The Slow Regard of Silent Things

So my book is launching today, and so far I’ve spent the day trying not to think about it.

I am not a nervous person, but I’ll be honest with you. This book has me tied in a bit of a knot. I didn’t feel this way when Name of the Wind came out because I knew that book was good. I’d carried it around next to my heart for 14 years before it was published. I was confident in it.

But this book… When I finished it, I honestly expected it to just sit in a trunk for years. I knew I liked it. But I also knew it wasn’t like any sort of fantasy story I’d ever read before. At best it was arty, at worst it was incomprehensible. Bizarre. I mean, just look at the title: The Slow Regard of Silent Things. What does that even mean? My translators can’t figure it out, and I can’t articulate it in any sensible way. So in the rest of the world, the book is going to be “The Music of Silence.”

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And yes, yes, I liked it, but it was *my* book. Of course I like it. An author’s view of their own work is never objective.

So today I’m nervous. I’m resisting the urge to go look for reviews. Actively fighting the urge. The almost overwhelming urge. That way lies madness.

So I go onto twitter instead. The first, best refuge of a desperate man looking for substanceless distraction. And instead I and see people talking about the book. They’ve already read it, and before I can look away, I see this:

@PatrickRothfuss Just finished the book. I can only compare it to Ulysses, but not boring. You just made art. Makes the world brightier.

— Deoch y Stanchion (@DeochyStanchion) October 28, 2014

And it helps. A little. The twitter handle lets me know the reader isn’t exactly objective either. They’re obviously a fan…

But the more I roll this around in my head, the more it troubles me. Ulysses was one of those books that I was supposed to read for class but I never did. All I really know about it is that it’s one of the all-time front runners for pretentious, literary self-indulgence, right?

So I turn off twitter. I avoid reading e-mails that might even imply they have anything to do with my book. Then I grit my teeth and answer them anyway, because most of them are from my publisher, and I can’t just leave them hanging.

book

I just went online to find a copy of the US cover to post up, and I found this. This sort of thing warms my heart. Y’all are so enthusiastic and encouraging and kind. It makes me smile. It makes me think that things will be okay. My readers are up for something a little different. They’re geeks. They’re smart.

Then I picture the person above reading the book, their forehead furrowed, their expression screaming, “What the actual fuck Rothfuss? What the hell is this story even about?”

I hate the thought of disappointing people. And this is something that I didn’t understand until I was a parent. The more someone loves you, the more you have the ability to disappoint them. I love my little boy, and I get so irritated with him sometimes. Oot loves me beyond all reason and sense, and when I tell him no, I have hours of work to do, I can’t play, his face falls. Then he smiles a fake smile at me and tells me it’s okay. He’s only five and he already knows how to fake a smile to hide his disappointment. It breaks my heart.

I’m doing an event in Portland tonight in just a couple hours. It will be a good time. The Doubleclicks are opening for me, and last I heard we’d sold over 700 tickets.

What’s the point of all of this? There’s no point. I’m just rambling. Fretting.

I should go take a shower and see if I can do something to make myself look slightly civilized. Maybe eat some dinner. I should definitely Coffee-Up for my performance. Caffeine will probably help.

I hope all of you are well. If you’re reading the book, I hope you’re enjoying it. If you’re not reading the book, I hope you’re enjoying not reading it.

As always, yours in verbosity,

pat

This entry was posted in emo bullshit, things I shouldn't talk about, trepidation. By Pat268 Responses

133 Comments

  1. locke
    Posted October 28, 2014 at 7:56 PM | Permalink

    I, for one, can’t wait to read it! Your stories are always proverbial word porn, so at least – incomprehensible or not – it will be an enjoyable experience. I hope the show/talk/signing goes wonderfully.

  2. Posted October 28, 2014 at 7:57 PM | Permalink

    Just to put your mind at ease even a bit, I almost missed my train stop and went on a wild ride through the Philly area countryside because I was so involved in reading your book. It’s lovely and making me grump that I have to do adult things like laundry and feeding myself instead of reading all night. Good luck with your event, The Doubleclicks are great fun and singing songs about dinosaurs is probably quite good for your mental well-being.

  3. chrisofevil
    Posted October 28, 2014 at 7:57 PM | Permalink

    Though it’s a hollow platitude, try not to worry. We love your words. We love your world.

  4. isabellenecessary
    Posted October 28, 2014 at 7:59 PM | Permalink

    You have absolutely NOTHING to worry about. You and your beard are fabulous and therefore the book will just just be fabulous by association.

    Besides, we all love you and who couldn’t love Auri. I’m so excited to read about her adventures.

  5. blarglesnarf
    Posted October 28, 2014 at 8:00 PM | Permalink

    It was everything. I loved the voice used. The entire book seemed to bubbly traipse along.

  6. pdxtrent
    Posted October 28, 2014 at 8:00 PM | Permalink

    Pat, I’m currently at the Performing Arts Center in Portland waiting for your event to start, and I’ve already finished the book. I loved it, though I do agree, it’s not an entry point. I think you need to trust your fans more.
    Well the ones who aren’t jerk faces:-)

  7. Ayla
    Posted October 28, 2014 at 8:03 PM | Permalink

    I was so excited when I picked up your book that I started crying in the book store. Then I read the first few pages and cried some more. It is strange and wonderful and beautiful. Basically, your book is Auri. Thank you for writing it.

  8. lbmartin
    Posted October 28, 2014 at 8:04 PM | Permalink

    I’ve thoroughly enjoyed watching the process of this book’s creation, from your initial announcement here on your blog, to now, where it is being shipped off and sold. I know that this is something completely different, but I greatly appreciate this experiment. It is wonderful to see great artists try new things, new methods. And while I know it is scary, and there probably isn’t much I can say to help you with your fear, I will tell you that you have many fans who are excited and willing to try new things with you.
    Here’s to going beyond our comfort levels, jumping off insane asylums, and seeing where we land.

  9. varn
    Posted October 28, 2014 at 8:05 PM | Permalink

    I happened to walk out my door just now and the lasership truck was in my driveway. I am very excited to see what you are so worried about.

  10. Searchonce
    Posted October 28, 2014 at 8:07 PM | Permalink

    Thank you for giving us auri’s perspective of the world. For me it is perfect in its own way. Oh and yeah i also cried a little bit.

  11. iamthelexicon
    Posted October 28, 2014 at 8:08 PM | Permalink

    Only on page 10 but already enraptured anew by the Rothfuss way with words- never overdone, never sparse, always just exactly enough to convey the feeling of a thing in screamingly clear relief- and the excellent glimpse into Auri’s heart. Please don’t worry Pat. Anyone who doesn’t fall in love with this one instantly isn’t worth your energy to please.

  12. Posted October 28, 2014 at 8:09 PM | Permalink

    Dude, chill :)

  13. Vee M.
    Posted October 28, 2014 at 8:15 PM | Permalink

    I’m sad, because although I live in the Portland area, I am lacking the childcare necessary for a night out to see your show. I shall have to content myself with the pictures my friends who ARE going will post to Facebook, and if I can find my gift card I’ll get myself the book on my Kindle.
    One of these days I’ll make it to one of your book events!

  14. Posted October 28, 2014 at 8:21 PM | Permalink

    It was perfect. It was exactly as it was meant to be.

    Seriously, thank you for what you do. I got a signed copy and I’ll cherish it. I reads so beautifully, it’s screams to be read aloud to someone you love, someone who you can’t wait to share the beauty of the words with.

  15. noralouise
    Posted October 28, 2014 at 8:23 PM | Permalink

    I spent my whole workday with my kindle next to me, firing it up every time I got a free ten minute period. Loved it. I was genuinely surprised by how humorous it was! I won’t spoil anything… but that tuft of fur… I chortled about that for the rest of the day.

  16. Spoonman
    Posted October 28, 2014 at 8:27 PM | Permalink

    Pat, I downloaded the audiobook today since my hour long commute is a bit easier to listen to books then to read them (at least that’s what the police tell me). Anyway, I can’t wait to start it after I finish Ken Follett’s most recent (only 15 more hours) and listen to your dulcet tones. I’m sure it’s a great book because you are a great writer, whether you would like to believe that our not. I hope the event goes well and I can’t wait for a reading or something near me that I can attend.

