The Wise Man's Fear

The Wise Man’s Fear is the second novel in The Kingkiller Chronicle, preceded by The Name of the Wind and anticipated to be succeeded by The Doors of Stone (working title). It is noted to be the second “day” because the series is broken up into the days Kvothe takes to tell his story. While the first day detailed the death of his family, his struggle to survive as an orphan, and his eventual admittance into University, the second day covers his continuing education and the growth of his reputation. His increasing musical ability, arcane prowess, and notoriety begin to make it clear how he has gained the legend-like status he holds in the novel’s present.

The Wise Man’s Fear is a heroic fantasy novel. Kvothe meets many of the criteria of a so-called hero in this context, matching familiar tropes of similar fantasy novels. He is a young person who is of humble background as a member of a traveling troupe of performers. He is forced into a position of responsibility and self-reliance after his family is murdered, leaving him alone and in need of a place to belong. Despite his humble origins, he possesses significant power, not the least of which stems from his superior magical abilities.

Kvothe’s tale also fits into the hero’s journey, sometimes referred to as the monomyth. This story format describes the stages a hero must pass through to complete their given quest. While The Kingkiller Chronicle fits into the hero’s journey, the second book itself contains all the necessary monomyth steps so that it is a self-contained example of the journey. Literary scholars have underscored the different steps of the hero’s journey, articulating the stages in different ways, but all fall into three categories: Departure, Initiation, and Return. Kvothe is called to adventure by his pressing circumstances at the University and is subsequently drawn into another “world” when he enters Alveron’s court. There, he undergoes a road of trials to win Alveron’s favor, during which he experiences a meeting with the godlike Felurian and the ominous Cthaeh. His return to the University brings with it an improved understanding of the world and increased power. In this, he has started to exert mastery over the world around him, and although he ends the novel where he began, Kvothe is much changed. His new abilities, items, and improved social station are made ominous by the frame narrative, during which a modern Kvothe grapples with his own declined power and essentially waits until his own demise. The modern Kvothe exists in the “ordinary world” and refuses Bast’s frequent efforts to make him remember himself, turning his back on his own heroic status. This refusal is done in subversion of traditional fantasy tropes, creating a complicated overall narrative that both reinforces and denies cliché.