The Wise Man's Fear

The Wise Man’s Fear
By Patrick Rothfuss
DAW Books, 2011. 993 pgs. Fantasy

This is the spellbinding story of Kvothe, a young but brilliant orphaned boy of traveling gypsy-like musicians as he starts out on his path to becoming the stuff of legends. On the journey, he saves an aristocrat from a slow poisoning, destroys an entire band of ex-soldiers turned highwaymen, gets put on trial for learning some of the secrets of the Adem mercenaries, and meets Felurian, the faerie woman no man can resist, who he travels with into the realm of the Fae.

I enjoyed the first 500 or so pages much more than the last half. At that point things seemed to get a little long and drawn out. Not that the first part wasn’t lengthy, but I just really enjoyed it. Rothfuss is an excellent storyteller, but coming in at almost 1000 pages which is 300 more than book one, The Name of the Wind, I would give a warning to be prepared for a very long series ahead.

AJ