The Kingkiller Chronicles are a trilogy written by an awesome and friendly giant with an epic beard. To date, books the First and the Second have been published. They are beautifully written, lyrically crafted and rendered; they are a storyteller's story. They are catnip for readers who love the story. The first is The Name of the Wind, the second is A Wise Man's Fear. To quote: “There are three things all wise men fear: the sea in a storm, a night with no moon, and the anger of a gentle man.”
We all wait impatiently for Book the Third entitled The Doors of Stone. But we know that Pat Rothfuss, to paraphrase Neil Gaiman's defense of George R.R. Martin, "is not [our] bitch." So some of us wait more patiently than others - because craft and art ought not to be rushed. Like a good stew, it should be cooked slowly, with great care, allowing the flavours to burst and the meat to melt as they are savoured.
The books are epic in the same sense as Lord of the Rings or George R.R. Martin's Game of Thrones series. Pat's books I double-down on and have both the e-version and the mass market. Some people triple- or quadra-down by also purchasing the hardcovers and the trade, but I don't love anyone that much :p ...
Pat also has two deliciously dark and dangerous, wonderfully illustrated "not for children children's stories." The first is The Adventures of the Princess and Mr. Whiffle (The Thing Beneath the Bed), illustrated by Nate Taylor and published by Subterranean Press. It has three different endings, each deliciously more subversive and dark. If you don't like the dark side of childhood terrors :), well then maybe you are not for the Princess and the Princess is not for you. The second book, in colour, The Adventures of the Princess and Mr. Whiffle: The Dark of Deep Below, is due out from Subterranean later this year (2013). To order, click here:
The other squee thing to note is that Pat's Kingkiller books have now been optioned by Fox (not the news station but the movie studio). With the success of HBO's version of GRRM's GOT, I am hoping that the adaptation of Pat's books will be equally professionally executed.
If you can't tell by how much I have written, Pat is one of the authors in the SFF tribe that I adore - if one can adore a stranger :p ... He created Worldbuilders, a charity where he leverages his readers and his fellow authors to raise funds for Heifer International (HI). To read more about his charity and about HI click here: here.
He is also a feminist - one of a tribe of author brothers who are ... This gives me hope (along with John Scalzi and Jim Hines as other, though not the only, notables in this regard). And so, his blog is one that I read regularly. I love the fact that the blog is a celebration of being human and being a father to Oot (not the offspring's official name :p) [To read his blog, click here]. Pat is on Facebook and has interacted with me once or twice. Look him up. I cannot remember whether he tweets but I suspect he does.
I love when he gets giddy over meeting Neil Gaiman. I love the book review he wrote on Neil's latest book on goodreads. To read that paen of love under Patrick's Reviews to Gaiman's The Ocean at the End of the Lane, click here. You can also, obviously, read other reviews of books by Pat at that link but the Gaiman one is the best.
He also has a great Google+ Hangout, The Story Board, that he does on Felicia Day's Geek & Sundry Channel on You Tube where he hangs out with a bunch of different author tribespeople and talks writing whatever the genre or medium ... The hangouts are approximately once a month for about an hour (or longer) and he's had some awesome talent on. Eight episodes so far (up to March 2013 - the season might be over now. It's not clear.) - Click and view here.
And not quite last, and definitely not least, Pat Rothfuss is the man who finally lured me onto the Kickstarter site to support a project. To be specific THIS project. - Originally, the goal was $10,000 but we are loyal and devoted and mayhaps even fanatical minions and the project ended up being subscribed to the tune of $589,660. Yes. That's right. That's how much I want a pack of playing cards based on the Kingkiller Chronicles even though I don't play cards. Or dice. I may have to start :p
I urge you to read everything that Pat writes - including his blog. I will be perfectly honest. I urge you to do this for purely selfish reasons. I want Pat to keep writing and if I can add readers to his stable of minions then he can keep being the creative, madly genius crafter of words and story that he is.
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