Fantasy Book Club discussion

One of my favorite part of this book was the professors at University - I really like their distinctive characters. Who was our favorites? Least favorites?

I have mixed feelings about Lorren. I think there may be more to his actions (banning Kvothe from the archives) than there appears to be. He seems to have a lot going on under the surface - sort of like Snape in the Harry Potter series but not as sinister.

I agree, Laura. There is more than meets the eye with Lorren. He might turn out to be more of a Dumbledore before it's over.

Now I wish I'd re-read this book this week. It's been months since I read it and the names of the professors have been lost in the mists of memories. I enjoyed all the professors. I didn't always agree with the way Kvothe treated them or disrepected them (in some cases) but it made for entertaining reading.

I read this book from the library so I don't have them off the top of my tongue - I agree with Chris I think there is more to Lorren then meets the eye and I like him even though he is stern.

The "crazy" guy that already knows the names is probably one of my favorites. I loved it with Kvothe jumped off the roof.

Robin wrote: "I read this book from the library so I don't have them off the top of my tongue - I agree with Chris I think there is more to Lorren then meets the eye and I like him even though he is stern.

Th..."

When he jumped off the roof I couldn't stop laughing. It was amazinginly funny because so many fantasy books would have had him fly away like is expected.

I liked the Smith Professor...umm..artifice, I guess, instead of smith. Anyway, I thought of it as smith magic. Professor Kilvin. He seemed like a steady, strong presence - someone Kvothe should have paid more attention to, used as a role model even.

I didn't really care for Lorren all that much. He was too stiff. I didn't really think that the banishment from the stacks was called for - especially without even trying to get the story straight. Admittedly, Kvothe was much too forward in rushing to the stacks at the first possible opportunity without even trying to learn the rules; however, the same lack of knowledge would call for a more judicious treatment by the Professor. And, well, Ambrose's character seemed to be general knowledge, so the Professor should have also taken that into consideration when passing judgement.

Kilvin is great. I like his gruff but friendly attitude.

Elodin is the crazy Namer professor. A great character too! I love how he looked down at Kvothe and told him how stupid he was for jumping.

As a whole, I like the multiple mentor aspect of this. There isn't just one Gandalf in this story, but several. Add in Abenthy and you have a whole team of mentors. Kvothe himself has even becomes a mentor to Bast in the "present".

I agree I like the "multiple" mentor setup - it is not new of course - but I enjoyed it in other places where it was used - in particular Harry Potter.

I really like the varied professors. Kilvin is the best to know. Elodin is great to read and someone I'm glad I don't have to curry in real life. Hemme is not Snape, he's the chauvinist I had in my senior year.... Brandeur is my least favorite.

Lorren knows WAY more than he is admitting, because he knows full well that Kvothe is not ready for it yet. There are better ways of keeping someone safe than keeping secrets, but -- drat, what's spoiler protocol here in this thread? Anyway, I'm pretty sure that Lorren has a truckload of reasons why he's doing what he does.

The artificer (the Fishery prof) was Kilven.

The Master Namer (crazy dude) was Elodin.

The prof that taught Sympathy was Elxa Dal.

Everyone recalls Lorren of course, the Archivist.

Hemme was the Rhetorician.

The uni mathematician was Brandeur.

The doctor guy was Arwyl.

I'm not entirely sure about Mandrag but I believe he was a chemist sort.

And characters that were not profs that people can't quite recall: Auri is the grrl under the Uni and Devi is the loan shark.

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Of the Uni profs, well... I think I appreciate Elodin the most. He is amusing and unique, much like the profs I have in Uni. Some of them are even just as mad. ;)

Great posting Viktoria - I can't keep them all straight. I do think Lorren will be an interesting character and something more will come of him - not sure yet what it will be feel it will be a surprise.

Elodin is a great character - Probably one of the best things in the book for me - I loved the whold jumping of the roof thing - that was great.

Jane wrote: "Great posting Viktoria - I can't keep them all straight. I do think Lorren will be an interesting character and something more will come of him - not sure yet what it will be feel it will be a sur..."

That was one of my favorite scenes too - mainly because it was so unexpected.

I smile everytime Elodin shows up in the book.

I agree Elena - he is a great "character" to say the least.