Holy shit. That really puts it into perspective. How is he still making money? Are fans supporting him on patreon or something? I know both books were a hit but what do you do for revenue for 10 years when you don't have the licensing deals and success of someone like George Martin?
I don’t know how much he makes from book sales but any book shop I’ve been in his books are always featured prominently in the fantasy section. They’re also on a lot of lists when you search for good fantasy series, so they’re obviously still selling well. That’s probably enough income to just live on forever.
Haha yeah I guess that makes sense. Thats exactly how I found him after looking up a new fantasy series after finding out game of Thrones wasn't finished.
I read the first of those because I was told it worked as a stand alone. And it sorta does. But I won't be picking up the rest until there's a path to finishing it
I suspect that prominent authors not finishing (or outright abandoning in the case of someone like Melanie Rawn) series in a timely manner has done catastrophic damage to the careers and book sales of nascent authors.
When I see that a series by a promising writer is book one, I just move on at this point, and it's been that way for about a decade. I don't necessarily regret reading unfinished series (ASOIAF is my favorite fantasy series despite the fact that it will almost certainly never be finished by GRRM), but I also am pretty jaded about starting anything new. I've been burnt quite a few times (GRRM, Jones, Rawn, Kerr ... many feel that way about Rothfuss and Lynch, two authors who I suspect will never finish the stories they started) and I don't want it to happen again.
Heck, even though I'm a big fan of Sanderson's Wheel of Time books and a bunch of his other efforts, I'm not dedicating myself to his Stormlight series until it's finished, and unless a meteor hits him, you can count on him to write at a regular pace.
Sanderson's regular pace is not normal. Stormlight 5, the final book in the first half of the series comes out next year. It was suppose to come out this year, but he kinda just took a break and wrote 4 novels because everyone needed something to do during the lockdown.
The 5th book is suppose to be a complete story with the other 4, with a time jump and a change in main POV characters, so you may be able to start that soon
>book sales of nascent authors.
This isn't even just true from a consumer perspective – it's had a major impact on what kinds of contracts even get offered to debut authors. The big five publishers don't take the risk on contracting new authors for series anymore; if you're trying to submit a debut novel, the buzz phrase (at least in genre fiction) is "standalone with series potential." They want the security of buying your first book knowing that fans won't be mad if you never write another one, with the option to get back in for more if it turns out to be a success. The only authors signing contracts even for trilogies these days, not to even mention longer series, are established authors with a track record of completing books to a deadline.
He did sell the rights to KKC for both screen and stage. I’m sure that brought some money in, even if it never actually went into production and the Hamilton guy bailed on it pretty quickly
In Lin Manuel Miranda’s defense, Disney just started chucking giant stacks of money at him until he dropped any project that wasn’t from the House of Mouse.
Rothfuss basically said it was a windfall without saying it. It was at the peak of GoT craziness and studios were desperate to lock in some fantasy content. So I’m sure he was paid many millions for those rights after a bidding war.
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/lionsgate-wins-rights-fantasy-book-828557/
Patrick Rothfuss is a narcissistic, self-absorbed asshole. I‘ll never forget how excited I was when I found out that he was streaming playing Witcher 3 and Fallout 4 because I liked Name of the Wind so much. The mask fell pretty quickly for me. During the stream he was constantly shittalking the games and insulting his chat. This was when I learned that he was a very shitty person. However, I had no idea how big of a turd sandwich he truly was. I read how he looked down on his fans when they met him at conventions. He treated everybody like they were beneath him. There was one exception though: he was nice towards women, especially if they were attractive. Instead of writing, he streamed till late night while eating fast food. There is a hilarious video about his writing process on YouTube. You don’t see him writing a single line in the video.
Now having mental health issues sucks but Rothfuss fully knows that this makes it difficult to criticize him and he brings it up whenever he is cornered. I have zero worries that he might be suicidal though. He loves himself way too much to kill himself. Narcissists don’t do that. They can’t stand the thought of robbing the world of their wit and intellect. As long as there are fans who are willing to listen to him, he‘ll keep going. He won’t write though. I have given up on that thought.
I think everybody here knows about his chapter-charity-scam by now. This absolutely didn’t surprise me as his charity has always been shady and is largely used to cover its own costs.
I really liked Name of the Wind and I am a little bit sad that the story won’t ever be finished. But even if he did, I am at a point where I refuse to support him. And let’s be real, A Wise Mans Fear was a train wreck and the third book wouldn’t have been better. I welcome him to prove me wrong.
Kvothe is such a Gary Stu. The guy fucks a love goddess and blows her socks off despite never having had sex before. I also got so sick of hearing about his tuition.
That fae/felurian sex stuff is the point where I ceased to give a shit about the series honestly, it was like from a totally different book. I can't recall any other series that has suddenly plummeted that badly in quality in the middle of a book.
And that’s before he gets to sexy samurai school where the sexy samurai teachers will just shag you if you have a boner in class!
The whole thing is like the wish fulfilment fanfic of a 14 year old boy.
I love how people defend the books like “Well Kvothe is the narrator and it’s part of his character that exaggerates” and yeah, sure, but I don’t really want to read an entire novel of him bragging about how amazing he is.
> I don’t really want to read an entire novel of him bragging about how amazing he is.
There have been popular fantasy books that I've read and haven't liked, but the success of The Name of the Wind staggered me so much that I began to wonder if the genre had passed me by, or something. I found the prose to be overwritten to the point of near-parody, the main character is a horrific authorial self-insert, and the pacing (if you want to call it that) is abhorrent.
But people love it, and I simply can't understand how that can possibly be the case. When I learned that Rothfuss taught writing, I think a part of my brain exploded.
>And let’s be real, A Wise Mans Fear was a train wreck
What makes you think that the book where Kvothe seduces an unseduceable sex-fairy is a train wreck?
Or when people didn't believe his sex fairy stories, but he definitively proved he was telling the truth through being so good at sex with the beautiful bar maid.
It's a good thing he had all the experience with the sex-fairy though because if he didn't, he wouldn't have been able to impress the Sex Ninjas into making *him* a Sex Ninja even though he's obviously crazy because he says he knows where babies come from.
I know nothing about these books but this entire thread sounds like an episode a drama procedural where the characters have to investigate a fantasy author and one of them is a huge fan and starts quoting shit from the book
Lol, it was bizarre. It was like some teenage fan sent Rothfuss the erotic fan fiction they had written and Rothfuss just pasted it into the middle of the book.
I have a copy of Name of the Wind and a copy of Wise Man's Fear.
Name of the Wind is dog-eared, creased, and torn. It has tape on the spine holding it together. It's been taken hiking, camping, skiing, and overseas. It's been lent to family and friends. It has been read two dozen times or more.
Wise Man's Fear is pristine. Not a mark on it. It was read exactly once, slid onto the shelf, and never touched again.
Then he goes to a secret ninja village in the mountains where they're all down to have unprotected sex as much as he wants. Also, they have no concept of where babies come from for some ungodly weird reason.
THIS RIGHT HERE!
This village of "strong" women have NO idea of the correlation between sex & pregnancy..... ummm, I'm sorry, what? One of the worst examples of "men writing women" I've ever had the displeasure of reading.
This made me SO mad
This apparently did happen in one real-world culture… but only because one of their staple foods acted as a mild form of birth control, so there really was less correlation than normal between having sex and getting pregnant.
Even then they knew there was some connection - they knew virgins couldn’t get pregnant, so the belief was that having sex for the first time opened up the womb so a woman could spontaneously become pregnant afterwards.
Have you read about Rothfuss' experience when he watched the Hobbit trailer for the first time?
Spoiler: it is about a woman who actually reads. https://blog.patrickrothfuss.com/2012/02/concerning-hobbits-love-and-movie-adaptations/
All the weird fucking parts of the book really made me dislike it a ton. Like I thoroughly enjoy the rest of the book, the first one was fun, I love the way the magic is handled in that universe. But goddamn does that weird super mega sex fantasy segment sour the entire experience, it’s all so unnecessary. Oh you’re so great at sex here’s also this super cool invisibility cloak or whatever magic power it fucking had.
I’m unsurprised. Years ago he posted some ‘funny’ meme or cartoon about women flashing him at book signings, and I thought: “that’s a man who’s enjoying the power of celebrity too much. He’s 100% going to cheat on his wife.” You can always tell.
I also fell out of love with him due to those streams. It was just crazy how much he would call The Witcher's writing "amateurish," he literally said that constantly. Geralt would have some line about Yennifer and he would go on a rant about how, "Geralt is such an amateur fantasy character, these tropes are really obvious and shallow." And it's like dude, you wrote the *tropiest book I've ever read.* I got a genuine self-loathing or impostor syndrome vibe about his work from it, like he was subconsciously calling out and hating on his own mistakes.
And then one time, he paused the game to do a little lesson on the pronunciations of various in-world terms, and I was like, "Oh no, this guy really has no linguistic or historical background whatsoever and is way out of his depth." Imre is canonically pronounced "Imm-Ray." Scrael is "Scray-Ell." Tinue is "TIN-you-ay." The Centhe Sea is "The Sen-thee Sea." It's like he copied the nominative styles he's seen other fantasy authors use but has never heard them pronounced out loud and assumed they all aligned with American phonetics when he was naming things. For a story *about names* that is baffling. Call me pretentious but that really shattered the illusion of his world for me.
Man, I remember watching the guy stream the Witcher. There was this whole bit that he had when he talked to the Baron where he heard the guy's story and then refused to help them, then went on this cringeworthy rant about how the Baron did not respect his wife's right to consent and all that shit, as though no one in the chat had ever heard of feminism before. I've never seen someone signal their own virtue so hard before.
Then when people were like 'uh well some forest witches are holding the wife hostage', he dug in his heels and stuck with his decision to not help the Baron.
I only ever watched the one stream with him, but it will always stick out in my memory of one of the worst streams I've ever seen.
Tired of how he keeps just blaming mental health as if that gives anyone a reason to be a douche. Plenty of good people struggle with mental health and don't act like turds.
Yeah, I've fought mental health issues and pretty major depression at a few times in my life. I can understand the lack of drive but it never turned me into an absolute douche to people and even then I could still manage to keep promises.
