My Rating: 
Author: Patrick Rothfuss
Narrator: Nick Podehl
Publisher: Brilliance Audio
Length: 42 hrs 59 min
My Review: If you are a fan of fantasy and you haven’t already read or listened to “The Name of the Wind” I will assume that you have just awoken from a 3-4 yr coma and are catching up on some reading. Before you even bother reading this review, please go and download a copy of “The Name of the Wind, Kingkiller Chronicles Day 1”. You will not regret it.
Book one in this series made such a good impression on me that I have been stalking the author’s blog looking for information on release dates and hints about what new adventures Kvothe will be embarking on for several years. So once the audiobook was made available on Audible I quickly downloaded it and started looking for excuses to take a road trip.
This book continues in the same fashion as “The Name of the Wind” with Kvothe recounting his tale to Chronicler. Fortunately the vast majority of this book is spent with this tale within a tale. The occasional breaks in the story that are spent in Kvothe’s inn seem to drag at times. Not that these sections are poorly written or anything. It is just that I was always impatient to get back to Kvothe’s adventure.
Much of “The Wise Man’s Fear” finds Kvothe away from the university and out on the road looking for a patron and continuing to expand upon his mythos. This story is engrossing and the hours just seem to fly by.
Sweeping, Breathtaking, Epic, Adventure, Addictive
Audio Production: As I mentioned above, I was extremely eager to get my hands on this audiobook. However, the first thing I checked before I added this book to my Audible cart was to verify that Nick Podehl was the narrator. Would I have still bought the book if a new narrator was listed? Probably. However my excitement would have drastically diminished. Switching narrators in the middle of a series is a huge pet peeve for me!
Nick Podehl turned in another superb performance! His narration keeps you hooked, never once breaking character. I think it is always a really good sign when I start googling the narrator’s name to find more of his work.
Overall: Bottom line – If you enjoyed “The Name of the Wind” you will be blown away by the “The Wise Man’s Fear”.
Loved the novel. 43 hours, and wished it was longer. In fact, it was the only novel so far this year I gave an A+ to. Thanks for the review. I also though Podehl handled the narration well, and it was a tough novel to narrate with the poetry, music, and hand signs.
Thanks for the comment Bob. I was also impressed with how easily Podehl seemed to handle the use of hand signs. Good stuff! Unfortunately I think we might have a long wait for Day 3 of this series.