Patrick Rothfuss

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I remember sitting down once, [at] three in the morning and probably the only person awake in Stevens Point. And I stop, and I think: "This is crap! I've spent years of my life writing crap. This will never be published - it isn't good... I've wasted years of my life!" *shrugs and types on* You do it because you like the process. I mean... you write because you like to write.

Patrick Rothfuss is the author of The Kingkiller Chronicle and its companion stories, and the founder of the charity Worldbuilders.

Biography

Patrick "Pat" James Rothfuss was born in Madison, Wisconsin[1], on June 6th, 1973. His father Jim was an engineer.[2] He and his younger sister[3] were raised in rural Wisconsin.

In 1999, Rothfuss graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, where he had originally enrolled as "to study the equivalent of chemical engineering".[4] He would later switch to clinical psychology[5]; three years into his degree, he became "Undeclared".[6] Nine years later, university policy finally forced him to graduate; he left with a BA in English, and minors in psychology, medieval history,[7] philosophy, and writing.[6]

Works

Temerant

These are novels or stories set in Temerant, the world of The Kingkiller Chronicle.

  • The Road to Levinshir (2002): An excerpt from the series published as a short story. It appears in Subterranean: Tales of Dark Fantasy (July 2008, Subterranean Press), edited by William Schafer, and Epic: Legends of Fantasy Anthology, which was edited by John Joseph Adams (January 2012, Tachyon Publications). Originally written for The Name of the Wind, it would appear in a different format in The Wise Man's Fear.
  • The Name of the Wind (March 27, 2007): The first novel in the trilogy The Kingkiller Chronicle.
  • The Wise Man's Fear (March 1, 2011): The second novel in the trilogy The Kingkiller Chronicle.
  • "How Old Holly Came to Be" (June 21, 2013): A short story published in the anthology Unfettered, edited by Shawn Speakman. It is told from the point of view of a tree.
  • The Slow Regard of Silent Things (January 11, 2014): A spin-off novella. It was illustrated by Nate Taylor.
  • The Lightning Tree (June 17, 2014), a spin-off novellette published in Rogues. It was edited by George R.R. Martin and Gardner Dozois.
  • "The Boy Who Loved the Moon" (unpublished): A comic book adaptation of a section from The Wise Man's Fear, illustrated by frequent collaborator Nate Taylor.
  • The Doors of Stone (unpublished): the upcoming final book in The Kingkiller Chronicle.

Non-Temerant (Print Media)

These are works of fiction set outside of Temerant.

  • Your Annotated, Illustrated College Survival Guide (January, 2005; Cornerstone Press): A collection of four years' worth of humorous "advice" essays written by Rothfuss, starting in 1998.[8] The book was illustrated by Brett Hiorns[9] (credited as "B.J. Hiorns").
  • The Adventures of the Princess and Mr. Whiffle: The Thing Beneath the Bed (June 21, 2010; Subterranean Press): A not-for-children "children's book" about a princess and her teddy bear. It was illustrated by Nate Taylor.
  • The Adventures of the Princess and Mr. Whiffle: The Dark of Deep Below (November 30, 2013; Subterranean Press): A sequel to The Thing Beneath the Bed, again illustrated by Nate Taylor.
  • Rat Queens #2: Rothfuss and Taylor collaborated to create a five-page backup comic for the series Rat Queens (April 12, 2017).[10]
  • "So Long as You Can See the Moon": a 12-page Torment: Tides of Numenera comic created exclusively for backers which Rothfuss and Taylor collaborated on.[11]
  • Rick and Morty vs. Dungeons and Dragons (issue #1: August, 2018; trade paperback: March 12, 2019, IDW Publishing): Co-written with Jim Zub and illustrated by Troy Little. A crossover comic between the cartoon Rick and Morty and the Dungeons and Dragons franchise.[12]

Non-Temerant (Other Media)

  • Torment: Tides of Numenera: Rothfuss joined Tides of Numenera as a writer in 2013, creating and writing the companion character Rhin.
  • Hero's Song: Rothfuss helped create the lore for Hero's Song, an open world roguelike fantasy game by Pixelmage Games. Following a failed Kickstarter campaign[13] and lack of resources, [14] the game was cancelled and the company closed down in 2016.[15]
  • Rothfuss co-wrote Mystery Science Theater 3000 for Netflix with Rick and Morty creators Dan Harmon and Justin Roiland.[16] The show debuted in 2017 and ran for two seasons.[17]
  • Starting July 7th, 2015, Rothfuss and Cards Against Humanity creator Max Temkin created and hosted Unattended Consequences, a weekly podcast in which the two discussed various topics.[18] As of January 2020, the show has had 31 episodes.[19] On December 27th, 2016, the show stopped[20] until another episode was uploaded on December 10, 2018.[21] An archive of all episodes can be found at various websites, including Mixcloud, Castbox, Podyssey, and others.

