The Wise Man’s Fear by Patrick Rothfuss

This book was so long and so frustrating that for a long time I have wanted to review it just so I could pan it. But I don’t feel that way now. This story has some unusual properties, like a mysterious magical potion made out of seemingly unimpressive ingredients. Kvothe is a character like no other I have encountered in fantasy literature. Like me, he is a perpetual student, but he is far more brilliant and witty and charming than I could ever hope to be. His desire to learn is part pure curiosity, part desire for power. He is precocious, but also self-deprecating, and quite used to things not going his way. Some of the phases of his adventures seem to go on too long, yet his rough-and-tumble journeys are strangely edifying to read about. In some strange way I feel that this book has imparted wisdom and courage to me, even though it’s basically a far out fairy tale. Entertaining, yet also fortifying, as the best stories are.