Thursday 25 December 2014

The Slow Regard of Silent Things


Those of you who have heard of Patrick Rothfuss are probably squee-ing right now. As you should.
Let me explain:
He’s the best.
The first time I heard about him, a friend was wearing a shirt with the cover of his book on it. (How often does that happen? With books that haven’t been turned into a movie or a series?) Another close friend told me Kingkiller Chronicles was the best fantasy ever.
I glared and asked him what about Tolkien.
He told me Kingkiller Chronicles was the best fantasy of the decade.
The thing is; for some reason I am always reluctant to read or see things when people tell me they are totally awesome- like Harry Potter, or Doctor Who. Luckily I know myself enough to then watch or read these things anyway. But these books are big. I mean more-than-700-pages-big.
I read the Kingkiller chronicles anyway.
But to say that I have read them feels wrong; I devoured them. I woke up, read, ate, took care of basic hygiene, and read deep into the night until my eyes were sore. That was pretty much it. Then when I finished them I was left with the gaping black hole where the last part of the trilogy was supposed to be.
It’s fair to say that since then I’ve changed my ways and am now a devote fan of all his work. Same with this one, which is very different from his other two books although it is set in the same world. Really, the only flaw of this book is that it is not the third book every fan is dying to read.

This book is about Auri, a character we fans have met before. She’s adorable in her own, mysterious way. She’s like a pixie- that’s the best way I can describe her. She’s intriguing in her own way, so the book has a satisfying quality because we finally get a peek behind the curtain as we see her go on with her daily business in the Underthing. To think this is mundane couldn’t be further from the truth.



Like it says in the introduction, this book probably isn’t for everyone. You might want to read Name of the Wind and Wise Man’s Fear first. But I’d advise you to read those anyway. Because it really is the best fantasy of the decade.

Until next time,

Bejoes

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