The Wise Man's Fear

Bast, the innkeeper’s assistant, recites rhymes as he prepares the inn. Kote, the innkeeper, thanks Bast for his quick thinking the night before that saved them and their patrons from a massacre by an otherworldly monster. Kote sends Bast to collect supplies while he takes over morning preparations.

Chronicler arrives in the main room where Kote is making pies. Bast arrives with holly branches meant to keep the Fae monsters called dancers from taking over their bodies. Bast scares Chronicler by pretending to be infested with a dancer. Bast gives Chronicler a holly crown and the two share a heated exchange about forcing Kote to remember who he truly is. After breakfast, the blacksmith’s apprentice arrives for traveling food and discusses his intentions to enlist in the King’s army because of the high enlistment bonus. Kote tries to talk him out of it by revealing himself as the legendary Kvothe, but the boy disbelieves him and departs. Kote rereads Chronicler’s writing and resumes his tale.

The novel switches to first-person perspective. Kvothe describes the University interview process, which determines a student’s tuition for the semester. He joins the lines for the admissions lottery, accompanied by the beautiful Fela as they discuss coursework. Fela shares that Elodin, University’s Master of Naming whose behaviors are scandalous and strange, is teaching a class and has invited her to join it. After they receive their interview slots, they part ways and Kvothe is joined by his friend Wilem. He sells Wilem his time slot as Wilem reminds him he is still banned from the library.

Kvothe goes to the Fishery to make magical items, on which he earns a commission. He then returns to his room at Anker’s, the inn and tavern at which he is the resident musician. He collects his cold dinner and climbs out the window in his room, meeting a young girl named Auri on a nearby rooftop. Auri guides Kvothe through the tunnels beneath the University, then they exchange witticisms before she takes him to a secret entrance into the Archives.

Kvothe works in the Fishery during the day and studies at night to prepare for his interview. Five days into admissions, he goes to the town of Imre with Wilem, their friend Simmon, and fellow student Manet. At the musical club the Eolian, Kvothe looks for Denna, a fellow musician for whom he has feelings. The four of them play cards and watch performances, and Kvothe expresses that he is finished with taunting his old rival, Ambrose. Kvothe gets nervous when Manet explains that tuition is not just determined by interviews, but also reputation, and Kvothe’s behavior over the last semester has made some of the masters dislike him.

Kvothe walks around the main room and encounters Denna with a gentleman who is trying to “earn his pipes,” a term used to describe musicians of such impeccable talent that they are awarded silver pipe pins that grant them entrance into the Eolian and significant social standing. Denna pretends to drop an earring so to have a moment alone with Kvothe. Back at the table, the men debate the benefits of an artistic patronage and Kvothe decides to take the stage.

Kvothe prepares his lute as he looks around the crowd. He performs two songs: the first a farmer’s song that he pretends is difficult, the second an exceptionally difficult composition that he pretends is boring. His performance amuses some of the musicians while others are put off. Stanchion, owner of the Eolian, and the talented fiddler Marie debate his choices, especially considering his difficulty securing a patron because of Ambrose’s social sway. Manet has a drink with Marie while the remaining three leave. Kvothe walks to the University before returning home.

The morning of his admissions interview, Kvothe begins to worry. A woman approaches and buys him a drink for breaking Ambrose’s arm the semester before, but she bursts into tears and flees. Kvothe buys almonds and waits in line for admissions but runs into Ambrose and insults him loudly. As Ambrose departs, he makes a snide comment, and Kvothe discovers his almonds taste like plums. He runs to Simmon’s room and seriously threatens to kill Ambrose. Simmon realizes Kvothe has been drugged with a mixture that makes him lose his inhibitions. Simmon retrieves Fela to trade admission slots with Kvothe, for the dosage will take eight hours to wear off and will likely carry lingering side effects. After six hours, Simmon takes Kvothe back to Anker’s, where in solitude he is overwhelmed with childhood memories. This includes memories of the Chandrian, the magical entities who killed his troupe when he was a boy, and softer memories of his parents. Auri arrives at his window and he pretends to be asleep, but she enters and holds him while he sobs.

