Patrick Rothfuss

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Camlost

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« Reply #15 on: July 18, 2016, 09:56:17 pm »
I, personally, am a fan of the Kingkiller Chronciles thus far. I think Name of the Wind will be a book people look back on after the series has finished and consider it as something greater than it has been up until now, not considering all the praise it has received thus far. There is a lot of story and world building going on subtextually.  That said, I think my appreciation for the series has been that I identify it as a narrative of narratives. As MG already mentioned, those stories about the world are of interest in and of themselves and I would argue that they are indispensable from the story as a whole. The whole thing is storytelling all the way down. Pat does some really interesting twisting that undermines a lot of the notions that surround first-person narration.

MG also touched on the "dark fantasy" element as well. I absolutely agree with him that it is not dark fantasy persay, but like Wilshire said, it certainly falls into a category of tragedy that belies its almost whimsical, poetic narration.

I'll be the first to say that the second was not as good as the first (I found it to be less cohesive than the first), but I'm holding out for the third to pass final judgment on the middle tome.

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It was a few years ago when I read it, but if I remember correctly he was an expert musician, an expert actor/orator, an expert at whatever lab work he was doing (can't remember what exactly), and without going into too much detail he was unusually gifted at a certain type of magic.
As Wilshire mentioned, it is made evident very early on in the text that Kvothe is something of a prodigy, but aside from that, I think that Rothfuss does a very good job in attributing Kvothe's abilities not only to innate talents but also to his environment. His abilities as a musician, actor, storyteller, and the like are attributed to his native heritage as an Edema Ruh (sp?) as opposed to him simply being a genius child.

In regards to his magical/sympathetic prowess, he was fortunate enough to have Abenthy travel and tutor him during his formative years as a child and then later
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If anything, his ingenuity in later years surpasses his "genius";
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Prediction:
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Fuck, looking at the post preview, the amount of spoiler tags makes this look terrible to read, but I figured better more than less..

MSJ

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« Reply #16 on: July 18, 2016, 11:34:24 pm »
Camlost, your theory on the chest, please?
“No. I am your end. Before your eyes I will put your seed to the knife. I will quarter your carcass and feed it to the dogs. Your bones I will grind to dust and cast to the winds. I will strike down those who speak your name or the name of your fathers, until ‘Yursalka’ becomes as meaningless as infant babble. I will blot you out, hunt down your every trace! The track of your life has come to me,

Wilshire

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« Reply #17 on: July 20, 2016, 03:43:08 pm »
I'm quite intrigued by the happenings on in the story.

Spoilers of books 1 and 2. I imagine discussion here in will have many spoilers.
Continue, dear readers, at your own risk.
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« Last Edit: July 20, 2016, 03:45:34 pm by Wilshire »
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Camlost

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« Reply #18 on: July 22, 2016, 06:55:36 am »
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Camlost, your theory on the chest, please?
I have a loose remembrance of what it was and I'm going to reference Wilshire's post as it touches on some important details.
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MSJ

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« Reply #19 on: July 24, 2016, 03:22:02 am »
Neat theory, Camlost. Though, I've never thought that Kite wasn't Kvothe. I certainly think that whatever is in the chest, certainly has to do with his inability to use Sympathy.
“No. I am your end. Before your eyes I will put your seed to the knife. I will quarter your carcass and feed it to the dogs. Your bones I will grind to dust and cast to the winds. I will strike down those who speak your name or the name of your fathers, until ‘Yursalka’ becomes as meaningless as infant babble. I will blot you out, hunt down your every trace! The track of your life has come to me,

Jackehehe

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« Reply #20 on: January 07, 2017, 11:09:43 am »
I think these books are pretty good. Best way to describe them is to actually compare them to Harry Potter, but with a bit more adult touch as well as set and written in a more traditional fantasy setting. The books are light-weight but not shallow. I think the world building etc shows a lot of promise as well. It's just a shame that it takes so long for Rothfuss to write new books, because this series has the 'feels' of one of those longer series. I would recommend these books for someone who is pretty new to fantasy, I think. Especially if it is a younger person (but too old for David Eddings ;) )

Wilshire

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« Reply #21 on: January 07, 2017, 06:50:57 pm »
If you're looking for an adult harry potter comparison, check out Lev Grossman's The Magicians (Magicians being vastly superior). After that, comparing Rothfuss to HP seems missleading to me... though, not totally off base. I just thinm HP is mediocre story *gasp*, I know  know, get out the lynching rope,   so probably I'm just super biased :)
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