Overview

The Wise Man’s Fear (WMF) is the sequel to the (much GF:UK loved) fantasy novel The Name of the Wind. It’s a pretty hefty fantasy novel set in a world with a special type of magic and it’s own cultures and religions. In it we continue to follow the story of Kvothe, a bit of a living legend who manages to get into a huge amount of trouble and misadventure while single handedly managing to be the world most smart arsed but loveable little shit.

The first thing you will notice about WMF is that you can see little else when it’s in your hand. It’s a big book, especially for a single volume. Name of Wind was pretty big and this is likely double the content. I imagine this will put some people off which is a crying shame as at no point does this book feel as long as it looks. Rothfuss continues his charming writing style and while Kvothe can sometimes seem a little arrogant or foolish you can’t help but sympathise with him, partially because he has managed to come through a shitty childhood with good intentions still in his heart and partially because Kvothe is just that little bit too badass to dislike.

Some people have criticized this book for being too similar to Name of the Wind but I simply don’t think this is the case, or rather if it is then it’s not a negative. In general the book seems much lighter, Kvothe is having a much better time of things, its more action packed and there is a hell of a lot more cultural information. The first book did a lot to build up the mythos of the world, it taught us the art of sympathy (which quite frankly is the most amazing magic system I have ever read in a fantasy novel), and set up the partially religious, partially superstitious story of the Chandrian and The Amyr which no-one is quite sure on how true it is. WMF spends some time on this stuff too, we learn some more about sympathy and more about the legends but much more of the book is spent exploring the different cultures and places Kvothe visits and building a bit more on the major players.

In many ways it could be critisied for this, Kvothe seems to meander around trying to go to every extreme of the world but I never felt his journey was forced or unneccesary and reading about all the different customs, societies and locations is geniunely exciting. As with any modern fantasy their are hints of this and that feeling very familiar in each of the places but largely the creations feel fresh and original and I often ended disagreeing with myself about which place I liked best.

The character building is subtle but significant once you look back on the book, Kvothe himself goes through a lot of changes in this book growing wiser, more powerful but keeping his headstrong and sometimes reckless streak and temper. We lean more about Bast, his character and intentions (a character I felt was not given enough attention in Book 1) and many of the students and teachers at the University who were previously a bit flat have been significantly fleshed out. A bunch of new characters are introduced, some are a bit too obviously being set up for a comeback but are enjoyable none the less.

High Points

I love a lot about Kvothe and his world but here are a few picks of what I liked most about the book.

Meeting the Adem: We meet a fun and fascinating race called the Adem in this book (I think very briefly mentioned in Name of the Wind) and the way they are written makes them really interesting. I enjoyed the part of the book set in their culture. I don’t want to drop too many spoilers but I think anyone who enjoys depth in their fictional worlds will really appreciated this part of the story.

The Fae: A very minor part of the first book we get to learn much more about the Fae realm and its people in WMF. Again this is adding a beautiful level of depth to the world that rivals even the mighty Tolkein. OK so Rothfuss didn’t make his own language but that was OTT anyway.

Kvothe and his Legend: I love learning not only Kvothe’s legend but how it builds, the book touches on this at numerous points and it’s really enjoyable.

Low Points

I don’t really have any geniune critiscm for the book, I really liked it and found almost all of it interesting however picking faults is part of a review so these small details are the down points for me.

Too much dancing with Denna: a reoccurring character and obviously important in Kvothe story but I am starting to get a bit annoyed with both Kvothe and her for their lack of ability to deal with each other. Sometimes it feels like every X chapters have to feature Denna or the book will fall apart or something.

Slightly miss-paced at points: I love learning about Kvothe learning. It sounds strange but its one of the most alluring things about the book but one thing I disliked is the sometimes significant jumps in time of the story, one especially annoying but was skipping a story of a trial because it was “already known” to the characters (but not really to us) and the omission of a significantly dangerous ship journey which completely overturned Kvothe’s position. Maybe this is part of the greater story and will be important later but it did break the flow a little.

In Summary this is a great book and follows on the high expectations the first book set, if you like fantasy or even just strong stories about interesting characters go read Name of the Wind then read Wise Man’s Fear, I promise there aren’t many better modern fantasy novels.

The picture at the top of this post is actually the French cover to The Name of the Wind! It’s beautiful and credit goes to DeviantArt user MarcSimonetti who makes a lot of pretty things.

From dodgy illustrations to colours so bright that you need sunglasses to look at them, it’s a celebration of all things a bit crap. Well worth a look and sure to raise a smile.

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NO!

Leave it alone. Put it down. Stop messing… AHH.. put it down! Thats better.

http://www.bleedingcool.com/2010/02/03/get-ready-for-watchmen-2/

I hope this story isn’t true. Do you?

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Latest trailers are out for Kick Ass and it’s definitely looking like it will be a lot of fun. For those not in the comic world Kick Ass has been a very new (not even finished yet) and exciting comic series by Scottish writing maestro Mark Millar.

He was also the guy behind Wanted although, in my opinion the film adaptation was a bit hollow. Enjoyable but empty. Kick Ass is looking like a much more faithful adaptation however of a simple, yet brilliant idea.

Standard high school nerd Dave is fed up of being nothing, he decides to trade in his boring life for something worth while, becoming the first “real” superhero. He has no powers, no advanced skills he’s just a teenager with some ambition. As usual Millar’s world doesn’t show any mercy and Kick Ass is soon full of stabbing, blood and torrents of swearing, all of it of course, entirely enjoyable.

Check out the trailers below to see if they wet you appetite for the movie, plus five straight away for using Bad Reputation in the soundtrack.

There are also some pretty cool promo images/movie posters out for the movie, check out these.

Kick Ass Character Poster

Big Daddy Character Poster

Hit Girl Character Poster

Red Mist Character Poster

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