Portrait of Patrick Rothfuss

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Patrick Rothfuss: books, reviews, and where to start

Patrick Rothfuss writes fantasy about talent, performance, poverty, memory, and the dangerous distance between a gifted young man and the legend he tells about himself.

Born 1973novelistteacherwriter
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View 4 reviewed books

Biography and criticism

The music of a self-made legend

The Kingkiller Chronicle's unfinished status shapes its reception, but the existing books deserve attention for voice, framing, and the ambiguity Rothfuss places inside apparent mastery.

A long first novel finds its publisher

Patrick Rothfuss was born in Wisconsin in 1973 and spent an extended undergraduate period at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, exploring subjects before completing his degree. He taught and developed the manuscript that became The Name of the Wind over many years. The novel was published in 2007 after an excerpt won the Writers of the Future contest and the larger project found representation.

Its central device is Kvothe's narration of his life to Chronicler across three days. The young Kvothe is brilliant, poor, proud, traumatized, musical, and often persuasive about his own significance. The older innkeeper's silence creates the question the story cannot yet answer: how did the performer of a heroic identity become a man apparently unable or unwilling to inhabit it?

Beauty, indulgence, and the unfinished frame

Rothfuss is especially good at writing music, names, and Auri's private way of understanding objects in The Slow Regard of Silent Things. The University chapters keep returning to tuition, food, debt, and patrons, so talent never makes Kvothe financially safe. The Wise Man's Fear opens more of the world but is much more willing to flatter his competence and sexual legend.

The long delay of The Doors of Stone and controversy around a promised charity chapter have damaged trust between Rothfuss and part of his audience. That does not justify harassment, and an unfinished series is not fraud. Start with The Name of the Wind knowing that the trilogy has no published ending. Kvothe is telling his own story, so every impressive memory is also a reason to ask how much he wants us to believe.

FantasyCharacter Driven Fantasy

Where to begin

A good place to start with Patrick Rothfuss

Cover of The Name of the Wind
Highest rated here

The Name of the Wind

4.5 / 5

The Name of the Wind is at its best when Kvothe has to play, study, bluff, or scrape together tuition. His dazzling account of himself is also the book's biggest reason for doubt.

Cover of The Slow Regard of Silent Things
Another place to start

The Slow Regard of Silent Things

4.2 / 5

The Slow Regard of Silent Things is a delicate character study for readers willing to accept ritual, objects, and private logic in place of conventional plot.

Reading order and buying help

Reading guides featuring Patrick Rothfuss

Read after Harry PotterHarry Potter for adultsFantasy reading orderKingkiller Chronicle books in orderWeekend readingWeekend reads

Series buying note

Would the collection be the better buy?

These are useful only when you want several books in the same run. The notes below spell out what each package includes and, just as importantly, what it leaves out.

The Name of the Wind book coverThe Wise Man's Fear book coverThe Slow Regard of Silent Things book cover

Four-book paperback collection

Kingkiller Chronicle 4-Book Collection

The collection pairs Kvothe's two main novels with the Auri and Bast companion stories, which makes it a broad tour of the Four Corners rather than four consecutive saga volumes.

Included: The Name of the Wind, The Wise Man's Fear, The Slow Regard of Silent Things, The Narrow Road Between Desires

My buying note: The central trilogy is still unfinished. Two books here are companion novellas, so this is for readers comfortable buying into an open-ended series.

See collection formats on Amazon

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Bibliography

Books by Patrick Rothfuss

Reviews and book guides open on Book Review Guide. The full list comes from the linked bibliography source.

Cover of Epic

Not reviewed yet

Epic

Cover unavailable

Not reviewed yet

Canallas

Bibliographic source: Open Library.

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Patrick Rothfuss reviews and guides

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