Patrick Rothfuss

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Patrick Rothfuss (born 1973) is an American fantasy writer and college lecturer. He is the author of the Kingkiller Chronicle trilogy.

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[edit] Biography

Patrick Rothfuss was born in Madison, Wisconsin, June 6, 1973. According to his website, he grew up as an avid reader in part due to inclement weather and a lack of cable television. He enrolled at the Stevens Point branch of the University of Wisconsin in 1991. At university he harboured plans to be a chemical engineer, but then changed his mind to pursue a career in clinical psychology. He finally declared his major as 'Undeclared' after three years and continued to study any subject that caught his interest, while holding odd jobs and working on an extremely long fantasy novel called The Song of Flame and Thunder.

Somewhere during this time he began to write the "College Survival Guide," a column in The Pointer, the campus paper. He continues to write this column to this day.

He graduated in 1999 with a B.A. in English. After receiving his MA at Washington State University, he returned two years later to teach at Stevens Point. After completing The Song of Flame and Thunder, Rothfuss submitted it to several publishing companies, but it was rejected. In 2002 he won the Writers of the Future competition with The Road to Levinshir, an excerpt from his novel. After chatting to Kevin J. Anderson at a subsequent writer's workshop, Rothfuss secured a deal with his agent, Matt Bialer, who subsequently sold the novel to Betsy Wollheim at DAW Books. The Song of Flame and Thunder was split into a three-volume series entitled The Kingkiller Chronicle, the first installment of which, The Name of the Wind, was published in March 2007. The Name of the Wind won the 2007 Quill Award for best sci-fi/fantasy

[edit] Bibliography

[edit] The Kingkiller Chronicle

  1. The Name of the Wind (March 2007)
  2. The Wise Man's Fear (scheduled for April 2009)[1]
  3. The Doors of Stone (working title, scheduled for 2010)[2]

This trilogy was originally one very long story with the working title The Song of Flame and Thunder. It was split in three for publication due to its length. The series is essentially the autobiography of a famous musician, wizard, and adventurer named Kvothe. After gaining notoriety at a young age, he disappears from public life and is eventually tracked down to a backwater inn by Devan Lochees, who goes by the name 'Chronicler'. After some persuasion, Chronicler convinces Kvothe to tell him his life story. However, the story is occasionally punctuated by interludes, during which it becomes clear that someone is looking for Kvothe, and that Kvothe's friend Bast is unwilling to let Chronicler tell all of Kvothe's story. The story thus proceeds on two levels, as we learn how Kvothe came to be the man he is now, whilst other events take place in the present hinting at a greater story to follow.

[edit] Literary Recognition

[edit] Awards

  1. Quill Award (2007) - Science Fiction/Fantasy/Horror [1]
  2. Best Books of the Year (2007) - Publishers Weekly - Science Fiction/Fantasy/Horror [2]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Patrick Rothfuss - Blog
  2. ^ Patrick Rothfuss - Blog

[edit] External links

[edit] Interviews

Languages