothe taking revenge on the Chandrian? Fair enough if Kvothe just kills Cinder, but I don't know if that would be enough closure for the end of the series?
Posted by fugu13 (Member # 2859) on :
Rothfuss was very clear at the recent signing I was at (the launch signing for WMF) that there will be three and only three books (in the series; he didn't say anything about the world).
I wouldn't worry about closure.
Posted by Kwea (Member # 2199) on :
I loved the link to the convention, and so did my wife. He has a really good sense of humor. Posted by Belle (Member # 2314) on :
Oh, I think he can finish it in one book. Things will just really start taking off at the beginning of book three. We covered a LOT of ground in book two. We have a lot of background information now that I believe will start paying off with three.
Posted by Jake (Member # 206) on :
At the Dayton signing last month, he was asked whether he would be wrapping up the framing story in the third book (the person asking the question was skeptical that it could be done). His answer was something to the effect of "that's an interesting, perceptive question".
[ April 21, 2011, 11:28 AM: Message edited by: Jake ]
Posted by advice for robots (Member # 2544) on :
I've wondered that, too.
At some point in Book 3, probably with plenty of pages left, Kote is going to have to finish his story and take care of things in the present.
Posted by plaid (Member # 2393) on :
I think it'll be an Angel-type ending -- Kvothe recovers his powers, says something about how now he knows what to do, and then he and Bast go off to face almost-certain-death, and telling Chronicler to write up a suitable ending for him.
Posted by Harlo (Member # 12558) on :
I have a few questions on some things I may have passed up during my read. Hopefully you can help me out.
Why was Caudicus trying to kill the Maer? Did it fully explain or did we all assume it was becaus he was trying to usurp the king?
Did Devi give back Kvothes blood? I dont recall her doing so. I thought thats why she was so reluctant to take her 9 Talents. She thought he was dead right? Why would you keep his blood if he was dead. As I read on I found out it was because she wanted him to stay in her debt. So what happened to his blood? Did I miss something?
As for Kvothe losing his powers and his skill to fight, I just find that hard to believe. I also find it hard to believe that he doesnt know what Bast is up too. Kvothe knew that Bast wasnt reading that book he made him read and in the Name of the Wind he knew Bast was eavesdropping at the beginning of the story. Also the exploding bottle trick when chronicler mentioned Dennas name. My guess is that he just doesnt want to be the Hero anymore...he feels too responsible for the war and for the people who have paid with their lives.
Posted by AchillesHeel (Member # 11736) on :
No clue as to why Caudicus was poisoning the Maer, because if he wanted to kill him he would have. He was afforded every luxury possible and whatever made him do it must have been very powerful.
There was an overt referance the first time Kvothe paid his debt, and with how agreeable they were the second time there is no reason to believe that she would keep it.
Its not as if we understand the relationship between Kvothe and Bast, Bast listens to Kvothe like a student to a teacher but he is fae and Kvothe was very, very particular about how differant they were from humans. And Bast has also refered to Kvothe as "his" and considering how he treats Chronicler in private, he probably does not fear Kvothe in any literal sense.
Posted by basselope1 (Member # 12581) on :
I have just made it through both books and have a few questions if any of you could shed some light on the topics for me...
Why the dramatic loss of power for Kvothe? He trained with the best fighters in the world, called lightning down and could call the wind, yet now he is thumped by everyone that walks into his bar?
Where is Caesura? It is not the one above the bar, right? It didn't match the description.
Many thanks!
Posted by Jake (Member # 206) on :
Both questions have the same answer: we'll find out (in 5 or so years, probably)!
Posted by Juxtapose (Member # 8837) on :
I was re-reading Name of the Wind today when I noticed something. Likely you all have as well, but I thought I'd share anyway.
When Kvothe is talking to Master Kilvin after the bone-tar fire in the fishery, Kilvin quotes a saying in (I think) Siaru: "Chan Vaen edan Kote." He translates it as "expect disaster every seven years."
Kvothe's innkeeper name is Kote. It seems likely to me that he's named himself "Disaster", or perhaps, "Expect Disaster". Nothing earth-shattering there, of course, but something I thought was neat.
Posted by Wingracer (Member # 12293) on :
I missed that. Nice catch.
Posted by 0Megabyte (Member # 8624) on :
There's no way Rothfuss didn't do that on purpose. But then, there's very little in these books that I don't believe was done on purpose.
(See: every time Kvothe says a seven-word sentence to Denna.)
Posted by AchillesHeel (Member # 11736) on :
I know, but I offered no explanation. I dont belive that Niel Gaiman and Patrick Rothfuss riding on a carousel that no one ever gets to ride needs exposition.
Posted by Juxtapose (Member # 8837) on :
Every time I read something he's written (that's not fiction), Rothfuss just comes accross so classy.
Posted by AchillesHeel (Member # 11736) on :
Like the blog where he talks about wanting to sniff Alyson Hannigan's hair, and then imagines being punched in the face by Alexis Denisof for being "the guy that wrote about wanting to sniff his wifes hair."
Just so couthly.
Posted by Wingracer (Member # 12293) on :
Couthly. I have never seen or heard that word before (though I can understand it perfectly). I have found my new word for the day
And firefox hasn't heard of it either Posted by AchillesHeel (Member # 11736) on :
Have you ever heard someone refered to as uncouthly? couth is when you have good manners, and are respectable.
Maybe firefox should ask google, apparently google has a bigger vocabulary.
Posted by Belle (Member # 2314) on :
I don't understand why the "ly" adverb-making morpheme is added. I have always heard "uncouth" as an adjective form, and in the sentence you have it feels like you are using it as an adjective to describe Rothfuss, but that sentence could take an adverb as well if you were describing an action so I am not sure.
I have spending way too much time studying for linguistics comps, sorry. Posted by AchillesHeel (Member # 11736) on :
That last sentence is making me laugh, if only for the context in which the mistake was made. You really have been studying too much.
I dont exactly know why uncouthly is more prominent than simpyly uncouth, but I believe that in referance to Rothfuss' blog and my pull from it that I was indeed describing an action.
![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
![[Wink]](wink.gif)
![[Smile]](smile.gif)
![[Roll Eyes]](rolleyes.gif)