#kkc criticism

[kvothe-kingkiller]

I started reading poppy war for like idk kinda research for my own writing and like. idk if I’m insane or not but I feel like I’ve only ever seen good stuff about it with the only criticism being that its depressing, but I’m only 6 chapters in but already it just doesnt seem That Good?

like first of all there are these massive lore/exposition dumps that are not needed and drag on and in the first bit it pauses every other sentence to explain the history of something that the reader already picked up or didnt need

secondly its like. weirdly derivative? I’m seeing a Lot of similarities with kkc, and I can hardly point fingers at the concept of a prestigious school but to have a group of masters of different subjects who ‘claim’ students to study under them, promoting them after first year, who each ask questions for an exam, one of which is the ‘crazy one’ who knows the weird magic and acts so much like elodin it could be fanfiction? (bad fanfiction tho, hes like even more childish but in a stupid way) its starting to get a little suspect.

not only that but there have been at least two times where kuang straight up lifted stories from other things. first is carrying a pig up a mountain as it grows (from holes) second is the story of using a boat under the cover of fog with fake soldiers to collect arrows (from three kingdoms) but she just had some kid invent it as a strategy?

also this is stupid but she mentions art of war being super long. its like 10 pages. youre thinking of war and peace.

I havent read all that many posts about it but I havent seen a single thing about any of this^ am I crazy?

[perdvivly]

There’s a common critique of The Kingkiller Chronicles that says the main character (Kvothe) is over powered and this makes the conflicts uninteresting to read because Kvothe will always do something exceptionally clever and resolve whatever problem he comes across by being a super genius with few to no character flaws.

Examples usually cited include his admission to the university at an exceptionally young age and receiving the first ever scholarship. Or his admission into the arcanum and the showing up of his overly arrogant teacher. The list goes on.

And this seems to me to be such a tremendously poor critique it’s absolutely mystifying that it’s been made so many times. And made by people who I think in other contexts show themselves to be astute and good faith readers. It fundamentally misunderstands the very obvious point of any of the scenes they like to cherrypick. In my mind it misunderstands the point of the entire book itself.

Rothfuss’ world-building involves two primary magic systems, one very hard magic system (sympathy) and one very soft magic system (naming). And if you’ll forgive a vibic associative sort of description here, these are supposed to roughly correspond to a type of analytic intelligence and a type of thoughtful wisdom respectively.

It is important to note that Kvothe is portrayed as exceptionally talented at the analytic type of hard-magic and not particularly talented at the more reflective soft-magic.

This is an important feature to keep in mind when you look at the sort of story Rothfuss’ is trying to tell. His writing has a sort of recursive quality. The story is a frame narrative, it’s a story within a story, and often there are stories within the stories within the stories. It seems rather obvious that Rothfuss has in mind the power of thoughtful deliberateness, the power of thoughtfully chosen words, and it seems rather obvious too that he’s showing us a failure case of this. Kvothe’s story isn’t wish-fulfilment Mary Sue fantasy. It’s a tragedy. It’s how you end up old and alone and regretting your life story. The protagonist is reckless, arrogant, and mentally agile in a way that gets him off the hook in situations that might seem short-term unpleasant to be in, but would otherwise serve as valuable learning experiences.

Kvothe is unable to see the value of things that his teachers say are difficult or impossible to fully explicate. He is insistent that his own mental prowess is sufficient to overcome any surmountable obstacle. He’s brought up short several times, he’s asked to describe love, or music, and he blusters on seemingly unaware of his own incompetence.

There’s an analogy to Hamlet to be made. Kvothe’s hamartia is the obverse face of the Danish Prince’s, he never stops to think, he just acts—and disaster follows.

The scene where Kvothe is admitted into the university at a young age and given the first ever scholarship is a good example of this actually. How did he manage to accomplish this? He cheated. He broke into the admissions hall and spied on other candidates taking the entrance exam and memorised the questions the examiners asked and their model answers. This is explained in the very next passage to him taking the exam, but I guess people making the critique found it egregious enough that they put the book down before reading on to that part.

Kvothe sacrifices long-term deep understanding of the world for short-term gain. He uses his analytic faculties to try to game the system. And we know, as he says at the very beginning of the story, that he will eventually suffer for it.

