The Wise Man's Fear IX [Spoilers & Speculation]

[aczh]

Just found the kingkiller reddit thread today. Saw your comments there as well thistle.

http://www.reddit.co..._ring_spoilers/

Browsing through it, found an interesting post (I'm sure thistle has already seen this)

I was a comic con today and visited the Badali jewelry booth to see their work based on all the fantasy books. I got to talking with the manager of the jewelry and talked about the author's involvement in how the jewelry is designed and made. She told me that when designing the ring for Denna, Rothfuss was very particular in how it was created but she couldn't tell me why without giving out spoilers for the third book. I obviously looked at that ring to try and figure out what spoilers there could be but all I noticed was a lot of intricate knotwork on the band/setting that made me think it could be yllish knots. Could this somehow tie Denna in with the Lackless box or with the doors of stone? Any thoughts?

(link to the ring: http://www.badalijew...ed/ROTH-07A.gif)

And another neat connection:

When Tehlu captures Encanis and Encanis lies the second time, the wheel rings and "the sound of his scream shook the earth and shattered stones for half a mile in each direction." This also happens in the center of the town, just like the courtyard in Imre. Is it possible that Kvothe himself didn't break the stones, but whomever he killed did?

And I'm not sure if you're right seiche. Kote telling the story seems much more mature/thoughtful than kvothe in the story. But I do disagree with the theory ze came up with, even though some parts of it were genius. I loved how ze noticed that Kvothe had "modes" of naming - when he found a name with spinning leaf, he'd almost never use it for control, but when he found it conventionally, he'd always use/abuse his newfound power.

[thistlepong]

I haven't read that reddit thread, but the knotwork was discussed on the Tor Reread when it first went up in the shop. Pat posted about the trouble he gave their designers what with an iron pendant and a knotty ring.

What I really like about KateH's post is the end. It actually makes sense in light of the fight with the mercenaries instead of creating a set of new questions. "I forgot who I was..." becomes a centering statement. Practicing the ketan becomes a way of evaluating his actions.

[thistlepong]

I'm working on one of the reserved posts at the beginning of the thread, collecting interview comments about the controversial "second trilogy'

LINK

Check it out if you're interested. It'll be under construction for awhile.

[jumbles]

I just started rereading The Name of the Wind again. I've noticed a few small things I'm not ready to post yet, but I also noticed something else:

From Hespe's story:

[Jax] lived in an old house at the end of a broken road ... What can you expect of a boy who lives alone in a broken house at the end of a broken road? ... This was something of a surprise, because the road was broken, so nobody ever used it ... The tinker looked up at the huge old house, one short step away from being a mansion.

So Jax's first house was old, broken, huge, and almost a mansion. The road was broken and unused.

The description of the road outside the Waystone Inn:

Footprints of lamplight from the inn's windows fell across the dirt road and the doors of the smithy across the way. It was not a large road, or well traveled. It didn't seem to lead anywhere, as some roads do.

Sounds similar to the broken road. And large houses or mansions are sometimes used as inns. I can't recall the Waystone Inn being described as old or broken though.

Another combination of broken road and broken house occurs when Kvothe fights the scrael near Newarre:

... he was still on the road when night fell, making the rutted dirt road a stumbling ground of half-seen shapes ... It was a bonfire roaring in the ruins of an old house, little more than two crumbling stone walls.

The road sounds like it may be in disrepair, which might pass for broken; and the house is definitely described as broken and old. This location seems to lack the importance for being Jax's house though.

[jumbles]

From NotWc8:

And then there was Abenthy, my first real teacher. He taught me more than all the others set end to end. If not for him, I would never have become the man I am today. I ask that you not hold it against him. He meant well.

Isn't the man he is today a broken and depressed man? I always took it as meaning Abenthy started Kvothe on the path to power and greatness which then led to Kvothe doing some not so great things. But that was the man Kvothe was. Now he is an innkeeper waiting to die. So if Abenthy is responsible for Kvothe being who he is now (Kote, not Kvothe), then maybe that means Abenthy is the one who betrayed him. And Kvothe seems to harbor no ill will towards him, so maybe he realizes now that the betrayal was to stop him from doing some pretty bad stuff.

[pure speculation]

Abenthy could also be responsible for Kvothe's current lack of power.

[/pure speculation]

An unrelated quote from that same chapter. This one of Abenthy arguing with the Mayor of one of Greyfallow's towns:

"...told you. I don't have a license. I don't need a license. Does a peddler need a license? Does a tinker need a license?"

"You're not a tinker," the mayor said. "Don't try to pass yourself off as one."

