"The Lightning Tree" [updates]

[thistlepong, Master Namer]

Rogues , the anthology containing Pat's Bast novella, "The Lightning Tree," has a publication date. It's available for pre-order in some formats on a couple sites.

This is good news. We've known for a few months that it would come out in September, but the publisher hadn't announced a date. Here's a (link.

There's not much to it, yet, but there is a # for hardcover, ebook, and audiobook; so we can all be happy at the same time.

hardcover
On Sale: September 09, 2014
Pages: 832 | ISBN: 978-0-345-53726-3

ebook
On Sale: September 09, 2014
Pages: 832 | ISBN: 978-0-8041-7960-7

audiobook
On Sale: September 09, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-553-39873-1

The turnaround on this seems unusual for Pat. He started writing it in March last year. Martin and Dozois turned the manuscript in to Bantam in May. For longtime fans who are entering their seventh year of waiting for the end of Kvothe's story, two months or less for a 22,000 word story is a surprise.

Everything we've seen outside the series proper has been in a different style and imagine this will continue that trend. As for whether we'll learn anything significant about Bast's role in the KKC, that's anybody's guess. Given Pat's feeling about spoilers, I expect it to be self-contained enough to reveal very little.

bonus non-canon Pat-penned Bast vs. Jaime Lannister
(view spoiler)[
It was midmorning, and the autumn sun was hot as Jaime Lannister opened the door of the Waystone Inn. The place was oddly quiet, and he peered through the door, one hand resting lightly on his sword.
The taproom was empty except for a dark-haired young man lounging behind the bar. “Can I help you?”
Jaime stepped inside. “I’m looking for the owner. We have… business.”
The young man stood up straighter. “He’s stepped out for a moment. You’re Jaime?”
Jaime frowned slightly as he looked the young man over. “I am. And you are?”
“Bast.” The young man said with a grin. “He said I’m to make you comfortable if you showed up early. He shouldn’t be more than an hour or two. Can I get you something to drink?”
Jaime moved to sit at the bar. “I don’t suppose you have any decent wine out here in the ass end of nowhere?”
“What do you mean by decent?” Bast asked.
Jaime waved a hand dismissively. “Why don’t you bring out your best bottle? I’ll tell you if it’s something worth drinking.”
Bast looked offended as he headed down the basement stairs, returning a moment later with a dusty bottle.
“Something off the top shelf, I hope,” Jamie said.
“Something from behind the shelf,” Bast said proudly. “I can’t keep track of what the wines are called in these parts, but I’m guessing when you hide a bottle, it’s the good stuff.”
Bast worked a corkscrew and opened the bottle with a deft flourish. Then he brought out a tall wineglass, poured an inch of deep red wine into it, and held it out with an ingratiating smile.
Jaime made no motion to take it. “You drink half.”
Bast glanced down at the glass, then back up, his smile fading. “It tells you a lot about a man when he says something like that.”
Jaime showed his teeth in a sharp, joyless expression that had the shape of a smile. “It says a lot about you,” he said smugly, “that you aren’t willing to drink it.”
Bast gave a dismissive sniff, picked up the glass, and took a mouthful of the dark wine. Then he raised his eyebrows and made an appreciative noise as he picked up the bottle and eyed the engraving on the neck. “I can see why he hid this one,” Bast said, pouring more into the glass. “That’s just lovely.”
Jaime shrugged. “Ah well,” he said. “You know what they say. Better safe than sore,” he held out his hand.
Bast brought the glass close to his chest, his blue eyes icy. “This is my drink now.” He took another sip of the wine. “Rude guests go thirsty. Drink your own piss for all I care.”
Jaime’s expression went dark. “I’m not here for you,” he said. “But killing you wouldn’t be far out of my way.”
They stared at each other for a while across the bar. After a moment, Bast set the bottle down hard on the bar. “Fine,” he said, nudging it so it slid forward. “I won’t insult you by offering you a glass or anything. I could poison that, too. You’ll just have to drink it right from the bottle…” Bast grinned. “Like an unlettered cretin.”
Jaime picked up the bottle. “Boy,” he said. “If it makes you feel brave to show your teeth to me, go right ahead. But I’ll only tolerate so much.” He took a drink straight from the bottle, paused, and took another slower drink as if to make sure of something. He looked surprised. “Well, that is good, isn’t it?”
Bast nodded and took another sip.
“Did he say when he’ll be back?”
Bast looked down at his feet. “A couple hours,” he said with an odd tone in his voice. “He wasn’t expecting you until noon.”
“Don’t look so glum, boy,” Jaime said. “Look at the bright side. In a couple hours I’ll be on my way and you’ll be the owner of this fine inn.”
Bast looked up and his eyes were anxious. “I don’t suppose I could convince you to call this off?”
Jaime gave a humorless laugh and took another drink. “Good lord, boy. Why on earth would I do that?”
“Human decency?” Bast said.
Something about this struck the golden-haired man as funny, and he erupted into a great belly laugh that lasted for nearly a minute. Eventually he trailed off, wiping the water from his eyes. “You just earned yourself a tip, boy.” He shook his head in disbelief and took another drink.
“It’s just that…” Bast began.
“Look, boy.” Jaime leaned forward onto the bar. “I can tell you’re a talker. You probably learned that from him. I hear he’s got a silver tongue on him. Talked his way right out of the fight with the god-lion.” He gave Bast a serious look, his eyes hard as flint. “But that isn’t going to do him any good here.”
Jamie took another drink from the bottle before continuing. “You see, I’ve done some asking around. Your Kvothe has a bit of a reputation. Clever, quick. Devil with a sword. Strong as a bear. He can call down fire and lightning.” Jaime shook his head. “But I think all that is just stories. And the parts that aren’t just stories, he lost long ago.” He looked around the empty inn. “He wouldn’t be hiding here if he still had a scrap of power to call his own.”
Bast looked dejected, but he didn’t say anything.
“I’ll offer him a chance to surrender.” Jaime said magnanimously. “As thanks for this excellent bottle of wine.” He took one last drink and pushed it away from himself on the bar. “That’s enough of that. Start to turn my head, otherwise.”
“He might surprise you.” Bast said.
“With what?” Jaime said, laughing again. “That sword has dust on it, and his magic’s gone from what I hear. His silver tongue isn’t any good on me. He doesn’t even play music any more. What’s left?”
“I need to show you something,” Bast said. “Come here behind the bar.”
Jaime turned his shoulders, then frowned, looking down at his feet.
“Never mind,” Bast said, starting to walk around the bar. “I’ll come over to you.”
“Why can’t I move my legs?” Jaime said, his voice quiet and incredulous.
“Sethora,” Bast said simply. “It tends to start with the legs. You can probably still move your arms. But be careful or you’ll….” Jaime turned on his stool and toppled messily to the floor. “…Yeah. You’ll do that.”
Jaime writhed a bit, turning onto his side. Moving his arms sluggishly he managed to pull a long knife from his belt and throw it at Bast as came out from behind the bar. But the throw went wild and sunk into one of the thick-timbers of the tables.
Bast approached where the big man lay, stepping gracefully as a dancer. He stayed well out of arm’s reach through the man’s final struggles, waiting until he saw the tall man’s breathing grow stiff and labored.
“It was in the wine,” Bast stepped close and brushed the man’s golden hair out of his eyes. “I can’t believe you managed to drink so much of it. You must have the constitution of an ox.”
“But you…” Jaime’s mouth shaped the words though he lacked the breath to say them.
“You think I wouldn’t drink poison for him?” Bast asked. “Then you don’t know anything about him.”
Bast met the man’s glassy eyes. “You’re right. He’s not what he used to be. He’s lost everything. No magic. No music. No joy. No hope. You know what he has? You know what’s left?” Bast leaned closer, his voice low and vicious. “Me!” He practically spat the word, his eyes were wild. “He has me!”
The young man stood, took a fistful of the tall man’s golden hair, and began to drag his limp body across the floor.
(hide spoiler)]