None of this is to say that Kkc is beyond reproach. There are very legitimate criticisms to be made about its representation and treatment of women. It’s just that people so often want to make a critique of it that misunderstands it so badly it makes me think they should read it. The force of the book is directed to people who would misunderstand it in this way… But it’s difficult to explain that to someone who is trapped in that sort of misapprehension.

[lyxthen-reblogs]

The thing about Ace Attorney and Hamilton is that the first time I learned about AA was kind of through a Hamilton fanfic author (you are allowed to criticize me for this, middle school was a dark time for me) and there will always be a part of me that just lumps them both together, just like I lump Name of the Wind and Hamilton together sometimes (if you don't know NoTW/KKC don't read it. We will never get the third book I don't want people to get invested in a work that won't get finished any time soon).

Anyway, unfortunately I love Hamilton to this day (Why is it so good!? Why is it that after all these years it keeps being good!? It has no right to be this good!!) and I can't stop thinking about how if it wasn't because of it I wouldn't be having my current hyperfixation probably, and my original projects would look very different (it really was that influential on me)

Anyway why did I go on a ramble about this. I might be hungry.

Guys y’all don’t know what listening to Hamilton and also being the Ace Attorney fandom has done to my brain.

I’m currently making a Kristoph Gavin playlist and holy shit, I put a lot of Hamilton songs on Miles and Phoenix’s playlist but HOLY SHIT KRISTOPH HAS WAAAAY MORE.

Anyway let me rant:

The Room Where It Happens (Basically Kristoph being a pissbaby about not getting to defend Gramarye)

You’ll Be Back (Krisnix coded guys come ON)

The Schuyler Sisters (Fey sisters coded ofc)

Helpless (Feenie coded both ways from Dahlia/Iris to Miles)

Satisfied (Feenris and Narumitsu coded holy shit can go either way)

Aaron Burr, Sir (Miles and Phoenix first meeting coded, also the rest of the characters in the song are Gumshoe and Larry coded) (And other characters) (This also includes both Story’s Of Tonight)

Wait For It (The most Miles song I’ve ever heard, could be a good one for when he writes his note)

Right Hand Man (Mia and Phoenix coded, but also any song with Washington and Hamilton is Mia and Phoenix coded omg have you guys HEARD Meet Me Inside?)

History Has It’s Eyes On You (Omg, just every single lawyer in AA coded? I once saw an animatic of this song with Sebastian and Miles and holy shit it was great, it’s also them coded)

Dear Theodosia (Oh my goodness Trucy and Phoenix coded oh my goodness I love them)

Non-Stop (This is such a good one for the whole of the AA series guys, I think this one is a good song for the Trilogy in particular)

Laurens Interlude (I know it’s not technically in the soundtrack but this is really TRULY Phoenix gets Miles’ note coded oh my goodness)

What’d I Miss (Kristoph and Miles coded both ways, oh my goodness, Miles coming back from his death and Kristoph being a bitch)

Cabinet Battle (1 and 2) (Oh, oh baby girl this is, so beautifully every single court case coded in existence)

Say No To This (…Is this Krisnix coded? NO. No… Definitely not…) (Also I know Phoenix would never cheat on Miles if they were together during the 7yg but omg this is the perfect song for it if he were cheating on Mike’s with Kristoph)

The Reynolds Pamphlet (Oh my god, this is sooooooooo so sooooooooo Phoenix just getting disbarred coded) (Kristoph and Klavier and Payne as Burr, Jefferson and Madison? Yes. Yea I just said that) (…Angelica as Miles…)

Blow Us All Away (Aside from the dying part, Trucy and Phoenix coded) (I did wanna do some of these songs for Sebastian and Apollo and Kay but I feel like they go so much better with my girl Trucy)

Your Obedient Servant (This is soooo Kristoph and Phoenix coded they are soooo this song)

Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story? (Ace Attorney coded in general come on)

Alexander Hamilton (Oh my god guys holy shit this song…)

(We fought with him: Godot, Franziska, Larry and Gumshoe, Maya and Pearl

Me I died for him: Mia

Me I trusted him: Athena, Apollo, Klavier and Trucy

Me I loved him: Miles and Mia

And me? I’m the damn fool that shot (disbarred) him: Kristoph)

[ianxfalcon]

You know, I normally don’t think a lot about The Kingkiller Chronicle, because as a general rule I prefer to think about things that I like or things that I absolutely hate. But as I was repairing some clothes for the upcoming renaissance fair, I remembered a line from the first book that really bugged me.

