Chapters 16 - 30

[leynes]

Discussion exclusively for chapters 16 to 30. No spoilers for any chapters beyond that. :´)

[leynes]

I have to say, I love this very much! Pat Rothfuss is an excellent story teller. I love how complex and layered this story is, it definitely adds to its unreliability which I find fascinating. :D We have Pat Rothfuss telling Kvothe's story, who himself is recounting his childhood, and young Kvothe himself is hearing stories from people who have heard them second-hand. It's brilliant, I am pretty sure that the truth is somewhere hidden in all of these tales, but I love that Pat isn't too straightforward with it.

Overall, I am getting major Silmarillion-vibes from his narrative style, especially when Trapis recounts Tehlu's und Encanis' story, and when Skarpi is telling the story of Lanre. I love it so much, but I can definitely see how this isn't everyone's cup of tea. Personally, I love how much time Pat is dedicating to the worldbuilding and setting up of the story. I'd argue that at chapter 30 we're still at the introduction of the story, but I don't mind it at all. The way I'm perceiving the story (as of now), I think the „rising action“ (if speaking in Aristotelian terms) will start once Kvothe reaches the university, and that will probably happen in chapters 31-35. I can't wait, I am so hooked, because I think that the concept of the university is so cool and I can't wait for Kvothe to get back into „magic“ (alchemy?).

So, what shocked me the most in the past fifteen chapters was probably Kvothe's parents (and entire troupe, for that matter) dying. I had such high hopes for them. Pat did such a wonderful job with his parents that I hoped they would play an important role later on – guess, I was wrong. It's incredibly sad, but definitely a good narrative choice, because it feds fuel to the fire which is brooding inside of Kvothe. I really want him to become a badass assassin and kill bitches (aka the Chandrian) left and right. :D

I love how consequent Pat is with his incorporation of music. I love how Kvothe found solace in his lute, and how he managed to play feelings and situaitons on his lute. It was wonderful. Or how certain sounds remind him of the horrifying memories that he has so carefully locked away.

I have to say that geographically I am still a bit lost in Pat's world. I'm consulting the map as often as I can but still, I only have a vague understanding of the Commonwealth. I am excited to see how long it will take Kvothe to travel from the city of Tarbean to the university because both are on the map, and so this will help me heaps to understand the scope of the world.

So, for the next fifteen chapters I'm looking forward to the getting to the university, maybe learning a bit more about Skarpi (do you guys think that he knows Abenthy?? because Skarpi knew an aweful lot about Kvothe, so that had me wondering what his connection to him was...) and maybe Kvothe finding friends/ a companion. I am kinda digging that he is a lone wolf, but he deserves friends, man, all the shit he suffered through already. He deserves friends to lean on!

Aaaaand lastly, I don't mind the interludes one bit. At first I was afraid that they would pull me out of the story but no, I think it's wonderful to see how battered Bast, and how trite Kvothe is. ;)

[sage]

I was sooo lost in his world, and I don't just mean in his world building. Like, literally lost, even with the map I was hopeless, though whether because of my hopelessness or because the map was too barren to gauge at times, who knows. We'll leave that mystery in the bag heh. However I am very lost in Patrick's world and his building that up and explaining it all over time. I know that some people have talked about how they didn't like the book because it went into too much detail, but the details are what make his book great, and those who can't appreciate it just won't appreciate that style of writing. Its so interesting to read.