Pat Rothfuss/Jim Butcher interview about new project (SPOILERS!)

[Ser Scot A Ellison]

This is from the Jim Butcher board and no link was provided:

 

Quote

 

I have some friends who have a new podcast; the Science Fiction and Fantasy Fool podcast.  I’ve helped them with some of their production work, so they let me listen to a conference call interview they did with Jim and Patrick Rothfus a few weeks ago.  I have been dying to talk about this, but I’ve had to hold my tongue until today.

You can’t listen to or download the episode yet, it won’t be available until tomorrow, but they let me release a transcript of part of the interview.  I deleted the material about new Dresden Files RPG because there really wasn’t any new information about it, and also Patrick’s work with Worldbuilders and Jim taking about some non-Harry Dresden Files matters that you can hear in full if you download the episode.  I’ve put the names of the interviewers in parenthesis; there are two of them, to facilitate understanding the Q&A.


Today we are lucky to get to talk to two very talented authors; Patrick Rothfus, creator of the Kingkiller trilogy and Jim Butcher, creator of the Dresden Files novels, comic books and the short lived TV series.
Jim – I didn’t create the TV series, though it was loosely based on the books.
(Interviewer Mike) - Well yes, I guess we can’t blame you for that.
(Interviewer Tim) – Hey, I liked that show.
(Interviewer Mike) – Yea, but you liked Charmed too.

(Mike) – Gentlemen, you have an announcement you want to make today.  You’re working on a project together?
Patrick – Not exactly.
Jim – When it comes to writing, I really don’t really play well others.
Patrick – Both of our individual writing styles are unique, and I don’t think there are many other authors who could stand my process of polishing and refining my work to the degree that I do.
Jim – Patrick and I have known each other for a very long time, longer than most of the fans know about.  We did decide to collaborate, but not in the way you might expect.
Patrick – Yes, rather than trying to write something together, we agreed that the world of Harry Dresden; what some of his fans call the Dresdenverse, takes place in the same universe or the reality as Kvothe the Kingkiller.  After that we adapted our work to fit in this universe.  

(Tim) – Wait, why are you making this announcement now and will we see any character crossovers from one series to the other?
Patrick – There shouldn’t be any character crossovers.  The four corners of civilization that Kvothe moves through are nowhere near Chicago.
Jim – And Patrick’s story takes place in a different time as well.  To get to your first question, the connection between the Dresden Files and the Kingkiller books will start to become obvious in the upcoming Dresden case file novels Peace Talks and Mirror Mirror.
Patrick – And definitely obvious in The Doors of Stone, the final book of my trilogy.
Jim – The fact is some of our more astute fans had begun to notice the subtle links between both series.
Patrick – I was inundated with people asking me questions at DragonCon directly related to this, and Jim you had the same experience, right?
Jim - Yes, when I was doing to book tour the Aeronauts Windlass some fans getting their books signed started asking similar questions.  So we decided we might as well let the fans in on this seeing as it doesn’t really give away how our stories will wind up.

(Mike) – Alright, what are the links between the series because I just don’t see them?
Patrick - The links between the series are hidden in plain sight.  
Kvothe has gained power by learning the names of all things and…
Jim – Harry has developed his power by changing the names of things.
Patrick – Kvothe has a Fae apprentice.
Jim – Harry had an apprentice who became one of the Fae. 
Patrick – Kvothe is a professional musician.
Harry – Harry has become an amateur musician.
Patrick – Both Kvothe and Harry have engaged in a sexual relationship and developed at least nominal alliances with powerful members of the Fae. 
(Tim) – Wow. It’s really starting to make sense to me now. 
     
(Mike) - Wait, the Fae seem very different in your respective worlds and the magic systems you’ve each created hardly seem compatible.
Jim - Harry; well actually Bob, discovered there is a much older and more powerful form of magic being used on Demonreach Island.  This is why the magic in the Kingkiller Chronicles is different from that used in the Dresden Files, it comes from a much older time and place. 
Patrick – You have to remember the world Kvothe lives in; well, you could call it the predeluvian or antediluvian world, but wherever it is, it’s not in any place you could find in the near East or what is now Europe, or the far East for that matter.  This is why this type of magic would be unfamiliar to anyone in Harry’s White Council and why the Fae seem so different.
Jim – Also, Bob thinks he knows the history of the Fae, but in reality he only knows their mythology.  He doesn’t really know how they came to be divided into Summer, Winter and Wyld Fae.  He doesn't know what the Fae were really like in Kvothe's time and place. 

