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fieldofhats's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
1.5
The first arc of this book is set at the university and it doesn’t really further the plot, but it does give us more development and growth for Kvothe and the other cast of characters, and provides fun little stories that are infinitely entertaining (like when Ambrose poisoned Kvothe — truly one of the funniest bits I’ve seen in a fantasy novel). This whole novel could have been small details and further development of the university and the characters there and it would have been a million times better.
One great thing about the first third is the development of side characters. Simmon and Devi get to shine, as well smaller characters like Fela and Masters Elodin and Kilvin. We see Simmon pushed to his limits when Kvothe is on the Plum Bob, and we witness how good of a person and friend he is with how much he’s willing to do for Kvothe. He’s also funny and a general joy to have on the page. In short, he’s the perfect best friend archetype. Devi doesn’t have “development”, but her story and motivations become clearer which I really enjoyed seeing. Elodin, Kilvin, and Fela don’t have arcs per-say, we just get to see more of them and witness how they interact with what’s going on, which is nice.
Willem and Denna are pleasant additions to the story, but they don’t quite grow or develop as much as the others. In fact, both characters are pretty flat and uninteresting, they’re just there to provide Kvothe with a best friend and a girlfriend, respectively. They don’t feel as alive as the other characters.
The rest of the book takes a gradual progression downward. I was prepared to not like the Vintas arc as much as the university arc, but I also didn’t think it would go on for more than half of the novel. The more we stayed in Severen, the more I hated it. When we got to the endlessly slow bandit hunt, I was irritated. I ended up not reading most of it, instead opting to read the cheeky chapter-by-chapter reviews of this book on the (now disbanded?) Doing in the Wizard blog. I read a couple of chapters here and there, but once the book became badly written fairy porn, I just stopped reading it altogether. I watched some reviews and got the spoiler gist of what happened, and then I skipped to when he goes back to the university and read that whole epilogue arc because that’s all I care about with this book.
The issues with the second half of the book go far beyond the fact that it’s boring, though — it’s sexist in about fifty different ways, it’s poorly written, and it’s just not very fun. For example, he almost calls Denna (Denna!) a whore — Felurian r*pes Kvothe and then he has a flashback of when some boys r*ped Kvothe in Tarbean (which is not something we saw in the first book) — after saving a group of women who were assaulted by men, Kvothe pulls the “not all men” card on them — and probably so much more than I can’t attest to because I didn’t read it.
Now, I understand narratively why he had to go to Vintas and have adventures, but that’s doesn’t change the fact that they were poorly written, unexciting adventures.
And then, when he goes back to the university, it’s still bad!
The thing that really ground my gears the most was that Fela is/was in love with Kvothe. You know, Fela who Rothfuss set up to be in a relationship with Simmon at the beginning of the novel. That Fela. God, why does every woman in this book have to be either a whore or in love with Kvothe, or both?
The events that take place in the university epilogue section are also SO rushed. There were so many things that were glossed over that I think could have been really fun to see play out.
The gradual decline of writing in this novel is very clear. Comparing the prose, pacing, and character interactions from the first half of the book set in the university and the university epilogue at the end is like night and day, and it’s so sad and disappointing. My suggestion is to read this book up until he leaves the university, and then just stop altogether.
Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, and Sexual content
lenore2185's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
First of all, the Felurian calling Kvothe a "lusty man" after trying to death by snu snu. Bitch, that's a child. He is sixteen. Go to prison.
Then all the Adem women finding this child irresistible. I don't know a single woman in her late 20s who would look at a 16-17 year old boy (again, a child) and go "Yeah, I want that." Go to prison.
Then Kvothe bravely rescues two girls from bandits, living out that weird power fantasy that men seem to have where they stop a rape by beating up a rapist (and yet they won't call their male friends out for sexually harassing or assaulting someone....okay). And after being brutally raped for days on end, one of these girls has the audacity to say "I hate men." I know, the horror. A girl experiences multiple brutal assaults by multiple men and has decided that she doesn't particularly like or trust men right now. And Kvothe, the dumbass, gets upset and says "I'm a man :( we're not all like that." He really looked this girl in the eye after she survived being raped and said "Well not all men!" Fuck off. It's even worse that it's implied he almost experienced sexual assault in his backstory, and yet he couldn't conjure up even a little bit of empathy. What the actual fucking fuck is all of this.
Tl;dr why did this book have to get so horny when the main character is a 16 year old boy. That's a child. Kvothe is a child. There are multiple sex scenes featuring a child. Go to prison.
Moderate: Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexism, and Sexual assault
proza's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Racism, Blood, Medical content, and Pregnancy
Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and War
nerdkitten's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Drug abuse, Gore, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Chronic illness, Death, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Medical content, Kidnapping, Murder, and Cultural appropriation
Minor: Biphobia, Cursing, Infidelity, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexism, Sexual violence, Excrement, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and War
giulianalb99's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
No puedo creer que de 1190 páginas que tiene el libro, más de la mitad sea PURO RELLENO porque hay millones de cosas que sobran, por eso me pregunto: ¿por qué es tan innecesariamente largo? 2 malditas semanas me ha llevado terminarme este libro que, de aquí a que salga el tercero (que seguramente me habré muerto y todo), lo tendré que volver a leer porque sé perfectamente que se me va a olvidar absolutamente todo. Tampoco entiendo muy bien qué pretende Rothfuss con el tercer tomo ¿Tendrá el doble de páginas? Porque este libro es TAN lento y todavía no sé casi nada de lo que de verdad importa: los putos Chandrian. Y no solo eso, es que el prota ha llamado al viento ¿cuánto? ¿dos veces? Que alguien me explique PARA QUÉ tanta palabrería para que pasen sólo un par de cosas interesantes.
