Did Kvothe's time with Felurian fit the story?

[Gary]

He's a musician. Of course he knows what to do.

[idcboobs]

Gary wrote: "He's a musician. Of course he knows what to do."

By that logic he'll die in his twenties drunk and alone.

[Gary]

Haha, I think you mean homeless stoner.

[Aimée]

at first I found the Felurian encounter a bit out of place and long-winded, but as I got into it I realised that perhaps by the author making a detachment to the main plot, it created a loss of the sense of time for the reader, as it was really descriptively intense. Perhaps this was the author's intention; to make the reader feel part of the Fae realm, where Kvothe loses all sense of time too. That's what I felt when reading this part anyway, it really helped set the scene and allowed me to get 'lost' in this part. I couldn't put it down!!

[Niels]

As I just wrote somewhere else:

The dreamy alieness was kinda cool in the beginning.

But she has zero personality and nothing interesting is happening, for pages without end, beside what could be summed up as:

"Yo, I met this Felurian sextoy, owned her by calling the wind, learned mad sex-skills by banging her a lot, wrote a song, and got a cool new outfit."
*fistbumping the other dudes at the inn*
"Oh, and I talked to this weird tree-thingie that said some disturbing things about this capricious girl I'm constantly whining about"

The worst thing is that he proceeds to do pages upon pages of exactly the same with the swordmanship practice (including having another fuck-toy throw herself on him). Because, apparently he need to level up on fighting skills too, before he can kill some king and waste the rest of his life in that inn...

Presumably, because he instantly forgets all the skills (and refreshingly uncomplicated girls) and crawls back in the friendzone with that bad-news and damaged-goods girl.

[David]

This part of the book is very necessary to me. IMHO this is how the boom will end - Tolkien style - with our man kvothe rising out of this world and back to fae time with Felurian. Thoughts

[idcboobs]

David wrote: "This part of the book is very necessary to me. IMHO this is how the boom will end - Tolkien style - with our man kvothe rising out of this world and back to fae time with Felurian. Thoughts"

does anyone know if this actually makes sense?

[Gabriel]

Idcboobs wrote: "David wrote: "This part of the book is very necessary to me. IMHO this is how the boom will end - Tolkien style - with our man kvothe rising out of this world and back to fae time with Felurian. Th..."

Some main characters leave middle earth choosing to depart with the elves at the end of The Return of the King. Kvothe promises Felurian that he will return to her. So I'm guessing that David is predicting that at the conclusion of this story Kvothe will leave his world "Tolkien style" and go to the fae.

[Gabriel]

Niels wrote: "Oh, and I talked to this weird tree-thingie that said some disturbing things about this capricious girl I'm constantly whining about"

The weird tree thingy is kind of a big deal and it did a lot more than tell him something about a girl. Until his encounter with the Cthaeh, and Bast explaining what it is, we have very little understanding of why Kvothe is a sad shadow of himself hiding in an Inn. We learn however that by speaking to it he become an agent of destruction with no means of ridding himself of its influence.


Niels wrote: "The worst thing is that he proceeds to do pages upon pages of exactly the same with the swordmanship practice (including having another fuck-toy throw herself on him).

I saw it as Kvothe being the "fuck toy". Not only is he obviously Felurian's, who uses her victims as play things until death, but also during his time with the Adem. Penthe describes the role of men and "anger", which seems to mean something vague like energy of life, after sleeping with Kvothe.

"I am sorry to tell you this thing. You are a good man, and a pretty thing. But still, you are only a man. All you have to offer this world is your anger." - Penthe

Men can offer that anger to the world, at least in part, by sleeping with women. I think Rothfuss intended this as a reversal of the old "all women are good for" sexist beliefs that narrowly defined the limited role women could play in addition to being sexual play things. If a man has too much anger (hasn't had sex) he gets overly emotional and starts bickering, telling lies, and fighting. Essentially, male hysteria.

[Niels]

Gabriel: My main complaint is that those two sections are too long.

The Felurian section could basically be cut down to ten pages with their initial meeting 1-2 episodes that change their relationship, his little picknic at the tree and a lot of fade to black.

I think your analysis of the Adem-section and reverse sexism is a bit far fetched. To me it just sounds like boring swords & sex-wish fulfilment-porn. On the other hand, IF you're right that it is some sort of social commentary on contemporary society, it is completely irrelevant to the story and should have been purged by a good editor.

To put it in perspective: one of the things I actually liked in the early part of the book is that he didn't go into details with the sea-voyage: It could have been awesome, but it would probably have been extremely long-winded and cliché, and it was really nice that he moved quickly to the period working for the mayor.

