It should be stated somewhere that you can tell how much a book has gripped you by how fast you power through the audiobook version.  42 freaking hours!!!! Yes, that is the length of the audiobook version of my third book for 2015. Usually, listening is reserved to drive time (about 1 hour/day) and sometimes cooking.  So, a 42 hour book should take me over a month to complete…obviously, this is NOT the case here. I started it after Christmas and could not stop listening which lead me to finish it in about 3 weeks!  This phenomenal book is, of course, Patrick Rothfuss’ The Wise Man’s Fear.

The Wise Man’s Fear is Day Two of The Kingkiller Chronicles, the first in the series being The Name of the Wind which I finished back in November. I’ll try to limit the spoilers in the following review.

The series follows the the story of Kvothe (pronounced quothe with one syllable).  As an adult, he is hiding as Kote, a simple innkeeper, but his life is legendary.  Chronicler, a scribe, uncovers who he is and requests to hear the entire true story.  Kvothe obliges, promising to tell his story over the course of three days. Each book is therefore set as ONE day of the story, and occasionally shuffles back and forth between the past (narrated by Kvothe) and the present period in the “quiet” inn.

The Name of the Wind follows Kvothe’s boyhood as one of the Edema Rue (troupers that perform plays and music) into his turbulent youth after the slaughter of his family and his eventual admittance into The University a couple of years later, where he studies arcane magics, science, letters, etc.  His talent and quick wit are as great at getting him into trouble as they are at getting him out of it.  The story is one of an impatient and clever boy making his way in a world where he normally would have little access.

While book one is very much a coming of age story, The Wise Man’s Fear steps into the realm of adult problems (even if he still is only a teenager throughout).  Kvothe continues studying at The University, only to have problems cause him to leave.  He adventures into Vintas, another nation, to work for Maer Alveron, the man who is richer than the King of Vint.  What follows are several adventures: chasing bandits, entering the Faen Realm, learning the secret art of the Adem mercenaries, and his eventual return to The University.

My vague and stilted summary aside, this series not only contains magic, it is magic.  Rothfuss creates a world that is comprehensive, alive, and teaming with possibility.  Kvothe is believable both in his likeability as well as in his obvious faults.  The author does not shy away from making his hero real and imperfect.  After all, he is still just a boy, a young man, and we know from the start that there must be a truth behind the legends.

I’ll admit that in Book One, I struggled with the lack of a strong female character. For as long as I can remember, I’ve focused in on the female-centric stories (I blame my mother…and Jane Yolen).  So, I started to assume Rothfuss was the stereotypical fantasy author focusing on a male hero.  Book Two proved to me why I should not be so gender specific in my literary choice.  Though Kvothe is the central character, Rothfuss supports him with a wide cast, and many of his teachers, leaders, mentors, and friends are women.  For me, I enjoy seeing such believable characters, treated primarily as people, not just as gender specific stereotypes.  We don’t need an “Amazonian Princess” to have strong women and we don’t need a “Hercules” to have strong men (yes, I’m simplifying things here, but you get the point).  Rothfuss’ world is the way I wish most people created characters (especially on TV and in Film): As primarily, verily, HUMAN.

Besides this incredible character creation and vibrant world, Rothfuss spoke to my heart with one other aspect: music.  Kvothe’s deepest love is song. He plays the lute like it is his very soul, and the tender detail in which Rothfuss describes the feel of the music, the joy and pain in playing, shows that the author is a musician himself, or has immersed himself in music enough to understand.

I’m a sucker for language, and it is this experiential phrasing that has me hooked on Rothfuss. Now, like the rest of his fans, I have to wait for Day Three and whatever remains beyond.