En el primer libro me encantó Kvothe, pero en este simplemente me parece bastante arrogante y la mayoría de las veces se cree mejor que cualquier persona que le rodea. Hay algunos personajes nuevos que no están mal pero me faltan mujeres en la historia, y ni voy a decir nada sobre algunos comentarios misóginos repartidos por el libro porque sino mi lado feminista sale a la luz y mi reseña sería interminable.
Ni siquiera sé porqué le doy 3 estrellas, pero le doy el beneficio de la duda. Alomejor no era el momento adecuado para leer este libro y alomejor tenía unas expectativas bastante altas después del primero (y eso es culpa mía). No me desagrada para nada cómo escribe Rothfuss, pero no puedo no recalcar la cantidad de páginas innecesarias. Por supuesto que me leeré el tercero, pero ya me toca esperar a un futuro bastante lejano.
Graphic: Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
amelia_d's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
The main positive for me is the incredible, detailed and original world building. I felt really engrossed in the world and loved learning more about how this world works.
For the most part I also found the story very compelling and intriguing, although it is quite scattered in a real-worldy kind of way which I'm aware some people didn't like.
Despite all that, the negatives for me almost made it unreadable at times. The main issue for me was that I found Kvothe thoroughly unlikeable, for most of the book he's constantly bragging about everything he does and how brilliant he is at everything he tries. I found this very grating. However it was almost unreadable due to the way Kvothe talks about women. I won't get into the details so this can remain spoiler free but at times I felt like I was reading a fanfic written by a 14 year old boy or an incel. I was cringing and sending pics to my friends/boyfriend of some paragraphs because I actually couldn't believe what I was reading. It felt very much like reading an incel's sexual fantasy who wishes that they could be Kvothe and I absolutely hated it. (also mild spoiler, there's a bit where Kvothe almost literally says "not all men" to a SA victim, seriously.)
So I am very torn. As I say, the story is compelling and intriguing and the world building is very impressive but at times the writing got so bad in terms of female characters in particular that I really don't know that I could bring nyself to read the 3rd book if it's ever completed.
Graphic: Death, Grief, and Murder
Moderate: Misogyny, Sexism, and Kidnapping
Minor: Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence
tinyjude's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
1.25
I thought the book was never going to end, even when I skipped some chapters because they were so fcking unnecessary. So, because I was dreadfully bored and I want to get this done quickly here it goes:
The first half is the same as the first book, same problems, same enemies, everything felt like the 1st book which doesn't help to further the plot. Then, he travels the world but it quickly becomes boring as the story drags and drags and drags on inconsequential events. And just when I was starting to tolerate Denna, it gets worse. No single woman character can be saved here oh my god. The sexism in the descriptions... I wanted to hit myself with the book (and mind you, it weights more than a fcking brick so I could probably end with my skull half-opened). They are disgustingly described and characterized by their beauty and sensual qualities, they all fall for him, try to be cold but melt under his touch and oh, the part with the fata woman. I thought it was satire. I didn't need to read about how much he fcks and how a virgin boy is so good in bed. Dude, I can't believe that and I don't care, go back to the important plot.
And none of the big questions are answered. Just more sub-plots are added and not resolved. The pacing is bad, many chapters were not needed, the female characters need a shit ton of development, he is still a pain in the ass knowing-all and annoying. Many information about how intelligent or dexterous he is, is repeated following the exact same grammatical structure, which made it even more irritating. I just wanted this torture to end. I am probably missing a lot of other complaints and criticisms but I just want to forget already about this book
Moderate: Addiction, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Gore, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual assault, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Stalking, Alcohol, and Classism
xjr's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
It is the consequence of the way Kvothe decides to tell his story. Some adventures relevant to the plot were skimmed over leaving only an interesting and at the same time infuriating synopsis. Worse, Kvothe argues in one of the chapters why this is the case and let's just say I did not personally appreciate it. At the same time, other chapters are long-winded while providing little more than charming writing and showing what's been already established. Admittedly, it for the most part makes sense within the universe and framing of the story, it's just not my preference.
What I did appreciate was how this book delved deeper into the multifaceted layers of culture, language, court society, and at last tangible exposition on the mysterious realm of the Fae!
As always it ends with a cliffhanger and many things are still up in the air so I'm hoping this series gets finished properly before the end of my life time.
Graphic: Violence, Blood, and Murder
Moderate: Misogyny and Physical abuse
Minor: Rape, Xenophobia, Kidnapping, and Stalking
quirkyaquarian's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Violence, and Kidnapping
mikki_9's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
I enjoyed this book a lot, although a couple parts of Kvothe’s adventures seemed a bit out-of-the-blue and poorly built? Idk how to explain it, but they seemed unrealistic, which is silly to say for a fantasy novel lol I suppose there are plenty of people in the book who also thought some of Kvothe’s adventures were unrealistic as well, so I’m in good company
Graphic: Misogyny, Sexism, Violence, Medical content, Kidnapping, and Murder
Moderate: Child abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual content, and Alcohol
Minor: Rape, Sexual violence, and Trafficking