Kvothe was complaining about how poor he was and the thing he focused on was that he had to make do with two shirts and that he had to mend them with the wrong-colour thread. At the time, I was mostly annoyed because this is a kid who’s lived on the street for four years, begging and stealing to survive, and now that he has a roof over his head and three meals a day, he’s complaining about not being fashionable enough? It was, to my opinion, really strange and whiny considering that this should be the norm in the world that the book has presented to us. It felt more like something a modern college student would be concerned about.

But as I was thinking about it today - growing increasingly annoyed because I was thinking about it while sewing, an activity I hate passionately - I suddenly realized something that put my dislike of both the book and the character of Kvothe in a new light.

(Before we begin, let me just state that yes, this is a KKC hate post. If you like the series and Kvothe, that’s great and I’m happy for you. You do not need to tell me that I’m wrong or have no taste or just don’t understand literature; I don’t care. If you don’t want to read a text being negative about a book you love, feel free to go somewhere else. If you still want to argue, I will probably ignore you, unless you make a good point.)

(For the record, I don’t actually hate the series. I do hate Kvothe, though, which is kind of the same thing, I guess, as he is the narrator and shows up in every chapter of the first book, except one - which is incidentally the best chapter in the book. The Name of the Wind would be a perfectly decent book if it wasn’t for Kvothe. He is terrible. A friend of mine, who is a fan of the series, told me about a plot that happened in the second book, which I haven’t read, and said that I would probably enjoy it because it consisted of Kvothe being beaten up repeatedly.)

So what I realized was this:

The narrative, and Kvothe himself in the role of the narrator, is trying to present him as an underdog. Think about it: he arrives at the University completely broke, he - as he keeps reiterating over and over and over again - has no money, and Draco Malfoy Ambrose Whatever-The-Fuck-His-Name-Is, the rich jock of fantasy, is constantly bullying him. A lot of people treat him like dirt because he’s, like, a nobody who comes here and is so much better than them, how dare he, etc. And of course Kvothe himself likes to remind us (and remind us, and remind us, and remind us) that nobody could ever understand his hardships.

But Kvothe is not an underdog. He grew up in a travelling troupe who were hated, sure, for no apparent reason other than because they were, but they were not oppressed or disadvantaged in any way. They had a rich patron, they had all the income they needed - it’s even mentioned that they didn’t even need to travel around, and could just cancel shows whenever they felt like it if the areas weren’t up to their standards, ie. if they didn’t get the best spot and the best beds and so on. They constantly, constantly looked down their noses at the common people for not being as well-travelled or as well-educated as them.

From the start, Kvothe had a diverse education; he is well-read, he can do sums, he’s a good actor, a god-tier musician (apparently), he speaks Shakespearean fluently; he dresses well and talks well. He had a private tutor giving him lessons about magic and everything else he could want. The book keeps insisting that he’s a genius and makes that the basis of his persona.

Except being a genius is not what got him to the University. All of the things I mentioned above is what got him there. His education, his acting skills, his eye for fashion, the fact that he had the fortune to start doing magic at a young age under a teacher, hell, just the fact that he could read - that’s what got him to the University. None of that was of his own making, really, except coming up with a way to make use of those skills.

There are, even today in our own world, countless of geniuses out there who will never get those chances. They won’t have the opportunities to go to a university because they can’t afford it, they have to work to feed their families, they never learned to read or count in the first place because that education is not available for everyone. There are people who could probably change the world, save the world, but who will die from starvation or easily preventable diseases before they turn twelve. The same is probably true in Kvothe’s world - we know poverty exists, because we get to see it. There are children living on the streets (one of which sees everything he’s ever owned go up in flames because Kvothe is a petty little shit), there are abandoned children living in basements, being cared for by one concerned individual. Some of those children probably were intelligent as well - maybe not as intelligent as a certain protagonist because he’s like a Sooper Genius, but certainly intelligent and talented enough that they could become successful and celebrated in a chosen field. But they can’t. Because they’re poor and uneducated, you know, just like the people Kvothe and his family used to look down on.

