A New Patrick Rothfuss ‘Kingkiller Chronicles’ Book Is Coming Out This Year

Update 5/22/23. See update below.

In 2011, two major fantasy novels were released. The more famous of the two was A Dance With Dragons by George R.R. Martin, the fifth (and last to be published) volume in his A Song Of Ice And Fire series.

The lesser known, but still extremely popular title, was The Wise Man’s Fear by Patrick Rothfuss, the sequel to his hit fantasy debut, The Name Of The Wind.

Twelve years later, neither author has produced their long-awaited sequels. George R.R. Martin has written many, many other things—novellas, the video game Elden Ring, the history of the Targaryen dynasty Fire & Blood—but he has not released The Winds Of Winter. And Rothfuss has not released The Doors Of Stone.

Unlike Martin, however, Rothfuss has also never turned his unfinished fantasy saga into a hit TV series. He has published one novella set in the same Kingkiller Chronicles universe—The Slow Regard Of Silent Things—but that was way back in October of 2014. Nearly a decade ago.

Now, the author has revealed a new upcoming novella set in the same universe. It is not, alas, The Doors Of Stone. Not a whisper about that one still. The novella is titled The Narrow Road Between Desires and is about the character, Bast, Kvothe’s apprentice and a Fae disguised by a glammourie. From the publisher’s press release:

When you come to the lightning tree to trade with Bast, your mortal money isn’t worth much. What holds true value are older things: secrets and favors. Buttons and flowers. Lies, tricks, riddles, stones, and whatever else your heart truly desires.

Follow the Kingkiller Chronicle’s most charming fae as he schemes and bargains his way through the small town of Newarre. While at first it seems that Bast must be master of this tiny domain, but while he cares nothing for the laws of man, there are older, deeper laws that bind him. And for all his cleverness, Bast finds himself trapped in ways he has never experienced before, and make hard choices and help an enemy.

Playful, sweet, and sly as Bast himself, The Narrow Road Between Desires is Bast’s story. In it he traces the old ways of making and breaking, following his heart even when doing so goes against his better judgement. For after all, what good is wisdom if it keeps you from finding your way to danger and delight?

The important details:

• The Narrow Road Between Desires will release on November 14th, 2023.
• The book will be longer than The Slow Regard Of Silent Things and include over 30 illustrations from artist Nate Taylor.
• You can read Rothfuss’s announcement over at his blog.

Whether this is good news about The Doors Of Stone remains to be seen. I’ll be honest: I haven’t reread the first two books and it’s been such a long time since Wise Man’s Fear that I honestly don’t even remember them very well. I will have to reread them when the next one comes out since it’s been so long, but I have no intention of doing so until there’s a release date. The same applies to Martin’s books, though I have the TV show that’s kept them a bit more fresh in my memory. I will not reread them until Winds Of Winter gets a release date, either. For all we know neither of these books will ever come out!

Thankfully, we have Joe Abercrombie writing top-notch fantasy and actually finishing what he started, so if I haven’t convinced you to read his work yet, start with The Blade Itself and thank me later. I reread all six books of the first two trilogies when he started publishing the third, and I suspect I’ll read all nine all over again before too long (probably before The Doors Of Stone or Winds Of Winter come out!)

Are you a Rothfuss fan? Does this news excite you or annoy you? Let me know on Twitter or Facebook.

Update

It occurred to me that there is actually one other book that should be added to this pair. After all, when it comes to fantasy it’s almost always a trilogy. Along with Martin’s elusive Winds Of Winter and Rothfuss’s Doors Of Stone, we must add Scott Lynch’s The Thorn Of Emberlain.

This is the upcoming fourth book in the fantasy author’s Gentleman Bastard Sequence which began long ago, in 2006 with the release of The Lies Of Locke Lamora, an excellent story of heists and magic and thievery that was followed up soon after by Red Seas Under Red Skies in 2007 and then, after a six year hiatus, The Republic Of Thieves in 2013. The Thorn Of Emberlain was originally slated for a 2016 release but, well, you know the drill. Here we are a decade after the third book with just this rather lovely cover art.

This is another fantasy series I’ve mostly forgotten over the years. No TV show adaptation to keep it fresh in my mind, and I won’t reread these unfinished stories.

This is where I must also give a quick shout-out to self-published fantasy author Michael J. Sullivan, whose Riyria Revelations series I quite enjoyed (and whose other work I need to make time for). Sullivan wrote his first series all at once (six books later published as three 2-volume books) and then self-published them one at a time at a steady clip. The end wasn’t just worked out, it was done.

I’d like to see more creators, in the world of fantasy writing and in TV and elsewhere, take the ending more seriously. The promise of a story isn’t just that you get to enjoy how it starts, how the middle goes and then . . . nothing. A story isn’t really a story if there’s no ending.

One other series that has a nice, tight three-book arc that’s all finished that you should consider reading is the Licanius trilogy by James Islington. This kicks off with The Shadow Of What Was Lost and does some really interesting things with time and memory, political skullduggery and magic. It definitely has some Wheel Of Time vibes, but is less tedious than those books.

I’ve just started reading Tad Williams’s classic trilogy Memory, Sorrow and Thorn which begins with The Dragonbone Chair. I think I started this book many, many years ago and couldn’t get into it, but I think I was a more impatient reader and it’s time to figure out why this stands as one of the great trilogies of modern fantasy and an inspiration to authors like George R.R. Martin. I’m also itching to re-read The Last Unicorn since I’d like to do that before reading Peter S. Beagle’s recently published two-novella tome set in the same universe. So much to read! (Especially since I’m also planning to reread all the Harry Potter books since it’s been so long!)

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