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The Slow Regard of Silent Things Hardcover – October 28, 2014
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“I just love the world of Patrick Rothfuss.” —Lin-Manuel Miranda
Deep below the University, there is a dark place. Few people know of it: a broken web of ancient passageways and abandoned rooms. A young woman lives there, tucked among the sprawling tunnels of the Underthing, snug in the heart of this forgotten place.
Her name is Auri, and she is full of mysteries.
The Slow Regard of Silent Things is a brief, bittersweet glimpse of Auri’s life, a small adventure all her own. At once joyous and haunting, this story offers a chance to see the world through Auri’s eyes. And it gives the reader a chance to learn things that only Auri knows....
In this book, Patrick Rothfuss brings us into the world of one of The Kingkiller Chronicle’s most enigmatic characters. Full of secrets and mysteries, The Slow Regard of Silent Things is the story of a broken girl trying to live in a broken world.
- Print length176 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherDAW
- Publication dateOctober 28, 2014
- Dimensions5.3 x 0.6 x 8.3 inches
- ISBN-100756410436
- ISBN-13978-0756410438
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Editorial Reviews
Review
“The best epic fantasy I read last year.... He’s bloody good, this Rothfuss guy.” —George R. R. Martin, New York Times-bestselling author of A Song of Ice and Fire
“Rothfuss has real talent, and his tale of Kvothe is deep and intricate and wondrous.” —Terry Brooks, New York Times-bestselling author of Shannara
"It is a rare and great pleasure to find a fantasist writing...with true music in the words." —Ursula K. LeGuin, award-winning author of Earthsea
"The characters are real and the magic is true.” —Robin Hobb, New York Times-bestselling author of Assassin’s Apprentice
"Masterful.... There is a beauty to Pat's writing that defies description." —Brandon Sanderson, New York Times-bestselling author of Mistborn
“[Makes] you think he's inventing the genre, instead of reinventing it.” —Lev Grossman, New York Times-bestselling author of The Magicians
“This is a magnificent book.” —Anne McCaffrey, award-winning author of the Dragonriders of Pern
“The great new fantasy writer we've been waiting for, and this is an astonishing book." —Orson Scott Card, New York Times-bestselling author of Ender’s Game
“It's not the fantasy trappings (as wonderful as they are) that make this novel so good, but what the author has to say about true, common things, about ambition and failure, art, love, and loss.” —Tad Williams, New York Times-bestselling author of Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn
“An extremely immersive story set in a flawlessly constructed world and told extremely well.” —Jo Walton, award-winning author of Among Others
“Hail Patrick Rothfuss! A new giant is striding the land.” —Robert J. Sawyer, award-winning author of Wake
“Fans of the epic high fantasies of George R.R. Martin or J.R.R. Tolkien will definitely want to check out Patrick Rothfuss' The Name of the Wind.” —NPR
“Shelve The Name of the Wind beside The Lord of the Rings...and look forward to the day when it's mentioned in the same breath, perhaps as first among equals.” —The A.V. Club
“Rothfuss (who has already been compared to the likes of Terry Goodkind, Robert Jordan, and George R. R. Martin) is poised to be crowned the new king of epic fantasy.” —Barnes & Noble
“I was reminded of Ursula K. Le Guin, George R. R. Martin, and J. R. R. Tolkien, but never felt that Rothfuss was imitating anyone.” —The London Times
“This fast-moving, vivid, and unpretentious debut roots its coming-of-age fantasy in convincing mythology.” —Entertainment Weekly
“This breathtakingly epic story is heartrending in its intimacy and masterful in its narrative essence.” —Publishers Weekly (starred)
“Reminiscent in scope of Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series...this masterpiece of storytelling will appeal to lovers of fantasy on a grand scale.” —Library Journal (starred)
About the Author
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
THE FAR BELOW BOTTOM OF THINGS
WHEN AURI WOKE, she knew that she had seven days.
Yes. She was quite sure of it. He would come for a visit on the seventh day.
A long time. Long for waiting. But not so long for everything that needed to be done. Not if she were careful. Not if she wanted to be ready.
