“There are three things all wise men fear: the sea in storm, a night with no moon, and the anger of a gentleman.”
Plot Overview
This is the second book in the Kingkiller Chronicles. This book follows the story of Kvothe, whose parents are killed by a mysterious group, known as Chandarian. After that Kvothe went out on an adventurous journey to find out more about Chandarian.
The story of Kvothe’s life is told in the voice of Kvothe itself in the present time, where he is working as an ordinary innkeeper. Kvothe has agreed to tell his story to Chronociler in 3 days and this book follows Day2 of the story.
My Experience
I have read fantasy after a long time and I really have mixed experiences reading this book. Since talking about the storyline may spoil it for other people and hence I will talk in generic terms for the whole series. First about the points which I like and then I will go to the points I disliked.
What I liked
- Attention to detail
Patrick Rothfuss is known to write, rewrite, and again rewrite the same sentence till it is perfect(hence explained the decade since he is writing the next book in the series). So, there are a lot of foreshadowings throughout the book. And the fans of the book go crazy decoding them. I really had a great time decoding various theories and possible storylines for the next book.
- World building
Kingkiller Chronicles is an epic fantasy series. So, a lot of this book’s success relies on world-building. And Patrick Rothfuss has done an amazing job in creating such a realistic world. Especially the contrast shown between rich and poor is so realistic which is rarely seen in an epic fantasy world.
- Magic system
The best part of the magic system created in this world is that Patrick has made it totally convincible. A lot of times, it seems like an advanced science study rather than magic. And there is no concept of learning magic by shortcut, everyone has to study hard to learn and become a good magician.
What I didn’t like
- Narrative & Story
The book is written in the way that all the 3 books(one not even released) form the complete story. There is no substory that marks the beginning or end of each book. Both Book1 and Book2 are ended at some abrupt points. Yes, there are many small and big story arcs, but they are not strong enough to get me hooked.
- Motivation to complete the book
Now, after reading Book1 I knew that this book is also not going to conclude anything. If only it raises only so many questions. And I don’t even know when and if the third book will be out. So, reading more than 900 pages of an incomplete story is not a motivating factor. Truly speaking I wouldn’t have picked this book now if not for my friend who is a great fan of this book.
Conclusion
I loved Book 1 since I went into the world without knowing anything about it and absolutely loved it. Book 2 was an average reading experience. I think the fun of the book is in binge-reading the whole series. Because the small stories/events mentioned through the book might be important to the whole series but were not strong enough to form an individual book.
Be First to Comment