Forgive the clickbait headline, I couldn’t resist.

For YEARS, I’ve had friends, family, and the internet hype up a particular series of books that is infamous for two main reasons: For how good the books are, and for how long they’ve had to wait for the next one.

That’s right, today we’re talking about The Kingkiller Chronicles, by Patrick Rothfuss (sorry to the Song of Ice and Fire fans who got excited for a second there, but I currently don’t have plans to touch the series).

This series started in 2007 with the publication of The Name of the Wind. It was followed in 2011 by The Wise Man’s Fear. And while there are some novellas and companion pieces that have come out since then, fans have now waited over 15 years for the release of the third and final book, The Doors of Stone.

Despite knowing how well received the books are, for years I stubbornly refused to even touch them, knowing that I would not have the ending readily at my fingertips. It’s one thing to start an unfinished series, like Red Rising, knowing the final book is on the horizon. It’s another to know that there could be a billion years until the series concludes. I refused to do that to myself. I wouldn’t subject myself to that kind of pain. I had plenty of other books to read by authors that released books at a consistent rate.

And you know what? It was really good! The narrative framing of the series is delightful, the world vast and colorful, and the magic/science systems endlessly fascinating. I enjoyed my time in the world and felt perfectly content to leave it off there. If I ever wanted to, there was a whole second book. There was still more I could read, and that was better than being caught up with nowhere left to go.

Until now. When we decided to do sequels for book club, and Ava, the devious trickster she is, picked The Wise Man’s Fear. I would be thrust unwillingly into the club of fans waiting endlessly for a book that may never come. Yippee.

Let me pause and take a moment to talk on the unfortunate reality that Rothfuss has found himself in. I am guilty of joking about his writer’s block (though never online, I know he sees enough already), but I still have a lot of sympathy for what he’s going through. It’s hard to write a book. It must be hard to write a sequel. And it must be almost impossible to finish a series. Just ask Pierce Brown, who is struggling to ‘find the soul’ of his last installment. Rothfuss is facing insurmountable pressure to deliver on some of the best work ever written. I doubt I’d do much better than he is.

Rothfuss has put himself into an unfortunate position. The series is set up in a unique way that requires a lot of wrestling to finish, I’m sure. Each book is meant to be a whole day, in which the main character Kvothe is detailing the story of his life. Book one was day one. Book two was day two. And book three is meant to be day three, the final one. But there is still so much that was promised that needs to fit into one book to follow the established premise. He needs to kill a king and start a war, obtain/lose various items of note, get expelled from the university, discover what’s behind the doors of the archive, build the thrice-locked chest, discover Denna’s patron, meet Bast/Bast’s father, talk to gods, kill an angel, honor his deal and return to Felurian, and more stories that may be fact or may be fiction. That’s quite a tall order to do, and in one book, no less!

I honestly have no idea if the third book will ever release. And I think I’m okay with that. Books one and two were phenomenal, and I’m now glad to have read them. I think going into them with the mentality that the third may never come helped a lot with reading them. Would I love to see a third book? Of course! I honestly wouldn’t be mad if it had to be turned into four books, just to fit everything in. I don’t think a single fan would be disappointed if a fourth day needed to be added in order for Kvothe to finish his tale. But I want it to come about in the right way, not through pressure and goading and torment from his fans. Good things come to those who wait, right? So shouldn’t we all be fine with a little bit more waiting?

I know some fans are upset at the long wait. They see Rothfuss as obligated to satisfy their need for more. He owes the readers the ending, in their eyes. But I think the issue is much more complicated than that. It sounds like the manuscript has become hard to manage, which makes perfect sense. Rothfuss has also dealt with the pressure to please his fans, in addition to his own mental health struggles unrelated to the book. When faced with the fear of failure, many freeze up. It happens.

Not every author is a Sanderson. Most are not printing presses. Remember that all authors are human, life happens, and a story deserves to be told correctly. So yes, I am quite sad that I don’t have my conclusion yet. But I will wait with everyone else, holding onto the hope of seeing The Doors of Stone sometime in the future. Until then, there are always more books to read.

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