  17. thatmikelee
    Posted October 28, 2014 at 8:28 PM | Permalink

    I’m halfway through. I intend to finish before I go to sleep tonight. I love it. It’s just what I was hoping for when you announced a story from Auri’s perspective. Then again, I loved every scene involving Auri in the other books. My feeling is this is a book that will appeal greatly to people who are fans of Auri. To everybody else, not so much. This is ok since “fans of Auri” probably encompasses a great many people.

  18. mantelli
    Posted October 28, 2014 at 8:30 PM | Permalink

    I loved it–luminous, atmospheric writing and so much sweet insight into Auri!

    Alas, I’m an election supervisor, which means getting up at 4 a.m. Tuesday. That means I will miss your talk in Fenton. Maybe next trip?

  19. tyler
    Posted October 28, 2014 at 8:36 PM | Permalink

    This was beautiful, and I cried, more than a little. I’m crying a little now.

    I also feel this fantastic dread, because I don’t feel like something this perfect can exist in a world with Kvothe so broken.

  20. suchlr
    Posted October 28, 2014 at 8:42 PM | Permalink

    It’s a wonderful read. Thank you for writing a story for the slightly broken people. You are beautiful to us too.

  21. brittanymitchell
    Posted October 28, 2014 at 8:52 PM | Permalink

    Me and my friend took a bus out to the bookstore today to get it :) We spent the first 10 minutes just admiring how beautiful it is! The cover, illustrations, everything is gorgeous. I’ve only just started it and I know I’m going to love it. Don’t worry Pat, if you’re fans are as dedicated as we are, you’re bound to get good reviews :)

  22. anemotis
    Posted October 28, 2014 at 8:56 PM | Permalink

    This book is like custard: delicious and rich, with the sort of mouth-feel that makes you want to roll it around on your tongue. If you are especially bad you might swish a few of the words through your teeth before swallowing it up. Seriously. If it is a book for the select few, then we are really, really honored that you put in the time writing for us.

  23. lovelylass987
    Posted October 28, 2014 at 8:58 PM | Permalink

    I woke up this morning to find the Amazon receipt for the Kindle version. In a very unusual move, I let my precious Kindle out of the house (no joke, it doesn’t normally see sunlight, although there’s not a lot of sunlight pre-dawn…but I digress). I drank every drop. I ate every bite. It was so beautiful. I was preparing to be disappointed when I read your foreword, but I was excited when you posted the part of the audiobook that you recorded.

    I was not disappointed at all. It’s a beautiful book. And, at the risk of outing myself, I’m one of those people who wrote a review for your book. Sure, there are plenty of reviews that are keeping mine company that say “so expensive!” or “too short!” or “it’s not book 3 I want my money back!” There, I’ve ruined the surprise and not given you even the courtesy of a spoiler alert.

    But you know what? The top reviews are all from people who love you. Because the vast, vast majority of your real fans love you and they love your work. As this novella is part of that body of work, it is by extension loved. It also happens to be beautiful, so you have that going for you.

  24. LoritheNurse
    Posted October 28, 2014 at 9:01 PM | Permalink

    OMG!!!! This is a wonderful book. I have it on Kindle and my hardcover was delivered today. I have an aversion to bent pages, so, the hardcover is for just in case the Kindle can’t be charged.
    Pat…. Home Run. I love it. I will need to read it a few more times to discover exactly why. I “feels right”. It makes me want book 3 more, but, I’m content as I can be. Thank You

  25. TLadd
    Posted October 28, 2014 at 9:13 PM | Permalink

    I am very excited to see you in Seattle! I am making the best use parssive of my one allowed absence in my Thursday evening class.

  26. Carol Pereira
    Posted October 28, 2014 at 9:21 PM | Permalink

    I’m so excited with this book. But when it will be available in Brazil? I hope don’t need to wait so much. I can’t to buy the american edition here, and any way that would be very expensive.

    Be fast, I’m anxious =)

  27. RoseWoods
    Posted October 28, 2014 at 9:26 PM | Permalink

    I have never commented on any of your blogs before, or actually any blog before this, so this is something special.
    I woke up to my Kindle announcing that your book was downloaded. Unfortunately I had work and errands to do. When I got home, I made myself a nest, let my other half know that I would be occupied for the reading of the book, and tucked myself in.
    The tale finished, the end note read, there is a spot inside of me that was touched and was fed something strange, new, but so good. It almost feels like the thrill of enjoying something you shouldn’t, and making it even more desirable. Leaving a desperate longing for more.
    Pat, thank you for writing this. Thank you for fighting against all the fears and doubts. Thank you for being you and sharing yourself.
    Crystal.

  28. JAB
    Posted October 28, 2014 at 9:27 PM | Permalink

    Done, loved it, need more please. I said Please… I did enjoy a more focused look at one of your supporting characters and would read more so, take the worry cap off, bath in the admiration of a fan then more…need more, please.

    Please and thank you.

  29. vwinner7
    Posted October 28, 2014 at 9:40 PM | Permalink

    Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for this book.

    It was perfect. It is exactly as it should be.

    I feel a little warmer and a little more whole than I did a few hours ago when i opened it.

  30. Zen Puppy
    Posted October 28, 2014 at 9:55 PM | Permalink

    Listening to it today. It’s good to hear you reading it. I’m enjoying it enough to finally cause me to create an ID/password to login here JUST so I could tell you that I think it’s great so far. It’s not really like your other books (it’s not even a story about a story) but still something that keeps this pretty picky reader listening right along.

  31. seleghari
    Posted October 28, 2014 at 10:32 PM | Permalink

    A wonderful lost anticipation today. It hurt to wait for Auri. It was perfectly her. She would have been proud. Everything, as it should have been, everything, in its place….except….somehow a great deal of people over looked the fact that fresh nutmeg can not be ground with a mortar and pestle it must be gratted or shaved….which really erked me in a story of naming. I hate to be the evil Bitch that points the finger but Auri deserves things done in the right way :-P

    • Oatmeal
      Posted October 29, 2014 at 1:37 PM | Permalink

      Nutmeg seeds. It was not a nutmeg, it was nutmeg seeds. Which can, in fact, be ground with a mortar and pestle.

      • seleghari
        Posted October 29, 2014 at 3:06 PM | Permalink

        My dear lover of oatmeat, nutmeg seeds, are in fact the only part of the plant we grate up and use for spice, so it was one and the same I was speaking of. I have never used it when I make soap but I do use it in my flavoring my custard. Pat knows he runs a higher risk writing for nerds. All I’m pissed about is how NOT a single person caught that! Other than that one slight the book was PERFECT!!!!

        • Oatmeal
          Posted October 29, 2014 at 4:22 PM | Permalink

          Oh, wow. Of that I had no idea. I was picturing something much smaller. Perhaps nutmegs grow differently in Temerant. :D

          • seleghari
            Posted October 29, 2014 at 6:15 PM | Permalink

            Of that I will have to convince myself, because I am one to read and reread and reread books ;-) And Pat has won me over to become my favorite author of all time! With just two novels of his to keep me company, I can’t let the blantant nutmeg overlook get to me. My greatest fear in life is that I will die before the third book is published. ( I have past health issues) But would I care if such an overlook was made in it? I don’t know….or was it just because it was a book on naming, and such a short story that made it seem even more important to get everything right? Okay…I can lie to myself I do it all the time. It just grows differently. Thanks. I mean it, it’s quite a silly rant I know. But obviously it’s important to me.

        • Posted October 30, 2014 at 11:45 AM | Permalink

          OK, now you’ve roused the food pedant! :-)

          The nutmeg tree gives us TWO spices, not just one. Mace is the other spice, it is the red lacy covering of the nutmeg seed.

          You are right about nutmeg typically being shaved or grated. I like to use a microplane grater (and if you like nutmeg and have been buying it already powdered, you are missing out on much of the flavor).

          I have no idea why 80 beta readers wouldn’t have someone with hands on nutmeg experience. . .

          Although, if you want mass quantities of nutmeg, you really could use a mortar and pestle to grind up a whole seed. I think that could work for soap making. It’s just really powerful when fresh, generally I have one seed flavor, I don’t know, a dozen different dishes?

          So there you go. For soap making, Auri demolished an entire nutmeg with a mortar and pestle. I don’t think a small batch of soap would have any scent other than nutmeg, but I’ve never put nutmeg in a soap. I’m going to have to try that. . . .