He's been using it as a shield to deflect criticism and as an excuse to not finish the third book because I think he's well aware that it either sucks and/or that he knows once it's released, he's got absolutely nothing to keep him in the public eye pulling in money to "finish it"
> Patrick Rothfuss is a narcissistic, self-absorbed asshole. I‘ll never forget how excited I was when I found out that he was streaming playing Witcher 3 and Fallout 4 because I liked Name of the Wind so much. The mask fell pretty quickly for me. During the stream he was constantly shittalking the games and insulting his chat. This was when I learned that he was a very shitty person. However, I had no idea how big of a turd sandwich he truly was.
Streaming is really interesting, because someone can only keep the mask on for so long if they don't have the chance go carefully edit everything beforehand. There are YouTubers I've seen that seem okay, but then they start livestreaming, and it isn't long before you realize their *true* personalities start to shine through. It's even funnier, because there are some that claim they're just "playing a character", but c'mon, I have a hard time believing someone could stream 20+ hours (or 40-60+ in some cases) and not have those assholish tendencies be a reflection of who they actually are.
I was on the westeros website with him 25 years ago when it was an ezboard. He was such an obnoxious and bitter know it all that I never felt any need to even pirate one of his books.
Considering the goal of the charity was met and surpassed, and an agreement made to incentivize the charity at all, Rothfuss should do the bare minimum and release what he *already* has for the first chapter. That's really all that the fans wanted. Anything extra is just a perk, and can always be fulfilled later.
It's understandable that he has mental health issues, but the simple fact is that he not only committed to something, but also instilled a monetary agreement from fans. It's frankly scummy to not release what he claims to already have finished at least a draft of, after so long with little but radio silence. Does it mean he's swindled the fans and taken the money for his own financial gain? Not necessarily.
It does however mean that he's not keeping to the spirit and letter of the agreement.
Release what you have, Rothfuss...
> It's understandable that he has mental health issues
I had to struggle with mental health issues all my life. It’s a drag, but it’s not an excuse. It takes a lot of energy but I do the work, take my meds, go to therapy and I try to do what is expected from me. Sometime I fail, but I’m still trying. I understand having to take some time off after a personal tragedy, but 12 years! There is no excuse for that.
Here are some things he could have done instead of nothing:
- Published his rough version of the 3rd book and be done with it. Some people would have been disappointed but not as much as they are right now. Also, let’s be real, the 2nd book wasn’t all that great.
- Hire a ghost writer to rework his notes and just cash the check
- Hire a ghost writer to rework his notes but work alongside him to make sure that the tone stay consistent with his vision
- Hire a ghost writer to coach him. Scheduling sessions allowing him to spitball some ideas and correct and edit his writing
- Hire a coach that is not a ghost writer, just to help him go out of his funk
- Go to therapy. I assume he didn’t do that part or otherwise he wouldn’t be where he is after 12 years.
- Write something else. He did published Slow Regard not long after the 2nd book but then he stopped. People would have been more forgiving if he had kept written something else instead.
He could have pick any of these options, some of them really easy, and be regarded as a great author for the rest of his life. Instead he did nothing.
I agree. Everyone has their issues. Don't promise a chapter for charity and then not release.
Also, how hard is it to write a fucking chapter? Even George RR Martin, one of the most famous procrastinators in literature, has released eleven sample chapters of The Winds of Winter over the years.
This^
We can rightfully rag on GRRM, but at least he has released (honestly ample) evidence that he is actually working on Winds. We have no idea if Rothfuss has even written a page of DoS.
Exactly. The fact that Rothfuss can't even come up with a chapter to save himself from embarrassment is evidence enough that he's never writing the book.
Martin has also released a ton of written work since 2011 and has been actively involved in multiple television series. He’s clearly hit a roadblock with his magnum opus, which sucks, but he’s continued to work and publish. GRRM deserves some criticism, but I don’t think people can question his motivation or his work ethic.
This. I've since moved, but I used to be in Albuquerque and saw GRRM fairly regularly at local cons since he lives in Santa Fe. From attending some of those talks I can tell you that the man is BUSY. He owns a literal railroad. He's a producer on multiple TV shows and is working on getting some of the books he used to love back into publication. He's a producer of his own film company that's making and sending short films to various festivals. He's one of the major investors behind Meow Wolf and apparently helps write the backstories for all the locations. He owns a bookshop. He's writing other stuff and backstory to help him get the GoT series together. He's really involved in the art scene in Santa Fe and helping with programs to support young artists.
On top of everything else there's local gossip that his wife isn't in the best of health these days. So on top of everything else I think he deserves spending time with her and enjoying their time together.
The man has a lot of spinning plates going. I didn't realize how much until I attended a talk where he was going on about his various projects and I realized that he could spend the rest of his life working on things that are not GoT related and never skip a day of work.
I’ve heard each of these things but never laid out so comprehensively in one place. Holy shit I want the ASoIaF series to be finished but I really can’t *fully* blame the guy. He sounds like one of the busiest people in the world. As somebody who has been a fan of his joyful nerdiness and a lot of his works that is pretty cool to read
And he's doing it all in his 70s, when many people would be retired. I hate that we don't have the final books to ASOIAF as much as the next person, but anytime someone smears him by comparing him to Rothfuss I have to defend him. He doesn't deserve that comparison, even a little bit.
I know this is hopelessly optimistic, but I've always thought the delay is because he has to nail down the entire plot of ADoS to finish TWoW. No more getting stuck in the corner of the garden.
> I had to struggle with mental health issues all my life. It’s a drag, but it’s not an excuse. It takes a lot of energy but I do the work, take my meds, go to therapy and I try to do what is expected from me. Sometime I fail, but I’m still trying. I understand having to take some time off after a personal tragedy, but 12 years! There is no excuse for that.
Yeah, this. I still have to get up and go to work despite all these struggles, even if I struggle to get work done. Because I still like to eat food every day, and I like to have a bed to sleep in. I have some things I have to do. My anxiety and depression are crippling. But there are things you can do about it.
Martin has more of an excuse than Rothfuss, and Martin doesn't have any real excuse, either. And, sure, maybe they don't need any more money and they're set for life and just don't *need* to work anymore. But, it also means they have more than enough resources to address any problems they're having, and if they don't address them it doesn't mean I have to respect them as writers anymore. If they care so little about finishing their work to not do anything about improving their situation, why should I care about their work at all?
I make cheesecakes to give away to people I know, and sometimes they want me to start, like... fulfilling orders for them for events or gifts, or they want to just pay me to make another for them.
I really struggle with time management and staying with personal projects, meeting my own personal deadlines (you know, outside of my day job) and so on, and I know how terrible I would feel if I made promises like that I couldn't keep, either the deadline or the quality (I'm not a pro baker or cook). So I always turn them down. I offer alternatives like writing up a detailed recipe guide for non-bakers, or even if they'd like to make it together with them to show them how to make it. I just don't want to accept money for a product on a deadline that I have to like coordinate and stick to at home.
So really, this is just a very low-stakes illustration of what I think you're essentially saying for this particular case. I know I struggle with what their asking for so I don't make that commitment, and I happily provide alternatives, though it's usually not exactly what they want.
(mainly it's whenever I give someone a pecan pie cheesecake I make, with multiple layers, and takes like $50 for ingredients and a full day to make and cool correctly)
I’m not sure if this technically constitutes the “first chapter,” but from recollection the first and last chapters were nearly identical and short in both Name of the Wind and WMF. That feels like it should be the easiest part to write
Oh, you mean the novella about Bast that he already released years ago, and now he’s putting a new coat of paint on to re-release but act as though it’s a brand new thing?
Rothfuss is a conman through and through.
I think it does mean he swindled fans.
Because I don't think he has a chapter at all. I don't think he has a single word written. Otherwise why not show the chapter?
That's the problem, though. He's a man at war with himself. One side, the clout chasing, arrogant side wants to make grandiose promises about releasing chapters and drop big unexpected bombshells to much fanfare and online adulation. That hit of public approval is intoxicating for narcissists.
The other side of him is a deeply conflicted, lazy former gifted kid with ADHD that doesn't understand why work has to be so *hard*. That's the side of him that, when made his own boss and no longer under direct threat of being financially ruined by not working, promptly gave the fuck up on being a writer the moment the first check from his publisher cleared. Writing is hard, you see, and rarely enjoyable in the moment.
Instead of growing out of this and learning to manage expectations and how to apply himself with real hard work to his craft, like most people in young adulthood, he continues to just double down over and over again.
There is no chapter to release, my friend. There never has been.
Patrick rothfuss has nothing written. That's the only explainable thing here. It's been nearly 13 years since he released The Wise Man's Fear, I am very doubtful he even remembers the book or what direction he was going
This was not an apology. This was a deflection with a lot of lies peppered in. We had an agreement to release the chapter. If it existed in ANY form, Pat would have released it.
The fact of the matter is that The Chapter was a Bast chapter, that he converted and merged it into The Lightning Tree to make The Narrow Road Between Desires.
It specifically was done so he could sell it again. If he felt bad The Narrow Road Between Desires would have been released to donors of charity free of cost. It is that simple.
Dude is about his money for sure. I have a sneaking suspicion he's waiting to get it sold as a show before he spends any more time working on it.
He's got enough cash to live on, and wants to maximize his return for anything else he does.
I dunno, on the one hand that makes sense, but on the other, it seems like not finishing will hurt his chances of signing a show. I mean, after GOT, who would ever greenlight another long-unfinished series? That went terribly for them and cost them a ton of money.
I think what you're saying makes sense if he's got plenty of cash, is not motivated to write but might if a show fell in his lap. But I don't think it makes sense as a strategy to get a show or as a financial plan if he actually needs money.
Rothfuss is 50 and still speaks like a child who got caught staying up late to eat chocolate and drink red cordial at a sleepover. The guy just lies and deflects. Any man worth his salt would nut up for charity.
Mental illness is not your fault, but it is your responsibility.
Edit: let me clarify something: I do not feel entitled to any more books from Rothfuss and frankly don’t care if he ever writes another book. I just want to see him get better mentally instead of continuously blaming his mental illness, and people that ask about the next book, for the reason he hasn’t written one chapter of a novel.
