1) Kvothe, who was the most uber of mary sues I have ever read. Though many people like to point out that he is meant to be this way, it still stands.
Kvothe is telling a story, his own story, and he is a storyteller/entertainer by training, at least in part. There is a marked difference between what we know of Kvothe based on his own telling, and in some of those momentary cracks we've seen between the narration.
Rothfuss seems to be playing around with a not completely reliable narrator but expanding that by giving the occasional external context to that narrator. Rothfuss seems to have Kvothe telling a somewhat idealized version of his past, with hints that things are missing from the telling. Where Rothfuss takes this, or if he puts it to further use, will be how we'll have to judge the work, I think.
Well, as I had it tacked on to the end of my first point, which you quoted... Yes, I am well aware of this and to me, it doesn't matter at all. Yes, the hints provide us with the basis that things will change, but I am not looking at what may be, I am looking at the now. The first book presents a Mary Sue, that the author intends for the character to appear this way though the use of an unreliable narrator doesn't change this. I can look to the future, but I am the sort that judges a book on its own merits, not on the merits of the books that precede or succeed it. The next novel could well shatter the notion that he is a Mary Sue and improve the series, but that still wouldn't change how I felt about the first novel.
"It's a strange world. Let's keep it that way."
The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
03/09/2009 12:19:58 AM
- 1304 Views
I have to really fight myself not to pimp this book.
03/09/2009 12:58:42 AM
- 940 Views
What was the heavily recommended book?
03/09/2009 01:30:29 AM
- 774 Views
Confederacy of Dunces.
03/09/2009 02:38:40 AM
- 908 Views
It is not.
04/09/2009 04:08:00 AM
- 791 Views
ok, I'm finally excited enough. It's been hammered into my head 5 times. I love... wotrafonia
03/09/2009 02:17:22 AM
- 808 Views
I... really just wasn't that enthralled by it. Sorry, guys.
03/09/2009 02:34:21 AM
- 796 Views
I would never shun you, Craig.
03/09/2009 02:42:26 AM
- 906 Views
*snickers immaturely* *NM*
03/09/2009 02:44:14 AM
- 404 Views
*Three Musketeers childishly*
03/09/2009 03:13:30 AM
- 818 Views
Sure, you say that now...
03/09/2009 03:09:10 AM
- 812 Views

That was a much better way to word my quesion Craig. Thank you for handling that maturely unlike
03/09/2009 04:35:38 AM
- 988 Views
Of course I'm mature. Deadsy is just a doody-head.
03/09/2009 05:15:57 AM
- 948 Views
Somebody else was recommending another graphic novel in the last day or two.
03/09/2009 05:26:10 AM
- 792 Views
House of Leaves
03/09/2009 05:05:18 PM
- 805 Views
It is scary
04/09/2009 04:10:49 AM
- 775 Views
Sleep's totally optional.
04/09/2009 03:42:40 PM
- 755 Views
Oh. You guys are almost making me curious enough to try it. *NM*
04/09/2009 09:14:13 PM
- 368 Views
That would be pretty sweet. *NM*
05/09/2009 01:56:22 AM
- 355 Views
Re: I... really just wasn't that enthralled by it. Sorry, guys.
03/09/2009 03:43:15 AM
- 918 Views
Mary Sue? Could you give me a clue here?
03/09/2009 04:40:29 AM
- 863 Views
Re: Mary Sue
03/09/2009 05:10:11 AM
- 1014 Views
Good grief...that site would be enough to give any author anxiety attacks.
03/09/2009 05:37:35 AM
- 854 Views
You do realize that that is a device, right?
03/09/2009 04:35:05 PM
- 781 Views
Re: You do realize that that is a device, right?
04/09/2009 12:10:10 AM
- 811 Views