I really liked this book … at first - it hit all the sweet spots for me. Brilliant language, not-too-overbearing fantasy setting, believable characters, good pacing and narration (and a bit of training in the $arts).

We see Kvothe travelling here: he meets the Maer and navigates his court, hunts bandits in the woods, gets tangled up with Felurian, and finally learns the arts (Ketan) of the Adem before returning to the University. Sadly, while a bunch of things happen, few seem to have any consequences.

The Slow Regard of Silent Things is a novella in Patrick Rothfuss's Kingkiller Chronicle and didn't work for me at all. It's very lyrical, with beautiful, lyrical prose for its own sake, but it didn't touch me. It's like Rilke without any substance.