"I'm not trying to pass myself off as anything," the old man snapped. "I'm a tinker and a peddler, and I'm more than both. I'm an arcanist, you great dithering heap of idiot."

I never took Abenthy seriously about being a tinker, but maybe he is. Interesting that he pretty much says an arcanist can do anything a tinker can and then some. I thought tinkers were more special than that. The most probable explanation is that Abenthy was just blowing hot air in his anger. Still, though, it's something to think about...

[Caladaran]

@ Jumbles,

I can see the possible connection with Ben being the cause of Kote, but I don't think Bast would bother trying to bring Kote back to the world of the living unless Kvothe had the power to do so. I think Kvothe loved Ben and idolized him to the point where a simple disapproving look would cause Kvothe to lock away his identity. I've always considered a connection from that quote, especially since we don't see or hear anything from Ben after he leaves the troupe

[erikpfeiffer15]

I just read KateH's post about ethics, and JohnPoint's following post about how the 4Cs may have followed the path of the Shapers after the Creation War and the Adem followed the path of the Namers. I just wanted to mention this again in regards to the map in case anyone else is as thick as I usually am. If the land/area used to make the Fae really did come from the Reft area, that may have been the hub of the Shapers civilization. It makes sense that morally grey characters like Elodin and those who work at the University would be in close proximity to this point. Ademre on the other hand happens to be exactly opposite in the world from The Rift/The university, where the Shaper influence would be less. And assuming the Shapers did win the war, that explains why the only Namers left are those isolated by the mountain range.

[jumbles]

Is there any evidence to The Reft being a result of the creation of the Fae other than the name and the fact that there's no land?

I just reread NotWc12 and some things jumped out at me. This is the chapter where Ben is talking to Kvothe's parents about the Chandrian.

The chapter takes place in late summer, yet Ben's "breath fogged as he spoke." Doesn't that only happen when it's really cold? That shouldn't happen in summer, but then again, maybe they were in a really cold clime at the time. Of course, it was also really windy that night - windy enough to interfere with eavesdropping and aid Kvothe in sneaking closer. Wind often accompanies quick changes in temperature, so even though it wasn't explicitly stated, things could have quickly started getting cold that night. Maybe Cinder was also there...

Also from that chapter:

My mother spoke softly, "I remember when he was just a little baby, toddling around. Watching, always watching. With clear bright eyes that looked like they wanted to swallow up the world." Her voice had a little quaver in it.

It sounds like Laurian found baby Kvothe to be a bit disturbing. Kvothe was always watching. When deriding Haliax, Cinder likens him to a watcher. Kvothe had clear bright eyes. The following other characters are also described as having clear and/or bright eyes: Sceop, Skarpi, Auri, Fela (in NotW), Finol (a previous owner of Caesura), Maer Alveron. In his University days and later, Kvothe's eyes are described as dark and changing. The following other characters are also described with dark and/or changing eyes: Iax/Jax, Denna, Tehlu, Bast, Felurian, Bredon, Dagon, Meluan, Fela (in WMF), Kilvin, Elodin, Elxa Dal, Wilem. And the eyes wanting to swallow up the world is a bit ominous.

[thistlepong]

Day 3 updates from the reading Tuesday night:

Goodreads:

For everyone who is hoping that Doors of Stone is coming out in 2014, I am going to be a bubble buster. I was just at a reading Pat did last night in Chicago. He's unsure that DoS will come out in 2014 because he isn't done writing it yet. And he mentioned the publishing timeline is about a year and a half long. Although, he did mention he has a novel about Lanier that's close to being done that he might publish before book 3.

Tor:

D3 update - I saw a talk Rothfuss gave yesterday. The topic of D3 came up and he responded (paraphrased):

Did any of you read Gaiman's Ocean at the End of the Lane? Did you read the author's note? Did you notice the date? Go back and look. It's more than a year before it was published. And his book, if it was 80,000 words, I'll eat it.

My book is 300,000 words and that means that there's even more that needs to happen. This means that even if I were some how magically able to finish the book right now, during this show, that you wouldn't get it next year. And I'm sorry.

and

Regarding the "other book", he talked about this at length. I don't really remeber how he organized his thoughts, so I'll summarize the points in bullets.

- This was the novella he started during NaNoWriMo
-When it hit 50,000 words, he realized it wasn't a novella anymore
-It's set in Modeg
-He thinks that with a "good month" of writing, he could finish it and put it into the production process
-He and his publisher/editor are talking about what he should do: (A)finish the Modeg novel and give people something to real while waiting for D3, or (B) countinue to slog towards D3
-Editor: "People are going to be piiiiiiissed"

Pat took a poll of the audience. People overwhelmingly voted for the Modeg novel option. (It was very clear from the way he presented the choices that it was Pat's preference too.)