Kvothe spends four years living in poverty, and then he decides to stop, and when he does it takes him less than a day to get everything back in order. He spent four years doing nothing except feeling sorry for himself, when apparently all he needed was to just get his act together. But he could only do it thanks to his background; he used his acting skills, which he learned from his parents because they had the time and opportunity to do so, and his reading and mathematics skills - which you can only get from a formal education - to con people and getting money. His acceptance into the University also hinged on education he received - education he would not have gotten unless he had been born into that kind of privilege.

And once he’s off the street, it’s like those four years never happened. He doesn’t reflect on them, he never even seems particularly worried that he’ll end up back there. His concerns are all very shallow: only owning two shirts, which makes him look poor or cheap; having to use the wrong-colour thread to mend them, which will look slightly less good; not being able to go out for a beer or buy luxury items.

Now, I’m not saying that people who grew up in poverty (which, again, Kvothe didn’t; he was twelve when his troupe were murdered) shouldn’t be allowed to enjoy luxurious things, and I’m certainly not saying that they should be grateful for what little they get. But the fact that Kvothe doesn’t even think about it, except to whine about it occasionally when he’s not whining about something else, shows a certain level of... privilege that I’m pretty sure was not intentional.

It would make sense that Kvothe, going from a life in relative luxury to a life that is comfortable but not fantastic, would be upset about it. If he had gone directly from the troupe (I’m sorry that I can’t remember what they were called) to the University, then his attitude would make sense. But he spent four years in poverty and didn’t gain any perspective at all. The way he acts makes it seem like he believes he is entitled to things simply because he is smart and has skills. That is a very privileged way to look at things, and if he had been intended to be seen as a privileged kid who has to work past that, then it would have been pretty good characterisation.

Except, again, he spent four years in poverty. He probably watched people starve to death. He should at least at some point have been worried that the same thing would happen to him. He should know that his being in the University is not some kind of reward for his suffering, but a privilege for a few lucky people.

And yet, he says “I don’t expect anyone to understand.”

Yet, we are supposed to see his story as one of an underdog coming from nothing, fighting, and, against all odds, winning. (And then spending a lot of time in a depression because he’s not Awesome anymore, but that’s a whole other can of worms.) Meanwhile, on the streets of Tarbean, children are still starving to death because they never had a well-off background, a private tutor, and readily available education that they could fall back on.

And maybe that’s not what Rothfuss intended, but that is how I read it. The books, now as then, has one really big problem and that is the way they choose to present their protagonist, or at least the way I interpret him. Am I wrong? Possibly? Does it matter? No.

[passingthegravesoftheunknown]

Can't believe it's been another year already. Here's my #2021artsummary!

[druggeddraccus]

Worldbuilders 2018

The D&D Fundraiser Page

This seems pretty cool for all y’all DnD kids.

(Also Magnus’ card is made of wood...how fucking cool is that??)

For every 10 you donate through this fundraiser page you get a chance to win a card and all the other stuff in the lottery—like the Joco Cruise Cabin, a Wyrmwood gaming table, books, jewelry, games. A whole bunch of stuff. Go check it out.

[coat-the-boneless]

If Kvothe had stayed in Tarbean he’d look exactly like Caleb Widogast

He’d have a similar personality too

[bookcub]

I posted 6,367 times in 2021

868 posts created (14%)

5499 posts reblogged (86%)

For every post I created, I reblogged 6.3 posts.

I added 832 tags in 2021

#my aesthetic - 226 posts

#kkc - 173 posts

#gf tag - 149 posts

#kingkiller chronicle - 57 posts

#ace stuff - 50 posts

#the scapegracers - 40 posts

#vampire academy - 36 posts

#kkcreadalong - 34 posts

#asexuality - 34 posts

#iron widow - 33 posts

Longest Tag: 122 characters

#this spiralling train of thought is both personal and makes one think about their own relationship with mothers and gender

My Top Posts in 2021

#5

Book Discussion

I'm curious, how many books people own that they have not read. most of booklr seems to have a large number from what they've said, but my collection seems much smaller (not counting e books, I have around 25).

totally not meant to be judgy, I'm just very curious about how many other people have.

281 notes • Posted 2021-02-20 20:52:52 GMT

#4

why did no one tell me there was a mlm Christmas movie that was pure fluff just released on Netflix??? best friends falling in love?? faje dating??? family very supportive of their kid and his love interest??? shenanigans????

