The Slow Regard of Silent Things

You know what? I'll be honest here. It's been so long since I've read The Wise Man's Fear that I've forgotten everyone's name except Kvothe and Bast (although I frequently think Bash). So when I heard that this little book would be focusing on Auri, I thought Denna instead. A couple pages in I knew I was wrong, so I took a quick trip to http://kingkiller.wikia.com/ and got my names straight. Finally having the right character associated with the name, I was probably more excited than ever about this book, more time with the mysterious and strange Auri? Yes, please.

There's no real plot-line, no story – it's more of a slice-of-life kind of thing. How does Auri spend a week – in what seems a representative, yet atypical, sample. It's truly rewarding to see how Auri's mind works – and to get an inkling of an idea how she fits in (or, at least, fit in) to The University.

The voice isn't that of Kvothe, it's nothing like Kvothe's voice – which is a huge relief for many who wondered if Rothfuss could sound any other way. No, it's just how Auri should sound. He (not at all surprisingly) captured her essence so well. For someone we know so little about, it's astounding to me how often I read a line or paragraph or whatever and said, “Yes, this is her exactly.”

It's tough for me to know how to say anything about this (in case you hadn't noticed), so let me just stop trying: The Slow Regard of Silent Things is a nice read. A light, sad, whimsical read – with bit of darkness in the background (it only shows up in the vaguest sense). Just a pleasure.

I don't know if Rothfuss has more things like this planned, or if the next things we'll see out of him is the end of the Kingkiller Chronicles. While hoping for the latter, I'll take either after reading this.

“La música del silencio” la escribió inicialmente para formar parte de la antología Rogues (editada por George R. R. Martin y Gardner Dozois) pero, al parecer, se le fue un poco la mano con la historia y decidió abandonarla por ser demasiado larga (y rara). Por cierto, para quedar bien con el gordito Martin, escribió The Lightning Tree, la cual fue incluida finalmente en la antología. Después de la antología decidió terminar la historia que ahora tenemos.

Ahora ya sé que Auri sabe hacer unos jabones muy bonitos, que se lava la cara, las manos y los pies, que estudió Alquimia con Mandrag y que es muy, muy probable que sepa de Nominación. Puede que esa sea la razón por la cual Elodin muestra interés hacia ella, ¿no? Muchas especulaciones, mucha incertidumbre.

Ha sido un libro extraño sin lugar a dudas. Me terminó gustando por razones que todavía estoy tratando de comprender. Auri no está cerca de ser uno de mis personajes favoritos pero, eso sí, es una de los personajes más enigmáticos. Tal vez la razón sea que también estoy un poco dañado, como Auri, como Patrick. No es para todos.

This is an interesting piece of writing. In some bizarre way, it reminds me of a meticulously curated pen and pencil library I made when I was a child. Each writing utensil had a serial number, and there was a ledger in which I kept detailed records about each item in the library. 
The story was good, the illustrations were beautifully drawn and the typesetting around them was lovely. 

Auri: Siete días en su vida.

Esta novela narra siete días de la vida de Auri antes de una visita de Kvothe, explorando su perspectiva sobre la Subrealidad y el mundo.

Es una historia hermosa y bien escrita (como suele hacer Rothfuss), que revela nuevos detalles sobre Auri. Sin embargo, no es esencial para la "Crónica del Asesino de Reyes" y se siente un poco extensa: tres días habrían sido suficientes.