          • seleghari
            Posted October 30, 2014 at 12:06 PM | Permalink

            I thank you for your correction, excuse my overlooking mace. But also excuse me for laughing if you have nutmeg experience, and you think little tiny Auri could grind and entire nutmeg with mortal and pestle. The task is beyond me and I’m a fully fed pilates instructor. But even so….I should have kept it to myself so as not to disillusion others.

        • Posted November 5, 2014 at 7:20 AM | Permalink

          I caught that. I just didn’t care. My suspension of disbelief was too strong. :)

    • Faelwhin
      Posted October 31, 2014 at 1:17 PM | Permalink

      I don’t understand why you say that nutmeg can’t be ground with mortar and pestle. It can be. With a big m&p, it’s easy, with a smaller one, it is harder.

      I only found one video as proof (it’s a terrible video but you can see the crushing with a very small pestle. You can also see that the nutmeg isn’t even shelled) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jn0j23qBuX8

      In the book, Auri uses a “large stone mortar”. Since large stone pestles are very heavy, you don’t need to be strong to crack a nutmeg.

      :-)

      • Faelwhin
        Posted October 31, 2014 at 1:18 PM | Permalink

        Oops, of course that is the wrong link – here’s the right one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ia4Hcx-UqYk

        • seleghari
          Posted October 31, 2014 at 2:39 PM | Permalink

          Faelwhin, I could kiss you all up and down! I love you more than anything right now, for listening to my petty problems and bringing me peace in the form of a link ;-)

          The Nutmeg I have always gotten has always been much lighter in color, so, I’m guessing it’s not as fresh, and is much harder. I’m going to have to try to buy some better quality nutmeg from now on!

          I can not thank you enough for your time. Because of you, all is right with the world. Seriously….I’m such a dork!

          Thank you, thank you!

          • Faelwhin
            Posted October 31, 2014 at 2:43 PM | Permalink

            Aww that’s sweet – I’m glad I could help :-)

            And you are right – if your nutmeg is lighter in colour, it has been shelled. The seeds grow harder the longer they are stored that way.

          • seleghari
            Posted October 31, 2014 at 8:31 PM | Permalink

            I’ve never been so happy to come across as both arrogant and ignorant in my whole life!

            I was really starting to regret my initial choice to post this. Seeing as how I really just wanted someone to tell me how it was indeed possible. But I guess it’s obvious….I am the kind of person that has to be shown things for herself to believe them…..and Thank God you figured that out! Because seeing that video also gave me the answer to why my nutmeg is too hard. And now everything is put in place! I have my story back! And I learned something new!

  32. Blarghedy
    Posted October 28, 2014 at 10:46 PM | Permalink

    Oh my.

    That book was satisfying.

  33. christie
    Posted October 28, 2014 at 10:55 PM | Permalink

    I haven’t gotten to read it yet, but I can’t wait. Auri is (understatement) amazing.

    When you are hard on yourself, maybe consider the advice you would give Oot in the same situation.

    • Sandhya
      Posted October 29, 2014 at 2:08 AM | Permalink

      Love this idea!

  34. Posted October 28, 2014 at 11:16 PM | Permalink

    Please don’t worry Pat, it was beautiful and I have lots of things I want to say about why I found it so beautiful that haven’t formed coherent sentences yet.

    About 80% of all paragraphs made me want to read them aloud, which is a wonder psuedostatistic. And, ach, I hadn’t realised how much Kvothe meant to Auri (obviously, we only really knew his side of the story) and it’s not okay, totally not okay when 7 days is too much for her, let alone a whole year, and did she know that everyone had thought he had drowned? I mean, I like to think that Elodin took over Kvothe’s care of Auri, the bringing of food and clothes and bits and bobs that she needed, and I don’t believe he ever thought Kvothe was dead…plus if Auri did end up giving Kvothe a name of her own, one of his vast repertoire, then I’d hope she’d be able to know on some level he was alive and would come back. Not okay, not okay. Plus the scene where she discusses her feelings of emptiness before Kvothe gave her the shiny new name, well, there is a perfect replica of the outline of my face in my pillow due to that scene (and really gross mascara tear stains, but we don’t discuss those).

    But art should not be constrained by a need to please everyone. It doesn’t matter whether some people don’t get it, because it’s obvious in the reading how much writing this meant to you. It’s also obvious from reading your blog posts that you don’t really value your own personal opinion as much as you ought to, at least in regards to writing. You like it so that should be all that’s required, and, obviously, that’s easier said than done, but not necessarily bad advice. TSROST is different in that it’s tiny and more bare and naked in that respect, so each word seems in the line to be deconstructed, ‘it’s too wordy’, ‘it doesn’t read like TNOTW’, ‘I don’t get it’, but in honesty, this is something you wanted to write, how you wanted to write it and the view of a couple of people who aren’t invested in Auri? Well, does it honestly matter, because there’s a wild sea of people out there who are clutching their copies of TWMF and flipping almost religiously to the scene with Kvothe, Elodin and Auri on the rooftops and seeing the same damn fine mind imagery that you conjured the first time and the second and the third read (insert any number of rereads here).

    I guess what I’m trying to say is that as much as this can become a game of numbers, that wasn’t why you started writing for sure. You wanted to tell a story and you wanted people to engage with your story and that is happening on a vast scale, totally different to the first readable draft you nervously showed a ‘beta’, back when beta meant best friend. Maybe some of the nervousness is because success is now measured in units sold, instead of the glow of people just enjoying something you’ve created, because it must be difficult to not just read the ‘omfg I love your books’ and almost lose a sense of there being a person behind it, a person who probably sat in their kitchen having an in depth discussion with a house mate about what a terrible idea it would ever be to allow Elodin in the under thing (Elodin picks up one of Auri’s objects absently to examine it and wanders through three sections before remembering he has it and leaves it in some random, infuriating location, far from where it ought to be).

    But I’d like to say that your books have become kind of safety net for me. Jax and the Moon (and the myriad references to the tale spread between the books, ah ‘where does the moon go when it is no longer in our sky?’ my favourite), Kvothe and the Cthaeh, the moment when he first calls the name of the wind and Elodin helps still the tumbling in his mind, every moment with Auri, Haven, to name but a few. More specifically, the vandalism of Hemme’s apartment for being such a bigot (there was a desperate need to use a stronger word there but bigot will have to do), Kvothe’s life in Tarbean and, most importantly, the scene where he returns to his camp to find it a smouldering wreck and his subsequent grieving. A couple of years ago now, there was a huge and deeply unwelcome upheaval in my life (understatement), which generally led to me lying in bed all curled up, not eating, fitfully in and out of sleep, a long way away from home (or what was left of it), not really in the right place to face the world head on. I picked up TNOTW, knowing how much I’d loved it on the first ‘who knows how many’ readings and began to read. I reached the part with the destruction of his troupe and just found myself with tears just streaming down my face. I kept reading, reached the part with his grieving, his wandering of the forest, slowly playing his lute down to its bare bones, and it was like whatever had dammed me up, kept me from really dealing with what had happened just snapped, and, whilst it was initially quite horrifying and left me all rictused up, breathing all over the place, it was a good pain, the right pain, definitely the pain I needed. Sort of empathic pain, why we destroy ourselves watching sad movies and reading soul-annihilating books, because it expels our own pain and doesn’t really feel as corrosive as the memories themselves do. This got deeper than I intended it to but I hope the message still remained in some form.

    That, as much as some people might not entirely appreciate this book as much as other readers, it doesn’t really matter. Say you have a jar to fill with love and affection, you know that the adoration of one or two people is probably enough to fill that jar and everything else is excellent and beautiful excess. You’re in the situation that your teenager self couldn’t even really have dreamed about, people sure as hell spend hours and hours reading, discussing, arguing over your books, you have a world that people go ‘yeah, that’s Rothfuss’, isn’t it awesome’ and know is yours like Middle Earth or Earthsea or something else equally groundbreaking, massive threads on the internet rabidly discussing potential plot developments and the lore you created. Say you have that same jar, maybe it’s a little larger because life is stressful and we all need a little validation, well your enormous Kingkiller Chronicle following probably fills that a good thousand times over and, even if that 10% you were so worried about decided they didn’t like it, well, that pot is still so damn full that you can’t see the horizon over the mountains of adoration.

    ps. you may not have realised, but you really love the word ‘coruscant’…or maybe I really love the word ‘coruscant’ and therefore the number of times I noticed it was a matter of attention bias. I don’t know, either way it has been firmly drummed into my vocabulary.