Opening her eyes, Auri saw a whisper of dim light. A rare thing, as she was tucked tidily away in Mantle, her privatest of places. It was a white day, then. A deep day. A finding day. She smiled, excitement fizzing in her chest.
There was just enough light to see the pale shape of her arm as her fingers found the dropper bottle on her bedshelf. She unscrewed it and let a single drip fall into Foxen’s dish. After a moment he slowly brightened into a faint gloaming blue.
Moving carefully, Auri pushed back her blanket so it wouldn’t touch the floor. She slipped out of bed, the stone floor warm beneath her feet. Her basin rested on the table near her bed, next to a sliver of her sweetest soap. None of it had changed in the night. That was good.
Auri squeezed another drop directly onto Foxen. She hesitated, then grinned and let a third drop fall. No half measures on a finding day. She gathered up her blanket then, folding and folding it up, carefully tucking it under her chin to keep it from brushing against the floor.
Foxen’s light continued to swell. First the merest flickering: a fleck, a distant star. Then more of him began to iridesce, a firefly’s worth. Still more his brightness grew till he was all-over tremulant with shine. Then he sat proudly in his dish, looking like a blue-green ember slightly larger than a coin.
She smiled at him while he roused himself the rest of the way and he filled all of Mantle with his truest, brightest blue-white light.
Then Auri looked around. She saw her perfect bed. Just her size. Just so. She checked her sitting chair. Her cedar box. Her tiny silver cup.
The fireplace was empty. And above that was the mantelpiece: her yellow leaf, her box of stone, her grey glass jar with sweet dried lavender inside. Nothing was nothing else. Nothing was anything it shouldn’t be.
There were three ways out of Mantle. There was a hallway, and a doorway, and a door. The last of these was not for her.
Auri took the doorway into Port. Foxen was still resting in his dish, so his light was dimmer here, but it was still bright enough to see. Port had not been very busy of late, but even so, Auri checked on everything in turn. In the wine rack rested half a broken plate of porcelain, no thicker than the petal of a flower. Below that was a leather octavo book, a pair of corks, a tiny ball of twine. Off to one side, his fine white teacup waited for him with a patience Auri envied.
On the wall shelf sat a blob of yellow resin in a dish. A black rock. A grey stone. A smooth, flat piece of wood. Apart from all the rest, a tiny bottle stood, its wire bale open like a hungry bird.
On the central table a handful of holly berries rested on a clean white cloth. Auri eyed them for a moment, then took them to the bookshelf, a perch they were more suited to. She looked around the room and nodded to herself. All good.
Back in Mantle, Auri washed her face and hands and feet. She slipped out of her nightshirt and folded it into her cedar box. She stretched happily, lifting up her arms and rolling high onto her toes.
Then she ducked into her favorite dress, the one he’d given her. It was sweet against her skin. Her name was burning like a fire inside her. Today was going to be a busy day.
Auri gathered up Foxen, carrying him cupped in the palm of her hand. She made her way through Port, slipping through a jagged crack in the wall. It was not a wide crack, but Auri was so slight she barely needed turn her shoulders to keep from brushing up against the broken stones. It was nothing like a tight fit.
Van was a tall room with straight, white walls of fitted stone. It was an echo-empty place save for her standing mirror. But today there was one other thing, the gentlest breath of sunlight. It snuck in through the peak of an arched doorway filled with rubble: broken timber, blocks of fallen stone. But there, at the very top, a smudge of light.
Auri stood in front of the mirror and took the bristle brush from where it hung on the mirror’s wooden frame. She brushed the sleep snarl from her hair until it hung about her like a cloud.
She closed her hand over Foxen, and without his blue-green shine the room went dark as dark. Then her eyes stretched wide and she could see nothing but the soft, faint smudge of warm light spilling past the rubble high behind her. Pale golden light caught in her pale golden hair. Auri grinned at herself in the mirror. She looked like the sun.