[Amber, Master Sympathist]

Oh, really not too bad a price on the pre-order either.
Tehlu has blessed me with my paycheck today, so I shall put my name on the list to receive this holy tome.

Thank you so much for being quick to link this for us!

[Lucas]

I'm really looking forward to Rogues. A 22,000 word Bast novella! It doesn't get much better than that. And as an added bonus we'll have a Neverwhere story and a new Scott Lynch short.

I love that Suvudu cage match story. It was the first thing I read by Pat and I was absolutely blown away by it - I had not expected to find a subtle, beautiful, touching story like that in an internet popularity contest.

[Kenneth]

Is anyone elses page switching to spanish when you click on Pat's bio in the link thistlepong provided lol

[Amber, Master Sympathist]

That didn't happen to me, that's totally weird.

[Kenneth]

Mega weird, it's still happening



Patrick Rothfuss vive en Wisconsin y se dedica exclusivamente a la escritura. El nombre del viento, su primera novela, se ha convertido uno de los debuts más elogiados de la última década. Ha sido traducida a veintiséis lenguas y ganó el premio Quill al mejor libro de literatura fantástica. Por su maestría como narrador y la originalidad de su historia, la crítica ha equiparado a Rothfuss con grandes escritores como J. R. R. Tolkien, Ursula K. Le Guin y George R. R. Martin. Lectores de todas las edades, aficionados o no a la literatura fantástica, recomiendan esta novela, destinada a convertirse en un clásico.

[RJ]

"How much will we learn about KKC from this new Bast story?"

"That's a very good question"

[Desiree]

Yay! I'm excited!

[[deleted user]]

George R.R. Martin said this today "Our good friends at Bantam Spectra have just informed me and my partner-in-crime Gardner Dozois that they have moved up the publication date of our next mammoth crossgenre anthology ROGUES. . . to June 17. Yes, this year. Three months from now, in other words."

https://www.goodreads.com/author_blog...

[Lucas]

Cool! Great news, thanks for sharing Corinne.

[thistlepong, Master Namer]

Pat's Fantasy Hotlist posted a teaser, the opening of the story, yesterday.

It takes place prior to the opening of The Name of the Wind and follows Bast around for a day (third person).