    But, on a serious note, TSROST is something you wanted to write because a.) who doesn’t want to know more about Auri? and b.) you wanted to write it and there are literally no reasons why you should have to justify that. Don’t fret over the opinions of some, create what you want, write what you want, otherwise where is the joy in writing?

    • Posted October 30, 2014 at 11:51 AM | Permalink

      Coruscant was one of the words I had to look up.

      The other was apetulous.

      It made me think of the blog post tag “a few words you’re probably going to have to look up.”

      • Tacroy
        Posted November 1, 2014 at 10:32 AM | Permalink

        Honestly the first time I stumbled over it in the book I thought “What does the capital planet of the Galactic Empire have to do with anything?” before remembering that it’s a word in its own right.

  35. Doail
    Posted October 28, 2014 at 11:35 PM | Permalink

    What the actual fuck Rothfuss?

    Quit worrying and listen to Vi and the rest of your fans; it’s wonderful.

    It is a prefect sharp little shard of Auri. Dainty and small and just-so. Bright and fae and heartbreakingly sad. It is exactly as it should be.

  36. Torsailr
    Posted October 28, 2014 at 11:36 PM | Permalink

    So I just got back from the Portland reading.

    It was the highlight of my year, thank you. It was truly a pleasure to listen to you speak and joke and have fun.

    Also, I haven’t had a chance to read it yet, but the title makes perfect sense to me just from what I’ve read of Auri in the first two books. She takes her time to get to know the little things that don’t make an effort to stand out. She listens to their story and befriends them. Perhaps because she’s one of them…

    Anyway, time to read.

    Thank you.

  37. malexg
    Posted October 28, 2014 at 11:37 PM | Permalink

    It is wonderous. I decided to go with audio book so I could enjoy it while I was @ work.

    I was just having a conversation with a friend making the fast food vs. fine cuisine analogy to books I enjoy.
    You, sir, have made a 5 course 5 Michelin star rated feast for your fans…well, maybe just a single course that does more than satisfy and leaves us agreeably longing for more.
    Thank you.

  38. xygon
    Posted October 28, 2014 at 11:38 PM | Permalink

    To summarize my opinion, and those of many others here in my tl;dr version: different? Duh. Perfect for Auri.

  39. 509jdudley5
    Posted October 28, 2014 at 11:41 PM | Permalink

    Am sending off the paperback versions of your world in the next few days to an author that could use an “attaboy”, but am looking forward to the new Auri book. I love that this is different. Auri is different. And one of my my favorites. Outside of Elxa Dal, Auri is the perfect choice for a story. Tough love, time to realize you are popular and people like you. Why? Because you are awesome. Scott Lynch and Brandon Sanderson walk into a bar and they get your acknowledgements, but no booze for Sanderson. I’ve never met Scott Lynch, but it seems he owes you booze. You ever get to Faulkner country, you’ve got food and drink covered.

  40. Posted October 29, 2014 at 12:59 AM | Permalink

    The Doubleclicks were winsome and awesome, you were fun to watch and hear (as usual). I keep voting for poetry, but people want to hear the guinea pig in the dorm story. I need to know what your t-shirt says above the word “PATRIARCHY.”

    I think you should have at least looked up to see me waving at you (first balcony) when you said my name. I wasn’t expecting you to answer my question, of course.

    I do expect an answer eventually.

  41. Club Neon
    Posted October 29, 2014 at 1:00 AM | Permalink

    I’m 1/3 of the way through it, and hate that I have to go to sleep now.

    My biggest problem, is that it’s a different size than the other Kingkiller novels. I don’t know how to place it on the shelf. I tried with it sitting after book two; that doesn’t seem right. Between 1&2 is better, but still wrong. Maybe I should see how it feels in another room.

  42. ela
    Posted October 29, 2014 at 1:16 AM | Permalink

    I found the book soothing. I also found myself googling more about soap-making, and laurel fruit. In short, I enjoyed it and would even read more, if it was there to be read.

  43. ktsmom
    Posted October 29, 2014 at 1:33 AM | Permalink

    Dearest Patrick, I have flown all the way from Charles Town, WV by way of Washington, DC airports, to attend your San Diego visit tomorrow night. I’m on pins and needles of delight that I will get to (maybe, if I’m lucky!) give you a HUG. (I have it on good authority that I give really nice, cozy hugs).

    The book is about AURI, for the god’s sakes. It MUST be different from the usual story. SHE’S special!

    Rest well tonight and safe travels tomorrow. I’ll see you at 7:30 sharp at Mysterious Galaxy!

  44. Jettara
    Posted October 29, 2014 at 2:00 AM | Permalink

    I am excited about reading this book about Auri. She is my favorite character and she just adds so much to the stories for me. It is a great feeling when a book can truly make you feel things. The scenes with Auri have made me cry and have made me laugh. I just can’t wait until I can learn more about her.

  45. Sandhya
    Posted October 29, 2014 at 2:05 AM | Permalink

    It must be so! much like birthing a baby. I can’t imagine the anxiety. Looking so forward to seeing you Thursday. Don’t make yourself sick worrying!

  46. Alex Diaz
    Posted October 29, 2014 at 2:05 AM | Permalink

    Damn that cover art on “The Music of Silence” is badass I’m a bit jealous….

    Anyway just finished the book and I thought it was good. Nice little side story that gives some more depth to the world/character.

    Anyway if anyone reads this and has an idea or maybe Pat… and I know this sounds stupid outside the context of the book but WTF are butter knives?!

    • guildsbounty
      Posted October 29, 2014 at 7:53 AM | Permalink

      A butter knife is a dull bladed knife that is meant for cutting soft things, like butter. It doesn’t have the aggressive teeth or sharp edge of a knife meant for cutting meat. Sometimes, they are also quite small, though not always. Most ‘dinner knives’ that come in a set with forks and spoons are actually large butter knives (not sharp enough to qualify as a meat knife)

      • Alex Diaz
        Posted October 29, 2014 at 10:51 AM | Permalink

        lol…I like I said in context to the book. Let me know if you any ideas after you’ve read the book. :)

    • KateM
      Posted October 29, 2014 at 2:38 PM | Permalink

      I have the same question. I thought maybe some of the butter had crystalized? Or perhaps it is another way of saying that the butter is angry?

      • Alex Diaz
        Posted October 30, 2014 at 4:52 AM | Permalink

        Yeah I thought that might be it. At first I wasn’t sure if that was a thing or not googled butter crystals when I was reading. Got a bunch of links to buy crystal butter dishes. Also thought maybe it had gone bad and caused stomach pain when she ate it in the past.

        Sigh don’t know what I expected to find googleing butter knives and butter crystals…… lol

    • mighty qynn
      Posted November 1, 2014 at 1:18 PM | Permalink

      Have you ever tasted rancid butter, or olive oil that has gone off?
      It’s a very distinctive, unpleasant, and, I would go so far as to say, cutting taste.
      When I read that line, that’s exactly what I thought of: “Oh, the butter’s rancid, ugh.”
      But who knows what it means to Auri? ;-}

      • Posted November 4, 2014 at 10:03 AM | Permalink

        I thought it meant that she didn’t have any butter left, or very little. If it were truly rancid, why wouldn’t she get rid of it? If your butter’s full of knives, then it’s more knife than butter, right? Odd way to put it, but I wouldn’t put it past Auri to think that way.

        • Posted November 5, 2014 at 7:25 AM | Permalink

          She probably didn’t get rid of it because it was in its proper place, even if it was rancid.

          • mighty qynn
            Posted November 11, 2014 at 9:18 PM | Permalink

            *internet hug*

  47. Holmelund
    Posted October 29, 2014 at 2:08 AM | Permalink

    Mine is pre-ordered and should arrive by mail within a week or so.
    I am so much looking forward to reading it :)

  48. laurenrocks
    Posted October 29, 2014 at 2:09 AM | Permalink

    Hi Pat. I finished your book last night. I already loved Auri before I read it. Now I am completely in love with this strange, beautiful character. I couldn’t help but grin every time Auri did. It’s truly an awesome story. So descriptive. I could see every bit of her world through your writing. I love it. I love Auri. I think I love you a little bit too!!