Lifting her hand, she uncovered Foxen and skipped quickly off into the sprawling maze of Rubric. It was barely a minute’s work to find a copper pipe with the right kind of cloth wrapping. But finding the perfect place, well, that was the trick, wasn’t it? She followed the pipe through the round red-brick tunnels for nearly half a mile, careful not to let it slip away from her among the countless other twining pipes.
Then, with no hint of warning, the pipe kinked hard and dove straight into the curving wall, abandoning her. Rude thing. There were countless other pipes of course, but the tiny tin ones had no wrap at all. The icy ones of burnished steel were far too new. The iron pipes were so eager as to be almost embarrassing, but their wrappings were all cotton, and that was more trouble than she cared to bother with today.
So Auri followed a fat ceramic pipe as it bumbled along. Eventually it burrowed deep into the ground, but where it bent, its linen wrap hung loose and ragged as an urchin’s shirt. Auri smiled and unwound the strip of cloth with gentle fingers, taking great care not to tear it.
Eventually it came away. A perfect thing. A single gauzy piece of greying linen, long as Auri’s arm. It was tired but willing, and after folding it upon itself she turned and pelted madly off through echoing Umbrel, then down and down into The Twelve.
The Twelve was one of the rare changing places of the Underthing. It was wise enough to know itself, and brave enough to be itself, and wild enough to change itself while somehow staying altogether true. It was nearly unique in this regard, and while it was not always safe or kind, Auri could not help but feel a fondness for it.
Today the high arch of space was just as she’d expected, bright and lively. Sunlight speared down through the open gratings far above, striking down into the deep, narrow valley of the changing place. The light filtered past pipes, support beams, and the strong, straight line of an ancient wooden walkway. The distant noise of the street drifted down to the far below bottom of things.
Auri heard the sound of hooves on cobblestones, sharp and round as a cracking knuckle. She heard the distant thunder of a passing wagon and the dim mingle of voices. Threading through it all was the high, angry cry of a babe who clearly wanted tit and wasn’t getting any.
At the bottom of The Yellow Twelve there was a long deep pool with water smooth as glass. The sunlight from above was bright enough that Auri could see all the way down to the second snarl of pipes beneath the surface.
She already had straw here, and three bottles waited on a narrow ledge of stone along one wall. But looking at them, Auri frowned. There was a green one, a brown one, and a clear one. There was a wide wire baling top, a grey twisting lid, and a cork fat as a fist. They were all different shapes and sizes, but none of them were quite right.
Exasperated, Auri threw her hands into the air.
So she ran back to Mantle, her bare feet slapping on the stone. Once there, she eyed the grey glass bottle with the lavender inside. She picked it up, looked it over carefully, then set it back down in its proper place before she scampered out again.
Auri hurried through Port, heading out by way of the slanting doorway this time, rather than the crack in the wall. She twisted up through Withy, Foxen throwing wild shadows on the walls. As she ran, her hair streamed out behind her like a banner.
She took the spiraling stairs through Darkhouse, down and around, down and around. When she finally heard moving water and the tink of glass she knew she’d crossed the threshold into Clinks. Soon Foxen’s light reflected off the roiling pool of black water that swallowed the bottom of the spiraling stairs.
There were two bottles perched in a shallow niche there. One blue and narrow. One green and squat. Auri tilted her head and closed one eye, then reached out to touch the green one with two fingers. She grinned, snatched it up, and ran back up the stairs.
Heading back, she went through Vaults for a change of air. Running down the hall, she sprang over the first deep fissure in the broken floor as lithely as a dancer. The second crack she leapt as lightly as a bird. The third she jumped as wildly as a pretty girl who looked like the sun.
She came into The Yellow Twelve all puffed and panting. As she caught her breath, she tucked Foxen in the green bottle, padded him carefully with straw, and locked down the hasp against the rubber gasket, sealing the lid down tight. She held it up to her face, then grinned and kissed the bottle before setting it carefully by the edge of the pool.
Auri shucked off her favorite dress and hung it on a bright brass pipe. She grinned and shivered a little, nervous fish swimming in her stomach. Then, standing in her altogether, she gathered up her floating hair with both her hands. She brushed it back and bound it, winding and tying it behind her with the strip of old grey linen cloth. When she was done it made a long tail that hung down to the small of her back.
