The Slow Regard of Silent Things by Patrick Rothfuss

Item: The Slow Regard of Silent Things
Rating: 5
Author: Shaheen

November 13, 2014 Shaheen Reviews 1 ★★★★★

The Slow Regard of Silent Things by Patrick Rothfuss
Published: October 28th 2014 by Gollancz
Format: Hardcover, 224 pages
Genres: Fantasy
Source: Publisher
Goodreads ● Booktopia ● Bookworld

Deep below the University, there is a dark place. Few people know of it: a broken web of ancient passageways and abandoned rooms. A young woman lives there, tucked among the sprawling tunnels of the Underthing, snug in the heart of this forgotten place.

Her name is Auri, and she is full of mysteries.

The Slow Regard of Silent Things is a brief, bittersweet glimpse of Auri's life, a small adventure all on her own, At once joyous and haunting, this novella offers a chance to see the world through Auri's eyes. And it gives the reader a chance to learn things that only Auri, one of The Kingkiller Chronicle's most enigmatic characters, knows ....

Full of secrets and mysteries, this is the story of a broken girl trying to live in a broken world.

This novella is a perfect compliment to the two full-length novels in the series, and gives us a glimpse into Auri’s life that we would have otherwise never gotten. The Slow Regard of Silent Things is a beautiful look into how Auri sees the world and what she does when Kvothe isn’t around her.

Auri is a gentle, beautiful, wondrous soul, and her adventure in this novella is heart-warming. I loved every page. I loved getting to know the hidden places that only she visits. I loved discovering a completely new place, naming it, and arranging it so it was just so. I loved the illustrations that made this book so sweet.

Skipping close, she saw a crystal had fallen from the chandelier to lay unbroken on the floor. It was a lucky thing, and brave. She picked it up and put it in the pocket that didn’t have the key inside. They would only fuss if they were put together.

Auri knows that inanimate objects have thoughts and feelings just like animate ones do. She has relationships with them and cares for their happiness. Much of this book is dedicated to her mission to fix up the long-forgotten world of the Underthing, where Auri skips between one hidden chamber and another, fixing, straightening, tidying all the time. She explores new places, names them, gets to know them. Auri knows that broken things are precious. She’s one of them, and He is another.

Auri eyed the buckle sharply. Was it a proper gift for him? He was a tangled sort. And he was much hidden, too. Nodding, she reached out to touch the cool dark metal.

He is coming to visit Auri in seven days time. He gave her a wonderful present – her name – and she wants to have the perfect present ready for him in seven days. (He, of course, is Kvothe, but please don’t read this expecting Kvothe to make an appearance. He doesn’t.)

This novella is perfect, beautiful, brilliantly told and gorgeously imagined. One of the things that made me fall in love with The Name of the Wind was how it was written so differently from other fnatasy books. The Slow Regard of Silent Things is 150 pages of that lyrical writing style, unhampered by swords, poverty, and University examinations. Read it, I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.