  49. Frostweave
    Posted October 29, 2014 at 3:41 AM | Permalink

    First time blogging. Yae welcome to 1994 lol sorry. Pat I loved the book I mean from all the other posts it seems to me everyone did. My only question is dose anyone else feel like they are reading and it’s like a song in your head? I known I didn’t fraise that properly, but I can’t quite put into words what happens when I read this book. It has its own mellody and you can almost tell where there are bits missing or where you have gone back and addrd or changed something. I don’t know I could just be some nut job in need of my own padded room at the rookery. But if you do hear the music or the melody when you read this book please post back and let me know I am not crazy.

    PS sorry for any miss spellings or grammar errors I am doing this on my phone and it is hard to see the tiny letters in the box.

  50. Russjass
    Posted October 29, 2014 at 3:58 AM | Permalink

    Dont fret. Rinse your face. Rinse your hands and feet. Set yourself to rights before you set the world to rights

  51. Abel3189
    Posted October 29, 2014 at 4:11 AM | Permalink

    Have some faith in your own work. I don’t mean to just blindly think that it’s good, but just think this:
    Does the book tell what you wanted to tell?
    Did you write it how you wanted to write it?

    If you can answer yes to those questions, rest easy. Anyone who enjoyed “The Name of the Wind” and “The Wise Man’s Fear” will enjoy it in one way or another.

    Mine arrived yesterday, and read through half of it during the free hour I had before going to bed. I hope I’ll finish it by today. And I’ll probably read it again this weekend.

    I got your sign on my NotW and WMF when you came to the Celsius 232 this year, and I hope I can get it on my SRoST, and, maybe, on the third book.

    Kudos Pat, and don’t fret any more.

  52. RSDeuce
    Posted October 29, 2014 at 4:29 AM | Permalink

    Great book. Would pre-order months ahead of time again.

    Just like every other one of your readers. Have you actually had anyone dislike it yet? Calm yourself.

    It was the perfect length, and gave us so much insight into a character whose story to date could easily be a full-length. Her, Bast and at least 3 others… You do good work.

  53. MRK
    Posted October 29, 2014 at 5:00 AM | Permalink

    Rothfuss, in your forward and afterward you spend a good bit of time fretting that this isn’t quite a story, and that might be a bad thing. Of course it isn’t a story in the traditional sense: it’s a poem! It is a poem for broken people who would love to be good, anyway. It is the music that moves me.

  54. irua
    Posted October 29, 2014 at 6:21 AM | Permalink

    The book is Enchanting! Reading it is like basking in the warmth of a ray of sunshine. It is tender, sweet and humble and is truly enchanting.

  55. Vink
    Posted October 29, 2014 at 7:19 AM | Permalink

    Thank you for writing this book. I too am a little bit broken, and this book is for me. Thank you.

  56. ripshin
    Posted October 29, 2014 at 7:32 AM | Permalink

    A couple thoughts, Pat:

    – I know exactly what you mean when you write about feeling the disappointment (and hurt/pain) of your kids. Ever since we had our first, it’s been like a switch was flipped in my psyche and I’m completely incapable of just shrugging it off. Whereas before it was a mere intellectual, emotionally-sanitized comprehension, now I feel it through to my core. (I’m glad, though. I think I’m better for it.) When I consider just how much of their disappointment and pain and etc is due to my failings, it’s overwhelming…which is why I try remind myself that, “Love covers over a multitude of sins.” I know I’m going to end up wrecking their worlds time and again. All I can hope, though, is that I’m loving the hell out of them in between, so maybe they remember that, instead of the all negative stuff.

    – I’m really looking forward to reading this interlude. Your writing truly is fantastic, and I think, is perfectly suited to a book of this nature. Thank you for taking a chance with us (your readers)…not trying to speak for anyone else here, but to me, by sending little SROST out to the us, you’re telling us that you trust us with something special. Again, thank you.

    rip

    • ripshin
      Posted October 31, 2014 at 11:07 AM | Permalink

      Update:

      Well, it was every bit as good as I expected. Truly sweet.

      Reading it, for me, was like reading, “Ann of Green Gables.” Sometimes you need to remind yourself, unrestrainedly, that sweetness and sadness and joy, unashamed emotion, are a privilege. And experiencing them together, at the same time, is a mysterious alchemy that I can’t explain.

      The best I can do is steal the words of others. “For not all tears are an evil.” And, “In every man’s heart, there is a secret nerve that answers to the vibration of beauty.”

      By the way, I particularly appreciated day three. I’ve had hollow days myself. In construction, the chapter was perfect. A beautiful echo of…similar refrains.

      Also, please pass along my compliments to Mr. Nathan Taylor. His illustrations of Auri completely captured her true, distilled essence. They were a wonderful addition to the story, and for me, as true a part of this portrait as the words themselves.

      Finally, I will say this. I bought this on Nook, as I do all my books these days. It deserves real paper, though. And a plain, dark brown hardcover, embossed with the title in faded gilding. The pages should be thick, slightly yellowed, and unevenly cut, bearing the faint scent of moldiness and pipe tobacco. I would like to sit down to read it, reverently and quietly. Holding it as delicately and mindfully as one would Auri’s own hand. That is what this story deserves.

      I end with this, Keats’ words, for which this rings true:

      “When old age shall this generation waste,
      Thou shalt remain, in midst of other woe
      Than ours, a friend to man, to whom thou say’st,
      ‘Beauty is truth, truth beauty,—that is all
      Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.'”

      rip

  57. Posted October 29, 2014 at 7:44 AM | Permalink

    Pat –
    As far as dreamers go, haven’t you already won the game? I mean, you have a following of people who would march at your fantastical side like some dark army of unquestioning orcs that just want to feed on more of whatever it is you want to doll out to them. They’ll take it, and they’ll eat it up, and keep marching with you. As far as writers go, I mean, I think you’ve pretty much scaled the whole mountain of what there is to be achieved. I’m certainly not saying be cocky. And you won’t; that’s just not you. But, still, you’ve already proved yourself both to yourself and to the world at large. Even if this book did get buckets of dreadful reviews, what does it matter. I listened to the latest Writing Excuses podcast which featured Peter S. Beagle as the guest (and I’m sure you’ve already listened to it as well, considering how deeply rooted your fandom is for the man and his work), and it was filled with all kinds of wondrous wisdom from the man. One particularly poignant piece which I think applies here is when he said (and I’m paraphrasing), “Just because your story doesn’t get published doesn’t mean it’s bad, and just because someone else’s book out there is published doesn’t mean it’s any good.” Peter said that creation and publication are two entirely different things. Who can argue that?
    Still, I can understand you not wanting to let people down. You’re only human, and a guy who just wants to be the best he can be for those who depend on him to be good.
    At the end of the day, though, you’ll be in bed knowing that you’ve created. Some will enjoy it, some won’t. That’s just the way the game is played. But also in the end, you’re still Pat, and your army still marches.

  58. selquest
    Posted October 29, 2014 at 7:47 AM | Permalink

    My pre-ordered copy was delivered yesterday and I’m currently engaged in a great trial of self-restraint as I’m waiting to read it until I’m traveling this weekend… new words by my favorite story teller will be the perfect addition to a quiet weekend away!

  59. guildsbounty
    Posted October 29, 2014 at 7:54 AM | Permalink

    Sigh…

    Now I don’t want to be at work. I want to go raid bookstores til I find one that has this book (because I’m a slacker who forgot to pre-order), then hole up somewhere and not interact with the rest of the world til I’ve read it. I heard the ‘read out loud’ bit you posted a while ago, and really, really want to read the rest of the book.

  60. firebird
    Posted October 29, 2014 at 8:04 AM | Permalink

    I bought a signed copy from barnes and knoble…it hasn’t arrived yet…now that might not seem like a big deal but I’m about to take a small vacation with my wife and two children to The Great Wolf Lodge in the Poconos. Which means only one thing, I have to wait until Friday to read it. I really do want to have a great time with my family but if I don’t read this I might just curl up in a fetal position and cry. But then again I could just buy a second copy in the Poconos…yeah that’s what I’ll do. Don’t worry too much pat. We all love you.

  61. jasminko
    Posted October 29, 2014 at 9:19 AM | Permalink

    Hey Pat,

    I read the book in in one go and it’s beautiful. It’s perfect in its curiosity.
    I bought it while buying NOTW for a friends birthday. While the salesclerk was wrapping up my present I took a picture of myself with the book and send it to my friend on fb.

