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 dramaticloss 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 lem (Member # 6914) on :
quote: yet now he is thumped by everyone that walks into his bar?
I didn't read it as Kvothe loosing his power. He did a handy job of killing the spider demons the night before. I read it as he lost the will to fight--possibly from depression and because he used to travel with the guys who beat him up.
Posted by AchillesHeel (Member # 11736) on :
When was it inferred that he knew the fake soldiers?
Posted by basselope1 (Member # 12581) on :
I can see the "depression" thing. To be so fearsome at 17, he has become such a non-factor a decade or so later??? You would think that even though he might lose his magic (like in the first book where it failed him in his bar) he would still retain a certain fighting ability. It's not like he is 60 and in poor health.
I am sure there is a point to all of this but I can't stand the thought of waiting 3 more years for the next book to come out. Posted by advice for robots (Member # 2544) on :
Join the club.
Posted by Juxtapose (Member # 8837) on :
quote:Originally posted by lem:
quote: yet now he is thumped by everyone that walks into his bar?
I didn't read it as Kvothe loosing his power. He did a handy job of killing the spider demons the night before. I read it as he lost the will to fight--possibly from depression and because he used to travel with the guys who beat him up.
For that theory to work, you have to explain why he'd be unwilling to perform the most basic sympathy to stop a rogue fae rampaging through his bar in the skin of a human. One of the villagers ended up getting killed.
And why would he have had the will to fight the scrael, but not the soldiers? Depression would seem to affect either situation, and as someone else noted, there don't seem to be any clues that he knew the soldiers.
I've gone back and forth a bit myself trying to decide if Kvothe's weakness is externally or internally caused. I'm not sure if there's enough evidence right now to support either source.
Posted by AchillesHeel (Member # 11736) on :
Remember that he didnt use magic to kill the scrael, he used a stick. And the soldiers, its teased that Kvothe started a whole war and feels terrible about it to the point that he was convinced that his presence would only make things worse the harder he tried to fix it. So he pretended to die, and hid out in an inn. A guy like that might think that its better to die as a weak innkeeper than destroy even more lives as Kvothe The Arcane/King Killer/Scariest S.O.B. Ever. We have no idea about the magic, but its obvious that he chooses not to fight, and I think that its because he chose to truely let Kvothe die. The innkeeper is simply haunted by the ghost of the great and powerful Kvothe every once in a while, but then he just polishes his bottles and goes to bed.
Posted by Juxtapose (Member # 8837) on :
quote:A guy like that might think that its better to die as a weak innkeeper than destroy even more lives as Kvothe The Arcane/King Killer/Scariest S.O.B. Ever.
But this doesn't fit with someone who goes out into the dark of night to kill spider demons.
Posted by AchillesHeel (Member # 11736) on :
Killing little monsters doesnt have any chance of inadvertantly killing more humans, they were there because of him and anyone the screal killed would be blood on his hands.
Posted by advice for robots (Member # 2544) on :
At what point in the third book do you think the story will arrive at the present and go on from there? I think it will have to be within the first half. There's so much to wrap up from the innkeeper scenes. It's a long way from the resolution at that point.
Posted by mr_porteiro_head (Member # 4644) on :
I'd guess about halfway.
Posted by Jake (Member # 206) on :
From the earlier thread:
quote:Originally posted by Jake: 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".
Posted by advice for robots (Member # 2544) on :
Huh, I missed that.
"Whether" is a pretty obvious question. Sounds like Rothfuss was being sarcastic.
"How" is a better question. I'm just trying to figure out how he's going to get from where Kvothe is at the end of book 2 to Kote the Innkeeper, and then wrap up the not-inconsiderable amount of plot that is still unresolved in the framing story. And do it all in a book that isn't 1,500 pages long.
Posted by 0Megabyte (Member # 8624) on :
...what's wrong with a 1,500 page book about Kvothe? I'd read it.
Although, I'd rather just have the third book end back in present day. That's so much stuff in the framing story that we need a new tale for it.
I'd love an entirely new series of books about the framing story.
Posted by mr_porteiro_head (Member # 4644) on :
As long as I don't have to wait a decade to do so. Posted by advice for robots (Member # 2544) on :
I wouldn't mind more books, either. But Rothfuss seems set on keeping this to 3 days and 3 books. I guess he could bring the narrative to a close at the end of book 3 and then take another 3 books to resolve the framing story. I'd be OK with that. Although I do prefer Rothfuss writing in 1st person, not 3rd.
Posted by Wingracer (Member # 12293) on :
Just finished reading both books and wow, I love them. As for the OPs question, I don't really care yet. I'm sure this will become clear in the third book. I'm more interested in his relationships with Denna and Bast. To me, that's where the real story is.
Posted by AchillesHeel (Member # 11736) on :
quote: I wouldn't mind more books, either. But Rothfuss seems set on keeping this to 3 days and 3 books.
He could do more Kvothe books, and they would sell very well indeed but it seems like Rothfuss has already learned a lesson that writers like Rowling and Patterson havent. If you make your art the way you feel you should then it will still be art and will still be yours. Neil Gaiman to name one would be a perfect example of this lesson, as a young writer he did it for the money and made very little of it while writing things that he had no interest or pride in. But when he wrote what he truely wanted to write his voice and fantastic mind shone through and allowed him to create the works that we all love. Gaiman could always write more Sandman and get paid, he could obstinatly demand to be the lead writer for Batman and DC would be ecstatic to give the job, but instead he writes little stand-alone stories for Batman and creates brand new stories from scratch like American Gods.
I think that Rothfuss' decision to limit his time in such a profitable line of books shows his maturity as a writer.
Posted by Jake (Member # 206) on :
quote:Originally posted by advice for robots: Huh, I missed that. "Whether" is a pretty obvious question. Sounds like Rothfuss was being sarcastic.
Nah, he wasn't being sarcastic at all. He was being evasive (and comically so, when what he said was coupled with his body language).
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