298 notes • Posted 2021-12-03 04:20:53 GMT

#3

*whispers* guys. authors aren't perfect. they are human. you are allowed to enjoy their imperfect work without putting them on a pedestal.

345 notes • Posted 2021-01-04 20:12:14 GMT

#2

a note to the reader from winterkeep by kristin cashore

now I feel like some people might be critical of this but sometimes when I read a high fantasy novel, I need to balance a few less world building things. I appreciate the authors who create calendars for their fictional worlds, but sometimes a book doesn't need that and I appreciate the authors who make either choice.

860 notes • Posted 2021-02-07 22:13:56 GMT

#1

humans of the internet, I am giving you all permission to put down that book. the one you are reading that everyone else loves? the one that someone swears you'll adore? the one you actively dislike reading?

you can put it down.

there are so many books in the world, you can't love them all. and that's okay. maybe you want to like it, maybe you feel obligated to read it, maybe you think you'll like the end more.

it's okay. walk away from this one. find another you'll love. it's what you deserve.

reading is for you and what you want.

1062 notes • Posted 2021-11-01 19:42:41 GMT

Get your Tumblr 2021 Year in Review →

[kote-the-inn-keeper]

i fUCKING LOVE LIAM O’BRIAN HI HELLO PAT PLEASE SOMEHOW CAST HIM AS SOMEONE I MEAN

I  M E A N 

[alvie-pines]

A lot of people complain about Kvothe being a Mary Sue/Gary Stu by saying "everyone loves him and the people who hate him hate him for no reason." I'm not trying to discredit criticisms of KKC, but wasn't a huge part of the books like.... Kvothe doing stupid shit and pissing people off? Like he is an insufferable little twat with a mean mouth sometimes and the book shows us that, and other characters hate him because of that. He's got flaws (he's proud, he doesn't know when to back down, he prioritizes making his enemies look bad over anything else) and other characters dislike those traits!

[aidenwaites]

i just had a vision and anyway. Elodin in KKC should be portrayed by Jack Black i am NOT taking criticism

[aventisz]

I'd love to hear your theory on how Elodin got into the fae 👀

Okay, but first lemme insert a cute Elodin scribble here ;)

Now, to the real thing~

First, I have to declare that I only read Rothfuss’ books inhungarian and I’m not sure how much the translation affected my understanding.Second, I never really theorized anything before in any fandom (except right now I’m in The Dragon Prince Hell with a buddy) sooo I mightmake wild guesses. I welcome any addition or criticism because I’m pretty sureyou (or a bunch of other people in the KKC fandom) have read these books waymore times than me and know way more about it as I do… and again, I feel like I’m bad at making theories and even tho I spent like forever organizing my thoughts it came out like rambling…

So then, let’s see how Elodin, my baby boi, has any relationto the Fae. Pretty much the only thing we know he knows something of the Fae isthat he recognized Kvothe’s enshade (is it how Kvothe’s cloak is called inenglish?). How the heck can he know that tho? I doubt he just recognized itbecause he read about in a book description or something. I’d guess he has seenone before. If he did, he either saw someone wearing it either in Temerant(which isn’t a common sight) or he’s been to the Fae realm. If he did so, itseems pretty suspicious that his visit was around the time he was Chancellor.He went there, somehow came back, went mad and somehow his student went nutstoo in the process. To be honest, I feel like if I add more to this that’d berather my headcanons than actually relying on the text. Other than that onecould think that Elodin sorta did the same thing as Kvothe: he went to Ademre,met Felurian but he just changed a wee bit more than Kvothe did. It would kindaexplain why Elodin is so interested in talking about sex. But I’m pretty surethat’d be just poor storytelling which I doubt papa Rothfuss would commit to.

So, instead, I’m thinking about something else: what isElodin is one of the Fae? I’m pretty sure some people out there could prove mewrong (you are more than welcome tho!) but hear me out: what if he’s a bitweird because he has zero idea about normal human social interactions? He asksof his students to tell him random facts because he’s fascinated with thisworld and wants to know more? He’s into being nude and having sex, because, theFae might be interested in that stuff in general (I’m not sure if all the Faeare tho, but Felurian and Bast are at least, I don’t know). Like, if he was oneof the Fae, that’d explain how he knows of the enshade. Also that part in Wiseman’ fear, where Kvothe meets Felurian: in every other sentence he describeshow Felurian’s eyes/voice/everything is similar to Elodin’s (now there’s thisthing that Kvothe’s eyes changed when he came back from the Fae realm too… I’lloverlook that because I can, lol). But then Elodin was admitted to theUniversity at a young age, right? Maybe either he was a lost little baby Faethen or simply he used some magic to make himself look young? He could behalf-fae too oh my heart… And even if the Fae have their own magic, I’m prettysure they can learn naming since I guess Bast knows it too (because in the end ofWMF, there are rings of various materials in his room). But then what happenedwhen Elodin was abdicated from being Chancellor? Maybe he organized a schooltrip to the Fae and it didn’t turn out well XD