    It seems like I had such a broad smile on my face that my dad ( who doesn’t know much of fb etc) asked me what happened as he didn’t see me smile that happily for some while xD
    (I want to note at this place that I’m utterly unable to play any ‘the first one to laugh loses’ games, as I can’t even get to the start of the game)

    Big hug from Germany Pat!
    You’re awesome!

  62. melissa.s.cohen
    Posted October 29, 2014 at 9:25 AM | Permalink

    When a friend who hadn’t started the book yet asked me “How is it?” this was my response: “His ‘don’t buy this book’ foreword is very apt. This book makes no sense if you’ve never met Auri before. But it’s like ambracing an old friend.” I haven’t finished the book yet – I am savoring it – but I love it.

  63. Jormungandr
    Posted October 29, 2014 at 9:38 AM | Permalink

    I have to say that even with the warnings, and the forward, and everything else, it still wasn’t what I expected. I came into the book expecting things to have a bit more of a standard story, and when I realized that wasn’t going to happen, I felt disappointed.

    As I continued reading it, though, I came to appreciate it as I would a travelogue, or an excerpt from a diary. It wasn’t so much about the plot as it was about the individual moments. It was beautiful, and I will definitely re-read it, having a better idea of what to expect, and I think I will enjoy it even more the second time around.

  64. Deane
    Posted October 29, 2014 at 10:25 AM | Permalink

    I was at the launch event in Portland, OR last night and had a blast, laughed a lot, learned about a great local musical act that I need to follow up on.

    Regarding your costume idea for Friday, you don’t have to ‘take’ it; why not just ‘make’ it? Just an idea, without giving away spoilers!

    BTW, I’m loving the new book. Very different, very interesting.

  65. OscarNebreda
    Posted October 29, 2014 at 11:03 AM | Permalink

    Well today I was walking to school with my friends when suddently I saw the book on a library. I just stopped walking and started to scream. I’m really excited about this book and I’m sure I’ll like it. Even if its perfect. Even if it talks about ducks.
    I know you have made a very big effort to write this bo

  66. colinthom89
    Posted October 29, 2014 at 11:20 AM | Permalink

    I am looking forward to reading it and forgive you ahead of time if it doesn’t end up appealing to me. I loved you story “How Old Holly Came to Be”, and that was also a very different writing style. You’re a storyteller, experimenting with new ways of telling stories is what you SHOULD be doing.

    On another note, I wanted to send a gift to you and Oot. It’s a board game appropriate for his age that actually takes some problem solving and which can be fun for the parent who designs the board. It’s called Robot Turtles. Let me know if there’s a way to get it to you (my email is [email protected]).

  67. dstar
    Posted October 29, 2014 at 11:40 AM | Permalink

    Of course you’re nervous scared. Prophets usually need to be in terms of the critics.

    The rest of us are breathlessly taking note.
    It might be said this is the transition you have been working up towards.

    If this were a gallery of your paintings, “Slow Regards” would be the one I’d buy, take home, hang in my most private space. Absorb. And meditate.

    Thank you for the incredible, singing loveliness. Glad there are prints enough for everyone.

  68. Bilbo
    Posted October 29, 2014 at 12:41 PM | Permalink

    ugh! even more work for me! I´m still translating the lightning tree (fpr my sister) !
    Well, I can´t wait to read it. And if it´s boring it´s still Rothfuss and that means it´s gorgeous! Tolkien can also be boring and people like it!

  69. Catalyst
    Posted October 29, 2014 at 1:01 PM | Permalink

    Seriously, read the Authors Forward (Avaliable at GoodReads, http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1080581866?book_show_action=true). This is not your typical book. This is not book 3. This book probably will not make sense unless you have read the other books in the series.

    Having said that this book is beautiful. It flows. It moves. Rather than say to much, I will say to little. So there.

    ~Catalyst21

  70. Posted October 29, 2014 at 1:34 PM | Permalink

    I read it all yesterday, and it was incredibly touching in a very personal way. I’ve been dealing with depression and putting myself back together. Auri’s quirks are what make her lovely, and I think I can begin to accept that mine make me lovely too.

  71. carlen
    Posted October 29, 2014 at 2:03 PM | Permalink

    I’ll admit this, I have not finished this book, for it was not the proper time to do such a thing. Nonetheless, I could not go on with the day without thanking you for this little peak into her world, Auri’s world. I was quick to say your apologies at the start were unneeded until I realized they were completely necessary. To have started off in any other way would have been out of place, almost to the point of insensitive.
    There is a shyness and a delight in all things. Like shadows and the sun they must play. To be too bold, too brash, on such an adventure would have been to tear the roof off her tunnels and turn her world upside-down simply for the sake of pleasure.
    One cannot peak at the underworld with the sun. It takes small light coming as much from one’s heart as the small crack giving way to the world below. Like a handshake, with two hands softly cupped around her one, a handshake more from the eyes of a soft soul than tough skin, you said “hi” and lightly stepped into her world with bashfulness worn the way one would wear a properly tailored suit when siting down to an elegant meal.
    Thank you Patrick! This book has been the most wonderful way to start the day and a perfect addition to your works.

  72. Posted October 29, 2014 at 2:07 PM | Permalink

    I have never spent so long thinking about where to put a book after finishing it.

    • Posted November 5, 2014 at 11:46 PM | Permalink

      This is maybe my favorite thing anyone has said about the book yet.

  73. Posted October 29, 2014 at 2:07 PM | Permalink

    Anyone who follows your blog has known that you were worried about this book since writing it. I was shocked when I read it yesterday. It was brilliant. It was sweet without being cloyingly so, and it was pretty. It was somehow strong and delicate at the same time.
    ***Potential theme spoilers beyond this point***

    You worried that there was no tension or conflict, but there was. The conflict that is most common in the world is internal. Every person on this planet feels a little broken and alone, but apparently not many people realize this, so there aren’t many stories that show it. And even fewer that show it in such an empowering way. This story did more than a story has to do, and your end note made me tear up.

  74. Gemma
    Posted October 29, 2014 at 2:10 PM | Permalink

    This blog and the epilogue to the book reminded me of a song from [title of show] called – “I’d rather be 9 peoples’ favorite thing than a 100 peoples’ 9th favorite thing.” It’s about having the courage to create something very different. Cheers and can’t wait for my second read.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JtdgvmYUuuA

  75. spiritus mundi
    Posted October 29, 2014 at 2:22 PM | Permalink

    Pat – I can’t wait to get my eyes on this. Looking forward to it with pure and unadulterated joy. And I am not the least bit worried that I will need to polish off my fake smile of disillusioned disappointment. After all – it has Vi Hart’s seal of approval, too. And I refuse to live in a world where you and Vi Hart could possibly both be wrong about the same book.

    Oh, and I liked your tweet to GRRM, but you should know that GRRM does not own that (or any other) twittir account. At least according to http://grrm.livejournal.com/368037.html

  76. estherholland
    Posted October 29, 2014 at 2:29 PM | Permalink

    It reads like a hug inside your heart!

  77. Zivtele
    Posted October 29, 2014 at 2:56 PM | Permalink

    Yesterday morning, before heading to the university, my boyfriend and I got up and walked the opposite direction to the one and only Waterstones in Nottingham to pick up our pre-ordered copies of the book.
    Not only were we the first and only people there, but the guy selling the books was beyond excited as we gave him a reason to not only get our copies, but also to look through the massive pile and find his copy too! YES! Massive pile of books all waiting for their new owners. These were not even the ones ordered online! People had gone to the store to pre-order them!
    I must admit I have only had time to read half of it so far, but I love it.
    With every page I fall more in love with Auri and the Underthing.
    Thank you.

