Pat Rothfuss XVII: Games, Bets, and Minecraft

[Ser Scot A Ellison]

So, I saw this this morning.  It’s the first time in a Decade he’s been willing to release information or portions of the third book.  Is this him giving up and throwing what he’s got at the world, or, is this a sign he’s getting close and might actually have a book close to finished?

 

[Ser Scot A Ellison]

This is a link to the current fundraising total:

https://fundraise.worldbuilders.org/fundraiser/3614242

[Proudfeet]

I don't think it tells us anything about his progress. It could be chapters cut from WMF or it could be something recent.

As to why he's doing it, maybe it is just an attempt to boost his charity, or he was being being trash talked and turned to the only thing he knows that he has an advantage over his twitch followers so that he can feel smug again.

The book will be officially announced if/when it's done. That's the appropriate amount of attention his progress on the book deserves at this point. I'm not going to be bothered with crumbs or teases. Either it is ready or it isn't. It's not worth speculating over.

[Ser Scot A Ellison]

19 minutes ago, Proudfeet said:

I don't think it tells us anything about his progress. It could be chapters cut from WMF or it could be something recent.

As to why he's doing it, maybe it is just an attempt to boost his charity, or he was being being trash talked and turned to the only thing he knows that he has an advantage over his twitch followers so that he can feel smug again.

The book will be officially announced if/when it's done. That's the appropriate amount of attention his progress on the book deserves at this point. I'm not going to be bothered with crumbs or teases. Either it is ready or it isn't. It's not worth speculating over.

Hold on.  The prologue can’t be left overs from the other books.  We have those prologues already.  

I’d much rather have the book… but… this isn’t a bad sign… is it?

[Proudfeet]

4 minutes ago, Ser Scot A Ellison said:

Hold on.  The prologue can’t be left overs from the other books.  We have those prologues already.  

I’d much rather have the book… but… this isn’t a bad sign… is it?

I mean, the prologue is just him chatting with Chronicler, with minor glimpses of what's happening in the present. Say, NoTW or WMF was cut into half. Would it be so out of place to repurpose one of those scenes as a prologue?

Anyway, my point is, he has no credit left. Reading signs is a waste of time. It is either an official announcement or nothing.

[Ser Scot A Ellison]

34 minutes ago, Proudfeet said:

I mean, the prologue is just him chatting with Chronicler, with minor glimpses of what's happening in the present. Say, NoTW or WMF was cut into half. Would it be so out of place to repurpose one of those scenes as a prologue?

Anyway, my point is, he has no credit left. Reading signs is a waste of time. It is either an official announcement or nothing.

Okay…

[Kyll.Ing.]

I would have been hyped for this if not for the third option. It is a much lower-hanging fruit than the other two, so to speak. It is the opt-out option for Doors of Stone content, allowing him to pick something down from his shelf instead of opening the locked cabinet, as it were. I think I picked up this series in 2014, and the seven years of bad news have jaded me a bit. Some say The Doors of Stone barely exists as a rough draft of ideas that haven't been touched for years, and this news wouldn't do much to quell those fears. 

It's like a cryptozoologist offering "I will show definite proof of the existence of Bigfoot, or a living, breathing unicorn, or pictures from my summer holiday last year!" The existence of option three suggests the two others weren't ever realistically considered anyway.

 

That being said, it's a pretty good thing to raise so much money for charity, so it's not all doom and gloom. He's almost up to $150,000 already.

[Larry of the Lake]

21 minutes ago, Kyll.Ing. said:

I would have been hyped for this if not for the third option. It is a much lower-hanging fruit than the other two, so to speak. It is the opt-out option for Doors of Stone content, allowing him to pick something down from his shelf instead of opening the locked cabinet, as it were. I think I picked up this series in 2014, and the seven years of bad news have jaded me a bit. Some say The Doors of Stone barely exists as a rough draft of ideas that haven't been touched for years, and this news wouldn't do much to quell those fears. 

It's like a cryptozoologist offering "I will show definite proof of the existence of Bigfoot, or a living, breathing unicorn, or pictures from my summer holiday last year!" The existence of option three suggests the two others weren't ever realistically considered anyway.

 

That being said, it's a pretty good thing to raise so much money for charity, so it's not all doom and gloom. He's almost up to $150,000 already.

The way it's written it sounds like he's doing all three items if the threshold is met.  Beyond that, not holding my breathe.

Edited December 3, 2021 by 1066 Larry

[Kyll.Ing.]

16 minutes ago, 1066 Larry said:

The way it's written it sounds like he's doing all three items if the threshold is met.  Beyond that, not holding my breathe.

Ahh, curse my gloomy jaded-ness clouding my vision. I swear I only read: "If the goals are met, I will do one of three things".