So I dunno,  I’mhaving fun thinking about this stuff… and oh man Elodin looks even hotter withpointy ears so let me have some wild guessing X) And uh, in the end I hope this was somewhat enjoyable! If you got this far in reading, feel free to request KKC art XD

[sunlit-music]

Why I like the Kingkiller Chronicles.

Look, I’d like other tumblr blogs to stop implying that KKC fans are sexist with bad taste for reading KKC. They’re entitled to their opinion, but I have to disagree with them. Let’s look at their arguments:

Question: Why don’t you and other KKC fans read female and people of color authors? Why is KKC everywhere on tumblr?

My answer: There are tumblr blogs that love kkc, female and poc authors. One well known tumblr blog that loves KKC, poc and women authors is bookcub. I think bookcub makes some of the defenses I’m about to mention - apologies if I’m repeating what she or other tumblr bloggers have already said.

The KKC fandom bloggers on tumblr already read diverse authors from what I can see. To be fair, I’m fairly new to tumblr, so I don’t know everyone in the KKC fandom on tumblr.

Also, the KKC fandom is really small on tumblr, so I’m not sure why you think KKC is everywhere on tumblr blogs?

I do read female and people of color authors. I’ve posted a lot about Sarah Rees Brennan’s books, The Lynburn Legacy and the Demon’s Lexicon trilogy, and J K Rowling’s Harry Potter books.

Apologies if I make crappy spelling mistakes, my spellcheck is atrocious.

I’ve read women and poc authors, such as: Any mystery novel by Agatha Christie, especially the Hercule Poirot books and the Miss Marple series.

Lgbt authors and poets I like - I have so many, but my favourite ones are Scott Ryan Tracey (author), Malinda Lo (author), any poetry by Sappho (Ancient Greek poetess), and Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray. I also don’t like Lord Byron’s sexism towards women writers, but I like his writing.

Other female and or poc authors I like: Anything by Emily Rodda - especially Deltora Quest, Rowan of Rin series and the Teen Power Inc books.

Ten things I hate about me. By Randa Abdel-Fattah, who is Palestinian Muslim.

Tahereh Mafi. Iranian American author. Shatter Me series.

Cecilia Dart-Thornton. The Bitterbynde Trilogy.

Diana Wynne Jones, The Christopher Chant books.

N K Jemisin’s 100 thousand kingdoms trilogy books. I’ve already read and loved this trilogy prior to 2014. The last book in the series was published in 2011.

Cassandra Clare. Shadow hunter series - City of Glass. The Dark Artifices. Magnus Bane books.

Holly Black - Spiderwick Chronicles.

Malinda Lo - Ash, Adaptation, Inheritance, Tremontaine.

Robin McKinley - Beauty.

Ursula K LeGuin - Wizard of Earthsea, The ones who walk away from Omelas.

Ellen Kushner - Swordspoint and Privilege of the Sword.

JK Rowling - Harry Potter books.

Stranger (The Change series) - science fiction and fantasy young adult apocalyptic fiction, by Rachel Manija Brown and Sherwood Smith.

Crown Duel - fantasy, by Sherwood Smith.

Song of the Lioness, The Immortals, anything else by Tamora Pierce.

Question: You shouldn’t read Patrick Rothfuss because there’s better women writers and poc writers than him.

My answer: Actually, I can read what I want. My spare time, my hobbies, my decision. I agree it’s important to read women and poc authors too. ❤️ But that shouldn’t prevent me from reading KKC.

Question: Can’t you stop blogging about KKC? I don’t like KKC.

My answer: No, sorry. You’re entitled to your opinion, and I’m entitled to mine. If you don’t like my KKC posts, you can either scroll past them or stop reading my tumblr blog.