  78. Posted October 29, 2014 at 3:18 PM | Permalink

    Mr. Rothfuss, you’re humility and freshness of perspective are a constant source of inspiration to me. Only those who go where none have gone before have doubts. And the honesty to recognize that one is pushing the envelope and that it may or may not succeed, but still to have the courage to do it because one is moved to do so by sincerely courted inner forces, has its own beauty. I’ve often reflected on the incomprehensible appeal of your title, “The Slow Regard of Silent Things.” When I saw that title I had feeling like, “Ah, this is the kind of book I always long for, but rarely find — I must buy this at once.” And I did. I find myself attempting to translate that title into other phrases that might help me understand, but I suspect until I read your book (which should arrive tomorrow) I won’t fully get your meaning. But the title itself seems to pulsate with pertinence. I want to say something like, The Rewarding Patience of the Still Regard of Humble Things. Or, more simply, The Richness of Silence. But there is an interactive quality missing from that. These may mean something to me, but it doesn’t approach the scope of your actual title. It’s fascinating to me that it is possible to (like James Joyce did) form words into lovely melodic phrases whose meaning unfolds from archetypal places in consciousness that are not fully articulable. I don’t like Ulysses, as a whole, but parts of it (especially the beginning section) are wonderful. Joyce was a true Master. Unfortunately, he was a little self-absorbed, and it colored his work. But the mastery of language is still there. It’s incredible. So, I don’t think it’s bad to be compared to Joyce. You have the sincerity and humility and the a degree of self-mastery that he did not have (he was kind of neurotic, it seems to me). I don’t want to get into comparing authors to each other, because that’s not really a good idea. So, I’d rather just say I really, truly enjoy your writing and story telling power. I think the title, “The Silent Regard of Slow Things,” is one of those phrases, like those in Finnegans Wake, whose meaning unfolds like a musical phrase, echoing over time, resonating in ever new ways with inner states of awareness, which continually evolve and change. I believe it will mean different things at different times to each person who considers it, but that there is a core of formless form to it, something which cannot otherwise be captured. It is resonant with things which reside deeper than the merely linear language of the every day. I long constantly for such writing. It is a great pleasure to see it.

    • Posted October 29, 2014 at 3:27 PM | Permalink

      I apologize for misquoting the title that second time! Jeeze!

  79. Fizzgig168
    Posted October 29, 2014 at 3:44 PM | Permalink

    Hi, Pat.
    I just went through the process of registering here so that I could comment, which I’ve never done before even though I’ve been reading your blog for ages, because I feel like it’s really important for me to say this to you, and you seem like the kind of fellow who takes the time to read the comments people take the time to write. It probably feels important in a mostly selfish and self-centered way, but I hope it feels important to you, too, after you’re done reading.
    I was excited to read a book about Auri, because I’ve always been keen on her as a character. I was also hoping for some insights, answers, or hints about the rest of Kvothe’s story, because I’m impatient and like to know all the things. I wasn’t disappointed when I didn’t get any of those things, though. I was too busy being… I don’t know. I don’t have the words for what I was being when I was reading this book.
    I’m doing this poorly, and I apologize, but I’m all full up of some rather tumbling emotions right now. I tweeted at you earlier today, and I know you saw it, but it didn’t feel like enough. Reading this story I almost cried a dozen times. The tears were there, but the crying wasn’t quite. Until I read your read afterword. Then I sobbed. I sobbed like a child and it was clean and pure and good crying, but it was still crying, so it still ached. See, reading Auri’s story, reading Auri… I felt like I understood her. Not a little, not like I sort of got it, but like I understood the secret workings of her heart. I thought over and over that you must know what it was like to feel insane, truly and terribly broken. But I didn’t actually let myself believe those things, because believing you’re not alone and then finding out you are is terrible. And then I read your afterword where you say that you know what it’s like to be broken and I sobbed because I knew I wasn’t making it up. I cannot express to you how connected and wonderful that made me feel. I know exactly what it feels like to be Auri’s exact kind of shattered and jaggedy and scared and exuberant. Auri feels exactly like a piece of me. And knowing that Auri feels exactly like a piece of you, too, made me feel a lot less alone for a moment, and that is such a pure and wonderful gift.
    Reading this book has been unexpectedly hard for me. It brought up thoughts and emotions that I stopped paying attention to years ago. I have been a bit of a mess today since finishing it, but I think I’m a mess in a good way. It’s not good to ignore whole pieces of yourself, you know? This book brought me back to pieces of myself that I’ve always wished weren’t there. That’s a terrible thing, to wish a part of yourself away. This time, though, because of the book and because of Auri, I didn’t hate those pieces so much. I saw that they might be beautiful. And I felt like I wasn’t alone in all my brokenness. And now I’m crying again. Geez.
    Wow, am I bad at this. What I’m trying to say, Mr. Rothfuss, is thank you. Thank you for writing this story. Thank you for exposing this piece of yourself. Thank you for publishing it even though you were afraid. Thank you for giving me a moment of connectedness. Thank you for helping me love (just a little bit) a piece of myself that I’ve always hated. Thank you, thank you, thank you. And thank Auri for me too, if you would, the next time you see her. She deserves to know her efforts are appreciated.

    • Auri Rodrigues
      Posted October 29, 2014 at 6:29 PM | Permalink

      Wow, your comment was so profoundly beautiful I almost cried as well… thanks for sharing with us your genuinely pure experience with Auri.
      Pat should be very proud of his emotionful contribution…

      • mardour
        Posted October 29, 2014 at 7:42 PM | Permalink

        I completely agree, first go Pat I love every one of your books and I haven’t read it yet but it came in today for me and I’m sure it will be just as beautiful. Thank you so much and thank you fizzgig you are amazing. Thank you to all who make this such a wonderful world and one that I love being in.

        P.S. My grammar is awful…so yay.

    • Posted October 30, 2014 at 2:15 PM | Permalink

      This is exponentially better than any “book review” could ever wish to be. It is real, and it is magnificent. What a treasure you are, Fizzgig168!

    • Posted November 6, 2014 at 10:44 PM | Permalink

      This is terribly kind. Thank you so much.

  80. Kthaeh
    Posted October 29, 2014 at 3:50 PM | Permalink

    Reading it. Liking it. Also going, “What the actual fuck, Rothfuss?”

    (NO SPOILERS FOR THOSE WHO HAVEN’T READ IT YET)

    Noticed you’ve gotten into inventing words, or verbing nouns, or adjectivizing verbs. And that a preponderance of these coinages end in “-ant.” The amped up wordplay reminds me (a little) of Nabokov. And you said you weren’t a linguist.

  81. jackofalltradesmasterofnone
    Posted October 29, 2014 at 4:11 PM | Permalink

    Hi Pat.

    I’ve read your book like the others in this thread, and just as they did, I liked it. It made me feel broken as I am, and made me touch that part of me that belongs to those no longer with us.

    But still something about it bugs me. You know that feeling when you go to a really fancy restaurant, and you get a huge plate with a meticulously prepared yet tiny piece of delicious food. The chef has put his everything into it. Years of experience, professional opinions, doubts, love, a pinch of innovation and what have you. And it can be enjoyed as such a tiny thing.

    On the other end of the spectrum we have my mom, who has cooked for me for longer than I can remember, and when I visit her and she makes a mash or some other easy rustic meal, it’s absolutely delicious and it leaves me wanting nothing more in a meal.

    You see, when I listen to your d&d podcasts with penny arcade, I read your blog, or look at your interviews, I get the sense that there’s this Pat that doesn’t get to be in the books. It’s the Pat that improvises and is on his feet, takes chances, is more in the moment and doesn’t worry about Eternity’s Judgement. It’s the rustic cook, not the toiling chef.
    not the Pat who is a perfectionist and revises until a book has become another grand opus delicate flower.

    I’d wish that Pat wrote books, like a pulpy steampunk vampire jim-butcheresque series of some kind.

    One can only hope.

  82. Posted October 29, 2014 at 4:54 PM | Permalink

    I love Auri’s voice. Thank you for letting us hear her a little more.

  83. dogooderdave
    Posted October 29, 2014 at 5:11 PM | Permalink

    It is a beautiful book. I was mesmerized. I read two-thirds of it before grudgingly putting it down because I want to be able to truly savor the rest.

  84. Jack Lancaster
    Posted October 29, 2014 at 5:41 PM | Permalink

    I saved this book for today, as today is my birthday and, hating my birthday, knew I’d need something to cheer me up.

    It was a beautiful book, as all your works thus far have been and I am once again humbled by your awesomeness. It was a perfect fit for Auri, not a thing out of place and altogether as it should be.

    I can’t imagine anybody disliking it – well, I can but when I do it’s the end of the world and they’re all zombies.

    And oh… you magnificent tease! So many things from the main books snapped into place, not just about Auri, but the larger world. I didn’t think it possible, but I think I’m looking forward to book 3 even more now.

    And as one of the broken people, your message at the end genuinely touched me. Thank you for writing this.

