Amazon Best Books of the Month?? March 2011: The Wise Man's Fear continues the mesmerizing slow reveal of the story of Kvothe the Bloodless?? an orphaned actor who became a fearsome hero before banishing hims"iny town in the middle of Newarre. The readers of Patrick Rothfuss's outstanding first book?? The Name of the Wind?? which has gathered both a cult following and a wide readership in the four years since it came out?? will remember that Kvothe promised to tell his tale of wonder and woe to Chronicler?? the king's scribe?? in three days. The Wise Man's Fear makes up day two?? and uncovers enough to satisfy readers and make them desperate for the full tale?? from Kvothe's rapidly escalating feud with Ambrose to the shockingly brutal events that mark his transformation into a true warrior?? and to his encounters with Felurian and the Adem. Rothfuss remains a remarkably adept and inventive storyteller?? and Kvothe's is a riveting tale about a boy who becomes a man who becomes a hero and a killer?? spinning his own mythology out of the ether until he traps himself within it. Drop everything and read these books. --Daphne Durham
In an exclusive interview for Amazon.com epic fantasy authors Patrick Rothfuss (The Wise Man's Fear) and Brandon Sanderson (Towers of Midnight) sat down to discuss collaborating with publishers dealing with success and what goes into creating and editing their work. Rothfuss: Heya Brandon.
Sanderson: Hey there Pat. Nice talking with you again.
Rothfuss: Thanks for being willing to do this. I know you're insanely busy these days.
Okay. Let me just jump right in here with a question. How long was Way of Kings? I heard a rumor that the ARC I read was 400000 words long. It didn't really feel like it&
Sanderson: Let me see. I will open it right now and word count it so you have an exact number. Its 386470 words though the version you read was an advance manuscript before I did my final 10% tightening draft which was 423557 words.
I didnt really want it to be that long. At that length were running into problems with foreign publishers having to split it and all sorts of issues with making the paperback have enough space. I didn??t set out to write a thousand-page?? 400??000-word book. It??s just what the novel demanded.
Rothfuss: Wise Man's Fear ended up being 395??000 words. And that's despite the fact that I've been pruning it back at every opportunity for more than a year. I'd spend weeks trimming superfluous words and phrases?? extra lines of dialogue?? slightly redundant description until the book was 12??000 words shorter.
Then a month later I'd realize I needed to add a scene to bring better resolution to a plot line. Then I'd add a couple paragraphs to clarify some some character interaction. Then I'd expand an action scene to improve tension. Suddenly the book's 8??000 words