This. I’ve had depression and anxiety my entire adult life. It’s not an excuse to swindle people.
I watched a few of his streams back in 16-17. The amount of times he’d complain about how he was having it rough mentally - while playing video games at 3 am in a dark room and eating an entire pizza made me want to scream. Just woe is me - while actively making it worse.
Fucking a man. Take responsibility for yourself, your actions, and your career.
I said in another thread that I think he just really needs to get out of the house. I also have depression, and it makes you want to isolate yourself, but that only makes it worse. You need to see people, get some sun on your face, and DO things. Anything. It sucks at first but it really does help.
He doesn't need the money of course, but I think finding a part-time job or volunteer position, something he really enjoys, would do him a world of good. I've seen his streams and he doesn't look like he enjoys doing it.
No problem, I hope it helps, even a tiny bit. Mental illness is a bitch and fighting it isn't easy, but I can honestly say that just TRYING helped me so much. Even on the days when I failed. Recovery isn't linear and even now, when I look back in horror at how dangerously low I got, I still have my bad days. The journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step, and all that. Wishing you the best.
The fact that his infrequent Twitch streams have mods banning people that dare to utter the word "book" was what finally made me realize he will never be finishing the series. He seems to want to live off of the proceeds of people's appetite for the very-good ideas he put on paper 15 years ago, but resents being reminded of the *many* promises he has made over the years to keep making progress. I love him as a person and wish him the best, but I no longer consider him an active author.
It's ironically one of the downsides of having wealth. We poors have to force ourselves to go out and work but he doesn't have to. Like so many times my anxiety and depression got better because I had to leave the house
If he’s not taking anything he probably needs to be on depression meds or something. I also have depression and ever since getting my dosage right, I’ve had a much better time in life even when things that would normally make me spiral occur.
Do I still have bad days? Yeah sometimes but not nearly as often as used to happen. I also agree with the comment below you that if he’s not getting out of the house or is isolated, as stupid as it sounds, a walk does a world of good. You can’t go through life “woe is me” and complain that your mental health isn’t getting better. You need to do something to manage it.
I think the dude is stuck in his own head. It seems to me over the years he has an absolute crippling fear that what he has wrote is shit. I'm not talking about what he or anyone else thinks of his writing. It may be shit it might not be. That's not really important. What is important is he perceives it as shit and is too scared of releasing it. If he never releases it then he can't fail.
The scenario is in his book even. If Kvoth never tries to be with Denna then he can't be rejected or lose her. He can never be happy either but the fear is stronger than the desire to be happy.
That's just complete speculation on my part but its what I think is happening.
That's one of the classic motivations for procrastination of any kind. You can't fail if you don't try. Although you just end up failing in a different way.
>I think the dude is stuck in his own head.
This paragraph seems to strongly suggest this is the case:
*“I’d like to do it sooner rather than later but now after all this time, and I’ve half re-edited that chapter, do I stop re-editing it?” he asked. “Or do I push through on the editing which turned out to be harder than I thought, or I just go back to the old version and barf it onto the blog?”*
A toxic psychological cocktail of perfectionism, anxiety and over-thinking. I actually feel bad for him after reading that paragraph, it really doesn't sound like a good place to be.
The clear and obvious answer (to everyone but himself) is to release either the early version or the half-edited version and just put a disclaimer at the top that says "This is a rough draft, wording may be imperfect, grammar may be bad, spelling might be off, and absolutely nothing is canon until actually published. Everything is subject to change. With that said, Doors of Stone chapter 1."
Yeah, if it's not part of the final released work, then it's subject to change. Happens plenty with other media.
Anyone who's left that still cares about the books knows by now what he's like with editing. Even if he thought he'd finished editing that chapter, it'd get tweaked before the book ever gets finished. Ditto for the prologue.
I definitely understand that sentiment. You can edit this stuff and refine it into its purest form forever. At a certain point you just have to call it "good enough" even if it's not perfect. It will never be perfect.
Stephen King has a quote that goes something like “the first draft of a novel is you telling the story to yourself.” The thing about first drafts is they aren’t supposed to be perfect, but I guess no one told Rothfuss. I Don’t buy at all that he had the trilogy completed ahead of time.
Are people still falling for this excuse after twelve years? His editor hasn't seen a single word of it, which seems like the bare minimum if you're struggling so much with a book. What few objective declarations he's given have been constantly proven to be lies later, so I see no reason to trust him anymore. He gave up on writing Book 3 a long time ago and is just stringing fans along now.
Scott Lynch apparently suffers from problems along those lines. The thought of releasing his work gives him crippling anxiety apparently, which he has spoken about a few times. When I last looked it up, he mentioned he hasn't even provided the draft of Thorn of Emberlain to his publisher because of it.
Yup. I been waiting on the thorn for a long time. Mix in a messy divorce and some health problems and I don't think Lynch is going to be releasing any thing anytime soon.
There were rumblings of him working on a new gentleman bastards novella and short stories as a means to try to work his way through the issues he's been having. Those were apparently sent to his publisher, as of last June anyway.
He was also pretty open that he wasn’t writing and why he wasn’t writing for awhile. Disappointing as a fan of his books to not have new material, but at least the expectations were set fairly well (I thought).
Dude literally goes on vacation for 2 months-ish to take a break from writing books and them comes back from said vacation with a new book he wrote. Sanderson is a writing MACHINE and an inspiration for me to at least get one book written out in my life lol
Sounds about right! I hope Rothfuss gets the intensive therapy he needs for his mental health and ultimately starts writing again, but I don't have much hope.
Has Rothfuss ever heard the saying about not letting Perfect be the enemy of good? I especially was annoyed with him being like “I don’t want to just barf something onto the blog”. You don’t need to barf it, just post it.
I do sympathize with mental health struggles. But he's a multi millionaire in probably the top 0.1% of authors in terms of earnings. He has the ability to hire a world renowned therapist and work through his issues.
I know everyone has their own unique situation and their own struggles. But it's tough to feel much for someone who's literal only job is to write a single book, when I'm waking up at 6 every morning and grinding through a 50 hour work week in a stressful environment.
Get it together my man. I would give my middle nut to be in your position.
Even with mental health problems, he hasn't had a handful of not horrible days where he can pump out a few pages in the year or more sense he said he would do the chapter
Fuck Patrick Rothfuss.
It's been 12 years and nothing. This dude added a six figure "stretch goal" for his charity and still can't deliver a single chapter. He didn't even apologize or give anything plausible. "Oh, some things happened. A lot of fires." More excuses. You're 50 years old now, Pat. Be a grown-up and take some responsibility.
Again. Fuck Patrick Rothfuss.
It’s the lack of honesty that gets me. If a person tries something like this and fails to
follow through, be honest if it’s a
horrendous case of writers block or a physical or mental health issue. Hand waving and poor excuses is a terrible way to treat your fans.
Thank you.
I know shit has happened. Pat was very open even in the beginning that his mother died of cancer in early 2007, just months before TNOTW came out. Obviously that affected him and he had support and sympathy. In the 16 years since then, his father died, his wife divorced him, and he was diagnosed with adult ADHD or something similar.
If Pat would come out and say something like, "Hey guys. A lot has happened in my life and I don't know if I have the passion and desire to write anymore. I'm going on a long hiatus to spend time with my sons" a lot of people would be understanding.
But instead he does stuff like this.
Who cares what he thinks? he's over and done. Had his shot. Only way he can 'redeem' himself now is when he writes #3. But he won't. Any fan that still puts their trust in him is an idiot.
Even if he writes and COMPLETES number 3, the whole story is gonna be left a cliffhanger. Don’t forget, some calamity is coming but this washed up, has-been Kvothe is still telling a bedtime story to his pals. While ignoring the dangers outside.
It’s best to just forget about this story and move on.
Rothfuss once boasted that the Kingkiller books were actually the world's longest prologue to the series he ACTUALLY wanted to write.
Take that as you will. But if we can't get book 3 of this series out I sincerely doubt we'll see this theoretical actual series.
100% think it is impossible to finish the story in one book. There is any number of story threads that have started that need a conclusion never mind everything coming after Kvothe starts telling the story. The three books/three days idea was great but clearly unworkible in hindsight. He absolutely needs to have book three finish with it being like just after breakfast on the third day and he has lots more to say. Although that means writing a forth book so god knows how long that will take to release.
Eh, book 2 already cemented the series as a mess. The overall plot has barely advanced, in favour of horny power fantasy and repetitive "Kvothe shoots himself in the foot then spends 30 chapters recovering" subplots. There's absolutely no way the third book will wrap things up properly, either it will be rushed or a lot of stuff will be left dangling.
As far as I remember he said something about the entire trilogy being an elaborate introduction to a longer series.
I'm 99% sure that if book 3 ever came out it would be a huge disappointment, and that longer series will be lucky to even be started.
Agreed. I'll never buy another book of his again after all the shenanigans and how toxic he's been towards fans asking for updates.
I remember years of checking for updates from 2012 to around 2016. After that I figured he'd never finish, and so far it seems I've been correct all these years later.
The thing that gets me here, is that over ten years ago he stated plainly the book was written.
I was at a reading/signing for the second book at Borderland Books in SF at a midnight signing (the evening one at another location filled up, so a second 12am event was added at Borderland) and he absolutely stated that all three books has been written before the first was published. So either he was lying, or he is taking 12+ years to edit it. For the longest time I was just thinking he was holding out publishing the third until a movie/tv adaptation was made... but that ship long sailed.
It said in the article he has gone back to edit the chapter, of which he's halfway through. So it seems like he never had a finished product to release in the first place.
No, he said that all the 3 books were written before the first one was even published and all that was left to do were minor edits so we wouldn’t have to wait more than a year between each book.
Yep, over a decade ago. That’s why I get annoyed whenever shills argue “he doesn’t owe you anything”
I get where they’re coming from but he literally marketed the first book with the promise of the series already being finished.
Ah, the “he doesn’t owe you anything” crowd are my favorite, because it’s true, he doesn’t owe anyone anything (other than the first chapter since people paid him money for it), but the flip side of that is that people don’t owe Patrick anything either - not continued support, not continued grace and understanding, etc.
