Patrick Rothfuss

[DavidTate]

Has anyone here read any of the works of Patrick Rothfuss? I've seen his name crop up a few times recently in other discussions, sometimes on the lips of authors whose works I respect. I'd be curious to hear any opinions you might have.

[owlcroft]

I've never read him, but he seems immensely popular on the SFFworld discussion board. Myself, I am leery of most modern authors, whose prose especially tends to be somewhere from mediocre and wooden (George R. R. Martin) to absolutely dreadful (only the names have been changed to protect the innocent; dah da dum dum).

[fantomex]

I've read Patrick Rothfuss' novels (isfdb lists some short fiction, which I've not read). In my opinion, his glaring weaknesses in plotting, and more seriously, characterization, make him not worth the time.

In short, his books are about a "Mary Sue" (the infinitely competent, thoroughly uninteresting character type commonly associated with fan fiction) who wanders aimlessly about his life, constantly increasing in genius. All of his successes feel unearned, and there is never any dramatic tension.

[Nightwind]

I have an acquaintance who has a habit of reading some quality fantasy, and I saw him reading The Wise Man's Fear. I took interest in it, and browsed the book some in a store. Apparently it's 90% dialogue, with what description there is being laconic, unartistic and outright blunt. I did not look into the endless walls of dialogue to find out whether it was good quality or not.

[fantomex]

You don't like dialogue?