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The Name of the Wind Thread


wuzzup3003

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There's still the rewrites and editing to be done though why that's going to take so long...

I just bought the book, but I am pretty mad about hearing this.

I feel the writer lied about it being done. He and the editors should have known how much work there has to be done. He should have never said the series was done and we wouldn't have to wait long.If the book comes now out in 2009 than there is a year delay. I think that is ridiculous for a book that already was supposed to be written. A lot of writters can write a whole book in 2 years.

Than the quality of the second book must have been really bad, if it takes about 2 years of rewrites.

Sorry to sound so negative, but i was looking forward to the name of the wind. Just bought it and was happy i only had to wait a few months for the book to come out and suddenly it has been delayed for by a year. While the writer said the series was supposed to be done...

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Thanks for the info Pat.

Isabel

I feel the writer lied about it being done

I feel the same way, and that is because that is the simple truth. No amount of apologizing by anyone who feels like it will change the fact that when Name of the Wind was published, much was made of the fact that this was a trilogy already written. Much was made of the fact tht here was a series where readers would not have to wait a long time in-between volumes. This was a reason to buy the book for many, because people dislike the long waits between volumes. This looked good.

In addition we had Rothfuss himself saying various times over how the book would be published in Spring 2008. This was only a few months back, so I have to wonder how he himself could not have known back then how much work still had to be done.

Now, Rothfuss and others will be quick to point out that he should be taking his time because he needs to make the book as best as possible, that was the reply I got from him a while ago when he told me that the book would not be released in April. And everybody wants a good book. It's just a major disillusion that it is now postponed so long and I will definitly let that affect my recommendation of this series to others, plus the fact that I despise the way that this was marketed. You can't tell people it's a finished series and then do this. Sure, you can expect that the finished work may be pruned here and there to be as good as it is. But you don't expect there to be two years in-between book 1 and 2.

Now wait for those with personal ties to the author to barge in and tell us we shouldn't be complaining....

To close, here are some Rothfuss quotes from a few months ago:

"Well.... I've already written them. So you won't have to wait forever for them to come out. They'll be released on a regular schedule. One per year

"You know the sophomore slump? When a writer's second novel is weaker because they're suddenly forced to write under deadline? I don't have to worry about that because my next two novels are already good to go."
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Is this really news though? Amazon had the switch to 2009 for a couple of weeks now hasn't it? And the lack of any promo material going into November for what could be not only DAW's biggest book of 2008 but their biggest book ever was a big indicator no? When it comes to publishing, I pretty much take "no news" as being "bad news".

By now I've been through too many delays to feel outrage over yet another. Disappointment definitely. Frustration perhaps. But outrage. Nah.

It is fun to see what authors get a pass and what don't in the matter though.

And while I think Rothfuss might be guilty of tooting his own horn a bit prematurely on his pre-writes, I don't think he was necessarily being disingenuous so much as he and DAW might have been a bit over confident as to the quality and flow of the subsequent books. I'd much rather a sensible and skilled editor put the brakes on such overconfidence and end up with better books than have someone rush the books to publication just to capitalize on sales and popularity.

Now if the second turns out to be a piece of crap, then I might get a little surly.

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My feelings exactly Cal. The fact that the sequels were already written and that there would be No Long Wait was heavily used as a marketing tool. Now we're told that there will be two years between pub dates. It's called bait and switch.

ETA:

It is fun to see what authors get a pass and what don't in the matter though.

The difference being that most authors don't use this as a selling point. Rothfuss and DAW used the fact that the books would be published one every year as a way to sell copies. I think that's what most people are upset about.

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Except it in no way impacts on whether I enjoyed the first book or will enjoy the second when it finally comes out. As for the part about getting a pass? Again I think that everyone justifieds or mitigates those they feel should and those who feel they shouldn't. I'm not syaing who should or shouldn't simply because it is so incredibly subjective. which is my point. Not to undermine someone's feelings or turn around and apply the same mitigation to them.

For me, it simply is not worth the fuss and bother to consider it a cheat. If he declared that he wasn't going to release the books despite having them written, I might feel cheated. But I never really been able to muster much outrage about what I feel an author "owes" and this is hardly the straw to break this camel's back. I don't consider this a bait and switch at all.

And did that many people only buy the book because they knew the books were written and that they knew the book would be out without fail in no uncertain terms a year later? Really? I guess many might have hoped so, but if anyone truly believed with pure and utter faith? I feel a bit impressed with their innocence and have some swamp land prime for development to sell them.

I guess I should just tuck my tail between my legs for not taking this with the seriousness or the offended sensibility that everyone else seems to feel. My apologies.

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I find that when dealing with the publishing world, "it's out when it's out" and "never believe a publication date until you hold the book in your hands" save me a lot of stress.