Arms held close against her chest, Auri took two tiny steps to stand beside the pool. She dipped a toe into the water, then her whole foot. She grinned at the feel of it, chill and sweet as peppermint. Then she lowered herself down, both legs dangling in the water. Auri balanced for a moment, holding her nekkid self up with both hands, away from the cold stone lip at the edge of the pool.
But there was no avoiding it. So Auri puckered up and settled herself the rest of the way down. There was nothing peppermint about the cold stone edge. It was a dull, blunt bite against her tender altogether hindmost self.
She turned herself around then, and began to lower herself into the water. She went slowly, tickling around with her feet until she found the little jut of stone. She curled her toes around it, holding herself thigh-deep in the pool. Then she drew a few deep breaths, screwed her eyes shut, and bared her teeth before letting go with her toes and ducking her nethers underneath the surface. She squeaked a little, and the chill made her whole self go gooseprickle.
The worst over, she closed her eyes and dunked her head beneath the water too. Gasping and blinking, she rubbed the water out of her eyes. She had her big all-over shiver then, one arm folded across her breasts. But by the time it was done her grimace had turned to grin.
Without her halo of hair, Auri felt small. Not the smallness that she strove for every day. Not the smallness of a tree among trees. Of a shadow underground. And not just small of body either. She knew there was not much of her. When she thought to look more closely at her standing mirror, the girl she saw was tiny as an urchin begging on the street. The girl she saw was thin as thin. Her cheekbones high and delicate. Her collarbones pressed tight against her skin.
But no. With her hair pulled back and wetted down besides. She felt . . . less. She felt tamped down. Dim. More faint. Feint. Feigned. Fain. It would have been pure unpleasant without the perfect strip of linen. If not for that, she wouldn’t merely feel like a wick rolled down, she would be downright guttery. It was worth it, doing things the proper way.
Finally the last of her trembling stopped. The fish were still turning in her stomach, but her grin was eager. The golden daylight from above struck down into the pool, straight and bright and steady as a spear.
Auri drew a deep breath, then pushed it out, wriggling her toes. She took another deep breath and let it out more slowly.
Then a third breath. Auri gripped the neck of Foxen’s bottle in one hand, let go of the stone edge of the pool, and dove beneath the water.
The angle of the light was perfect, and Auri saw the first pipetangle clear as anything. Minnow-quick, she turned and glided smoothly through, not letting any of them touch her.
Below that was the second snarl. She pushed an old iron pipe with her foot to keep herself moving downward, then tugged a valve with her free hand as she went past, changing speed and sliding through the narrow space between two wrist-thick copper pipes.
Product details
- Publisher : DAW; First Edition (October 28, 2014)
- Language : English
- Hardcover : 176 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0756410436
- ISBN-13 : 978-0756410438
- Item Weight : 10.1 ounces
- Dimensions : 5.3 x 0.6 x 8.3 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #48,248 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1,002 in Action & Adventure Fantasy (Books)
- #1,287 in Sword & Sorcery Fantasy (Books)
- #3,270 in Epic Fantasy (Books)
- Customer Reviews:
About the author
Patrick Rothfuss had the good fortune to be born in Wisconsin in 1973, where the long winters and lack of cable television encouraged a love of reading and writing.
After abandoning his chosen field of chemical engineering, Pat became an itinerant student, wandering through clinical psychology, philosophy, medieval history, theater, and sociology. Nine years later, Pat was forced by university policy to finally complete his undergraduate degree in English.
When not reading and writing, he teaches fencing and dabbles with alchemy in his basement.
Customer reviews
Customer Reviews, including Product Star Ratings help customers to learn more about the product and decide whether it is the right product for them.
To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. It also analyzed reviews to verify trustworthiness.
Learn more how customers reviews work on AmazonCustomers say
Customers find the book compelling and delightful. They praise the writing quality as well-crafted and masterful. The book is described as beautiful and ethereal, with relatable characters and strong personalities. Readers appreciate the pacing and insight into the character's mind.