[Ser Scot A Ellison]

I'd read it. I forget, who is Lanier?

[Jussi]

I believe the name is Laniel.

He read the first part of a new story, set in the Four Corners world, about Laniel (Young-Again). It's going to be a novella, and the protagonist Laniel is a woman who decides to go out and see the world after marrying and raising her kids. He's playing against the idea that any female heroine is either the plucky tomboy type or inspired by a need to protect her children.

http://www.tor.com/blogs/2011/09/rothfuss-reread-the-wise-mans-fear-part-2-so-sharp-he-can-hardly-help-but-cut-himself#210814

[Ser Scot A Ellison]

I have a stupid question from TWMF Chapter 6 "love". In my copy, first edition first print, "Bredon Beer" is "Bread and Beer" is this a misprint corrected in later copies?

[ᴛɪᴍᴏᴛʜʏ]

I'm sure someone with a physical copy will chime in eventually, but until then--it's "Bredon beer" in my epub, so they must have become aware of it at some point.

[thistlepong]

regarding the reading, starquark on reddit posts:

I was at the Chicago reading! The poll wasn't much of a poll, in the sense that he made it exceptionally obvious that he wanted to do that.

On the bright side, he did say something along the lines of "I'd rather stretch it out, and give you guys a dozen amazing books over 20 years, than burn myself out finishing book three and have it not even turn out well."

This was the first I've (definitely) heard that he plans on publishing many more books, even if we don't have any scope for them.

[thistlepong]

Scot, the Kindle version is has the same line as Nortune's epub.

I'm mostly posting so I remember to verify with hard copies when I can get at 'em.

This is the first difference between the 1:1 HC and the digital version I've heard of. In all other cases of discrepancy, they're identical.

ETA: super weird... At that point in the Tor Reread, Jo was still using the ARC. There's no direct quote, but in the bit on "Love," she writes about Bredon Beer. So that would mean a change between the ARC, the 1:1 HC, and the Kindle edition that came out on the same day. I am totally the only one who cares about this, but whatever.

[Calibandar]

Man, looks like I'm probably not getting Unholy Consult, Winds or Winter, or Doors of Stone for a good long time. The only series I'm currently really invested in besides Abercrombie.

Watch Abercrombie somehow put out the first book of the final trilogy before any of those aforementioned three.

Yeah, things are looking grim.

Obviously Winds of Winter was never on the cards for next year. GRRM has a huge distance to go on book 6, last we heard.

Unholy Consult still could come out next year, but as frequently as we've been disappointed by the lead time of our favourite authors, we're just expecting to be disappointed again.

As for Rothfuss, it's strange to me, he recently seemed to hint that the book would come out next year.

But clearly that is not going to happen now. Another bummer.

As for the novella, not interested. Would prefer to see the next book sooner, but if the novella is nearly written anyway and a young man like Rothfuss is already talking about being burned out on D3, well, might as well publish it.

[Jussi]

As for the novella, not interested. Would prefer to see the next book sooner, but if the novella is nearly written anyway and a young man like Rothfuss is already talking about being burned out on D3, well, might as well publish it.

It's actually now a short novel. Rothfuss said in April that the final word count for Laniel Young-Again will be about 90,000. The Hobbit is 95,000 words. The story of Laniel was supposed to be a novella, but the tale grew in the telling.

[Ninefingers]

As for the novella, not interested. Would prefer to see the next book sooner, but if the novella is nearly written anyway and a young man like Rothfuss is already talking about being burned out on D3, well, might as well publish it.

My take: Working on the Modeg novel is fun. He's telling a story, and it's unencumbered with deadlines, expectations, or the added pressure of it being the final volume of what will probably be considered the most significant portion of his life's work. I suspect that he's lying to himself a little bit that he can put the Modeg novel to bed in a month, in part to justify the decision to take a step back from D3 for a little while.

[Ser Scot A Ellison]

Ninefingers,

Yes. Because writting something that is not a pleasure to write is probably not conducive to good writing.

[Calibandar]

Yeah, totally see what you mean, and I agree it takes a very long time for the new ones to come out in the series where we really care.

And then they consistently take longer than the last best estimate on top of that.

I do find new series to keep me interested though, the ones from GRRM, Bakker are the most highly anticipated ones but there are some other good fantasy series that I follow eagerly.