I get the same feeling for the Fellurian and Adem-sections - that it's boring levelling up and the author's cliché sex fantasies, while you long for him to finish masturbating and move on to something more interesting.

[Tristan]

... I think the ONE THING that every single one of you has missed, is that Kvothe actually translated Felurian's song... Does that strike odd with anyone else. I mean, go back and read it again. Same amount of words, same amount of lines, same amount of syllables. Pat put an EXTREME amount of effort into this point into the story, and he wouldn't do that if it wasn't important enough.

[Tony]

I loved The Name of the Wind but, whilst listening to The Wise Man's Fear, I've developed a concern.

A lot of time has been spent in this one year of Kvothe's life that the rest of the story will have to be rushed. I could be wrong but in WMF I realised the pacing is too slow.

As such I've started drifting off waiting for something to happen and this is my fourth attempt at finishing Felurian's part of the story.

It doesn't fit, it drags on and, more importantly, it's artless and contrived. Kvothe just chances on Felurian in the forest? Meh....poor writing in an otherwise well crafted story.

If you want to compare it to Tolkien it's more like the eagles. A deus ex machina to advance a plot.

Now, I could be wrong about this. I'm still not finished with this part of the book. The fact remains that, for me, it's a chore and should have been edited, if not edited out.

[Otavio]

SPOOOOOOILEEEEERS!!!!!!
He didn't call the name of the wind, he called Felurian's name... badass.
I believe Felurian story was a way of fitting his deep name; prove Fae exists, making Elodin a more lucid person and probably leading everything to the Chandrian...
The thing with the sentimental-hand guys (sorry, I forgot they're names) when the "wise old woman" says Kvothe his deep name, which he finds it means fire and thunder, but not why people fear it (maybe because he killed lot's of enemies stabbing an unholy corpse) plus the cursed tree of disgrace story...
Maybe he will come with an explanation to all this weird stuff in the third book.

[Ehtisham]

I thought so too, that the felurian part is out of place but he is learning a new skill in every 'mission' like a video game. he could have done it later when he is a little more grown up and after his training at Ademre because then he would then have more self control. I however agree that felurian chapters can be skipped and it wont effect the story much

[idcboobs]

wait how else would the authors self insert hero learn to fuck?????

[Sleet]

I'd say no.

[Andrew]

How could anyone think of this part a useless digression at this point? Once the whole story is told (which I hope is before 2025), then maybe you could come to that conclusion. I find if difficult to come to that conclusion when we are only in book two of a trilogy.

[Donna]

You're spot on. It drags miserably. It reminds me of the first 10 chapters of Jane Eyre. It matters in terms of its significance and the gist is certainly important to the broader story, but it could've been half as long and still maintain the same amount of impact on the meat of the story. Meanwhile Rothfuss is juggling 3 intriguing narratives among the University, the Maer, and the bandits (and effectively pauses each of them) to focus on the slow Felurian narrative. The series as a whole is great, but this chunk is decidedly less so. No disrespect to Rothfuss-- I enjoy the series and would still recommend it.

[Prestina]

Yeah...... sorry. Came across to me as total wish fulfillment. I just wasnt buying the 16 year old virgin sex god bit. It was cheesy and I found myself skipping pages. Which ultimately means I missed out on some of the relevant info in the absolutely amazing world Rothfuss created. I would have liked to see the Felurian section shortened.

[Isaac Bruner]

I didn't interpret the Felurian chapters as Kvothe "seducing a sex-god" as some people have put it. She seduced him and lured him into the Fae. He then overcame her power through force of will, and earned his freedom through a song. He only stayed to learn what he could while he still had the chance. I also didn't think this section dragged at all. To me, it felt like the author was trying to convey a sense of timelessness and otherworldliness, almost like the reader was also in that glade with Felurian, trapped eternally under a sea of alien stars. I couldn't stop reading. I also strongly disagree that this section served no purpose to the plot. The plot is Kvothe's life, or more accurately, Kvothe's story. This is an essential and formative part of his personal story. Aside from that, he learned a lot about the Fae (and a bit about the Chandrian), got a magic cloak made of shadows and starlight, learned the future from an eldritch god, and in so doing, unwittingly became its puppet. It's reasonable to expect that all of this will be relevant as Kvothe's story continues in the next book.

[[deleted user]]

Isaac Bruner wrote: "It's reasonable to expect that all of this will be relevant as Kvothe's story continues in the next book"

Bold of you to assume there will be a next book /s