AI-generated from the text of customer reviews
Customers enjoy the book's readability. They find the language compelling and delightful. The character is clever and learnt. They appreciate the interesting world and engrossing story. Readers are eager to read the book.
"...She's so clever and resourceful! But you know she doesn't even have to be resourceful. She just is... because that's the proper way of things...." Read more
"...And her gentle, well-intentioned nature is nothing short of endearing...." Read more
"...Auri is the bravest, most powerful, enchanting, wickedly delightful and real character I may have ever read...." Read more
"...-All in all a fairly cozy read despite its faults, something you'd be able to curl up by the fire to enjoy and not have to worry too much about..." Read more
Customers praise the writing quality of the book. They find it well-written and masterful storytelling, with a love of words and phrasing. The author maintains the tone and rhythm of the archetypical storyteller. Readers appreciate the lyrical thoughts and beautiful language.
"...God, I loved this story. Not only was the writing exquisite, the verbiage was so uniquely suited that now I want to hear Auri describe the..." Read more
"...Her thoughts are often lyrical, but also child-like and disjointed—following a logic all her own...." Read more
"...Through the whole book, he maintains the tone and rhythm of the archetypical storyteller...." Read more
"...-A satisfying ending with potential hints of things to come in the third KKC book...." Read more
Customers find the character Auri relatable and strong. They appreciate the accurate portrayal of her unique mind and voice. The book provides context and emotional connections to Auri, allowing readers to feel like they can hear her voice.
"...She's one of the strongest characters you'll ever meet. She doesn't think well of herself. She forgets to eat. She berates herself for being selfish...." Read more
"...This is a lovingly written character, unlike any this reader has encountered before...." Read more
"...is the bravest, most powerful, enchanting, wickedly delightful and real character I may have ever read...." Read more
"...Auri is a very mysterious, adorable, lovable character, but the main Kingkiller series only gives you brief glimpses of her in silhouette...." Read more
Customers enjoy the book's beauty. They describe it as beautiful, ethereal, and artful. The words and illustrations are well-chosen, creating an illuminating world. Readers appreciate the charming girl and the variety of black and white illustrations.
"...It's adorable. She's trying to find a gift but nothing is QUITE right. God, I loved this story...." Read more
"...Neil Gaiman sort of feel, this book includes an assortment of black and white illustrations...." Read more
"...Auri is a very mysterious, adorable, lovable character, but the main Kingkiller series only gives you brief glimpses of her in silhouette...." Read more
"...This book is like that: a rare treat to be savored, a sweet and captivating account...." Read more
Customers enjoy the book's pacing. They find the words rhythmic and lovely. The story keeps their minds engaged and entertained, flowing like a poem. Readers describe the book as an excellently crafted ride into a corner of the universe.
"Strangely beautiful and bravely unorthodox...." Read more
"...Auri is the bravest, most powerful, enchanting, wickedly delightful and real character I may have ever read...." Read more
"...This is the kind of rambling thoughts this book caused me to dwell upon, and it's perhaps this aspect of the book that caused me to love it so...." Read more
"...This book shows that bucking tradition is not easy, but ever so necessary, and those that can do so successfully can create a whole new tradition..." Read more
Customers enjoy the book's insight and wisdom. They find it thought-provoking and engaging, providing context and emotional connections to the main character. Readers appreciate the intriguing tidbits that hint at future events. The book provides a true look into Auri's mind and how she lives. It allows readers to sink into the story and appreciate the author's skill in showing the character's wandering thoughts and eye.
"...In it's own way, it's better to me than his other works. Auri is so complex and so different and so refreshing. She's broken...." Read more
"...this is a story about Auri, about getting inside her head and seeing how she operates - but not really much else...." Read more
"...They provide the necessary context and emotional ties to Auri that are required for you to enjoy this book...." Read more
"...who love the enigmatic Auri, this story offers a beautifully strange glimpse into her world...." Read more
Customers have different views on the mystery. Some find the world complex and full of secrets, while others feel it lacks cohesion and is a departure from the series. The plot is described as fuzzy around the edges, with no clear connection to the previous books.
