BGGWW Books discussion

Placed in the queue as I know several will be rereading and or wanting to discuss this as Wise man's Fear comes out.

Sounds like a Spinal Tap album.

So, now I have a decision to make. I was considering starting A Game of Thrones in the next week or so, but now there's this. They are both about the same length (Wise Man's Fear is going to be over 1000pp, though).

I'm working on a goal of 50 books this year (almost done with 8 so far). In order to get 50 books in this year, I'm using 350pp as an average sized book to read in one week. If I read a 500pp, I can follow it up with a 200pp and be on track. I'm trying to get a book or so ahead so I can squeeze in one of these longer ones. I've started reading for 45-60mins in the morning before my kids wake up. That's anywhere from 25-50 pages right there depending on how tired I am or how dense the book is. Then between lunch, 15-20 minutes after dinner family reading time, and reading before bed, I'm getting in about 350pp/wk without rushing, skimming, or feeling like I am doing homework or being burdened by it. Actually, I should start this as its own thread when I have time. Being a more prolific reader is really an interesting experiment and so far I love it.

Anyway, deciding between AGoT and NotW is a tough decision here.

In ancient Rome there was a poem
About a dog who found two bones
He picked at one, he licked the other
He went in circles, he dropped dead.

Goo wrote: "Sounds like a Spinal Tap album.

So, now I have a decision to make. I was considering starting A Game of Thrones in the next week or so, but now there's this. They are both about the same length ..."

this sounds like maybe you should have a pages to read this year goal instead of a books to read this year goal :)

anyone tried this on audible yet? Want to know if it is a good speaker or not. I've had pretty good luck so far, but there was one book I got that i just could NOT finish with the speaker.

Patrick Rothfuss is so sexually progressive. :P

Page 194: "The way he treats her isn't right. Man should never lay a hand on woman, save in love."

I'm coming, I'm coming. I'll probably read this in April. So, keep discussing so I have something to read when I get here.

Not a complaint...the :P was supposed to show playful amusement.

I just thought it was funny because you don't normally see offhand references to kink showing up in high fantasy, especially not in creation myths.

I dunno, in the context of that story about an abusive husband and a vengeful god it seemed that "lay on hands" meant "do violence".

Also, I suppose I'll see it when I reach WMF, but I'm going to guess that the bi character in that book is Bast? In NOTW he comes across as very non-platonically concerned with Kvothe's well-being, but I don't know the nature of their relationship yet.

Rothfuss is just amazing with his use of words. He is just so darn efficient. I love his writing and it's really intimidating.

I've been struggling with a writing exercise this week and looking to Rothfuss helped. He has a post on his blog about his editing/revision process that I found fascinating. He's so attentive to detail.

Bieber fever? I have Rothfuss fever.

Warning: thar be spoilers!

Reading Wise Man's Fear was a similar experience to reading Name of the Wind. If I had to sum it up in a word I'd use "frustrating". Patrick Rothfuss fills these books with some really clever wordplay and worldbuilding mixed in with some really bad storytelling and pacing. The net effect for me is a negative one.

I'm engaged in the books because I want to know the Big Picture...I want to know who the Chandrian are, what they want, and how they came to be. I am fascinated with the way that the author uses stories and legends that all relate vague half-truths about the history of the world. There was some giant world-changing event that happened, seven cities were destroyed, and everyone tells their own version of the story. Great stuff!

But I am actively annoyed by the characters. Kvothe is a smarmy Harry Potter knock-off who charms everyone he meets (except for one antagonist per setting) and is a self-taught expert in anything he puts his mind to. The one realistic trait he displays is his adolescent infatuation with Denna, which Rothfuss captures perfectly: he puppy-dog follows her around, hangs on her every word, and is devastatingly afraid of making a move even though she's clearly into him. This is what normal 15-year-olds are like...too bad that in every other respect, Kvothe is entirely abnormal.

There are some really clever bits, like the way the Lackless Box is brought up, tying all the way back to an offhand children's rhyme in the first book. And how Kvothe and Felurian's dialogue is often written in verse. But for every bit like that, there's a real clunker. Like how Kvothe's ship wrecks but is only worth half a page of offhand dismissal--a twist that adds NOTHING to the plot except to make everyone think he was dead and be so happy that he's back because they love him SOOOO MUCH.

Let me close my rant with a mention of how much I hate the clumsy way that Rothfuss allows Kvothe to sleep around without consequence...by introducing the concept a male contraceptive. This just totally breaks the worldbuilding for me. This whole time, Kvothe has been careful to be chewing his magic infertility herb every day? When did he start taking it? Where does he get his supplies? Has he been carrying around a stash in his backpack the whole time? I understand that Rothfuss doesn't need to take us through all the boring toiletries of the setting like toothbrushing and using the bathroom...but this seems like such a major departure from the real world that it's worth a mention. As presented, it sounds dangerously close to an imaginary plot element shoehorned into bad fanfic as justification for the characters to bone. ("Oh no, Hermione! We didn't use a condom!" "That's okay, Cedric. You've been chewing your gillyweed every day, haven't you?")

You are absolutely right about the spoilers...whoops. Since I read the books back-to-back I kind of forgot that the book club thread was only for the first one.