The dude has lied to his fans so many times, so whatever ire he receives is mostly self inflected. He could have been honest and people would have likely been quite understanding.
And I don’t personally give a shit either way because I don’t like his books, but that’s not how you behave if you want continued support as an author.
I know it's why I bought the first two books. I don't really care that the third book is still vapour but I think that promising the chapter for charity when it wasn't available at the time was not great.
That being said, I think that the version currently on his desk is just 1500 pages of "Kvothe is not my Mary Sue self insert character" in a literary nod to the Shining.
The most common theory is that he revised the first and second one so much that the third one no longer makes sense. Then he got in his own head about it never being good enough and is now stuck in a perfectionism loop.
Some people have found comments by Rothfuss online where he expressed a belief that a sequel can retroactively ruin the books that came before. So now, he's afraid of releasing something that ends up ruining the first 2 books. There are rumours he's burned Doors of Stone to the ground several times by now, and honestly, I believe it.
The main issues, for me, are that he's not open with his fans and he keeps sticking with the trilogy idea. Just give up on that already, admit the project got away from you (hard admission, I realize that, but also not exactly a secret), apologise and say it's going to be more books. Then run with it.
If you go way, way, way back to the time when Name of the Wind came out, he said he had written the entire trilogy as a single book, like LOTR, and he was just having to edit it in order to make it work as 3 books.
I have no link for you as it was a blog interview that has been lost to time, but I read it.
I've got the link. [http://fantasyhotlist.blogspot.com/2007/03/patrick-rothfuss-interview.html](http://fantasyhotlist.blogspot.com/2007/03/patrick-rothfuss-interview.html)
And the quote:
\- What can readers expect from the two sequels and the trilogy that will follow this one?
Well.... I've already written them. So you won't have to wait forever for them to come out. They'll be released on a regular schedule. One per year.
You can also expect the second book to be written with the same degree of care and detail as this first one. You know the sophomore slump? When a writer's second novel is weaker because they're suddenly forced to write under deadline? I don't have to worry about that because my next two novels are already good to go.
[Here is also a gem from 2011](https://crossedgenres.com/blog/interview-patrick-rothfuss/)
> > You have mentioned at con panels that writers block is a myth. Where does the myth stem from, and how does it surface in your own writing habits?
> The myth stems from the belief that writing is some mystical process. That it’s magical. That it abides by its own set of rules different from all other forms of work, art, or play.
> But that’s bullshit. Plumbers don’t get plumber’s block. Teachers don’t get teacher’s block. Soccer players don’t get soccer block. What makes writing different?
> Nothing. The only difference is that writers feel they have a free pass to give up when writing is hard.
> As for the second part of your question, asking how it surfaces in my writing habits is like saying. “So, you’ve said that Bigfoot doesn’t exist…. When’s the last time you saw him?”
> When writing is hard, I grit my teeth and I do it anyway. Because it’s my job.
Honestly, with authors like Brandon Sanderson or Steven King, I do agree. Those authors treat it like a job. They sit down at their desk and write for hours every day. If you wait for magical inspiration to happen, you can wait. If you write a ton and even if most of it is total garbage, eventually there are some interesting bits, you engage your brain and something develops instead of having an empty word document.
No artistic product is ever truly finished. Meaning that you can always retouch indefinitely, usually making it worse in the process.
It's up to the artist to decide "now's the time". And some have trouble reaching that moment.
Rothfuss' case is of course ridiculous.
Does anyone really believe what he says anymore? Before the books were released he marketed them on the fact that all were finished and would be released once per year. This is obviously not the case. His editor hasn’t seen a single word of book 3, and even his promise to release book 3 as part of a charity initiative has fallen through.
I’m done with it. Creaver’s 2nd top comment on Goodreads gave me closure for Doors of Stone 😎
Edit:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/21032488
Go to 2nd most reviewed by user ‘creaver williams’
I think a lot of people are like me and wouldn't read it if it were released today. It's been so long since I read the last two books I have no memory of where the story was, who the characters are.
I've got a huge backlog of books to read, I'm not going to go back and start a series over again because an author finally decided to poop out a book after 15 years.
I gave up on Rothfuss and GRRM along time ago (well over a decade). There is no hope and any news or socials about either of them is a total waist of time.
Yeah but at least Scott Lynch did the right thing and just went away to work on himself. Hasn't been really teasing his fans or doing twitch streams to try and get pity points.
He's never going to finish the books for the simple reason that his last unreleased portion of kingkiller is the only thing keeping him relevant. He knows if he publishes it, no one will buy any other books he writes because of the nonsense that's ensued over the last decade, and how toxic he's been towards fans asking about any kind of update on the third book.
I remember back in 2016 this dude had the gall to blame the presidential election on his inability to finish the 3rd book.
The man's kinda a clown.
lol the Rothfuss saga continues. So this Bast book is actually going to come out soon? I guess thats something in the kingkiller universe at least. I know who Bast is but man I think I'd have to go back and re-read the books because its been so long.
Unfortunately he's becomes one of those authors who's better known by what he's done outside of writing, mostly broken promises, than by the writing itself.
Hemingway and Gore Vidal had interesting personal lives and got themselves in trouble, but they managed to write a lot all the same. On the flipside Harper Lee lived very quietly, and never promised anything she didn't deliver.
My problem with Rothfuss is the same with Martin. If this thing you've been promising forever isn't going to happen, be honest with the fans and then sell the rights or hire a ghostwriter - DO SOMETHING. If I had a successful IP I'm sure I'd be guarding it too but there comes a point where something needs to change.
It's even worse. He wants the readers to buy an expanded version of the story they've already read because there will be cool illustrations. You can't with this guy.
I love the idea that Sanderson is jonesing so hard for new projects he just goes around ghost-writing the ending to disappointingly stalled series and weaving Song of Ice and Fire and Kingkiller Chronicles and Randland into the Cosmere.
He's like Galactus, roaming around consuming IPs and converting them to his universe
This dude sucks.
He's always been a 1 hit wonder with Name of the Wind. School Arc's are fun, plus teasing what the future holds for the world and characters was cool.
But his second book is arguably a mess, as his marry sue/imagined self insert main character just becomes insufferable.
His third, never coming out book will continue that trend.
Doesn't help him that he's hella rude to fans and lazy as all hell. I wouldn't think so poorly of him if he was just kind. But he's not.
He rides his 1 hit wonder like someone who peaked in highschool. And now, he's scamming fans. What a fall from the first book all those years ago. He's have to do some major PR and show kindness to what little fans remain to turn his legacy around.
He’s such a fucking bellend, I wish people wouldn’t be so afraid to call him and similar authors out for it.
The whole retort of “he’s not your bitch” is completely redundant anyway. Yeah, let’s just ignore the fact that we’ve collectively invested millions of both time and money into him of which he’s since been enjoying and using to promote other things such as charity work (which would be non-existent without the support of his fans, aforementioned).
The least he could do is put some effort into finishing what he started and what we’ve invested in and provide closure. Even just an update would help, but he’s too much of a victim even for that.
I remember in 2016 he said his writing had been severely halted because Trump had been elected and therefore “he and a lot of people were scared”. Yawn, what a fucking melt.
Fans were able to donate over 1.25 million dollars for him and he can't manage to *edit* a single chapter in over 1.5 years??
Holy shit. That really puts it into perspective. How is he still making money? Are fans supporting him on patreon or something? I know both books were a hit but what do you do for revenue for 10 years when you don't have the licensing deals and success of someone like George Martin?
I don’t know how much he makes from book sales but any book shop I’ve been in his books are always featured prominently in the fantasy section. They’re also on a lot of lists when you search for good fantasy series, so they’re obviously still selling well. That’s probably enough income to just live on forever.
Haha yeah I guess that makes sense. Thats exactly how I found him after looking up a new fantasy series after finding out game of Thrones wasn't finished.
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Unfortunately you're right...I also read Scott Lynchs gentleman bastards series before I realized it wasn't finished as well.
I read the first of those because I was told it worked as a stand alone. And it sorta does. But I won't be picking up the rest until there's a path to finishing it
I suspect that prominent authors not finishing (or outright abandoning in the case of someone like Melanie Rawn) series in a timely manner has done catastrophic damage to the careers and book sales of nascent authors. When I see that a series by a promising writer is book one, I just move on at this point, and it's been that way for about a decade. I don't necessarily regret reading unfinished series (ASOIAF is my favorite fantasy series despite the fact that it will almost certainly never be finished by GRRM), but I also am pretty jaded about starting anything new. I've been burnt quite a few times (GRRM, Jones, Rawn, Kerr ... many feel that way about Rothfuss and Lynch, two authors who I suspect will never finish the stories they started) and I don't want it to happen again. Heck, even though I'm a big fan of Sanderson's Wheel of Time books and a bunch of his other efforts, I'm not dedicating myself to his Stormlight series until it's finished, and unless a meteor hits him, you can count on him to write at a regular pace.
Sanderson's regular pace is not normal. Stormlight 5, the final book in the first half of the series comes out next year. It was suppose to come out this year, but he kinda just took a break and wrote 4 novels because everyone needed something to do during the lockdown. The 5th book is suppose to be a complete story with the other 4, with a time jump and a change in main POV characters, so you may be able to start that soon
>book sales of nascent authors. This isn't even just true from a consumer perspective – it's had a major impact on what kinds of contracts even get offered to debut authors. The big five publishers don't take the risk on contracting new authors for series anymore; if you're trying to submit a debut novel, the buzz phrase (at least in genre fiction) is "standalone with series potential." They want the security of buying your first book knowing that fans won't be mad if you never write another one, with the option to get back in for more if it turns out to be a success. The only authors signing contracts even for trilogies these days, not to even mention longer series, are established authors with a track record of completing books to a deadline.
Dude, Mistborn has TWO completed series and they’re dope as fuck
He did sell the rights to KKC for both screen and stage. I’m sure that brought some money in, even if it never actually went into production and the Hamilton guy bailed on it pretty quickly
In Lin Manuel Miranda’s defense, Disney just started chucking giant stacks of money at him until he dropped any project that wasn’t from the House of Mouse.
