Kingkiller Shorts by Patrick Rothfuss

Titles: 

-How Old Holly Came to Be

-The Lightning Tree (found in Rogues)

-The Slow Regard of Silent Things

-The Narrow Road Between Desire (expansion of Lightning Tree)

Author: Patrick Rothfuss (American, 1973- )
Originally published: 2013; 2014; 2014; 2023

Page count: 7; 59; 147; 208

Dates read: 

10/23/23-11/4/23; 11/10/23-11/28/23; 9/17/24-9/29/24

2023 book goal progress: 20, 21 out of 23; 21 out of 24

2024 book goal progress: 21 out of 24

Read my other book reviews for my 2023 goals HERE.
Read my other book reviews for my 2024 goals HERE.






How Old Holly Came to Be

This is a poetic short story about a Lady and an old holly tree and how it came to protect her. It's short, sweet, and poetic. You can read it at the link above. 

Description on back of book:
The Lightning Tree takes us to the iconic Waystone Inn to follow a typical day in the life of one of the Kingkiller Chronicle's most popular characters, the mysterious Bast, ostensibly an errand boy, who is much more than he seems to be - a day in which Bast learns many lessons, and teaches a few as well.

The Slow Regard of Silent Things is a brief, bittersweet glimpse of Auri’s life, a small adventure all her own. Deep below the University, there is a dark place. Few people know of it: a broken web of ancient passageways and abandoned rooms. Auri lives there, tucked among the sprawling tunnels of the Underthing, snug in the heart of this forgotten place. 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 The Narrow Road Between Desires, follow the Kingkiller Chronicle's most charming fae as he schemes his way through the small town of Newarre. While Bast cares nothing for the laws of man, he is beholden to older, deeper laws. And despite his cleverness and care, Bast finds himself forced to choose between betraying his master and helping a hated enemy.

First sentence:
"Bast almost made it out the backdoor of the Waystone Inn." (Lightning and Narrow Road)

"When Auri woke, she knew she had seven days." (Slow Regard)

Favorite quotes:
"Bast stood upright and grinned. His face was sweet and sly and wild. He looked like a naughty child who had managed to steal the moon and eat it. His smile was like the last sliver of remaining moon, sharp and white and dangerous." (Lightning)

"Bast stood to his full height and grinned, his face sweet and sly and wild. In that moment, he looks less like a rakish young man, and more a naughty child who had stolen the moon and planned to eat it like a thin, pale silver cake. His smile was like the final crescent of remaining moon, sharp and white and dangerous." (Narrow Road)

" 'Do you know about bees?'

'A fair bit,' Bast said softly. 'They aren't hard to handle. They just need patience and gentleness. They're the same as everything else, really. They just want to know they're safe.' " (Lightning, Narrow Road)

"And today he looked even bigger still 'cause he was furious. He was spittin' nails. I swear. He looked like someone had tied two angry bulls together and made them wear a shirt!" (Lightning, Narrow Road)

"Bast laughed again. He knew he shouldn't, but there were times when it was either laugh or break wide open because he was too full. It would have been like holding back a sneeze. Sometimes the world was so perfectly revealed to be a joke, a picture, and a puzzle all at once. Laughter was the true applause you offered to the world for being beautiful." (Narrow Road)

"There is a difference between the truth and what we wish were true." (Slow Regard)

"Some days simply lay on you like stones. Some were fickle as cats, sliding away when you needed comfort, then coming back later when you didn't want them, jostling at you, stealing your breath." (Slow Regard)

Lightning and Narrow Road CAWPILE Rating: Overall - 8/10 - ⭐⭐⭐⭐/5
Characters      - 9
Atmosphere   - 8
Writing Style - 8
Plot                - 8
Intrigue          - 8
Logic             - 7
Enjoyment     - 8
What is a CAWPILE Rating?

Slow Regard CAWPILE Rating: Overall - 3.6/10 - ⭐⭐/5
Characters      - 6
Atmosphere   - 6
Writing Style - 3
Plot                - 1
Intrigue          - 2
Logic             - 3
Enjoyment     - 4

Review:

The Lightning Tree: This was a fun story that let the reader learn more about Bast and his antics. It also lets you know much more about the town. If this story represents a typical day in the life of Bast, he definitely interferes a lot with what goes on around town. The story leaves some parts up to interpretation, which I like.

The Slow Regard...: I imagine Auri as Autistic or at least someone with extreme OCD. She is always washing her face, hands, and feet. She always also personifies inanimate objects with emotions and opinions - to the point of anthropomorphizing, since for her all the objects really have emotions and opinions, though they don't talk or move on their own. She always senses if everything is in the proper place and spends most of her day moving bottles and other objects to a different shelf or other location because they would feel better somewhere else. If she doesn't move things to their proper place, she quickly becomes dysregulated.

There's a 3.5-page panic attack written from her perspective, which I think was spectacularly written, but I'm not going to write out a quote that long here. It's the last section of the Ash and Ember chapter if you're interested. This story was an interesting peek into Auri's head, but it doesn't have a plot or any point to it at all. Overall, probably not worth the read.

The Narrow Road...: This is an expanded version of The Lightning Tree and it's hard to tell where exactly the expansions were. Besides Bast, my favorite character is definitely Kostrel. I think the relationship between Bast and Rike was developed more, which I liked - they have a good story together.

Now I'm off to read another book... but since a review should be more about the author of the book than about the writer of the blog, I will let Patrick Rothfuss have the last words:

"Bast got to his feet and stretched, his body bending like a bow. Then he sprinted down the hill... except, in the fading light it didn't quite look like a sprint. If he were a boy of ten, it would have looked like he was skipping. But he was no boy. If he was a goat, it would have looked like he were prancing. But he was no goat. 

A man headed down the hill that quickly, it would have looked like he was running. But there was something odd about Bast's motion in the fading light. Something hard to describe. He almost looked like he were... what? Frolicking? Dancing? Small matter. Suffice to say that he quickly made his way to the edge of the clearing." (Lightning)

Bast explains reading embrils to Kostrel, which I take as being similar to runes, tarot, etc.:

"Names are fine. But if you know what something's called, it's hard to keep wondering what it is. The embrils aren't like names that pin things to a page. Their nature is to twist and change. They remind us that the world is vast and deep. They teach us the distance between catch and keep."

To me, Bast is saying that, though it may be good to know what the symbols mean, reading from intuition is more important. The passage continues and Bast reads a throw of embrils mostly through their textbook symbolism without meaning to. Kostrel then reads them but, since he doesn't really know the symbolism, he reads more intuitively - and you can see how his reading is more applicable/accurate.