"...Auri is the bravest, most powerful, enchanting, wickedly delightful and real character I may have ever read...." Read more
"...Auri is a very mysterious, adorable, lovable character, but the main Kingkiller series only gives you brief glimpses of her in silhouette...." Read more
"...Her thoughts are often lyrical, but also child-like and disjointed—following a logic all her own...." Read more
"...It is an unusual little book. I am very glad Patrick took the time to write it." Read more
Customers have mixed opinions about the language quality. Some find the author's use of language skillfully, charmingly inventive, and one of the greatest wordsmiths living today. They appreciate the many alliterations and unique verbs. However, others mention there is little to no dialog and only one actual human character. The writing lacks strong points and is hard to describe, making it difficult to read.
"...Auri, however, confused the *&#$ out of me. She was just.... inexplicable. She fit into the story, don't get me wrong, but I didn't understand her...." Read more
"...Then again, that is part of the poetic alchemy that makes it such a great story." Read more
"...Lets start with the dialogue. That is to say...there is no dialogue...." Read more
"...Objects speak without words, names carry great power, and sometimes the traditional way of things really is the best...." Read more
Reviews with images
Beautiful and Broken
Top reviews from the United States
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- Reviewed in the United States on December 5, 2014This does include spoilers.
Like everyone who purchased this book, I'm eagerly awaiting the third installment of the Kingkiller Chronicles. Saw this and thought: "Hey- a book by Patrick Rothfuss, why not?!"
I was definitely put off by his warning that it wasn't a good book, and I probably wouldn't like it, so, I shouldn't get excited, and maybe shouldn't even read it, just in case I am disappointed.
But I'd already bought it at this point so I wasn't going to NOT read it. Besides, Jane Austen assumed everyone would hate her character Emma, but we all know THAT isn't quite how it panned out. Anyhow, I digress.
I'm the sort of reader who enjoys a thought-through plot line. But I need more than that to actually get into a book. I need believable, consistent, relate-able characters. Rothfuss gave me that in his other books. He gave me complicated, intricate, REAL characters that I fell completely in love with.
Auri, however, confused the *&#$ out of me. She was just.... inexplicable. She fit into the story, don't get me wrong, but I didn't understand her. I certainly didn't relate to her. It didn't really matter though, certainly didn't affect my view of Rothfuss' writing or Kvothe's story at all.
I was hoping to get to see Kvothe in this short story, as I'm sure many of you are/were... which may explain Rothfuss' hesitation to even publish this book since Kvothe is never physically present.
There is one character. One. And she's perfect.
I felt like the luckiest fly on the wall to see a week of Auri's life in her Underthing. She knows she has 7 days until He comes to visit, and you get to see her preparing for it like it's Christmas or something. It's adorable. She's trying to find a gift but nothing is QUITE right.
God, I loved this story.
Not only was the writing exquisite, the verbiage was so uniquely suited that now I want to hear Auri describe the entire world, instead of just her own.
I can't possibly imagine being bored reading this book. I can't possibly imagine putting it down. In it's own way, it's better to me than his other works.
Auri is so complex and so different and so refreshing.
She's broken. And she goes through her life fixing things. Little things. Little, insignificant things. Things that, in anyone else's observation, don't need fixed. It's frustrating at first.
What is she doing? Why wouldn't she do *this* in that situation. Why would she almost drown to dredge up trash from the bottom of a freezing pool of water?
Because that is the proper way of things.
Everything has a name. Objects, spaces, rooms, chemical reactions. If something doesn't have a name she feels sorry for it. Because He gave her a name, and with that name she isn't as lost or as lonely. The name He gave her is her constant positive throughout her bizarre ups and downs.
Every day has a type. A doing day or a making day... and Auri knows because she can feel what sort of day it is.
The moon has it's own personality. Sometimes she needs to avoid stepping in the moonlight because it's in a bad mood.
As she describes it, you can see the moon she means, even though she uses words that don't exist.
