mark monday’s Reviews > The Slow Regard of Silent Things > Status Update

the endnote shoved this down from 2 stars to 1. the defensiveness, the fake humility, the self-absorption, the underlying pomposity of it all... just horrible and embarrassing to witness.

But there. Against the wall she saw the brazen gear was all unchanged. It was too full of love. Nothing could shift it. Nothing could turn it from itself. When all the world was palimpsest, it was a perfect palindrome. Inviolate.

I'm not so sure about pairing/contrasting "palimpsest" with "palindrome" but that is certainly a striking paragraph. most interesting paragraph in the book.

this perfectly crystallizes Rothfuss' chief flaw: his is too much in love with his own central character. the result: an inability to see how unbearable that central character can be.

perhaps this novella is attempting to be a Patricia McKillip fantasy set in Gormenghast castle? in some ways, the attempt is admirable.

a "triune vanity" that is described as rakish, garrulous, unashamed, and bawdy should not also be described as gruff. come on now.

the entire book stars the lunatic waif Auri, slave to her OCD, and surely one of the most precious and cutesy-poo supporting characters to ever be inflicted upon the reading public.

Author's Foreword:

I don't understand the title, how can "regard" be "slow"?

cover illustration is beautiful.