An early review and an interview…

I try not to read a reviews of my books. This is one of the things I’ve learned over the last several years. That ways lies madness.

For the most part, I’m good at not seeking them out. But occasionally my editor or agent brings one to my attention.

This is how I found out that The Wise Man’s Fear got a starred review in Publisher’s Weekly. They’re one of the handful of big-mojo book reviewers out there, and a starred review is a from them is a pretty big deal.

Here’s the last line of the review:

“This breathtakingly epic story is heartrending in its intimacy and masterful in its narrative essence, and will leave fans waiting on tenterhooks for the final installment.”

Now that’s a blurb. Narrative essence. Heartrending. Tenterhooks.

Why can’t I write a blurb like that? I just don’t seem to have it in me….

Anyway, if you want to read the whole review, you can hop over here.

I also did a short interview for Publisher’s Weekly with Paul Goat Allen. I had a good time with that, and he asked some questions nobody’s ever asked me before. Dude is wicked smart.

If you’re interested in that, you can find it over here.

Have a good weekend folks,

pat

This entry was posted in a few words you're probably going to have to look up, Interviews, reviewsBy Pat54 Responses

54 Comments

  1. Posted February 4, 2011 at 5:54 AM | Permalink

    You totally deserve that blurb.
    Ready for vacation? Well after you did all the signing :D and visited all your fans and published book 3 :D haha

  2. Jkalos
    Posted February 4, 2011 at 6:08 AM | Permalink

    I love your response in the interview: “Don’t get me wrong, magic is cool. But a nervous mother singing to her child at night while something moves quietly through the dark outside her house? That’s a story. Handled properly, it’s more dramatic than any apocalypse or goblin army could ever be.” You’re right, the guy asked good questi0ns and got some interesting answers out of you.

    As to blurbs: I always thought there must be a kind of Mr. Peterman of blurbs (if you remember the character from Seinfeld who would do such marvelous catalog descriptions for clothing).

  3. sortova
    Posted February 4, 2011 at 6:19 AM | Permalink

    Now … about that final installment …

    (grin)

  4. Joshua_Guess
    Posted February 4, 2011 at 6:24 AM | Permalink

    I’m excited for you! I hope that WMF does far better than the first book, which is saying something. I hope that the signing tour doesn’t strain you or wear you out too much–as much as my wife and I are looking forward to your visit to our neck of the woods, it’d be a shame for you to feel stressed about it. The review was well deserved, and I make that judgment having not read the book yet.

    You’re pretty much my hero as an aspiring writer. Your ability to weave words together into a song of language is, in my opinion, unmatched. Few people have the ability to balance story with beautiful structure and descriptions. You do it perfectly.

    /end overly excited heap of praise.

  5. Sarah
    Posted February 4, 2011 at 6:27 AM | Permalink

    I won’t read any reviews until I’ve read the book. I think I might burst from all the excitement if I do.

    • Posted February 4, 2011 at 6:32 AM | Permalink

      that’s true. makes nervous. ^^

    • JoeLlama
      Posted February 4, 2011 at 10:06 AM | Permalink

      It’s not a real long review, more of an extended blurb. Most of it just goes over in a very general sense of what Kvothe accomplishes, and what Pat posted was the best part. That said, I still burst from the excitement.

  6. carpentermt
    Posted February 4, 2011 at 6:34 AM | Permalink

    Arrrggghhh…errrrgghhh…can’t wait…until…March….*choke, thud*

  7. Widow Of Sirius
    Posted February 4, 2011 at 6:41 AM | Permalink

    I’m almost worried that the review *already* is talking about when book 3 will come out. If there’s one thing I’ve learned from this experience (i.e. reading your books), it’s patience. Strained, gut-wrenching patience.

  8. Oatmeal
    Posted February 4, 2011 at 6:52 AM | Permalink

    For what it’s worth, I think your blurbs are much more entertaining.
    Meanwhile … It’s almost here!!!
    It’s almost here!!!
    It’s almost here!!!
    It’s almost here!!!
    It’s almost here!!!
    It’s almost here!!!
    (does the happy dance)
    Ok, that is all. :o)

    • Mickey
      Posted February 4, 2011 at 7:36 AM | Permalink

      Just think, geeks all around the world will be doing that happy dance with you. Maybe we should call Guinness or something ?

      • Molly
        Posted February 4, 2011 at 10:10 AM | Permalink

        I love it! Let’s find a pub, order some Guinness and read the book. Sounds like an awesome time for this geek.

