{"id":10417,"date":"2025-03-22T23:20:26","date_gmt":"2025-03-22T22:20:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/?p=10417"},"modified":"2025-03-29T12:03:52","modified_gmt":"2025-03-29T11:03:52","slug":"der-betrogene-leser-wie-patrick-rothfuss-die-leser-hinters-licht-fuehrt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lesestunden.de\/en\/2025\/03\/the-deceived-reader-like-patrick-rothfuss-the-readers-deceived-the-light\/","title":{"rendered":"The deceived reader: How Patrick Rothfuss deceives readers"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n

A few days ago I received an email that made me very thoughtful. A reader wrote to me about my review of The Slow Regard of Silent Things<\/a> by Patrick Rothfuss and shares my take. He is deeply disappointed by the fantasy cycle by Patrick Rothfuss, which began in 2007 but was never completed. He goes even further and says he feels deceived, that he considers Rothfuss a fraud, and urges me to warn other readers about these authors. Yes, I can understand him; I can relate to the frustration, even if I don\u2019t share it in that form. But it made me wonder whether that\u2019s even possible. Can an author be a fraud? Can an author truly deceive me with a book? Can publishers actually harm readers with their books\u2014for their own benefit? That\u2019s a topic I\u2019d like to reflect on a little here.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Patrick Rothfuss seems to have fallen into disrepute in the English-speaking world some years ago. The second volume of his The Kingkiller Chronicle<\/em> appeared in 2011, and since then he has repeatedly promised to publish more books, but apparently hasn\u2019t managed to deliver. That frustrated fans and also sparked strong criticism, because he supposedly kept raising hopes and even accepted donations, promising additional chapters in return\u2014then never delivered. He is even said to have harmed his publisher, as one can read online<\/a>. So for nearly fifteen years he has been stringing along his readers and fans while presumably making a lot of money from his books and the numerous reissues. After all, his books are still excellently marketed by publishers. In the German-speaking world there is even a gorgeous deluxe edition of The Name of the Wind<\/em><\/a>. Only the story doesn\u2019t go on. It will likely remain unfinished. And as my reader writes, it\u2019s impossible to complete this fantasy cycle now. It has grown too complex\u2014too many characters, too many plotlines that seem impossible to bring together, already inconsistent and too loose in the first two volumes. Readers invest a lot of time and money in the books and are then disappointed to find an open ending. I\u2019d like to quote the author of the email here, who puts it very aptly.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

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According to the same principle as a chain letter or a financial swindler posing as an investment advisor, more and more attention capital is acquired with further hints and sealed boxes. [\u2026] But in this case, a great many people fall for it\u2014still do. And, like me, they sink a lot of time and money into something that eventually turns out to be a verbose conglomerate of inanities.<\/p>\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

I can completely understand and relate to that. That\u2019s how I felt with The Slow Regard of Silent Things<\/em>. The author and the publishers lined their pockets. But I also see it a bit more nuanced. The first books are truly wonderful\u2014readers get their money\u2019s worth and are superbly entertained. I especially enjoyed the beautiful new edition with its successful illustrations. Yes, it\u2019s an open ending, and there will probably be no way around that. I learned from The Slow Regard of Silent Things<\/em> and became much more skeptical. When a title is announced, I now check very carefully what it actually is. Often you can wait a few years and then pick up such a book used for a few euros. And I learn. I barely registered The Narrow Road Between Desires<\/em> by Rothfuss. I saw it had only 200 pages and was just the next short piece meant to fleece readers. And a slim \u201csupplemental booklet\u201d to a very good series has rarely been a great coup.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Publishers, of course, try to squeeze as much profit as possible out of every book. They are companies\u2014if they don\u2019t, they go under. Fraud, however, always takes two. Or as Traven aptly writes: \u201cFirst the slaves are there, then the dictator appears on the scene.\u201d That\u2019s how I see it here as well. It always also takes the reader who allows themselves to be led astray.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

That unfinished books can still work has been shown by many classics\u2014and that there are more or less talented authors, too. I\u2019m also convinced that nothing of note will come from Rothfuss anymore. He did a good job with those first two books. But what are the odds he\u2019ll publish something solid after so many years? For me, that puts him in the category of second-tier authors. Similar to Bernhard Hennen, who wrote a fine book with The Elves<\/em> but is definitely operating in the middle of the pack. Compared to premium authors like Tad Williams, they can\u2019t control the arc of suspense and the story, and often fall back on simple narrative devices (e.g., the reader\u2019s knowledge advantage, playing to the reader\u2019s narcissism, etc.). Anyone who has read a fantasy cycle by Tad Williams knows how masterfully an extensive plot can be arranged and brought together with a perfect arc of suspense. Or Balzac, the great, incomparable master, who also breaks with classical narrative structures and yet turns such a book into a masterpiece. The main character dies after 1,500 pages, and the remaining 500 pages are still pure bliss. Not every author can do that\u2014there\u2019s a lot of craftsmanship in it.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

From my point of view, it isn\u2019t possible to be defrauded by a book. A guide that ultimately doesn\u2019t offer good advice, doesn\u2019t convey knowledge well, is incomplete, or contains falsehoods? Yes, that happens\u2014but you can usually find that out easily if you spend a little time informing yourself about a book. A book that promises too much and doesn\u2019t deliver? Of course\u2014that happens by the thousands. The art lies in recognizing that beforehand. Nothing is handed to you. You have to develop your own feel for it\u2014your own strategies for finding good books. If I walk into the bookstore around the corner and grab the first book the clerk recommends, well, of course I may get the short end of the stick. That\u2019s obvious. Or if I believe every marketing slogan from a publisher. But we\u2019re talking about books that don\u2019t cost hundreds of euros. I\u2019m often unsure about a choice; those titles go on a list, and I pick them up years later, used, for a few euros. Risk management\u2014like in all areas of life.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

Let\u2019s take it a step further and look at political books, literature on pseudoscience, books from dubious sources, sponsored books meant to push certain political or religious opinions, investment guides, books on how to raise your child, what to think. There are almost always economic interests behind these. You can find all of this on the market. I remember the book Every Child Can Learn to Sleep<\/em>, which recommended the strategy of letting the infant cry \u201cin a controlled way.\u201d I don\u2019t want to know how many people harmed their child with that. But even here, for me, the same principle applies: you have to think for yourself. No one can do your critical thinking for you\u2014even if it has gone very much out of fashion to muster the courage to use one\u2019s own understanding.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

So back to Rothfuss: Is he a fraud? On par with a financial scammer or the author of a chain letter? No, not from my perspective. The two novels are truly beautiful, and with books, for me, the journey is the destination. Reading them is simply fun and transports the reader wonderfully to another world. If you place great value on a rounded story with a good ending, you can\u2019t avoid waiting for the final volume of a series before diving in\u2014which, incidentally, is what I usually do. But Rothfuss\u2019s books can definitely be recommended, and they provide excellent entertainment while you read.<\/p>\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n

What do you think? Am I wrong? Have you ever felt cheated by an author or a book? Have you ever been truly annoyed by a bad book? How do you choose your books to avoid that problem?<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A few days ago I received an email that made me very thoughtful. A reader wrote to me about my review of The Slow Regard of Silent Things by Patrick Rothfuss and shares my take. He is deeply disappointed by the fantasy cycle by Patrick Rothfuss, which began in 2007 but was never completed. He … <\/p>\n

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