The Kingkiller Chronicle

The Kingkiller Chronicle

The Name of the Wind (2007) The Wise Man's Fear (2011) The Doors of Stone (TBA)
Author	Patrick Rothfuss
Country	United States
Language	English
Genre	Heroic fantasy
Publisher	DAW/Penguin Books
Published	27 March 2007 – present
Media type	print (hardcover & paperback) audiobook

It has been suggested that The Name of the Wind and The Wise Man's Fear be merged into this article. (Discuss) Proposed since August 2021.

The Kingkiller Chronicle is a fantasy trilogy by the American writer Patrick Rothfuss.^[1] The first two books, The Name of the Wind and The Wise Man's Fear, were released in 2007 and 2011. The books released in the series have sold over 10 million copies.^[2]

The series centers on a man named Kvothe, an infamous adventurer and musician telling his life story to a scribe. The book is told in a "story-within-a-story" format: a frame narrative relates the present day in which Kvothe runs an inn under an assumed name and is told in omniscient third person, and the main plot, making up the majority of the books and concerning the actual details of Kvothe's life, is told in the first person. The series also contains metafictional stories within stories from varying perspectives that tie to the main plot in various ways.

Synopsis[]

The Kingkiller Chronicle tells the life story of a man named Kvothe. In the present day, Kvothe is a rural innkeeper, living under a pseudonym. In the past, he was a wandering trouper and musician who grew to be a notorious arcanist (or wizard), known as the infamous "Kingkiller".

The series is framed as the transcription of his three-day-long oral autobiography, where he "trouped, traveled, loved, lost, trusted and was betrayed." Present-day "interludes" concern his life as an innkeeper, with each present day depicted in a separate book.

The series is a secondary world fantasy; the setting is named Temerant. It has its own magic system, mixing alchemy, sympathetic magic, sygaldry (a form of runic magic combined with medieval engineering), and naming (a type of magic that allows the user to command the classical elements and objects), plus others.

Writing and publishing history[]

The Kingkiller Chronicle is a trilogy. The books are set in a fictional world referred to as the Four Corners in-universe; ^[3] the world's official name, Temerant, was revealed in 2014.^[4]

Rothfuss began writing the series in 1994,^[5] under the working title The Song of Flame and Thunder; the name was changed because he disliked it, as well as to avoid confusion with the George RR Martin series A Song of Ice and Fire.^[6] The first draft of the trilogy was completed in 2000, ^[7] a draft he described as "a hot mess".^[8]

In 2002, Rothfuss entered and won a Writers of the Future contest, which led him to a workshop with author Tim Powers.^[9] This eventually led him to meeting his agent, who helped Rothfuss revise the first third of the story—now entitled The Name of the Wind—and sold it to DAW, ^[10] which published the book in March 2007.

Despite promises that the second and third books in the trilogy would follow on an annual schedule,^[11] revisions to the second book, including work to bring in the frame narrative and introduce characters that weren't in the original draft, delayed it.^{[12][13] [14]}The Wise Man's Fear released in 2011, topping the New York Times bestseller list.^[15]

The Doors of Stone is unreleased as of 2021,^[16] a point of contention online.^[17] Rothfuss has sometimes discussed the book, stating that it presented challenges different to The Wise Man's Fear's.^[18] In 2020, Rothfuss's publisher and editor Elizabeth Wollheim expressed frustration with the delay, stating she hadn't read "a word" of the book nine years on.^[19]

Rothfuss has apologized for the long delay in releasing The Doors of Stone, citing issues in his personal life and his mental health as reasons.^[20][21][22] He has said that the book will "conclude Kvothe's story," closing off the current arc, ^[23] but that further stories in the world of Temerant would be forthcoming.

The books[]

The Kingkiller Chronicle is a projected trilogy.

• The Name of the Wind (2007)
• The Wise Man's Fear (2011)
• The Doors of Stone (forthcoming)

Related works[]

• "How Old Holly Came to Be," an experimental short story, was published in Unfettered (2013), edited by Shawn Speakman;
• The Lightning Tree was published in Rogues (2014), edited by George R. R. Martin & Gardner Dozois. The Lighting Tree takes place in the frame setting of The Kingkiller Chronicle, and includes characters from the trilogy.
• The Slow Regard of Silent Things (2014, ISBN 978-0756410438), a novella focusing on a secondary character that appears in The Kingkiller Chronicle's main plot.

In 2012, Rothfuss sold three other books to his publisher, DAW.^[24] He has discussed a standalone novel, centered on a legendary figure in the world, with the working title The Tale of Laniel Young-Again.^[25] The project was two-thirds complete when it was shelved to focus on The Doors of Stone.^[26][27]

In other media[]

In July 2013, 20th Century Fox announced that The Kingkiller Chronicle was optioned for a TV series. The production team included Arnon Milchan, Andrew Plotkin, Brad Weston, and Robert Lawrence.^[28] The option expired by October 2015, and the rights to the books reverted to Rothfuss.^[29][30]

In October 2015, Rothfuss announced that Lionsgate would be involved in adapting the series through a film, TV series, and video game.^[30] Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda will executive produce the television series along with John Rogers, Jennifer Court, Robert Lawrence and Rothfuss, with music composed by Miranda.^{[31][32][33][34]} In October 2017, Showtime began developing the series but ended their involvement in September 2019, causing the rights to return to Lionsgate TV, who are shopping it around.^[35][36]

In 2016, it was announced that Lindsey Beer had written the screenplay for the film.^[37] In January 2018, Sam Raimi was announced as the director, ^[38] one of several who reportedly sought the role,^[39] though he dropped out later that year.^[40]

The metafictional boardgame Tak was released by Rothfuss and Cheapass Games in 2016, designed by James Ernest.^[41]

Reception[]

The series has received critical acclaim. George R. R. Martin called The Wise Man's Fear his favourite fantasy novel of 2011, and said he wished he'd written it.^[42] Authors such as Brandon Sanderson,^[43] Ursula K. Le Guin, Robin Hobb, Tad Williams, Anne McCaffrey,^[44] and Michael Chabon^[45] have expressed their admiration for the series. Lin-Manuel Miranda credited the books for inspiring a song in his show Hamilton, as well as a story beat in the Walt Disney’s film Moana.^[46]

The Wise Man's Fear topped The New York Times bestseller list,^[15] and the spin-off novella The Slow Regard of Silent Things spent a month on the same before dropping to the extended list.^[47]

References[]

External links[]

• The Kingkiller Chronicle series listing at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
• The Kingkiller Chronicle at the Internet Book List
• Patrick Rothfuss' Web site
• Knackerman song, from lyrics Rothfuss had written for The Name of the Wind. Performed by Vi Hart, per the request of Rothfuss as part of an event for Rothfuss' Worldbuilders charity.