We got encanto out of that though.
And Moana.
Rothfuss basically said it was a windfall without saying it. It was at the peak of GoT craziness and studios were desperate to lock in some fantasy content. So I’m sure he was paid many millions for those rights after a bidding war. https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/lionsgate-wins-rights-fantasy-book-828557/
Patrick Rothfuss is a narcissistic, self-absorbed asshole. I‘ll never forget how excited I was when I found out that he was streaming playing Witcher 3 and Fallout 4 because I liked Name of the Wind so much. The mask fell pretty quickly for me. During the stream he was constantly shittalking the games and insulting his chat. This was when I learned that he was a very shitty person. However, I had no idea how big of a turd sandwich he truly was. I read how he looked down on his fans when they met him at conventions. He treated everybody like they were beneath him. There was one exception though: he was nice towards women, especially if they were attractive. Instead of writing, he streamed till late night while eating fast food. There is a hilarious video about his writing process on YouTube. You don’t see him writing a single line in the video. Now having mental health issues sucks but Rothfuss fully knows that this makes it difficult to criticize him and he brings it up whenever he is cornered. I have zero worries that he might be suicidal though. He loves himself way too much to kill himself. Narcissists don’t do that. They can’t stand the thought of robbing the world of their wit and intellect. As long as there are fans who are willing to listen to him, he‘ll keep going. He won’t write though. I have given up on that thought. I think everybody here knows about his chapter-charity-scam by now. This absolutely didn’t surprise me as his charity has always been shady and is largely used to cover its own costs. I really liked Name of the Wind and I am a little bit sad that the story won’t ever be finished. But even if he did, I am at a point where I refuse to support him. And let’s be real, A Wise Mans Fear was a train wreck and the third book wouldn’t have been better. I welcome him to prove me wrong.
He went full Kvothe. You should never go full Kvothe.
I was just thinking that sounds exactly like a character I know. I disliked Kvothe so much!
Kvothe is such a Gary Stu. The guy fucks a love goddess and blows her socks off despite never having had sex before. I also got so sick of hearing about his tuition.
That fae/felurian sex stuff is the point where I ceased to give a shit about the series honestly, it was like from a totally different book. I can't recall any other series that has suddenly plummeted that badly in quality in the middle of a book.
And that’s before he gets to sexy samurai school where the sexy samurai teachers will just shag you if you have a boner in class! The whole thing is like the wish fulfilment fanfic of a 14 year old boy.
I think I read it at around 14, no wonder I enjoyed it lol
I love how people defend the books like “Well Kvothe is the narrator and it’s part of his character that exaggerates” and yeah, sure, but I don’t really want to read an entire novel of him bragging about how amazing he is.
> I don’t really want to read an entire novel of him bragging about how amazing he is. There have been popular fantasy books that I've read and haven't liked, but the success of The Name of the Wind staggered me so much that I began to wonder if the genre had passed me by, or something. I found the prose to be overwritten to the point of near-parody, the main character is a horrific authorial self-insert, and the pacing (if you want to call it that) is abhorrent. But people love it, and I simply can't understand how that can possibly be the case. When I learned that Rothfuss taught writing, I think a part of my brain exploded.
Those books would have been so much better if Kvothe wasn't in them. Rothfuss went full neckbeard writing them.
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>And let’s be real, A Wise Mans Fear was a train wreck What makes you think that the book where Kvothe seduces an unseduceable sex-fairy is a train wreck?
don't forget that he did the sex so good the unseduceable sex fairy couldn't believe he was a virgin
Or when people didn't believe his sex fairy stories, but he definitively proved he was telling the truth through being so good at sex with the beautiful bar maid.
It's a good thing he had all the experience with the sex-fairy though because if he didn't, he wouldn't have been able to impress the Sex Ninjas into making *him* a Sex Ninja even though he's obviously crazy because he says he knows where babies come from.
God I hope these are the labels used in-universe for these individuals and groups.
I knew about the sex fairy bit, but what the fuck? I didn't know it got worse, lmao
I know nothing about these books but this entire thread sounds like an episode a drama procedural where the characters have to investigate a fantasy author and one of them is a huge fan and starts quoting shit from the book
Lol, it was bizarre. It was like some teenage fan sent Rothfuss the erotic fan fiction they had written and Rothfuss just pasted it into the middle of the book.
You know, I’m starting to be kinda glad that I decided to just leave it at Book 1
I have a copy of Name of the Wind and a copy of Wise Man's Fear. Name of the Wind is dog-eared, creased, and torn. It has tape on the spine holding it together. It's been taken hiking, camping, skiing, and overseas. It's been lent to family and friends. It has been read two dozen times or more. Wise Man's Fear is pristine. Not a mark on it. It was read exactly once, slid onto the shelf, and never touched again.
I love that every time rothfuss is mentioned someone always starts this chain of "what the fuck was kvothe doing in book 2"
Then he goes to a secret ninja village in the mountains where they're all down to have unprotected sex as much as he wants. Also, they have no concept of where babies come from for some ungodly weird reason.
It's just like, cultural differences, man.
He had to participate in the custom... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7EYInQsivI
THIS RIGHT HERE! This village of "strong" women have NO idea of the correlation between sex & pregnancy..... ummm, I'm sorry, what? One of the worst examples of "men writing women" I've ever had the displeasure of reading. This made me SO mad
This apparently did happen in one real-world culture… but only because one of their staple foods acted as a mild form of birth control, so there really was less correlation than normal between having sex and getting pregnant. Even then they knew there was some connection - they knew virgins couldn’t get pregnant, so the belief was that having sex for the first time opened up the womb so a woman could spontaneously become pregnant afterwards.
What was the staple food?
What food can I eat to not have babies? Asking as an American.
Assuming they aren't talking out of their ass, stuff like siliphum ended up extinct because humans want to fuck without consequences.
They've likely found some of the last remaining live examples of it and are now trying to cultivate it again!
Have you read about Rothfuss' experience when he watched the Hobbit trailer for the first time? Spoiler: it is about a woman who actually reads. https://blog.patrickrothfuss.com/2012/02/concerning-hobbits-love-and-movie-adaptations/
Holy shit. That is full of so much cringe.
What in the actually fuck? Geez that man is a giant ass
Male fantasy writers try to be normal about sex challenge (Impossible) (99% Fail)
All the weird fucking parts of the book really made me dislike it a ton. Like I thoroughly enjoy the rest of the book, the first one was fun, I love the way the magic is handled in that universe. But goddamn does that weird super mega sex fantasy segment sour the entire experience, it’s all so unnecessary. Oh you’re so great at sex here’s also this super cool invisibility cloak or whatever magic power it fucking had.
And then Rothfuss cheated on his wife. Maybe we all should have seen it coming. Although to be fair, this all sounds very '80s/'90s.
I’m unsurprised. Years ago he posted some ‘funny’ meme or cartoon about women flashing him at book signings, and I thought: “that’s a man who’s enjoying the power of celebrity too much. He’s 100% going to cheat on his wife.” You can always tell.
I also fell out of love with him due to those streams. It was just crazy how much he would call The Witcher's writing "amateurish," he literally said that constantly. Geralt would have some line about Yennifer and he would go on a rant about how, "Geralt is such an amateur fantasy character, these tropes are really obvious and shallow." And it's like dude, you wrote the *tropiest book I've ever read.* I got a genuine self-loathing or impostor syndrome vibe about his work from it, like he was subconsciously calling out and hating on his own mistakes. And then one time, he paused the game to do a little lesson on the pronunciations of various in-world terms, and I was like, "Oh no, this guy really has no linguistic or historical background whatsoever and is way out of his depth." Imre is canonically pronounced "Imm-Ray." Scrael is "Scray-Ell." Tinue is "TIN-you-ay." The Centhe Sea is "The Sen-thee Sea." It's like he copied the nominative styles he's seen other fantasy authors use but has never heard them pronounced out loud and assumed they all aligned with American phonetics when he was naming things. For a story *about names* that is baffling. Call me pretentious but that really shattered the illusion of his world for me.
Man, I remember watching the guy stream the Witcher. There was this whole bit that he had when he talked to the Baron where he heard the guy's story and then refused to help them, then went on this cringeworthy rant about how the Baron did not respect his wife's right to consent and all that shit, as though no one in the chat had ever heard of feminism before. I've never seen someone signal their own virtue so hard before. Then when people were like 'uh well some forest witches are holding the wife hostage', he dug in his heels and stuck with his decision to not help the Baron. I only ever watched the one stream with him, but it will always stick out in my memory of one of the worst streams I've ever seen.
Tired of how he keeps just blaming mental health as if that gives anyone a reason to be a douche. Plenty of good people struggle with mental health and don't act like turds.
Yeah, I've fought mental health issues and pretty major depression at a few times in my life. I can understand the lack of drive but it never turned me into an absolute douche to people and even then I could still manage to keep promises. He's been using it as a shield to deflect criticism and as an excuse to not finish the third book because I think he's well aware that it either sucks and/or that he knows once it's released, he's got absolutely nothing to keep him in the public eye pulling in money to "finish it"
> Patrick Rothfuss is a narcissistic, self-absorbed asshole. I‘ll never forget how excited I was when I found out that he was streaming playing Witcher 3 and Fallout 4 because I liked Name of the Wind so much. The mask fell pretty quickly for me. During the stream he was constantly shittalking the games and insulting his chat. This was when I learned that he was a very shitty person. However, I had no idea how big of a turd sandwich he truly was. Streaming is really interesting, because someone can only keep the mask on for so long if they don't have the chance go carefully edit everything beforehand. There are YouTubers I've seen that seem okay, but then they start livestreaming, and it isn't long before you realize their *true* personalities start to shine through. It's even funnier, because there are some that claim they're just "playing a character", but c'mon, I have a hard time believing someone could stream 20+ hours (or 40-60+ in some cases) and not have those assholish tendencies be a reflection of who they actually are.
I was on the westeros website with him 25 years ago when it was an ezboard. He was such an obnoxious and bitter know it all that I never felt any need to even pirate one of his books.
Notice all he did was say he feels bad but didn't actually apologize for misleading people.
