Book Review: The Slow Regard of Silent Things

While the main trilogy volumes of The Kingkiller Chronicle are tomes, this spinoff is an unusually slim circa-150-pager with larger print and some B&W drawings. That doesn't make it geared toward a younger audience; after all, Patrick Rothfuss himself advises us in the foreword not to start here. Actually, he warns us that even preexisting fans may not want to read it, because it's missing a lot of what we'd expect. In the afterword, he describes how he almost didn't submit it for publication -- and much of the feedback is along the lines of "I like it, but I don't know who else would." I tentatively parrot that sentiment.

( Find out how it's strange )

Feeling ready for a tome once again, I've picked up Christopher Paolini's Eragon. I've heard mixed reviews of it, but so far it's no worse than cliche.