        • Dianadomino
          Posted February 4, 2011 at 10:49 AM | Permalink

          That is hilarious. (*envisioning dozens, if not hundreds, of geeks semi-comatose in pubs, sipping Guinness slowly, reading silently, shh-ing at every interruption, and being bundled soundly out at 2:00 a.m., whining, “But I’m not fiiinniiiished yet…”)

          • mutinyonthebay
            Posted February 4, 2011 at 10:17 PM | Permalink

            Yes, you read that correctly. Two people in a row just references the wrong Guinness.

          • Oatmeal
            Posted February 5, 2011 at 1:37 AM | Permalink

            Well, to be fair Mutiny, the beer people and the world record people are in fact, the same people. It’s the same company.
            And yeah, a WMF read along in a pub whilst drinking Guiness and shooshing people sounds amazing. Even moreso if we get the world record people to come and document the largest geek read along ever. :o)

          • Mickey
            Posted February 5, 2011 at 3:37 AM | Permalink

            True ! It was one of double intender-ma-whatsits…

          • Sokol
            Posted February 5, 2011 at 12:11 PM | Permalink

            Yes! We will be in the Guiness book of records for most people drinking Guiness and reading WMF simultaneously.

  9. burdkilla
    Posted February 4, 2011 at 6:57 AM | Permalink

    I don’t want to be left suspended on tenterhooks!
    couldn’t i just be thrown in the corner and ignored or something?

    • Joshua_Guess
      Posted February 4, 2011 at 10:08 AM | Permalink

      “suspended on tenterhooks” makes me think of Hellraiser.

      My personal hell would be Pinhead stringing me up by the hooks, and then whispering in my ear, “Book three won’t be out…ever.”

  10. Geekgirl
    Posted February 4, 2011 at 7:22 AM | Permalink

    It is difficult to express in words how very much I am looking forward to release.

    My son has asked to listen to the TNotW audiobook yet again, so I feel like it’s priming the pump.

  11. Mickey
    Posted February 4, 2011 at 7:33 AM | Permalink

    Dear Pat,

    I suspect that even though you may not have wanted to be antithetical, there was still a chunk of the inner Rothfuss that chortled with glee as the book began to become exactly that !

    I can see the mental notes to self stacking up in a dusty corner being studiously ignored by the nebulous presence of an irreverant arse-hat. Don’t get me wrong, thats exactly why I gush like a lovesick 14 year old about your work to anyone who stands still long enough for me to broach the topic. Speculative fiction is desparately in need of authors who take the craft more seriously than themselves.

    You have produced the next epic saga in a field where the competitors have names that don’t bear comparison lightly, if at all, and deserve every good thing said about you and your work.

    Have a nice weekend, play with Oot and smash the living snot out of some pixelated orcs ! Romance your lady with single minded devotion to her undying happiness….and then my friend, you can call yourself a Geek.

  12. dankinney
    Posted February 4, 2011 at 7:54 AM | Permalink

    Haha! I loved the lesbian unicorn reference you threw into the interview! Ah, that started my workday off well. Thanks!

  13. Marcus Cox
    Posted February 4, 2011 at 8:53 AM | Permalink

    That is a wicked awesome blurb that forced me to check the calender to see how many more days I have to wait (25 days that I can guarantee will be among 25 of the longest days of my life).

    And when you said short interview you meant it. My god. I was expecting to at least read for three or four minutes. Still entertaining, nonetheless. Your insights on storytelling are amazing.

  14. LisaD
    Posted February 4, 2011 at 8:59 AM | Permalink

    I think it is probably just and fair to state that you are the current heartthrob of Epic Saga Fandom. Perhaps we will see a pull out poster of you, posing with WMF, in the next issue of Geek Readers Monthly? Then we can put the poster up next to our reading chairs and sigh contentedly as we read this long-awaited release of breathtaking wordplay.

    I was so thrilled to get your signed book back in the mail….glad you enjoyed the stone. =)

  15. Daniel
    Posted February 4, 2011 at 9:06 AM | Permalink

    Pat I just downloaded and flew through the WMF sample on my iPad. Absolutely incredible. Just reading through the titles of all 152 chapters makes the wait unbearable. I’m going outside now to cryogenically freeze myself in the snow with instructions to be unthawed on the March 1st, because I cannot take the anticipation any more.

  16. skinner
    Posted February 4, 2011 at 9:13 AM | Permalink

    Congrats Pat! ONLY 25 DAYS LEFT!!

    AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!11!!!ONE

  17. Rachel
    Posted February 4, 2011 at 9:29 AM | Permalink

    I am a voracious reader. I’ve read a wide variety of fantasy, from Mercedes Lackey to J.R.R. Tolkien to Peter S. Beagle to J.K. Rowling. But by far, “The Name of the Wind” is my favorite book. My excitement and anxiousness about “The Wise Man’s Fear” coming out is unrivaled to even how I felt while waiting for Harry Potter. And that’s a huge compliment seeing as I am *obsessed* with HP. So, thank you for the wonderful books, and I can’t wait until March 1st! :)

  18. Erzberger
    Posted February 4, 2011 at 10:03 AM | Permalink

    Man, I´d like a middle name like “Goat”, too! And everyone would call me The Goat.
    “So who´s coming tonight?”
    “Oh, you know, Josh, Sarah, Judy and The Goat.”

    Oh yeah…

  19. Kitty
    Posted February 4, 2011 at 10:32 AM | Permalink

    Thanks for the link back to your “blurb” blog entry. I think that was one of the first blog entries that I read of yours and it still cracks me up.

    I’m so excited for WMF after reading the blurb and the interview that I’m logging back into Amazon to change the “delivery speed” of my pre-ordered copy. My far-too-frugal husband who doesn’t approve of such frivolous ways to spend money can just suck it.

  20. MLBurt
    Posted February 4, 2011 at 10:50 AM | Permalink

    “Don’t get me wrong, magic is cool. But a nervous mother singing to her child at night while something moves quietly through the dark outside her house? That’s a story. Handled properly, it’s more dramatic than any apocalypse or goblin army could ever be.”

    That ranks right up there with some of George R.R. Martin’s quotes on fantasy as wonderfully poignant and fantastically illuminating. This is going to be one of those phrases I keep in my pocket to add to my ever-lengthening vindication of fantasy reserved specifically for my more snobbish literary friends.

    The greatest strength of fantasy, I think, is to show us those grand spectacles such as dragons and swords, knights and wizards, and then remind us, subtly, that the most fascinating element in any story is, in fact, the story. Particularly, the human story.

  21. Dusty Ayers
    Posted February 4, 2011 at 11:16 AM | Permalink

    Too. Excited. To. Sleep. I’m out of good books to read!

  22. Little My
    Posted February 4, 2011 at 11:38 AM | Permalink

    I am really looking forward to 1) reading Wise Man’s Fear, and 2) running around reading all the complimentary reviews that come out about it, starting now. (And getting in a [virtual] huff about the reviewers who don’t love it as much as I will. Is it wrong to feel totally proprietary about a book that isn’t mine? Oh well.) Just for the record (RE the interview) I LOVE that the clever characters really do show off their cleverness. So thank you for that, among other things.

  23. bremon
    Posted February 4, 2011 at 11:40 AM | Permalink

    Do want, do want, do want.
    Can’t wait until March – and neither can my friends, if only so I stop hauling out NOTW every three seconds and talking nonstop about Kvothe and March first.
    And the lesbian unicorns just made my day.

  24. Kiroi Liu
    Posted February 4, 2011 at 1:00 PM | Permalink

    God, I had so many things to say but now that I’m on it I don’t remember, so nice… well I guess what i wanted to say was something like “you deserve that review, your story is asome, your books are fantastic, your writing is just too god damn good”… It feel great, it even tastes great.. so.. keep up with that good work… I may not get to be as good as you, but I’ll be good enough I guess… (lel)

  25. jaepingsu
    Posted February 4, 2011 at 2:35 PM | Permalink

    Wow, that actually made me shiver a bit. I’m currently re-reading NotW in anticipation, and for sure counting down the days until March 1st hits and getting to gush about Wise Man’s Fear like all those damned ARC readers!

  26. Posted February 4, 2011 at 2:52 PM | Permalink

    1) Congrats on the starred review!
    2) Someday please write a novella featuring Kvothe the Lesbian Unicorn (if just to spite Brandon and Christopher). It could even be for charity! For example, two years ago (2009) my favorite young adult novelist, John Green, did NaNoWriMo just for fun, and produced a “spectacularly bad” zombie apocalypse novella. Then he offered to email it to anyone who donated to charity during a Harry Potter Alliance fundraising effort. So similarly, if you someday wrote a “spectacularly bad” or even “spectacularly good” AU Kvothe-as-a-lesbian-unicorn novella, enter it as a prize in Worldbuilders.
    I’d so enter a raffle for it. No fancy publishing required. Just a pdf reader.

  27. ecna1ab
    Posted February 4, 2011 at 3:33 PM | Permalink

    Not to set this off topic, and I in no way mean to criticize you, but there are a lot of errors in your blog.

    “I try not to read a reviews of my books”

    “and a starred review is a from them is a pretty big deal.”

  28. jdcb
    Posted February 4, 2011 at 3:38 PM | Permalink

    Reading the review, I just changed my guess as to what is going to happen in book two and three…

  29. redcrest
    Posted February 4, 2011 at 5:50 PM | Permalink

    Wow, congrats on the glowing review, Pat! I really can’t wait to read Wise Man’s Fear!!

