Short Book Reviews: The Kingkiller Chronicle Books 1 and 2 by Patrick Rothfuss

The Kingkiller Chronicle is a planned trilogy by an American author Patrick Rothfuss whose independent work The Slow Regard of Silent Things is one of my favourite fantasy books. As the third book is still pending, I suppose I should review the two existing ones individually but as it's also likely the trilogy will never be completed, and I don't really have that much to say about The Name of the Wind and The Wise Man's Fear, I decided to bundle them together.

The Kingkiller Chronicle is about Kvothe, a famous musician and adventurer who has retired to a desolate village where no one knows him to work as an innkeeper. The perspective shifts between the third and the first person. The "present-day" parts are told in the third person whereas Kvothe's legend which he rehearses to the Chronicler, is in the first person.

I listened to The Name of the Wind and The Wise Man's Fear as audiobooks, and a good thing that I did for I don't think I could've finished even the first book had I chosen to read it. I'm not saying TNOTW and TWMF are bad books -well, The Wise Man's Fear is partially, if not bad, at least highly frustrating- but they are slow-paced to the point of tediousness. Also, the MC has too many similarities with Harry Potter (loses his family, enters a school of magic, makes an enemy of a well-off fellow student and so on) to make me take him seriously.

Yet, I kind of enjoyed The Name of the Wind. It hooked me with its deep insight into humanity. I might've loved it if the set-up was different and the story-telling a little faster-paced. The Wise Man's Fear, however... I still can't figure out why I finished listening to it. Mainly because I had paid for it and didn't have anything more intriguing on my TBR list at the moment, I suppose. 

In the second book, Kvothe becomes even more burdensome a character than he is in TNOTW, making me suspect his fame is largely a soap bubble. His stubborn devotion to his flimsy school-time sweetheart Denna made me want to hit something, and the elongated description of his visit to the fairyland would work better an an independent publication. In the end, Bast, Kvothe's non-human servant/friend became my favourite character of whom I would've loved to learn more.

The Kingkiller Chronicle is one of the fantasy series whose popularity and high overall rating remain a mystery to me. I would give The Name of the Wind three stars out of five, and The Wise Man's Fear not even that many. However, you don't need to take my word for it. Read or listen to the books for yourself and form your opinion based on them.

(Also, I am willing to admit that my opinion might change if the third book was published. It could yet salvage the series.)

The Heirs of Duty Advent calendar

This autumn has been gruesome, to put it mildly, and I have a hunch, it hasn't been that only for me. So, to cheer people up, I've decided to publish The Heirs of Duty as an Advent calendar.

One to three chapters a day will appear on my website (a Wordpress site) where you can read them for FREE without an obligation to sign up or subscribe for anything. The calendar opens on the 1st of December, the last chapter will become readable on Christmas Day, and the files will disappear on the 31st of December.

A pretty fair deal, eh? You get to read a book without needing to give anything in return. Merry Xmas in advance!

Meet the Characters

Arron Grethsen, a soldier of Her Majesty's Army, is the main character of Braenduir Chronicles. He was raised by an independent mother and chose the military career because it is an easy option for a youth who doesn't know what to do with his life.

Arron's kind and sociable nature has made him popular in and outside the garrison but unlike many other young men his age, he is yet to encounter his significant other. He isn't in a rush to find a relationship and when he meets a reserved warrior mage, Jan Cattilsen in his favourite tavern, he cannot guess he's found more than a new friend.

Though Arron joined the army largely because Aenerhjelm going to war is unlikely, he volunteers for the battles in the Westerner kingdoms, sharing the road to the front with Jan whose interest in the peculiar birthmark on his chest should pique his curiosity. Yet, Arron ignores the strange token implanted under his skin just as he always has, clinging to the conception that there's nothing extraordinary about him.

Meet the Characters // Hahmoesittelyt

Sir Rikhar is one of the significant minor characters of The Heirs of Duty. He is a member of Princess Irana's Chamber Guard, a young man who dreamed about knighthood already as a child. He was born in a brothel, so his dream was unlikely ever to come true. However, the Fortunes favoured him, and he was picked up as a squire by an elderly knight of the Emerald Knighthood. Through another fortunate coincidence, he became the youngest knight ever to serve in the Chamber Guard. 

Rikhar is as dutiful and honourable as a knight can be. He always tries to do the right thing and remain true to his vow. Yet, when it comes to choosing where his loyalties truly lie, he finds picking a side more difficult than he expected.

Though Rikhar's origins seem straightforward enough, he was born in a brothel and lived in the streets for a while after his mother's death, a wimple of mystery veils his past. Who is the Grey Lady who charges him with the quest of discovering the counterpart to an ancient Token? Is she really his mother as she claims to Buck, or does the Northerner pass on the Token to the wrong person?

Rikhar on yksi Riimuin kirotun merkittävimmistä sivuhenkilöistä. Hän kuuluu prinsessa Iranan Kamarikaartiin ja on haaveillut ritariudesta pikkupojasta saakka siitä huolimatta, ettei hänellä alhaisen syntyperänsä vuoksi ollut juurikaan toivoa unelman toteutumisesta. Onnettaret kuitenkin suosivat häntä ja yksi Vihreän ritarikunnan vanhimmista jäsenistä valitsi hänet aseenkantajakseen. Toisen onnekkaan sattuman kautta hänestä tuli nuorin koskaan Kamarikaartissa palvellut ritari.

Rikhar on niin kunniallinen ja velvollisuudentuntoinen kuin ritari vain voi olla. Hän yrittää aina toimia oikein ja pitäytyä valassaan. Silti puolen valitseminen osoittautuu vaikeammaksi kuin hän osasi kuvitella, kun hän joutuu päättämään, kenelle pysyä uskollisena.

Vaikka Rikharin syntyperä vaikuttaa selkeältä-hän syntyi porttolassa ja eli kaduilla jonkin aikaa äitinsä kuoleman jälkeen-hänen menneisyyttään verhoaa salaperäisyyden huntu. Kuka on Harmaa rouva, joka antaa hänelle tehtäväksi etsiä vastakappaleen ikivanhalle poletille? Onko hän todella Rikharin äiti, kuten hän väittää Pukille vai välittääkö pohjanmies poletin väärälle henkilölle?