(Tim) - OK, is there anything else either of you can reveal to us at the present?  Something we can look forward too, that’s not too spoilery.
Patrick – As you may know, Kvothe has already demonstrated talent as a magic artificer. We will see him creating the first blasting rods and force rings; the fans of Harry Dresden are so familiar with, though they won’t be called by those names in Kvothe’s world.
Jim – Harry is always learning, always developing new talents just so he can remain competitive with the new challenges he faces, even if Harry doesn’t realize that’s why he does those things.  As Harry studies the runes on Demonreach, learning what they mean and how to use them, we'll see the beginnings of Harry learning about sympathy and sympathetic bindings, and like any magical talent Harry learns, it will soon become a necessary skill.  

After Mirror Mirror comes out, I will also be writing a short story were Harry is asked to help solve the supernatural murders of several competitors at a medieval music competition.  The competition takes place at a renaissance fair.  Harry will go undercover; in full medieval garb, as one of the competing musicians.  Harry’s guitar playing has become passable for an amateur, but he’ll have to learn to play; or fake playing, a seven string lute in order to pass as one of the competitors. 
(Mike) - That is really cool.

Patrick – Jim has been gracious enough to ask me to create both the origin story and the early mythology of the White Court of vampires and…
Jim – Whow! Patrick, I wasn’t expecting you to reveal quite that much.  However, seeing as you have done so, I guess in the spirit of going a little too far myself, I can add that when Harry finally gets to closely examine the journals of the master wizards that Ebenezer McCoy has in his possession, he will find the first one wasn’t written by Merlin, it was written by The Chronicler about the person Harry thinks of as Merlin.    

(Mike) - Wait!  Are you two saying that Kvothe is or becomes Merlin?  Jim, both Kvothe and Harry face conspiracies which are dangerous to even talk about; are they facing the same enemy?  Patrick, do the Chandrian have anything to do with the Outsiders or perhaps the Black Council?  Wait, no, Halifax is obscured by shadow.  Is he a pre-Nicodemus host of Andurial?  Now that I think about it, you said there shouldn’t be any character crossovers from one series to another; you didn’t say there wouldn’t be any character crossovers from one series to the other.  Is the prisoner on Demonreach; the one everyone thinks is British, really Kvothe?

Jim and Patrick simultaneously – We’re not going to tell you!

(Mike) Well there you have at.  Now you know what we know.  Jim’s next novel in Dresden Files, Peace Talks, will hopefully come out this year and Patrick told me he is still refining and polishing The Doors of Stone, the final novel in the Kingkiller Chroncles.  And if you have read this far, perhaps I should add, April Fools!

 

 

[Muwhahaha]

Interesting.  However, implying that Kvothe becomes Merlin is one helluva spoiler that I could've done without.  Also, I had no clue that Kingkiller was set on Earth.  Not really sure how I feel about this.  I do like that their styles and tone are so drastically different vs. Erikson/Esslemont where one is just doing it better than the other.  

[matt b]

Remember what day it is, folks.

[End of Disc One]

5 minutes ago, matt b said:

Remember what day it is, folks.

This.  I didn't even bother reading it.

[Ser Scot A Ellison]

8 minutes ago, matt b said:

Remember what day it is, folks.

[polishgenius]

1 hour ago, Muwhahaha said:

 Erikson/Esslemont where one is just doing it better than the other.  

Unfair. The quality might have dropped a little in the second half of the main series but I wouldn't say Esslemont is outstripping him or anything.

[Muwhahaha]

1 hour ago, matt b said:

Remember what day it is, folks.

Goddammit!  Didn't even occur to me.  That's a lot of effort.

[Ser Scot A Ellison]

20 minutes ago, Muwhahaha said:

Goddammit!  Didn't even occur to me.  That's a lot of effort.

That's why I liked this one.  It hooked me, right up until the end where they call "Haliax" "Halifax".  

[Mathias]

I got about halfway down before I realized what was going on. I should probably just avoid the internet today :/

[Contrarius+]

Har.

[Humble AK]

I saw Butcher at a convention a little while back, and he was extremely awesome. I'll always regret my initial doubts about his work on Dresdan, and that initial thread I made blasting him, especially since that thread lasted for years here.

[Astromech]

Everyday is a cruel  joke from Rothfuss until The Doors of Stone is finished and released.

[Calibandar]

Knew this has to be fake cause the words Rothfuss and news simply do not mesh.

[Darth Richard II]

Yeah, Rothfuss actually doing work? C'mon, obviously fake.

[Muwhahaha]

I've been on guard all fucking day now.  The Chive did a 90s throwback day that was pretty fun.  Didn't really see much other good shenanigans.  

[Howdyphillip]

I knew this to be an April's fools joke once it mentioned that Rothfus was writing a book.