Kvothe spends the next several days experiencing “plum echoes,” which cause overwhelming bouts of emotion. While walking to the Fishery, he runs into Master Elodin and asks about his class. Elodin challenges Kvothe to “Prove you’re worth teaching. Shake my assumptions down to their foundation stones” (87). Elodin then asks Kvothe to unlock a door, then has Kvothe join him in setting clothes on fire. Kvothe only then realizes that they are in Master Hemme’s rooms, a master with a long-standing rivalry with Elodin who also hates Kvothe. Kvothe’s emotions run high, and he demands Elodin teach him. Elodin comments that Kvothe refuses to be taught before recommending he bathe before his interview.

Kvothe enters his interview with the University’s nine masters. Things go smoothly until Hemme accuses Kvothe of setting fire to his rooms and uses an Edema Ruh slur, causing Kvothe to snap. Kvothe teaches the men the etymology of the slur before being dismissed while they discuss his tuition.

Kvothe’s tuition is set at nine and a half talents, which is more than he can afford. He visits Denna, gifting her herbs to help her voice, and she plays the harp for him. They share hot chocolate as Denna expresses frustration with lavish lifestyles. Later, Kvothe visits Devi the moneylender, a woman who charges desperate people high interest rates and demands favors for lapsed loans. As he prepares to give his blood for collateral, Devi offers to buy his knowledge of how to access the Archives illicitly, but he denies her out of fear for Auri’s trust. He leaves with a loan of six talents, but she demands he think about her offer.

Kvothe goes to an overgrown courtyard and plays his lute for Auri after they exchange gifts, and she tells him that he can live with her underground if he needs to. Elodin wanders into the courtyard, greeting them both and giving Auri fruit. She leaves briefly and Kvothe desperately explains the rules of interacting with Auri, begging Elodin not to tell anyone about her. When she returns with a blanket, they share dinner and Kvothe realizes that the two of them know each other. Kvothe calls Auri, the name he gave her, and Elodin is intrigued. Kvothe performs on his lute then walks to the University with Elodin, discussing Auri. Kvothe forces Elodin to swear that he won’t tell anyone about her or have her sent to Haven, the University’s asylum. Elodin invites Kvothe to join his class about finding the true names of things, but when he learns that Kvothe is still banned from the Archives, he takes him to the master’s hall. Elodin confronts Master Lorren, the archivist, and gets Kvothe access to the library with the promise of cutting off his thumbs if he transgresses again. The next day, Kvothe signs up for classes, including Elodin’s “Introduction to Not Being a Stupid Jackass” (122).

Kvothe goes to work in the Fishery and is called to Master Kilvin’s office. Kilvin tells Kvothe a woman was asking for him, claiming he sold her a magical charm. Such charms are false and against school policy, and Kvothe successfully proclaims his innocence. At Elodin’s class, the master reinforces the “sleeping mind” knows more than the conscious one, then gives them a strange list of books to read.

Wilem takes Kvothe to the Stacks, where over the course of several days Kvothe realizes the books Elodin has assigned are not about naming. Elodin does not show up for his next class, instead leaving a note for the students to discuss the readings.

Kvothe develops a new respect for the Archives, which he thinks of as like a city. He begins to secretly look for books about the Chandrian, finding mostly story books that repeat information he already knows. He reflects on how the Chandrian will commit heinous acts to “repress any knowledge of their existence” (139), furthering the difficulty of his task. As time goes on, Kvothe gets settled into his routines with school and performing, but by the time he has a moment to visit Denna, he discovers she has left the inn she was staying at.

In Elodin’s class, he starts the session by demanding the students tell him interesting facts. Then he bursts open a seed pod filled with fluffy seeds, which he chases before he injures himself and leaves once again. After his obligations are done for the day, Kvothe searches for Denna, only to find her with Ambrose.

Kvothe grows depressed and throws himself into Chandrian research. He finds nothing new.

Kvothe pauses his story as he sees Old Cob, a local farmer, approaching. He directs Chronicler and Bast on how to behave before the man enters, shortly followed by the smith’s apprentice and a man named Carter. The three toast Shep, the man who died the night before fighting the monster. After the men depart for their chores, Kvothe resumes the story.