Okay, this suddenly got a lot more exciting.

[Larry of the Lake]

Entirely possible he's only got the prologue and first chapter done.  This ain't a series I'm really expecting to be finished.

[Ser Scot A Ellison]

21 minutes ago, 1066 Larry said:

Entirely possible he's only got the prologue and first chapter done.  This ain't a series I'm really expecting to be finished.

It that’s all he’s written it would be odd to release it.  It’s likely to change in big ways during editing and revision.

[Larry of the Lake]

26 minutes ago, Ser Scot A Ellison said:

It that’s all he’s written it would be odd to release it.  It’s likely to change in big ways during editing and revision.

why would it be weird if that's all he has?  there would also be nothing to stop him from further edits and revisions.  

[Ser Scot A Ellison]

22 minutes ago, 1066 Larry said:

why would it be weird if that's all he has?  there would also be nothing to stop him from further edits and revisions.  

Nothing.  Just my impression that you don’t (usually) want to release a really unfinished product or part of a product to the world…

[Larry of the Lake]

1 minute ago, Ser Scot A Ellison said:

Nothing.  Just my impression that you don’t (usually) want to release a really unfinished product or part of a product to the world…

Obviously you're not a procrastinator by nature.  I eek my way through life by throwing half baked ideas and jobs and payments at people to keep the wolves at bay.  I can relate to Rothfuss.  

[Ninefingers]

5 hours ago, Ser Scot A Ellison said:

I’d much rather have the book… but… this isn’t a bad sign… is it?

Not a bad sign to be sure, but I'd pump the brakes on just how good it is. 

Rothfuss has a "tricky" relationship with his stretch goals. Several in the past never got delivered, and then there's the "Book 3 Q&A" from a couple years back where he refused to talk about, y'know, book 3. (This is not 100% true. Book 3 was mentioned. But it was swamped out by refusals to answer questions due to spoilers and talk about other things.)

Edit: Here's a link to what was said in the Book 3 Q&A. The fanbase was mostly furious with the lack of questions and answers on the stated topic. 

Edited December 3, 2021 by Ninefingers

[jurble]

eegads, i saw this as well today

but as someone on reddit pointed out, this likely doesn't mean anything with regards to his work on DoS in general - he had an 'alpha' manuscript ready almost immediately after the last book, which he sent out to his beta (alpha?) readers - and the reddit commenter notes that it's likely within that alpha manuscript were at least a few bits he was satisfied with keeping.  that is to say, anything he releases could easily be among the few 'finished' parts he had ready a decade ago

 

 

also why is the forum blue now?

[Ser Scot A Ellison]

44 minutes ago, jurble said:

eegads, i saw this as well today

but as someone on reddit pointed out, this likely doesn't mean anything with regards to his work on DoS in general - he had an 'alpha' manuscript ready almost immediately after the last book, which he sent out to his beta (alpha?) readers - and the reddit commenter notes that it's likely within that alpha manuscript were at least a few bits he was satisfied with keeping.  that is to say, anything he releases could easily be among the few 'finished' parts he had ready a decade ago

 

 

also why is the forum blue now?

The forum isn’t blue for me.

[El Kabong]

Hmm, I always thought the whole alpha/beta readers manuscript thing was debunked as fake a long time ago. Even so, aren't some of the chapters only one page? I wouldn't put that past him at this point.

 

Oh and if it's blue you probably have to mess with your settings. The board upgrade reset stuff.

[Garlan the Gallant]

I’m sure he’s at the point where he’ll read the three pages he has to stay relevant. 
 

Say what you want about the quality of Sanderson’s books compared to Rothfuss, Lynch or GRRM but he is very forthright with his readers about the progress of his work. My point is that it’s possible to offer legitimate insight into where you are with your book, even if the answer is roughly 2% done.
 

At this point, after so much effort spent to NOT answer that question in the slightest makes me think this is not a sign he has been putting pen to paper. It’s more about raising money for his charity and staying relevant. 

[Ser Scot A Ellison]

1 minute ago, Garlan the Gallant said:

I’m sure he’s at the point where he’ll read the three pages he has to stay relevant. 
 

Say what you want about the quality of Sanderson’s books compared to Rothfuss, Lynch or GRRM but he is very forthright with his readers about the progress of his work. My point is that it’s possible to offer legitimate insight into where you are with your book, even if the answer is roughly 2% done.
 

At this point, after so much effort spent to NOT answer that question in the slightest makes me think this is not a sign he has been putting pen to paper. It’s more about raising money for his charity and staying relevant. 

If chef efficiently makes mac and cheese… it’s still just mac and cheese. Rothfuss, Martin, and Lynch are making much better than mac and cheese.