Part Three
It involves a lot of beta readers, for one thing:
Getting other people’s feedback on the book is a key element of my revision process. You see, I’ve read this book so many times in so many versions, that I need an external view of it. A triangulation point, if you will…
Most of his beta readers are people he's learned to trust, who were either friends with him or willing beta readers, before he was published. Back in the day, he'd ask anyone, anyone at all, to read the book and give him feedback. Nowadays, if you want to be a beta reader...
[G]o back in time 15 years and get to know me back before I was published.
You see, back in the day, anyone could be my beta reader provided they were willing to slog through 250,000 words of unpublished fantasy novel.
These days, the main requirement is that I trust you.
Why? Because if an early version of Book Three gets leaked onto the internet, the results will be catastrophic for both me and my publisher.
Pat talks a lot more about his revision and beta reader triangulation revision process here. It's a great read.
The lovely (and highly intelligent) /u/thistlepong is one of KKC fandom's shining lights, and (s)he enjoys analysing the obsessive layering that Pat works into his books. In one post, thistlepong disassembles several passages from book 2 that foreshadow and build the path to the climax of book 3: the actual king-killing. The case is very solid; so solid, in fact, it's practically a spoiler for The Doors of Stone. Read at your own peril. Fair warning: it might make the wait for book 3 unbearable.
This is why we're here, I'd argue.
But this kind of layering and misdirection takes time, as well as scores and scores of beta readers.
Ah, haha. Well, in the aforementioned interview with Fantasy Faction, Pat, at 12:55, says:
I certainly haven't finished Book Three. You know, I've written a draft all the way to the end....[Slow Regard will affect] elements as I continue to revise and improve and add to Book Three.
But, let's extrapolate.
Firstly, here's something from the writing of Book Two:
Back in late 2009 I finally got the book to the point where I was satisfied with it. It was an okay book. It was a book that if I had to publish it, I knew it wouldn't embarrass me.
By May 2010 I'd re-written the book to the point where I was happy with it. It was a good book. It was a book I was pleased with.
By my final deadline in November 2010, I'd revised things to the point where I was excited about it. It was a great book. It was finally a book I was proud of....
(Note how the book only took four months to publish, too. Yay us!)
Let's draw a comparison to the state of Book Three in May 2012, taken from this joke review of the book:
Lastly, if any of you happen to have a digital copy of the book you'd like to e-mail me, I'd really appreciate it. I'd love to see the five-star version of the book, because right now, the one I'm toiling away at is about a three an a half-in my opinion. It would save me a lot of work if I could just skip to the end and publish it.
We can guess that the book has improved significantly since, but is still mired in huge problems.
Finally, here's a picture of the manuscript of Book Three as it existed in 2013.
Here's a transcript of the cover page, from the manuscript given to beta readers, written by /u/waffleteer in the original thread.
Give it a read. It sheds extra light into revision.
From Pat's interview with Fantasy Faction's Marc Alpen (see above), we know that The Slow Regard of Silent Things changed some things in The Doors of Stone.
Will [The Slow Regard of Silent Things] change things in Book Three? Absolutely. Not only have I learned things about writing that are gonna be very useful, I've learned about Auri that I didn't know before, I've learned a lot about the Underthing that I did not before...Umm...I learned a few things about alchemy that I did not know before, because I'd never developed them, specifically.
No, sadly. Even Pat's editor hadn't read the book as recently as February 2016. From Pat's Fantasy Hotlist:
I was corresponding with Rothfuss' editor, Betsy Wollheim, regarding another matter at the turn of the year and she has yet to see a draft of the manuscript. As of January 4th, she mentioned that, though Rothfuss has been writing this book for the last 5 years, she hasn't read a single word yet. As she wrote, Rothfuss might be almost done, he might still have loads to do, or anything else in between.
But all is not lost.
Yes!
I'll be adding spoiler warnings from now on.
The UK cover spoiler for UK cover of The Doors of Stone We know this because of a rather amusing mix-up which occurred in May of 2013, when Pat, of Pat's Fantasy Hotlist, corresponded with an editor. More on that here.
We also know some plot details from Book Three.
That's the working title for it, and probably the final one. In recent talks, Pat has referred to it more often as The Doors of Stone; talks from 2011 and so simply refer to it as "Book Three". But titles change. The working title for The Slow Regard of Silent Things was The Weight of Her Desire, and changed in the late stages.
Some of these are from the books themselves. Others Pat has shared with us sporadically through interviews over the years.
There are the obvious ones: Princess Ariel, Kvothe fighting an angel, the "sleeping barrow kings". There's stuff like Master Ash, Denna's fate, and Kvothe's pride and folly (including how he arrived at his sword).
If we place The Slow Regard of Silent Things within its proper context in KKC—about 100 pages into TWMF—we know Auri forgets to give Kvothe his third gift when Elodin interrupts them. From The Slow Regard of Silent Things, we know that she considers a book (The Book of Secrets). And prepares "a place for him to stay" for him for when he visits, something she seems certain of. More on the Book of Secrets here.
There's a discussion about that here.
These are actual, legitimate spoilers. Even to seasoned vets. I'll mark them one by one.
Book Three spoiler This Rothfuss said in an interview with Tor in 2012.
Book Three spoiler This comes from this interview.
And, though this one is rather obvious: Book Three spoiler This we know from the last part of this interview (Pat jokes for most of the interview).
Thank you!
My pleasure!