On Hold

  • The Tale of Laniel Young-Again: This is the working title[22] for a story about a legendary figure in Temerant. In 2014, the book was put on hold "about two thirds of the way in"[23] to focus work on The Doors of Stone.[24]

Personal Life

Rothfuss lives in Wisconsin[25] in a house he bought with his girlfriend Sarah in 2007.[26] The couple has two sons, [27] nicknamed "Oot"[28] and "Cutie Snoo"[29] online to protect their privacy.[28]

The Kingkiller Chronicle is dedicated to his "marvellous"[30] parents Marge[31] and Jim.[32]

Notes

  1. ↑ Patrick Rothfuss's autobiography, official website
  2. ↑ Interview with Lightspeed Magazine (March, 2015). This is loose, but I'll confirm from something more solid later.
  3. ↑ Pat's blog: blog, if only barely
  4. ↑ Pat's blog, On the Making of Methelgin
  5. ↑ SFBook, Patrick Rothfuss bio
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Denvention 3 biography
  7. ↑ Pat's bio in the Gollancz edition of The Wise Man's Fear: "Patrick Rothfuss had the good fortune to be born in Wisconsin in 1973, where the long winters and lack of cable television encouraged a love of reading and writing. After abandoning his chosen field of chemical engineering, Pat became an itinerant student, wandering through clinical psychology, philosophy, medieval history, theater, and sociology. Nine years later, Pat was forced by university policy to finally complete his undergraduate degree in English. When not reading and writing, he teaches fencing and dabbles with alchemy in his basement."
  8. ↑ Goodreads, Pat's review of Your Annotated, Illustrated College Survival Guide
  9. ↑ Pat's blog, The Traditional Pat Rothfuss Donation Blog: "This edition is annotated, and illustrated by my longtime friend Brett Hiorns"
  10. ↑ Kurtis Wiebe
  11. ↑ Torment RPG Tumblr, Digital Add-Ons
  12. ↑ Io9,Rick and Morty Are Going to Save the Universe With a Game of Dungeons & Dragons
  13. ↑ PC Gamer, [https://www.pcgamer.com/the-heros-song-kickstarter-plug-has-been-pulled/ The Hero's Song Kickstarter plug has been pulled ]
  14. ↑ GamesIndustry.biz, Pixelmage Games closes before completion of Hero's Song
  15. ↑ PC Gamer, John Smedley's Hero's Song cancelled, Pixelmage Games shut down
  16. ↑ Tor.com, Rothfuss, Dan Harmon, and Justin Roiland will Join the MST3K Revival!
  17. ↑ Forbes, ‘Mystery Science Theater 3000’ Reboot Canceled By Netflix After Two Seasons
  18. ↑ Each episode of the podcast discusses something completely different.
  19. ↑ Castbox, Unattended Consequences episodes
  20. ↑ "No More Email" was the last episode for just under two years
  21. ↑ Unattended Consequences on Simplecast, Sixty Six Thousand and Six Thistle Sticks
  22. ↑ YouTube, Patrick Rothfuss reads "The Tale of Laniel Young-Again": "The standing, awful title for this is The Tale of Laniel Young-Again"
  23. ↑ YouTube, Projects after book three — Patrick Rothfuss on JoCo Cruise 2017
  24. ↑ Kingkiller Chronicle subreddit report at a reading
  25. ↑ Conquer Books, [https://conquerbooks.com/2019/06/07/science-fiction-fantasy-writers-from-wisconsin/ Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers from Wisconsin ]
  26. ↑ Pat's blog, Why I Love My Editor....: "Back in the late summer of 2007...[I] had grown-up money for the first time in my life, and I used it to buy a house with my girlfriend."
  27. ↑ Pat's blog, Using Your Words
  28. ↑ 28.0 28.1 Pat's blog, A Dream of Cows...
  29. ↑ Pat's blog, Cutie, Crying, and the Weirding Way
  30. ↑ Dedication at the start of The Name of the Wind.
  31. ↑ Pat's blog, Not Your Usual Mother’s Day Post…
  32. ↑ Pat's blog, The Things My Dad Has Said
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