  85. janus
    Posted October 29, 2014 at 6:27 PM | Permalink

    This is too exciting. I have a signed – I repeat signed copy and I keep opening it and closing it and opening it. And closing it. It’s like looking at an amazing piece of chocolate and I don’t want to eat it because then it will be gone. – but it’s not because I can read it over and over again. Thank you Pat. You’re so creative and talented.

  86. janus
    Posted October 29, 2014 at 6:32 PM | Permalink

    I forgot to tell you- I was jumping up and down in the bookstore when I got it last nite and found it was a signed copy = So what? Because (and this is the honest to truth) I’m 75 going on 22. Luv you.

  87. Posted October 29, 2014 at 7:06 PM | Permalink

    I just finished the audiobook version. There was something you said in the author’s note at the end, that most people would not want to read this story. You’re right in a way, I wouldn’t have wanted to read it. I definitely prefer to listen to it.

    I know you were nervous about reading this book for us, and truthfully I had my doubts as well. But your voice was superb…a rich and weighty baritone, perfectly suited to tether the light airiness of Auri’s story. I felt like a child listening to a lullaby. I just wanted to say with all sincerity: well done. I hope you read for us again.

    As for the story being “different,” thank you. I don’t know what this story really is, but I do know what it is for me: it is whispers and secrets and turning. It is a dance and a meditation all in one. And it makes me feel poetic, which is never a bad thing.

    So I just want to say thank you for putting it out there, even though it’s different, even though it’s odd. It’s nice to see a story that is neither trying to fit in, nor trying to stand out, but is just genuinely…itself.

  88. HappyJessica
    Posted October 29, 2014 at 7:26 PM | Permalink

    I find myself moving through the world a touch more carefully and with more thought for the things around me. Joyful to have spent more time in this world that you’ve created and so generously shared. Reading this story reminded me of my experience when Stephen King released Wind Through the Keyhole and allowed me to visit Roland’s world again. Reunited and opening new doors at the same time. (I’m guessing we’ll open that door at some point, yes?

    You rule.

  89. jackness
    Posted October 29, 2014 at 7:27 PM | Permalink

    I bought nine copies. That’s right, nine copies, I’m not counting the kindle version I bought either. The sole reason was to hand it out to all those people in my life that love your books but are not an obsessive fan like me. I gave one copy to my mother, who just had emergency dental work, and her painful smile at seeing another book you wrote was totally worth the purchase. I have not yet cracked any of my nine copies, but the joy this book has produced is worth the cost. Thank you for caring as much as you do.

  90. Aesculapius
    Posted October 29, 2014 at 7:53 PM | Permalink

    I hate the thought of disappointing people. And this is something that I didn’t understand until I was a parent. The more someone loves you, the more you have the ability to disappoint them. I love my little boy, and I get so irritated with him sometimes. Oot loves me beyond all reason and sense, and when I tell him no, I have hours of work to do, I can’t play, his face falls. Then he smiles a fake smile at me and tells me it’s okay. He’s only five and he already knows how to fake a smile to hide his disappointment. It breaks my heart.

    This. Just this.
    The book is your child in many metaphorical ways but (and I hate to say this too you) you know damn well that there are things WAY more important than words for commercial sale. I have two kids of my own, not so different in age from Oot, and I absolutely second everything you say. Y’know, we *totally* understand.

    As for the book, fret not — I’m ploughing through it and *nothing* at all has been in any way disappointing. In fact, the overall sense of the mysterious, obscure and arcane suits Auri to a ‘T’. My wife is loving it too. And my mother-in-law (yes, we got her addicted to!).

    You’re right — avoid the reviews; that way madness does indeed lie. Rest assured that everything is just as it should be, nothing more, nothing less. Now go spend some worry-free time with your kids!

  91. mardour
    Posted October 29, 2014 at 8:15 PM | Permalink

    I have read it and I honestly love it, the book is really interesting and it really connects to me. Thank you so much for a book that is wonderful and beautiful because honestly I will read this book 5 million times…danke, arigatou, thank you, gracias, merci, and so much more!

  92. Rob McDonagh
    Posted October 29, 2014 at 8:41 PM | Permalink

    Read it. No. Inhaled it. Loved every word. Shocked that anyone could give it a less than stellar review. But then there are plenty of disagreeable people in the world. My review (5 stars, yes) says: I’m not sure what some of the reviewers were so surprised about. This book is Auri. Plain and simple. The author could no more have written a typical, traditional story about such an amazing, fascinating, baffling, heartbreaking, and – yes – broken character than Faulkner could have written Benjy’s section of “The Sound and the Fury” without using Benjy’s unique voice. If you love Auri, you will love this book. If not, buy something else.

  93. Atreus
    Posted October 29, 2014 at 8:43 PM | Permalink

    I am going to keep it simple. I loved it. It was poetry. It was art. It was made of the subtle grace of the transcendent mundane. Well done, and well fitting.

  94. JeanBeans
    Posted October 29, 2014 at 8:50 PM | Permalink

    I’m excited to read your book. As you have never written anything I haven’t liked (including your musings on your site) I am not concerned.

  95. ErinKAZ19
    Posted October 29, 2014 at 8:55 PM | Permalink

    Auri’s story is exactly what it should be. Beautiful, charming, brimming with wonderful new words. I love Auri even more now that I know her so much better. I’m happy to know that I’m not alone in the weird way that I view the world too. Also, I LOVED the 8 pages of soap making, so much so that I’m going to attempt to make some kissable soap as soon as possible. Thank you, Pat, for your kindness and brilliance!

    • AlyB
      Posted November 2, 2014 at 7:22 AM | Permalink

      I also want to make soap now :)

  96. Posted October 29, 2014 at 10:07 PM | Permalink

    To all those who commented before me, what a wonderful group of people you are. Writing is slicing off slivers of your soul, both the light and the dark, and hoping those you share it with will understand.

  97. xcsalt01
    Posted October 29, 2014 at 10:41 PM | Permalink

    I preordered this book for Kindle as soon as I could. Can’t wait to finish Rogues so I can start on it :-)

  98. candyceohara
    Posted October 30, 2014 at 2:00 AM | Permalink

    I just finished reading Auri’s story. It is a beautiful haunting story, I ended in beautiful tears and I am ever so glad you were brave enough to share it. I look forward to your book signing in Seattle. Thank you sir.

  99. Risacher
    Posted October 30, 2014 at 6:04 AM | Permalink

    I like the book, but I agree that it’s lacking something. It’s not quite right…

    Maybe if I place it on the mantle, next to the hawthorn?

    Ah, now it’s circle-perfect.

    • Soren
      Posted October 30, 2014 at 12:26 PM | Permalink

      *Metaphorical claps*

  100. Jennie
    Posted October 30, 2014 at 6:09 AM | Permalink

    Count me in the “Made-A-Login-Just-To-Comment-Here” crowd.

    I just finished the book and saying I adore it doesn’t do it justice by half. I’m sure you will find that some people don’t like it. I’m sure they won’t be shy about saying so and intimating (or outright announcing) that those who do like it are liars and/or idiots. The world is full of people who find satisfaction in such ways. But their opinions do nothing to lessen the beauty of your book.

    (I am, in fact, put in mind – perhaps uncharitably – of Tolkien’s forward to the second edition of LOTR: “Some who have read the book, or at any rate have reviewed it, have found it boring, absurd, or contemptible, and I have no cause to complain, since I have similar opinions of their works, or of the kinds of writing that they evidently prefer.”)

    I love everything about this book. I love not only the book itself but the forward and endnote as well. I even loved the title before I ever read the book, and found when I finally had the thing in hand that the title is a marvelously, honestly accurate representation of the story it heads. I am a voracious reader, but 99.9% of the books I read, even the books I very much enjoy, do not end up being the stick-with-you, keep-going-back-to-read-favorite-passages kind that this one has already proven itself to be.

    And I kind of get where the Ulysses guy is coming from. It’s not about it being dense and pretentious (though admittedly, I find Ulysses to be both); it’s about an author branching out into a new form and about telling a story of a flawed main character in his/her own way without judgment or reserve and about words as not just put one after another to make a story but as actual art in and of themselves. So, yeah, like Ulysses, only not boring. And thus a much more pleasant, meaningful read.

    This book is unquestionably going on my all-time favorites list – and that is not a post easily attained. Thank you for taking the leap of faith and touching my heart and those of millions of others. We are not disappointed.

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