Yes! Patrick Rothfuss is writing again 

Guess what I saw a little while ago? A Forbes article announcing The Narrow Road Between Desires by Patrick Rothfuss. I laughed.

You need to understand that Patrick Rothfuss articles pop up every few weeks. And most of them are either fake or merely recycling old news. They always ignite a wave of excitement in the fantasy community lasting several hours before someone finally questions their authenticity, and they ultimately fade.

I was tempted to dismiss this one until I realized it was a Forbes article; so, clearly, the article was serious. Rothfuss’ debut novel (The Name Of The Wind) was a massive hit. And the sequel (The Wiseman’s Fear) was even bigger. But then Rothfuss went silent. Physically, the author was a fairly common sight on the internet and at fantasy conventions.

But his fans could not care less about his podcast appearances and social media posts. They wanted The Doors of Stones, the third novel in the series. They wanted to continue Kvothe’s adventures.

Imagine J.K. Rowling writing the first three Harry Potter novels and then, at the height of her popularity, spends the next decade promising and failing to deliver Goblet of Fire.

In a way, Rothfuss makes things worse because he keeps setting new deadlines for the novel, only to disappoint his fans. As
far as we can tell, he has not written a single word of The Doors of Stone, and his readers have slowly transitioned from ‘mildly irritated’ to ‘downright furious.’

Many won’t read anything he writes ever again because they have perceived his inactivity on the publishing front and his dismissive comments as disrespectful. Some outrightly hate him. And yet, they can’t help but engage the many posts and articles that reveal new release dates for The Doors of Stone.

I know a lot of former and present Rothfuss fans rioted when they read the Forbes article. Think about what they went through. First, they saw the title (A New Patrick Rothfuss Kingkiller Chronicles Book Is Coming Out This Year) and nearly drowned in excitement.

And then, they read the article and learned that the upcoming Rothfuss release is not The Doors of Stone, but rather, another Rothfuss novella.

Now imagine the pit of disappointment that swallowed them and the uncontrollable rage that followed. Rothfuss’ followers are ridiculously passionate.

They love and hate him in equal measure, and this article feels like an insult to their intelligence. Here he is wasting time on a pointless novella instead of finishing The Doors of Stone. This happens with George R.R. Martin every few months.

Every time it looks like he is making decent progress on The Winds of Winter, he abandons the manuscript to work on a new TV project. I think Rothfuss’ novella is good news; we know he is fighting to overcome some sort of writer’s block. He revealed in an interview a few years ago that if he were as disinterested in The Doors of Stone as everyone thought, he would have written and released it years ago.

So maybe he has performance issues. The thought of potentially failing to meet expectations with Book Three has paralyzed him with anxiety. Whatever the reason, at least he is writing again.

The Narrow Road Between Desires is merely the first step. Rothfuss is trying to get his feet wet with a simpler, less strenuous project before finally undertaking the arduous task of writing The Doors of Stone. We should celebrate.

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