Patrick Rothfuss "A Wise Man's Fear"

This is the second book in a series.  This book, and the book that came before, "The Name of the Wind" is complete and utter genius. I will repeat that if you did not hear it the first time, complete and utter genius  I should have reviewed "The Name of the Wind', but had read it before I started reviewing such trivial things as works of great fantasy.  The thing is, it took an age for him to write this second book, which I first read away from a computer, and we are still waiting on further instalments.

What makes it genius? I hear you cry.  For me it is the character development.  You keep thinking you know the lead character, Kvothe, but then he does something, and even though you did not expect it, it fits, both the character and the story.  The scope is epic, huge.  Kvothe is telling his own tale and is clearly much changed from the young man he describes, knowing that he is going to get to where he is now puts a limit on the story but also tells us that the author has a ways to go and books to write before he puts this one to bed.

Rothfuss breaks a rule, which is really a guideline, when it comes to explaining his magic system.  He spends a great deal of time on the details of how the magic works, but he does it well, never pedantic, always as part of the plot, and he still leaves much unexplained.

This tale has magic, music and mayhem.  It has love.  It has mystery.  Adventure leaps from the pages and your heart is bound to both leap for joy and cry in sadness.  It is a hard one to put down, and both tomes are just that, tomes.  If you love a long book rich in detail, deep as a calm lake at midnight this is for you.

I just wish that he wrote a wee bit faster!  Come on man, you have a duty to create.