"Never believe marketing" is a given, of course. (That's why I never believe a single word of what Joe Abercrombie writes in the forums. Or maybe only one: haggis :P)

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Except it in no way impacts on whether I enjoyed the first book or will enjoy the second when it finally comes out. As for the part about getting a pass? Again I think that everyone justifieds or mitigates those they feel should and those who feel they shouldn't. I'm not syaing who should or shouldn't simply because it is so incredibly subjective. which is my point. Not to undermine someone's feelings or turn around and apply the same mitigation to them.

For me, it simply is not worth the fuss and bother to consider it a cheat. If he declared that he wasn't going to release the books despite having them written, I might feel cheated. But I never really been able to muster much outrage about what I feel an author "owes" and this is hardly the straw to break this camel's back. I don't consider this a bait and switch at all.

And did that many people only buy the book because they knew the books were written and that they knew the book would be out without fail in no uncertain terms a year later? Really? I guess many might have hoped so, but if anyone truly believed with pure and utter faith? I feel a bit impressed with their innocence and have some swamp land prime for development to sell them.

I guess I should just tuck my tail between my legs for not taking this with the seriousness or the offended sensibility that everyone else seems to feel. My apologies.

Let's calm down with the invective, ok? I'm not saying that your opinion is wrong nor am I saying that my opinion is right. I am simply expressing my viewpoint, and yes, I feel a bit cheated. There is no need for you to call me naive, and even less need for you to play the martyr.

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Being naive is not necessarilly a bad thing, and there was as much invective in his post than in yours. Chill, go hit that dead goat and laugh your evil cackle. (beside, you know that overquoting is the real evil :P)

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This book all by itself seems like a veritable textbook on how fan cultures on the web can be manipulated. First the publisher sends out a note with the ARCs saying that Rothfuss's work is the best fantasy debut she's ever read. Now it turns out that she's only read the first book of the trilogy (kind of like how I had high hopes for the Matrix trilogy of films after the first one). Then there's this whole already-written, book-a-year business that gets incorporated verbatim into many reviews and recommendations. And I saw recently, on Jeff VanderMeer's blog, that the Top 10 Fantasy & SF list he prepared for Amazon.com in fact included only 9 of his own suggestions -- the Amazon.com staff requested that Name of the Wind be added to the list.

Personally I didn't think the book was awful, but it seemed very average in all ways, and I never understood what the fuss was about other than readers simply being starved for a certain sort of uncomplicated "traditional" fantasy.

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Finished it the other day. Not particularly impressed. It was enjoyable i guess, but felt more like Young Adult than anything else. The world building felt poor, the characters (for the most part) seemed pretty one-dimensional and I found some of the prose at worst cringeworthy and at best average. I may well read the next one, and fingers crossed it will improve.

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I'd say objectively speaking, the book is not nearly as great as its hype. But I liked it a lot, because this is simply the kind of quality and storytelling that I find enjoyable and entertaining. And there is a contradiction in there somewhere, as to how you'd define a good book.

Anyway, the news is disappointing. I do not believe anyone involved aimed to mislead on purpose. Inexperience maybe? This is perhaps a good lesson for the author to get a clue next time, which I don't mean in a bad way.

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And did that many people only buy the book because they knew the books were written and that they knew the book would be out without fail in no uncertain terms a year later? Really? I guess many might have hoped so, but if anyone truly believed with pure and utter faith? I feel a bit impressed with their innocence and have some swamp land prime for development to sell them.

I never heard that a writer claimed he already wrote all the books. If a writer says something like that and the publisher, i do tend to believe it.

I wouldn't have bought this book now, if I knew that it would take more than a year to come out again.

I feel that the writer and publisher should give us an aplogie and state clear on rothfuss website that this series isn't ready to go.....

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And did that many people only buy the book because they knew the books were written and that they knew the book would be out without fail in no uncertain terms a year later? Really?

If I actually paid attention to things like that, I might have been a little peeved. I read the book because it was supposed to be good. It was to me. I'll buy the next when it comes out. Would I like it sooner, rather than later? Yup, but whatever.

Other than "re-writes", is there a concrete explanation of what happened?

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Guest Ser Jaime

I'm disappointed, but I can't say I'm surprised.

These days I'm only surprised when a fantasy novel is actually published on time.

I'll still read the sequel when it comes out, but hopefully the author and publisher have learned a valuable lesson here: Don't tell readers a book is done until it's sent off to the printers.

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Guest Ser Jaime
If you can't stand waiting between books, why do you start reading unfinished series in the first place ?

But that's the whole point. The author said the trilogy was already finished when the first book was published. Some people picked up the first book because they thought that subsequent books would be published at yearly intervals.

Granted, none of us would be complaining if we didn't know that the second and third books were supposedly completed. Which is why I said it was foolish for the author and publisher to be trumpeting that fact all over the place if they weren't 100% sure they could publish the book on time.

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