Book Review: The Slow Regard of Silent Things by Patrick Rothfuss

The Slow Regard of Silent Things by Patrick Rothfuss
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A young mentally broken woman explores a vast underground below a magical university, who’s only friend is about to make one of his visits. The Slow Regard of Silent Things by Patrick Rothfuss follows a week in the life of the mysterious and tragic Auri.

Over the course of around 150 pages, we follow the daily life and adventures of Auri throughout the Underthing as she prepares for a visit from Kvothe. This untraditional story without a clear beginning, middle, or end may not be for everyone whether one is a fan of Rothfuss’ work or not but is essentially a fantasy version stream of consciousness yet actually readable as we follow the broken former student of the University. While there are highlights of Auri venturing out of the Underthing to a local farm, most of the novella follows her doing everyday tasks like making candles which is where some readers will quickly get bored due to the non-traditional nature of the story. However, for those that do complete the book we learn little world building hints connected to alchemy and naming.

The Slow Regard of Silent Things isn’t for everyone, including fans of Patrick Rothfuss’ writing, because it is not a traditional story and it’s stream of consciousness style. Yet not everyone likes traditional stories and for those I recommend this book.

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