She's so clever and resourceful! But you know she doesn't even have to be resourceful. She just is... because that's the proper way of things. Even when she wants something to be different, she won't break out of her own definition of what is proper. Even though there is no one there to see her, no one there to hold her responsible, no one there to chastise her. She's one of the strongest characters you'll ever meet. She doesn't think well of herself. She forgets to eat. She berates herself for being selfish. But she thinks even less of the people who don't understand the proper way of things.
Throughout the story you see her warring with herself. In our world she would be termed bipolar, and autistic, and maybe even schizophrenic. But she's created a life that works for her. And she focuses all her energy on what she perceives to be the happiness of objects in her care. She ignores her own needs. She won't change or bend the proper way of things. The only time she'll step out of her self-imposed rules is for Him.
Even when I'm screaming for her to take some food from a full larder she finds herself in, I'm secretly hoping she won't. That she'll stick to her own rules, and be rewarded for doing things the proper way.
She does everything in her power to keep her Underthing to herself, but then creates a safe space down there for Him too. She knows the name of Alchemy. Of Chemistry. But she won't use it. She won't bend the world. You just get this feeling that she's broken from a loss. Broken from doing something that now, through caring for the world in the proper way, she is doing penance for. But when she knows she needs the third and final gift for Him, it's okay for her to use her power to bend the world a bit. She's connected to Him. Like she's connected to everything. She's amazing.
I could seriously write a book about how much I like this book.
I'm going to re-read the others just to re-visit her character from a whole new perspective.
I can see how some people won't like this book. It requires a lot of interpretation. It requires a lot of patience. It requires a desire to UNDERSTAND a complex character. If you don't care to learn about Auri, don't read it.
If you're fascinated by the world Rothfuss has created and want to see a whole other aspect of it through the eyes of an incredible, albeit very strange, little girl, it's definitely for you!
- Reviewed in the United States on December 30, 2014Strangely beautiful and bravely unorthodox.
I hesitate to rate/review something so very experimental and artistic, but Rothfuss' work deserves discussion. The author does give fair warning in the Forward, proclaiming this is an odd book—one you may not want to read. (That's not just some reverse-psychology gimmick. The man is being honest!) If you haven't at least read The Name Of The Wind and share this reader's interest in the enigmatic character of Auri, you really shouldn't read this story. Not only will it not make sense, but you won't have the tender patience required to appreciate it.
How is the book unusual? Lets start with the dialogue. That is to say...there is no dialogue. Readers begin, dwell, and end exclusively in the eccentric (and sometimes erratic) thoughts of a sprightly young woman who lives in almost complete self-imposed isolation. It could be said that this story has only one character, but that's not entirely true. Auri's disheveled state of mind is such that she spends her days touching, rearranging, and appeasing the collection of inanimate objects she seems to feel intensely responsible for.
The best way to look at this story is in terms of a character study. The object of this study is a brilliant-yet-broken waif who teeters between near-clairvoyant insight and what this reader can only suppose to be tragic mental instability. From the very first page, you may note it takes some effort to adjust to Auri's mind. (Hint: Trying to make sense of her thought processes will only befuddle you. Just go with it.) Her thoughts are often lyrical, but also child-like and disjointed—following a logic all her own. Her behavioral patterns come off as a sort of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder meets frenetic Feng shui. And her gentle, well-intentioned nature is nothing short of endearing. This is a lovingly written character, unlike any this reader has encountered before. From very early on, I had the sense that she's special to Rothfuss. (The author's note at the back certainly backs this up.)
I can't rightly explain it, but I have this nagging impression that Auri is sort of...the daughter of his heart. And with that in mind, I have to see it as an honor that Rothfuss was willing to share her with his readers.
Side Note:
Adding a vaguely Neil Gaiman sort of feel, this book includes an assortment of black and white illustrations. This reader found them to be a lovely bonus to the storytelling.
My one dissatisfaction would be that we never come much closer to understanding WHY Auri is so broken. The nearest we come to a flashback into her past is the fleeting mention of Alchemy and Chemistry principles she was once taught.