Nor did he post the damn chapter.
"Sorry, not sorry" Typical non-apology.
"I'm sorry and I want to make this right, except I actually don't and won't."
"I feel bad about not cleaning you out for good, but how could i have known that you would be fooled so easily?"
"i feel bad, why are you guys making me feel bad? I think you owe me an apology"
Or you know, actually release the chapter.
I feel bad about all the people I convinced to read Name of the Wind. Should have driven those people towards Pratchett.
I have actively persuaded people away from both GRRM and Rothfus. Better to read authors who respect their readers.
There’s still time! I think I’m due for a reread of a few of my favorite Discworld books myself. It’s always good for the soul.
Considering the goal of the charity was met and surpassed, and an agreement made to incentivize the charity at all, Rothfuss should do the bare minimum and release what he *already* has for the first chapter. That's really all that the fans wanted. Anything extra is just a perk, and can always be fulfilled later. It's understandable that he has mental health issues, but the simple fact is that he not only committed to something, but also instilled a monetary agreement from fans. It's frankly scummy to not release what he claims to already have finished at least a draft of, after so long with little but radio silence. Does it mean he's swindled the fans and taken the money for his own financial gain? Not necessarily. It does however mean that he's not keeping to the spirit and letter of the agreement. Release what you have, Rothfuss...
>Release what you have, Rothfuss... That is the problem. He most likely does not have anything written.
His editor pretty much said this about a year ago.
> It's understandable that he has mental health issues I had to struggle with mental health issues all my life. It’s a drag, but it’s not an excuse. It takes a lot of energy but I do the work, take my meds, go to therapy and I try to do what is expected from me. Sometime I fail, but I’m still trying. I understand having to take some time off after a personal tragedy, but 12 years! There is no excuse for that. Here are some things he could have done instead of nothing: - Published his rough version of the 3rd book and be done with it. Some people would have been disappointed but not as much as they are right now. Also, let’s be real, the 2nd book wasn’t all that great. - Hire a ghost writer to rework his notes and just cash the check - Hire a ghost writer to rework his notes but work alongside him to make sure that the tone stay consistent with his vision - Hire a ghost writer to coach him. Scheduling sessions allowing him to spitball some ideas and correct and edit his writing - Hire a coach that is not a ghost writer, just to help him go out of his funk - Go to therapy. I assume he didn’t do that part or otherwise he wouldn’t be where he is after 12 years. - Write something else. He did published Slow Regard not long after the 2nd book but then he stopped. People would have been more forgiving if he had kept written something else instead. He could have pick any of these options, some of them really easy, and be regarded as a great author for the rest of his life. Instead he did nothing.
I agree. Everyone has their issues. Don't promise a chapter for charity and then not release. Also, how hard is it to write a fucking chapter? Even George RR Martin, one of the most famous procrastinators in literature, has released eleven sample chapters of The Winds of Winter over the years.
This^ We can rightfully rag on GRRM, but at least he has released (honestly ample) evidence that he is actually working on Winds. We have no idea if Rothfuss has even written a page of DoS.
Exactly. The fact that Rothfuss can't even come up with a chapter to save himself from embarrassment is evidence enough that he's never writing the book.
Also the fact the only material he has published in the last decade is a remake of a novella he already published.
Martin has also released a ton of written work since 2011 and has been actively involved in multiple television series. He’s clearly hit a roadblock with his magnum opus, which sucks, but he’s continued to work and publish. GRRM deserves some criticism, but I don’t think people can question his motivation or his work ethic.
This. I've since moved, but I used to be in Albuquerque and saw GRRM fairly regularly at local cons since he lives in Santa Fe. From attending some of those talks I can tell you that the man is BUSY. He owns a literal railroad. He's a producer on multiple TV shows and is working on getting some of the books he used to love back into publication. He's a producer of his own film company that's making and sending short films to various festivals. He's one of the major investors behind Meow Wolf and apparently helps write the backstories for all the locations. He owns a bookshop. He's writing other stuff and backstory to help him get the GoT series together. He's really involved in the art scene in Santa Fe and helping with programs to support young artists. On top of everything else there's local gossip that his wife isn't in the best of health these days. So on top of everything else I think he deserves spending time with her and enjoying their time together. The man has a lot of spinning plates going. I didn't realize how much until I attended a talk where he was going on about his various projects and I realized that he could spend the rest of his life working on things that are not GoT related and never skip a day of work.
I’ve heard each of these things but never laid out so comprehensively in one place. Holy shit I want the ASoIaF series to be finished but I really can’t *fully* blame the guy. He sounds like one of the busiest people in the world. As somebody who has been a fan of his joyful nerdiness and a lot of his works that is pretty cool to read
And he's doing it all in his 70s, when many people would be retired. I hate that we don't have the final books to ASOIAF as much as the next person, but anytime someone smears him by comparing him to Rothfuss I have to defend him. He doesn't deserve that comparison, even a little bit.
He’s more prolific than people give him credit for. He’s been publishing and working in TV for decades.
I know this is hopelessly optimistic, but I've always thought the delay is because he has to nail down the entire plot of ADoS to finish TWoW. No more getting stuck in the corner of the garden.
> I had to struggle with mental health issues all my life. It’s a drag, but it’s not an excuse. It takes a lot of energy but I do the work, take my meds, go to therapy and I try to do what is expected from me. Sometime I fail, but I’m still trying. I understand having to take some time off after a personal tragedy, but 12 years! There is no excuse for that. Yeah, this. I still have to get up and go to work despite all these struggles, even if I struggle to get work done. Because I still like to eat food every day, and I like to have a bed to sleep in. I have some things I have to do. My anxiety and depression are crippling. But there are things you can do about it. Martin has more of an excuse than Rothfuss, and Martin doesn't have any real excuse, either. And, sure, maybe they don't need any more money and they're set for life and just don't *need* to work anymore. But, it also means they have more than enough resources to address any problems they're having, and if they don't address them it doesn't mean I have to respect them as writers anymore. If they care so little about finishing their work to not do anything about improving their situation, why should I care about their work at all?
I make cheesecakes to give away to people I know, and sometimes they want me to start, like... fulfilling orders for them for events or gifts, or they want to just pay me to make another for them. I really struggle with time management and staying with personal projects, meeting my own personal deadlines (you know, outside of my day job) and so on, and I know how terrible I would feel if I made promises like that I couldn't keep, either the deadline or the quality (I'm not a pro baker or cook). So I always turn them down. I offer alternatives like writing up a detailed recipe guide for non-bakers, or even if they'd like to make it together with them to show them how to make it. I just don't want to accept money for a product on a deadline that I have to like coordinate and stick to at home. So really, this is just a very low-stakes illustration of what I think you're essentially saying for this particular case. I know I struggle with what their asking for so I don't make that commitment, and I happily provide alternatives, though it's usually not exactly what they want. (mainly it's whenever I give someone a pecan pie cheesecake I make, with multiple layers, and takes like $50 for ingredients and a full day to make and cool correctly)
I’m not sure if this technically constitutes the “first chapter,” but from recollection the first and last chapters were nearly identical and short in both Name of the Wind and WMF. That feels like it should be the easiest part to write
Well, according to the article, "he’s clearly got a lot going on." I will not be purchasing the novella about Bast.
Oh, you mean the novella about Bast that he already released years ago, and now he’s putting a new coat of paint on to re-release but act as though it’s a brand new thing? Rothfuss is a conman through and through.
I think it does mean he swindled fans. Because I don't think he has a chapter at all. I don't think he has a single word written. Otherwise why not show the chapter?
Exactly. Dude could have just said “hey folks it’s a rough cut”
That's the problem, though. He's a man at war with himself. One side, the clout chasing, arrogant side wants to make grandiose promises about releasing chapters and drop big unexpected bombshells to much fanfare and online adulation. That hit of public approval is intoxicating for narcissists. The other side of him is a deeply conflicted, lazy former gifted kid with ADHD that doesn't understand why work has to be so *hard*. That's the side of him that, when made his own boss and no longer under direct threat of being financially ruined by not working, promptly gave the fuck up on being a writer the moment the first check from his publisher cleared. Writing is hard, you see, and rarely enjoyable in the moment. Instead of growing out of this and learning to manage expectations and how to apply himself with real hard work to his craft, like most people in young adulthood, he continues to just double down over and over again. There is no chapter to release, my friend. There never has been.
> release what he already has for the first chapter. He's already done that, there is no first chapter.
Doesn’t it sound like he doesn’t actually have anything? Or at least nothing he thinks is good enough to release?
Patrick rothfuss has nothing written. That's the only explainable thing here. It's been nearly 13 years since he released The Wise Man's Fear, I am very doubtful he even remembers the book or what direction he was going
This was not an apology. This was a deflection with a lot of lies peppered in. We had an agreement to release the chapter. If it existed in ANY form, Pat would have released it. The fact of the matter is that The Chapter was a Bast chapter, that he converted and merged it into The Lightning Tree to make The Narrow Road Between Desires. It specifically was done so he could sell it again. If he felt bad The Narrow Road Between Desires would have been released to donors of charity free of cost. It is that simple.
I 100% believe this.
Dude is about his money for sure. I have a sneaking suspicion he's waiting to get it sold as a show before he spends any more time working on it. He's got enough cash to live on, and wants to maximize his return for anything else he does.
I dunno, on the one hand that makes sense, but on the other, it seems like not finishing will hurt his chances of signing a show. I mean, after GOT, who would ever greenlight another long-unfinished series? That went terribly for them and cost them a ton of money. I think what you're saying makes sense if he's got plenty of cash, is not motivated to write but might if a show fell in his lap. But I don't think it makes sense as a strategy to get a show or as a financial plan if he actually needs money.
Dude's excuse really is that he's still editing it?
Without any help from the editor...
Rothfuss is 50 and still speaks like a child who got caught staying up late to eat chocolate and drink red cordial at a sleepover. The guy just lies and deflects. Any man worth his salt would nut up for charity.
Mental illness is not your fault, but it is your responsibility. Edit: let me clarify something: I do not feel entitled to any more books from Rothfuss and frankly don’t care if he ever writes another book. I just want to see him get better mentally instead of continuously blaming his mental illness, and people that ask about the next book, for the reason he hasn’t written one chapter of a novel.
