technolepsy

Rothfuss has created a richly coloured, finely detailed world which I'd like to know better. My interest dropped off in the second half where the author (perhaps unavoidably) spends increasingly more time laying the foundation for later installments, such that the story stalls a bit, and a few chapters simply fell flat. Whilst there is no cliffhanger, I would have preferred a more eventful ending.

While the book is generally well written, I found I didn't particularly care for a few critical elements where magic has achieved altogether too much parity with modern science, and somehow developed the same technical lexicon to boot. I am probably twice-bothered due to the author's deft avoidance of creeping modernism elsewhere in the tale.

There is much to like about the book, but not much I could cite without spoilers; Rothfuss excels when weaving a lush tapestry of cultural history, strong, well-developed characters and the dynamic relationships between them, but nothing in the book moves quickly, even in those places where it probably ought to do. Despite a few flaws, I feel the book deserves 3.5 stars, rounding up to 4 not only because GoodReads doesn't allow half-stars but in the hope that the next two books will bring together the various bits splayed out as a foundation in book one.