Question: aren’t you bothered that Patrick Rothfuss writes sexist parts in his books?

My answer: Yes. I like The Name of the Wind, but I was bothered by the lack of women in the first few chapters, and the constant tactless jokes made by Kvothe and his friend Sovoy about sex workers.

And Wise Man’s Fear is way less sexist than The Name of the Wind. Patrick Rothfuss takes on constructive criticism really well, hence why he has way more female characters who appear more often and have much more skills and knowledge than Kvothe.

Sexism in fantasy books is not solely a Rothfuss problem. Sexism appears in a lot of books by men, women and gender queer people, and I agree we should work hard to not write books with sexist messages, and include more equal number of well written female characters. 💕

Kvothe even gets female martial arts teachers from the Adem mercenaries. There are plenty of brave, smart, kind and interesting female characters, like Auri, Devi, Denna, Fela, Mola, and Kvothe’s mum Laurian.

Laurian was brave enough to leave a loveless arranged marriage and unsupportive family to marry Kvothe’s dad Arliden. And the antagonist Cinder said Laurian was tougher than Arliden.

Plus you get a book from Auri’s point of view, The Slow Regard of Silent Things.

I come across other authors who are really bad at taking constructive criticism from readers and even have the nerve to bully and sue readers who disagree politely. Authors who sue people for writing fanfiction. At least Patrick Rothfuss never does that.

I’ve read across plenty of books that are incredibly racist and frustrating. I’ve also been disappointed by books with negative and cruel portrayals of musicians. Say what you want about Rothfuss, he’s strongly anti racist and he respects musicians.

I’m a poc of South East Asian descent and I have relatives who play in a band and other relatives who play music in their spare time. I play piano as a hobby. I don’t have to worry about seeing racist rubbish or insults to musicians when I read any book by Rothfuss.

[fefeman]

I like to compare "The Usual Suspect" with "King Killer Chronicles", because the latter is often shielded from criticism by the claim of unreliable narrator and I feel it fail on Unreliable narrator where the former succeed, and in a way that invalidate the defense.

In KKC, the main character tell the story of his life to someone. The way it's framed is that there will be a in the hundred pages, often more, of told story, and then a couple of pages in the present. By contrast, the Usual Suspect have proportionally more frequently cut to the present. The issue with KKC's division of time is that it make the framing story inconsequential, because it's barely a few lines of dialogues between the arcs of the narration.

What's told is also important. The Usual suspect give reasons to suspect the lies : the narrator is regularly contradicted by proofs the police found, while others feed his version. We know he's hiding stuff, but not how much or what. Meanwhile KKC handwave the problem by having the main character tell his audience to not question him, and the few interruptions there are only focus on minor details. So where one give reasons to care about the truth and lies, the others give no reasons or tools to get the audience to dissect the story and find what actually happened.

In the end, KKC being told by an unreliable narrator is irrelevant, it's what OP mention. If the story is true, there's no change, but if it indeed was a unreliable like some claims, it didn't matter in my enjoyment because it's just a plot twist at the end. But in the Usual Suspect, the unreliable nature MATTERS, because it's constantly shifting what we can trust or not, and investing peoples in the mystery.

Unreliable narrators need to add something to the story. They aren’t an excuse for poor storytelling and inconsistencies.

[kvothbloodless]

Hi! I read this article recently saying that the women in King Killer series are really badly written (flat / unimportant / there to be sexualised etc) and just typical of fantasy fiction BUT I absolutely love the books and I didn't initially think this despite hating that portrayal of women in fiction -idk, basically I wondered if you thought the same/ if this is a common opinion?

I can see a little bit where this criticism comes from. In the first book Fela is mostly there as a plot device, and Denna isnt 100% fleshed out. I still think its far too harsh then, becuase Denna and Auri are incredibly complex, amazing, and feminist characters in NoTW

And then in WMF, Mola and Fela get fully fleshed out, and Denna and Auri get even more depth, so after the second book I think its completely undeserved. Overall, I think Pat could have done better in book 1, but it wasn’t ‘bad’, and by book two he really did well. Compared to many modern fantasy books, even book one is amazingly feminist. 

KKC Fandom, any thoughts?

[tummymouth]

me, trying to organize my thoughts and criticisms for kk and kkc:

my brain: what if dsmp au