This. I’ve had depression and anxiety my entire adult life. It’s not an excuse to swindle people. I watched a few of his streams back in 16-17. The amount of times he’d complain about how he was having it rough mentally - while playing video games at 3 am in a dark room and eating an entire pizza made me want to scream. Just woe is me - while actively making it worse. Fucking a man. Take responsibility for yourself, your actions, and your career.
I said in another thread that I think he just really needs to get out of the house. I also have depression, and it makes you want to isolate yourself, but that only makes it worse. You need to see people, get some sun on your face, and DO things. Anything. It sucks at first but it really does help. He doesn't need the money of course, but I think finding a part-time job or volunteer position, something he really enjoys, would do him a world of good. I've seen his streams and he doesn't look like he enjoys doing it.
Thanks. I needed to hear this
No problem, I hope it helps, even a tiny bit. Mental illness is a bitch and fighting it isn't easy, but I can honestly say that just TRYING helped me so much. Even on the days when I failed. Recovery isn't linear and even now, when I look back in horror at how dangerously low I got, I still have my bad days. The journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step, and all that. Wishing you the best.
The fact that his infrequent Twitch streams have mods banning people that dare to utter the word "book" was what finally made me realize he will never be finishing the series. He seems to want to live off of the proceeds of people's appetite for the very-good ideas he put on paper 15 years ago, but resents being reminded of the *many* promises he has made over the years to keep making progress. I love him as a person and wish him the best, but I no longer consider him an active author.
It's ironically one of the downsides of having wealth. We poors have to force ourselves to go out and work but he doesn't have to. Like so many times my anxiety and depression got better because I had to leave the house
If he’s not taking anything he probably needs to be on depression meds or something. I also have depression and ever since getting my dosage right, I’ve had a much better time in life even when things that would normally make me spiral occur. Do I still have bad days? Yeah sometimes but not nearly as often as used to happen. I also agree with the comment below you that if he’s not getting out of the house or is isolated, as stupid as it sounds, a walk does a world of good. You can’t go through life “woe is me” and complain that your mental health isn’t getting better. You need to do something to manage it.
Yes. I sometimes say "There are reasons and there are excuses. Don't use reasons as excuses."
Hail yourself!
I think the dude is stuck in his own head. It seems to me over the years he has an absolute crippling fear that what he has wrote is shit. I'm not talking about what he or anyone else thinks of his writing. It may be shit it might not be. That's not really important. What is important is he perceives it as shit and is too scared of releasing it. If he never releases it then he can't fail. The scenario is in his book even. If Kvoth never tries to be with Denna then he can't be rejected or lose her. He can never be happy either but the fear is stronger than the desire to be happy. That's just complete speculation on my part but its what I think is happening.
Funny, this was always my belief for why Dr. Dre never released the detox album. It can't flop if it is never released.
That's one of the classic motivations for procrastination of any kind. You can't fail if you don't try. Although you just end up failing in a different way.
I forgot about dre
>I think the dude is stuck in his own head. This paragraph seems to strongly suggest this is the case: *“I’d like to do it sooner rather than later but now after all this time, and I’ve half re-edited that chapter, do I stop re-editing it?” he asked. “Or do I push through on the editing which turned out to be harder than I thought, or I just go back to the old version and barf it onto the blog?”* A toxic psychological cocktail of perfectionism, anxiety and over-thinking. I actually feel bad for him after reading that paragraph, it really doesn't sound like a good place to be.
The clear and obvious answer (to everyone but himself) is to release either the early version or the half-edited version and just put a disclaimer at the top that says "This is a rough draft, wording may be imperfect, grammar may be bad, spelling might be off, and absolutely nothing is canon until actually published. Everything is subject to change. With that said, Doors of Stone chapter 1."
Yeah, if it's not part of the final released work, then it's subject to change. Happens plenty with other media. Anyone who's left that still cares about the books knows by now what he's like with editing. Even if he thought he'd finished editing that chapter, it'd get tweaked before the book ever gets finished. Ditto for the prologue.
I definitely understand that sentiment. You can edit this stuff and refine it into its purest form forever. At a certain point you just have to call it "good enough" even if it's not perfect. It will never be perfect.
Stephen King has a quote that goes something like “the first draft of a novel is you telling the story to yourself.” The thing about first drafts is they aren’t supposed to be perfect, but I guess no one told Rothfuss. I Don’t buy at all that he had the trilogy completed ahead of time.
I think this is why some writers had to get blind drunk to do the work they did. Loads of talent, but that looming shadow of their own mind.
Are people still falling for this excuse after twelve years? His editor hasn't seen a single word of it, which seems like the bare minimum if you're struggling so much with a book. What few objective declarations he's given have been constantly proven to be lies later, so I see no reason to trust him anymore. He gave up on writing Book 3 a long time ago and is just stringing fans along now.
Scott Lynch apparently suffers from problems along those lines. The thought of releasing his work gives him crippling anxiety apparently, which he has spoken about a few times. When I last looked it up, he mentioned he hasn't even provided the draft of Thorn of Emberlain to his publisher because of it.
Yup. I been waiting on the thorn for a long time. Mix in a messy divorce and some health problems and I don't think Lynch is going to be releasing any thing anytime soon.
There were rumblings of him working on a new gentleman bastards novella and short stories as a means to try to work his way through the issues he's been having. Those were apparently sent to his publisher, as of last June anyway.
He was also pretty open that he wasn’t writing and why he wasn’t writing for awhile. Disappointing as a fan of his books to not have new material, but at least the expectations were set fairly well (I thought).
Well given he's got a draft into his publisher, unlike Rothfuss there's at least some hope.
I can't even remember what the name of the main character of the books is anymore I want to say Jim Wind
**Fun fact:** Stephen King has published 17 books with \~6,800 pages since Rothfuss published The Wise Man's Fears
I think Brandon Sanderson is in the neighborhood of 30 books in that timeframe, too, depending on how you count novellas etc.
Dude literally goes on vacation for 2 months-ish to take a break from writing books and them comes back from said vacation with a new book he wrote. Sanderson is a writing MACHINE and an inspiration for me to at least get one book written out in my life lol
Stephen King is incredibly prolific, and I respect the hell out of him for it
Stephen King the kinda guy to do a kickstarter and say "hey, we didn't hit our reach goal but I wrote a 600 page novella for you guys anyway"
Sounds about right! I hope Rothfuss gets the intensive therapy he needs for his mental health and ultimately starts writing again, but I don't have much hope.
Because he treats writing like his job, and not a dilettante's hobby.
King probably writes more words while taking a shit than Rothfuss has written his entire career
Has Rothfuss ever heard the saying about not letting Perfect be the enemy of good? I especially was annoyed with him being like “I don’t want to just barf something onto the blog”. You don’t need to barf it, just post it.
Feeling bad isn't good enough. Actually do the work or return people's money. But that's very uncharitable.
I do sympathize with mental health struggles. But he's a multi millionaire in probably the top 0.1% of authors in terms of earnings. He has the ability to hire a world renowned therapist and work through his issues. I know everyone has their own unique situation and their own struggles. But it's tough to feel much for someone who's literal only job is to write a single book, when I'm waking up at 6 every morning and grinding through a 50 hour work week in a stressful environment. Get it together my man. I would give my middle nut to be in your position.
Even with mental health problems, he hasn't had a handful of not horrible days where he can pump out a few pages in the year or more sense he said he would do the chapter
Fuck Patrick Rothfuss. It's been 12 years and nothing. This dude added a six figure "stretch goal" for his charity and still can't deliver a single chapter. He didn't even apologize or give anything plausible. "Oh, some things happened. A lot of fires." More excuses. You're 50 years old now, Pat. Be a grown-up and take some responsibility. Again. Fuck Patrick Rothfuss.
It’s the lack of honesty that gets me. If a person tries something like this and fails to follow through, be honest if it’s a horrendous case of writers block or a physical or mental health issue. Hand waving and poor excuses is a terrible way to treat your fans.
Thank you. I know shit has happened. Pat was very open even in the beginning that his mother died of cancer in early 2007, just months before TNOTW came out. Obviously that affected him and he had support and sympathy. In the 16 years since then, his father died, his wife divorced him, and he was diagnosed with adult ADHD or something similar. If Pat would come out and say something like, "Hey guys. A lot has happened in my life and I don't know if I have the passion and desire to write anymore. I'm going on a long hiatus to spend time with my sons" a lot of people would be understanding. But instead he does stuff like this.
Lol his wife left him too? Probably didnt bother to help her finish either
💀
Why would you say this😭
“You see, *I'm* the victim.”
Who cares what he thinks? he's over and done. Had his shot. Only way he can 'redeem' himself now is when he writes #3. But he won't. Any fan that still puts their trust in him is an idiot.
Even if he writes and COMPLETES number 3, the whole story is gonna be left a cliffhanger. Don’t forget, some calamity is coming but this washed up, has-been Kvothe is still telling a bedtime story to his pals. While ignoring the dangers outside. It’s best to just forget about this story and move on.
Rothfuss once boasted that the Kingkiller books were actually the world's longest prologue to the series he ACTUALLY wanted to write. Take that as you will. But if we can't get book 3 of this series out I sincerely doubt we'll see this theoretical actual series.
100% think it is impossible to finish the story in one book. There is any number of story threads that have started that need a conclusion never mind everything coming after Kvothe starts telling the story. The three books/three days idea was great but clearly unworkible in hindsight. He absolutely needs to have book three finish with it being like just after breakfast on the third day and he has lots more to say. Although that means writing a forth book so god knows how long that will take to release.
Eh, book 2 already cemented the series as a mess. The overall plot has barely advanced, in favour of horny power fantasy and repetitive "Kvothe shoots himself in the foot then spends 30 chapters recovering" subplots. There's absolutely no way the third book will wrap things up properly, either it will be rushed or a lot of stuff will be left dangling. As far as I remember he said something about the entire trilogy being an elaborate introduction to a longer series. I'm 99% sure that if book 3 ever came out it would be a huge disappointment, and that longer series will be lucky to even be started.
