“The Name of the Wind” was enjoyable, similar to epic fantasy series by Robert Jordan, Brandon Sanderson, and Stephen R. Donaldson, so if you’re a fan, I think you'll like it. But, as Rothfuss warns, “The Slow Regard of Silent Things” is quite different. In my opinion, different is better.
“Regard” stars Auri, a fairly minor character from “Wind.” She is an ex-student at the University who has obviously experienced some sort of psychic break during her magical studies that has caused her to become insane. She is living alone in the bowels of the city, avoiding people and slowly starving. She prepares for a visitor she expects in seven days. We worry that she won’t survive the whole week, but in spite of her OCD foot- and hand-washing and other bizarre behavior, she knows the secret names of things, so she wields considerable power. It turns out that the visitor is Kvothe, who has stumbled across her lair while finding a secluded place to practice his lute. They become fast friends.
Auri obviously loves Kvothe, and we’ll have to wait to see if he can help her regain herself.
Rothfuss dedicated the novella to “all the slightly broken people out there.” I don’t *feel* broken, but, come to think of it, I think we can all identify with Auri.
The ebook features beautiful art by Nathan Taylor. His illustrations of the dark crevices and tunnels beneath the city of Tarbean illuminate the story almost as much as Rothfuss’ prose.
A nice bit of music to read this by is “Lock All the Doors” by Noel Gallagher.
Highly recommended.
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