The Wise Man's Fear

Kingkiller Chronicle, Book 2

By: Patrick Rothfuss

Narrated by: Nick Podehl

Length: 42 hrs and 55 mins

Publisher's Summary

Discover #1 New York Times-bestselling Patrick Rothfuss’ epic fantasy series, The Kingkiller Chronicle.

“I just love the world of Patrick Rothfuss.” -Lin-Manuel Miranda

“He’s bloody good, this Rothfuss guy.” -George R. R. Martin

“Rothfuss has real talent.” -Terry Brooks

Day two: the wise man’s fear

“There are three things all wise men fear: the sea in storm, a night with no moon, and the anger of a gentle man.”

My name is Kvothe. You may have heard of me.

So begins a tale told from his own point of view - a story unequaled in fantasy literature. Now in The Wise Man’s Fear, Day Two of The Kingkiller Chronicle, Kvothe takes his first steps on the path of the hero and learns how difficult life can be when a man becomes a legend in his own time.

Not just another day: listen to more in the Kingkiller Chronicles.

©2011 by Patrick Rothfuss. (P)2011 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved.

Critic Reviews

"Narrator Nick Podehl arrives at the end of this long audiobook, the second in the Kingkiller series, as engaged and fresh as he was at the start.... Podehl adeptly presents the broad cast of characters - from moneylenders and courtesans to kings. One of the most fascinating portrayals by Podehl begins with a young mercenary from the Adem who says little. And when he does speak, he has a flat voice, mostly devoid of expression. Podehl builds on this when Kvothe returns with him to study among the Adem, where the mercenary develops a recognizable pattern of speech reflecting many of the culture's characteristics." ( AudioFile)

“The best epic fantasy I read last year.... He’s bloody good, this Rothfuss guy.”
(George R. R. Martin, New York Times-bestselling author of A Song of Ice and Fire)

“Rothfuss has real talent, and his tale of Kvothe is deep and intricate and wondrous.” (Terry Brooks, New York Times-bestselling author of Shannara)

"It is a rare and great pleasure to find a fantasist writing...with true music in the words." (Ursula K. Le Guin, award-winning author of Earthsea)

YEARS for the next book?

The book was great. I found it better than the first. I don't care for the way the book ended. It just "stopped".abrubtly. It needed a better transition spot but it is still really good. I can't believe they are talking about 4 yrs for the next book!! If I realized that, I wouldn't have started it.

Parts were great, parts were long and annoying

I enjoyed the first book quite a lot and had high hopes for this one, but the story really bogged down a couple of times. Felurian, the sexy fairy section, went on forever. I felt like I was reading someone's fantasy. I don't like romance novels and the endless descriptions of their encounters really slopped over into that genre.

The Adem mercenaries chapters were also long and tedious by the end of them. And their world just seemed contrived. I'm no prude, but again I found the "you can have sex with anyone and there is no emotional consequences or pregnancy" aspect of their culture a little too much like every man's fantasy. I don't like to be taken out of a story by the voice of the author and I felt like that was what was happening.

All that said, I will probably listen to the last one when it comes out. There's enough interesting going on that I want to know what happens, but I was a bit disappointed and felt the book could have been better with a judicious edit.

Book 3?

Will we wait forever like with Game of Thrones or sometime in this decade Patrick will send us Book 3.

Went right off the rails

the first book was good, but the author lost sight of the story and got lost

Never to be completed.

I unfortunately got involved in a series that will likely never be completed. I wouldn't have started this had I known the last book would take over 10 years to "finish up".

Good, but not as good as the first

Kvothe's adventures seemed somewhat contrived. Parts like the ship wreck and trial were rushed, but his time in the forest seemed to draw on way too long. Hopefully, in the third book we get a little resolution. This book left me wanting more answers and not in a good, satisfying way. Too many major conflicts seem to be gaining no progress.

Don’t bother

Don’t waste your time, the next book will never come out! You will be left feeling screwed over after almost a decade of waiting to find out the end of the story. Maybe a TV series will come out some day and the writers will have to make up their own ending.

DO NOT BUY

A decade later the author still has not finished book 3. His updates about the status of the Thurs book border on hostile stating he owes nothing to readers and he will do it when he wants. Some speculate he never wrote the first two books. It would be understandable if he were actively working on book 3 but he spenfs his time doing all sorts of side projects and blogging, and going to comic con, etc but never working in the book. His editor in a recent news article speculates he has written nothing in the past 6 years.

Authors like Rothfuss and George Martin are the reason I no longer buy a series until it's done or near done. Sorry to all the new authors who need the money but these folks have ruined it for you all.

Beyond bad

Hated it. Terrible, disjointed, nonsensical with gratuitous sex to try to give interest. Can't give less than 1. Narrator did well with voices.

Fantastic story but unfinished

Seems like it is supposed to be a trilogy or multi volume book but only 2 books were released, it may have been cancelled.