    And from the interview…

    “a fantasy story with Norse gods, sentient robots, and telepathic dinosaurs…”

    …You weren’t talking about the apocalyptic mecha anime “Fafner,” were you? :P Hmm, considering the interesting philosophical ponderings on what it is “to be there” inthe series, not to mention all the pretty boys and the main characters’ estranged-childhood-friendship-with-hugely-slashy-overtones relationship, it *does* seem like something you’d enjoy… ;-D ♥

  30. Eon
    Posted February 4, 2011 at 7:19 PM | Permalink

    Is the comment about the nervous mother singing to her child referencing an actual story? Because if it isn’t, I’d have fun trying t write that.

  31. Kathryn
    Posted February 5, 2011 at 12:13 AM | Permalink

    You totally got me. What’s the story about the mother singing to her child? I’m already wondering, “What’s outside?”

  32. livingisdreaming
    Posted February 5, 2011 at 1:23 AM | Permalink

    Pat,
    I was wondering, have you ever been to Arizona for tour? I was just perusing through your blog and you commented on the dreary weather which is definitely not the case in AZ. :)

  33. Hellshark
    Posted February 5, 2011 at 2:42 AM | Permalink

    Pat,
    Your use of the phrase “lesbian unicorns” in an interview made me laugh hard enough that I finally decided to register and post a comment. Can’t wait for Wise Man’s Fear! :D

  34. Sedulo
    Posted February 5, 2011 at 5:14 AM | Permalink

    Yikes, I am breathless with excitement. For me finally reading the book and for you because of further renown and cha-ching blockbuster action!

  35. pwcreads
    Posted February 5, 2011 at 9:11 AM | Permalink

    I think “intimate” is a very good way to describe Pat’s writing style. It almost makes me uncomfortable to read his writing sometimes because it is so intimate. Sometimes I feel like saying “Kvothe, are you sure you should be telling me this?” – and then I have to remind myself that Kvothe is in fact a fictional character. : )

  36. fb
    Posted February 5, 2011 at 12:44 PM | Permalink

    I got so excited when I read that review I actually tried to eat my fist. That has hit it home that sooooooon, so soon I will be locking myself in a room with basic supplies and that book until I have read it twice over and yelling at my housemates if they try and interrupt me…can’t wait, Thanks Pat!

  37. theotherjason
    Posted February 5, 2011 at 10:10 PM | Permalink

    Hey Pat. I can’t pretend to know you but you’ll understand when I say your books help a lot of people through hard times. My partner Tami and I said goodbye today to our beloved feline friend Caitlin. Reading The Name of the Wind (again) and anticipating The Wise Man’s Fear is helping me deal with the grief that comes with losing a member of your family. Yeah, the stupid and beautiful cat was family. Keep up the good works Patrick. You’re carrying the banner for a lot of us out here.

  38. firuletta
    Posted February 6, 2011 at 5:58 AM | Permalink

    Please, please for when the book in Spanish? ???

  39. Daniel Cressman
    Posted February 6, 2011 at 10:31 PM | Permalink

    Crap… Totally forgot about the third book there… Now, despite the fact that I am frantically pacing the library, waiting for the next part of the story, I feel… disappointed. That the third book’s release date is nowhere in sight. You had better hurry, Rothfuss. As I am reading this next book the day it is released, I will not settle for another wait like the one I just went through. (On the bright side, though, I do have quite a few more pages to hold me through until the third book.)

    Also, is there more to the interview? Three questions doesn’t seem very much… Or did I miss something?

    • Daniel Cressman
      Posted February 6, 2011 at 10:38 PM | Permalink

      Brilliant review, by the way. I wish I could write like that… Did you see their use of adjectives? Incredible. I guess that’s why you guys are the professionals. I am now absolutely sure that I shall enjoy this book until the last page. (Not that I ever doubted you. No one can take that long on a book and have it turn out poorly, let alone Patrick Rothfuss. ;) )

    • MLBurt
      Posted February 6, 2011 at 10:48 PM | Permalink

      Think you might just have to settle if that’s how things work out, bud. Ever read A Song of Ice and Fire?

  40. sherbet
    Posted February 7, 2011 at 5:33 AM | Permalink

    Dear Sir, what is your favourite word?

    • sherbet
      Posted February 7, 2011 at 5:34 AM | Permalink

      wrong post oops…

  41. Lincoln
    Posted February 20, 2011 at 8:04 PM | Permalink

    Pat,

    I am going to be at your book signing in Oregon. Will you only be signing your name or will you have time to put a personalized comment?

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