[thistlepong, Master Namer]

Random House Audio is slowly releasing the readers for the Rogues audiobook. "The Lightning Tree" will be read by English actor and prolific narrator Rupert Degas. Folks who heard his versions of The Name of the Wind and The Wise Man's Fear before Nick's tend to defend him with the same affection.

[Amber, Master Sympathist]

Oh how exciting. I can't wait to get my copy. Just one more month!

[Ions]

I'm wondering if this puts Bast in the Eld on the night kvothe "called down lightning" at the bandit Camp...

[thistlepong, Master Namer]

First review of Rogues posted at Locus Online Reviews.

contains another paragraph from later in the story:

Bast rubbed his face. This never used to happen. He had never been in conflict with his own desire before he came here. He hated it. It was so simply singular before. Want and have. See and take. Run and chase. Thirst and slake. And if he were thwarted in pursuit of his desire… what of it? That was simply the way of things. The desire itself was still his, it was still pure.

[Mary, Minion the 1st, Chancellor]

http://www.tor.com/blogs/2014/06/book...

Little bit more info from Tor- I'm excited!

[Amber, Master Sympathist]

I can't wait to get this, only a couple more weeks til mine ships it says!!

[thistlepong, Master Namer]

I think you'll like it.

[thistlepong, Master Namer]

more audiobook news, though less specific than I'd like...

The full list of contributors includes Patrick Rothfuss. The full list of narrators includes Gwendoline Christie, Julia Whelan, Roy Dotrice, Phil Gigante, Ron Donachie, Morgan Sheppard, and Janis Ian.

[Kelila]

I just got Rogues from the library and immediately read The Lightning Tree.

So damn good. So sexy. What else can you expect of Bast?

[Rute]

Kelila wrote: "I just got Rogues from the library and immediately read The Lightning Tree.

So damn good. So sexy. What else can you expect of Bast?"



that sounds so good!!! :-)
Perhaps i'll order it from Amazon. ..
Sexy you say? What exactly do you mean? ...

[Kelila]

Rute wrote: "Kelila wrote: "I just got Rogues from the library and immediately read The Lightning Tree.

So damn good. So sexy. What else can you expect of Bast?"



that sounds so good!!! :-)
P..."

There's definitely some nakedness and sexy-times. ;)
There's an excerpt from it online, have you read that yet?

[Amber, Master Sympathist]

Yah, I really enjoyed it too!
It was also pretty funny actually.

I also enjoyed how in the end, it doesn't break down what happened bit by bit but you have an idea of what Bast did to keep his promise.

That is all I will say, we should probably put together a thread and tag it spoilers LOL

[[deleted user]]

I haven't read the other stories yet but buying the book was worth it for that story alone. I bought the audiobook and Rupert Degas is the narrator. Very happy.

[thistlepong, Master Namer]

Nicki, I've been looking for a complete list of narrators. Would you be willing to post one?

[Amber, Master Sympathist]

Yep, I was really excited about this anthology, it has a ton of good authors.

Plus, Lightning Tree was fairly long.

[Kenneth]

It was so good, it makes me wonder even more about the end of WMF with the webs he weaves.

[[deleted user]]

thistlepong wrote: "Nicki, I've been looking for a complete list of narrators. Would you be willing to post one?"
I don't have time to go through the lot but here is the majority.

George R.R. Martin - Everybody Loves a Rogue (Introduction)
Joe Abercrombie - Tough Times All Over Gwendoline Christie
Gillian Flynn - What Do You Do? Julia Whelan
Matthew Hughes - The Inn of the Seven Blessings Roy Dotrice
Joe R. Lansdale - Bent Twig Phil Gigante
Michael Swanwick - Tawny Petticoats Ron Donachie
David W. Ball - Provenance (I think Morgan Sheppard couldn't hear too clearly)
Carrie Vaughn - The Roaring Twenties Janis Ian
Scott Lynch - A Year and a Day in Old Theradane Gwendoline Christie
Bradley Denton - Bad Brass If I heard right Gil Bellows known best as an actor if I have the right person
Cherie Priest - Heavy Metal Scott Brick
Daniel Abraham - The Meaning of Love I think Conleth Hill
Paul Cornell - A Better Way to Die Roy Dotrice

Neil Gaiman - How the Marquis Got His Coat Back Roy Dotrice
Connie Willis - Now Showing
Patrick Rothfuss - The Lightning Tree Rupert Degas

[Joshua]

Finally got around to pick myself up a copy, so I have my sights on The Lightning Tree tonight.

[Marquita]

I'm saving the lightning tree for last...so far I haven't really enjoyed the other stories though, except for the one about the two guys and a girl trying to run a scam with the silver. Idk.. I thought maybe I'd be discovering some authors I otherwise wouldn't have and so far I'm left slightly disappointed.

[Kat]

So far I've read The Lightning Tree, The Rogue Priince, and How the Marquis Got His Coat Back. They are all excellent. Joe Abercrombie's story is next on my list to read. Also, on the list a few posts above George Martin's story The Rogue Prince wasn't listed, but it's the last story in the anthology.