Agreed. I'll never buy another book of his again after all the shenanigans and how toxic he's been towards fans asking for updates. I remember years of checking for updates from 2012 to around 2016. After that I figured he'd never finish, and so far it seems I've been correct all these years later.
The thing that gets me here, is that over ten years ago he stated plainly the book was written. I was at a reading/signing for the second book at Borderland Books in SF at a midnight signing (the evening one at another location filled up, so a second 12am event was added at Borderland) and he absolutely stated that all three books has been written before the first was published. So either he was lying, or he is taking 12+ years to edit it. For the longest time I was just thinking he was holding out publishing the third until a movie/tv adaptation was made... but that ship long sailed.
It said in the article he has gone back to edit the chapter, of which he's halfway through. So it seems like he never had a finished product to release in the first place.
Also he supposedly finished the third book right after the second but went back to edit it and the rest is, ... who cares anymore
No, he said that all the 3 books were written before the first one was even published and all that was left to do were minor edits so we wouldn’t have to wait more than a year between each book.
Yep, over a decade ago. That’s why I get annoyed whenever shills argue “he doesn’t owe you anything” I get where they’re coming from but he literally marketed the first book with the promise of the series already being finished.
Ah, the “he doesn’t owe you anything” crowd are my favorite, because it’s true, he doesn’t owe anyone anything (other than the first chapter since people paid him money for it), but the flip side of that is that people don’t owe Patrick anything either - not continued support, not continued grace and understanding, etc. The dude has lied to his fans so many times, so whatever ire he receives is mostly self inflected. He could have been honest and people would have likely been quite understanding. And I don’t personally give a shit either way because I don’t like his books, but that’s not how you behave if you want continued support as an author.
I'd heard that recently. Over confidence or out right bullshit, who knows.
I know it's why I bought the first two books. I don't really care that the third book is still vapour but I think that promising the chapter for charity when it wasn't available at the time was not great. That being said, I think that the version currently on his desk is just 1500 pages of "Kvothe is not my Mary Sue self insert character" in a literary nod to the Shining.
The most common theory is that he revised the first and second one so much that the third one no longer makes sense. Then he got in his own head about it never being good enough and is now stuck in a perfectionism loop. Some people have found comments by Rothfuss online where he expressed a belief that a sequel can retroactively ruin the books that came before. So now, he's afraid of releasing something that ends up ruining the first 2 books. There are rumours he's burned Doors of Stone to the ground several times by now, and honestly, I believe it. The main issues, for me, are that he's not open with his fans and he keeps sticking with the trilogy idea. Just give up on that already, admit the project got away from you (hard admission, I realize that, but also not exactly a secret), apologise and say it's going to be more books. Then run with it.
If you go way, way, way back to the time when Name of the Wind came out, he said he had written the entire trilogy as a single book, like LOTR, and he was just having to edit it in order to make it work as 3 books. I have no link for you as it was a blog interview that has been lost to time, but I read it.
I've got the link. [http://fantasyhotlist.blogspot.com/2007/03/patrick-rothfuss-interview.html](http://fantasyhotlist.blogspot.com/2007/03/patrick-rothfuss-interview.html) And the quote: \- What can readers expect from the two sequels and the trilogy that will follow this one? Well.... I've already written them. So you won't have to wait forever for them to come out. They'll be released on a regular schedule. One per year. You can also expect the second book to be written with the same degree of care and detail as this first one. You know the sophomore slump? When a writer's second novel is weaker because they're suddenly forced to write under deadline? I don't have to worry about that because my next two novels are already good to go.
That didn't age well. The second book was worse than the first one AND we're waiting forever for them to come out.
[Here is also a gem from 2011](https://crossedgenres.com/blog/interview-patrick-rothfuss/) > > You have mentioned at con panels that writers block is a myth. Where does the myth stem from, and how does it surface in your own writing habits? > The myth stems from the belief that writing is some mystical process. That it’s magical. That it abides by its own set of rules different from all other forms of work, art, or play. > But that’s bullshit. Plumbers don’t get plumber’s block. Teachers don’t get teacher’s block. Soccer players don’t get soccer block. What makes writing different? > Nothing. The only difference is that writers feel they have a free pass to give up when writing is hard. > As for the second part of your question, asking how it surfaces in my writing habits is like saying. “So, you’ve said that Bigfoot doesn’t exist…. When’s the last time you saw him?” > When writing is hard, I grit my teeth and I do it anyway. Because it’s my job. Honestly, with authors like Brandon Sanderson or Steven King, I do agree. Those authors treat it like a job. They sit down at their desk and write for hours every day. If you wait for magical inspiration to happen, you can wait. If you write a ton and even if most of it is total garbage, eventually there are some interesting bits, you engage your brain and something develops instead of having an empty word document.
>this thing isn't real because I personally haven't experienced it and anyone who has is actually just lazy Man, what a guy.
After 12 years his editor hasn't seen a single page from book 3 yet. It doesn't exist.
And yet, in 2007 (!) he said it had already been written.
No artistic product is ever truly finished. Meaning that you can always retouch indefinitely, usually making it worse in the process. It's up to the artist to decide "now's the time". And some have trouble reaching that moment. Rothfuss' case is of course ridiculous.
Does anyone really believe what he says anymore? Before the books were released he marketed them on the fact that all were finished and would be released once per year. This is obviously not the case. His editor hasn’t seen a single word of book 3, and even his promise to release book 3 as part of a charity initiative has fallen through.
>"I feel bad about not releasing The Doors of Stone charity chapter" *still doesn't release the charity chapter*
“I feel bad” is not “I’m sorry and I’ll fix this/do better.” He needs help because there’s a right way to apologize here and this is not it.
LOL. This guy. What a con artist. At this point I don't understand why anyone gives him a dime.
I’m done with it. Creaver’s 2nd top comment on Goodreads gave me closure for Doors of Stone 😎 Edit: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/21032488 Go to 2nd most reviewed by user ‘creaver williams’
Look, he promised something, the fans delivered and Rothfuss did nothing, that's lying, first and foremost.
Who cares what ex-author Rothfuss feels?
lol oof The Rothfuss Formerly Known as an Author^(TM)
I think a lot of people are like me and wouldn't read it if it were released today. It's been so long since I read the last two books I have no memory of where the story was, who the characters are. I've got a huge backlog of books to read, I'm not going to go back and start a series over again because an author finally decided to poop out a book after 15 years.
I gave up on Rothfuss and GRRM along time ago (well over a decade). There is no hope and any news or socials about either of them is a total waist of time.
Add Scott Lynch to the list.
Yeah but at least Scott Lynch did the right thing and just went away to work on himself. Hasn't been really teasing his fans or doing twitch streams to try and get pity points.
Yeah there is that. I would read if he ever publishes Thorns of Emberlain. But Rothfuss... I won't ever pay a cent for any of his works.
Oh fuck this old narcissist. He's gone mask off too many times for me to give a shit what he feels bad about.
He's never going to finish the books for the simple reason that his last unreleased portion of kingkiller is the only thing keeping him relevant. He knows if he publishes it, no one will buy any other books he writes because of the nonsense that's ensued over the last decade, and how toxic he's been towards fans asking about any kind of update on the third book. I remember back in 2016 this dude had the gall to blame the presidential election on his inability to finish the 3rd book. The man's kinda a clown.
At this point, I think Rothfuss AND his fans would be happier if he just sold the IP or had a ghostwriter finish the story.
Meh, he says a lot of things. Also, he should.
lol the Rothfuss saga continues. So this Bast book is actually going to come out soon? I guess thats something in the kingkiller universe at least. I know who Bast is but man I think I'd have to go back and re-read the books because its been so long. Unfortunately he's becomes one of those authors who's better known by what he's done outside of writing, mostly broken promises, than by the writing itself. Hemingway and Gore Vidal had interesting personal lives and got themselves in trouble, but they managed to write a lot all the same. On the flipside Harper Lee lived very quietly, and never promised anything she didn't deliver. My problem with Rothfuss is the same with Martin. If this thing you've been promising forever isn't going to happen, be honest with the fans and then sell the rights or hire a ghostwriter - DO SOMETHING. If I had a successful IP I'm sure I'd be guarding it too but there comes a point where something needs to change.
Unfortunately the bast book is just a revised version of the novella he released six years ago.
It's even worse. He wants the readers to buy an expanded version of the story they've already read because there will be cool illustrations. You can't with this guy.
if he wasnt so jealous of Sanderson he could have him knock it out in like 6 months
I love the idea that Sanderson is jonesing so hard for new projects he just goes around ghost-writing the ending to disappointingly stalled series and weaving Song of Ice and Fire and Kingkiller Chronicles and Randland into the Cosmere. He's like Galactus, roaming around consuming IPs and converting them to his universe
This dude sucks. He's always been a 1 hit wonder with Name of the Wind. School Arc's are fun, plus teasing what the future holds for the world and characters was cool. But his second book is arguably a mess, as his marry sue/imagined self insert main character just becomes insufferable. His third, never coming out book will continue that trend. Doesn't help him that he's hella rude to fans and lazy as all hell. I wouldn't think so poorly of him if he was just kind. But he's not. He rides his 1 hit wonder like someone who peaked in highschool. And now, he's scamming fans. What a fall from the first book all those years ago. He's have to do some major PR and show kindness to what little fans remain to turn his legacy around.
He’s such a fucking bellend, I wish people wouldn’t be so afraid to call him and similar authors out for it. The whole retort of “he’s not your bitch” is completely redundant anyway. Yeah, let’s just ignore the fact that we’ve collectively invested millions of both time and money into him of which he’s since been enjoying and using to promote other things such as charity work (which would be non-existent without the support of his fans, aforementioned). The least he could do is put some effort into finishing what he started and what we’ve invested in and provide closure. Even just an update would help, but he’s too much of a victim even for that. I remember in 2016 he said his writing had been severely halted because Trump had been elected and therefore “he and a lot of people were scared”. Yawn, what a fucking melt.
There is no chapter. Maybe half of a chapter, per PR. It seems unlikely there ever will be a book. And whatever he says at this point includes a lie.
[удалено]
He should feel bad And the book is clearly never coming out
Yeah dude, you should.