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river_cooke's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
The more I read this, the more I got a sinking feeling in my stomach that seemed to insist, in spite of its reputation and in spite of how much I enjoyed book 1 of the KKC, that I didn’t care for this book.
Which isn’t to say it’s badly written; a lot of the prose and the good ideas and mood (there’s a particular anxiety that underpins a lot of both books that surrounds poverty and is very well executed) remains a strength. Side characters such as Tempi are fun to travel along with, and cultural ideas like the Lethani and different areas of social ritual are fun to read about.
However. I did not feel like this book covered anything like the scope of plot that the first one did. This isn’t a criticism as such, I don’t mind a slow, focused character study, but in the context of the first book where we hear that this is the second of three nights across which we hear Kvothe’s entire life story, this feels an odd sequence of events to give so much time to.
There are several causes of this. Firstly, while the whole book is well written, and much of it introduces new ideas in the margins, the plot of the first third feels very much like a retread. We’ve done “Kvothe at college”, and seeing him spend a third of his second day doing largely the same stuff as in book 1 (getting in fights with Ambrose, being embarrassing around Denna) feels redundant. It just feels like we’re waiting for the next chapter of his life to begin.
It’s good, I feel at pains to stress it’s good, but it just feels, in combination with the abbreviated temporal scope, incredibly aimless.
Aimless is a very good word in fact for the next two parts as while there remains an overarching goal of uncovering the Chandrian, it is not focused on that heavily or advanced that greatly. Instead, Kvothe goes and enters the service of a faraway maer where he goes to sort a bandit problem. The plot (like NOTW) feels very “and then this and then this and then…”, however unlike before, where 1) it took place over many years, and biographical stories tend towards that structure and 2) long biographical stories tend to end up with the character in a very different place to where they started, this story takes a year and a half, and ends up with Kvothe right back where he started.
Even divorced from the context of this book as part of a trilogy telling his life story, I don’t feel like there is a grand plot which is set up and resolved in this book, narratively or character wise. Kvothe grows more powerful, and more sexually mature, but his flaws that causes his issues at the start of the book (too prone to a smart mouth, arrogant) are shown to still be governing his actions. It just doesn’t feel that much more meaningful than a gap year. There are individual accomplishments that are very great and worthy of note in Kvothe’s life story, but on the whole I struggle to look at this and care on the whole about “Kvothe’s gap year”.
Which is a shame, especially with how much I wanted to like this book. Still, I’m glad I read it, it had a lot of individual fun/interesting ideas, but not as good as its predecessor.
Which isn’t to say it’s badly written; a lot of the prose and the good ideas and mood (there’s a particular anxiety that underpins a lot of both books that surrounds poverty and is very well executed) remains a strength. Side characters such as Tempi are fun to travel along with, and cultural ideas like the Lethani and different areas of social ritual are fun to read about.
However. I did not feel like this book covered anything like the scope of plot that the first one did. This isn’t a criticism as such, I don’t mind a slow, focused character study, but in the context of the first book where we hear that this is the second of three nights across which we hear Kvothe’s entire life story, this feels an odd sequence of events to give so much time to.
There are several causes of this. Firstly, while the whole book is well written, and much of it introduces new ideas in the margins, the plot of the first third feels very much like a retread. We’ve done “Kvothe at college”, and seeing him spend a third of his second day doing largely the same stuff as in book 1 (getting in fights with Ambrose, being embarrassing around Denna) feels redundant. It just feels like we’re waiting for the next chapter of his life to begin.
It’s good, I feel at pains to stress it’s good, but it just feels, in combination with the abbreviated temporal scope, incredibly aimless.
Aimless is a very good word in fact for the next two parts as while there remains an overarching goal of uncovering the Chandrian, it is not focused on that heavily or advanced that greatly. Instead, Kvothe goes and enters the service of a faraway maer where he goes to sort a bandit problem. The plot (like NOTW) feels very “and then this and then this and then…”, however unlike before, where 1) it took place over many years, and biographical stories tend towards that structure and 2) long biographical stories tend to end up with the character in a very different place to where they started, this story takes a year and a half, and ends up with Kvothe right back where he started.
Even divorced from the context of this book as part of a trilogy telling his life story, I don’t feel like there is a grand plot which is set up and resolved in this book, narratively or character wise. Kvothe grows more powerful, and more sexually mature, but his flaws that causes his issues at the start of the book (too prone to a smart mouth, arrogant) are shown to still be governing his actions. It just doesn’t feel that much more meaningful than a gap year. There are individual accomplishments that are very great and worthy of note in Kvothe’s life story, but on the whole I struggle to look at this and care on the whole about “Kvothe’s gap year”.
Which is a shame, especially with how much I wanted to like this book. Still, I’m glad I read it, it had a lot of individual fun/interesting ideas, but not as good as its predecessor.
loquaciousleon's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
If you do not want to be bored with the sequel, read this book at least 6-12mo after you finish "The Name of the Wind". The first third of the book is very slow, but picks up and is a worthwhile addition to the chronicle(s) afterwards!!
lunarjuniper's review against another edition
5.0
Now that I’ve finished the second book in this series, and the third is in limbo now for more than a decade, I don’t know what to do with myself. I’ve spent more than 70 hours listening to the audiobooks and still want more. The audiobooks are so incredibly narrated, pairing with incredible writing. 5 stars isn’t enough for these books.
camp45's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
lakota15's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
4.5
sashareadsbooks's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
relaxing
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
oldcrow1111's review against another edition
4.0
I’d give five stars to the first half of the book and the last several chapters. But, the middle of the book dragged and some sections felt meaningless (the section with Felurian was arduous). I love Kvothe, the magic system, and the overall story, and have high hopes Rothfuss will tie things together if we ever get a third book.
jakemburgess's review against another edition
4.0
A little meandering in places, and the Felurian part felt like Rothfuss's living out his nerdy teen fantasy, but still seriously good.
blattgefluester's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
rasptartary's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
5.0