In The Name Of The Wind it became clear that Auri is not only reclusive in the extreme, but she has an aversion to sharing personal information. That's all fine and well. But to me, it seems dissonant to think a person—even a mentally ill person—could completely avoid sharing personal information with themselves. Granted you have things like Multiple-Personality Disorder that fragment the consciousness in the name of self-protection, etc...I'm certainly not arguing that this lack of backstory can and must be blamed on the unsoundness of Auri's mind. But it becomes clear that she isn't completely detached from whatever shattered her in the first place. (i.e. Auri at one point spends and entire day weeping, but we as the readers are never privileged with any explanation as to why.)
Something awful must have happened to her—that much is clear. But this book was about showing Auri in her natural element, not explaining how she ended up there.
Top reviews from other countries
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Victor LauraReviewed in Spain on October 3, 2023
5.0 out of 5 stars Una historia única con una prosa deliciosa
Este es uno de mis libros favoritos. La historia contempla varios días en la vida de Auri, uno de los personajes más peculiares de La crónica del asesino de reyes. Narra tanto su vida cotidiana como sus peripecias en lo que ella llama La Subrealidad mientras eso espera la visita de un amigo muy querido.
La edición que compré es preciosa en tapa dura e ilustrada, en inglés, y además trae la firma del autor. Es una delicia disfrutar de la prosa de Patrick Rothfuss en version original.
- Joanna Gawn, Author of The Lazuli PortalsReviewed in the United Kingdom on October 14, 2020
5.0 out of 5 stars Unusual and endearing
What an unexpected treat of a surprise! I hadn't read anything about this novella since I bought it a while back (two years, in fact!), so entered the world of Auri without any expectations of what I would discover.
Auri is such a sweet, pure character, with her half-made words and her interesting approach to her life below. As a writer, I loved the language (some of it reminiscent of a prose-poem). As a reader, the sheer Auri-ness that seeps out of every sentence means that reading the book feels like being on the threshold of a waking dream.
The fact that Rothfuss has allowed the story to be exactly what it needed to be (a bit like Auri's own approach to things!) also endeared me. In his Author Note, he states how weird this story is. And how it breaks all the rules of storytelling. And yet ... somehow it doesn't. Because Auri had a story to tell, and secrets to share (oh so gently, and in their right and perfect place), and this tale does exactly that, in its best and purest way. I don't think I'll ever read anything else quite like it.
I agree with Rothfuss that it will mostly appeal to a subset of readers - those who are happy to fall into quirky, careful, sweet tales where you have no need for it to be anything but a mindful meander through a world of "quite different". I hope you enjoy it if you decide to take that first step!
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Giuseppe PassaReviewed in Italy on January 8, 2020
5.0 out of 5 stars bello
come da prefazione dello stesso autore, sono contenta che finalmente ci sia un libro scritto anche per me. Quelli scritti per altre persone sono già tanti. Da leggere se e solo se si sono già letti gli altri 2 libri di the kingkiller chronicle.
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Giulianna Carvalho de Castro SeneReviewed in Brazil on May 16, 2017
5.0 out of 5 stars O livro é ótimo!
As capas do livro são muito bonitas e bem feitas, gostei mais dessa edição do que da edição britânica. A história é muito boa, é um dos meus livros preferidos. A versão original, em inglês, é ainda melhor do que a versão em português.
- S. HardyReviewed in Japan on October 12, 2023
5.0 out of 5 stars If you wondered how Auri thought ...
This is a look into how Auri, a damaged former-student at The University whom Kvothe visits and plays music for goes about getting by. She's amazing is half the answer, she's pretty damaged is another piece, and her head voices/ thoughts are helpful/ bothersome by turns. If you thought the other books were interesting and felt immersive in this world, well it seems like you're going for a free ride-along trip in the world under the University. And I mean world. As a former anthropology student, I'd give a good chunk of an arm or leg to do a dig in this setting, I'd love to explore this half-flooded, part crushed remnant of disastrous upheaval buried under the city in the books Kvothe stars in. That compelling and mentally pictured. You feel like you have Visited, but didn't get to Stroll as much as you might have wanted to.