The Slow Regard of Silent Things

Did You Know?

• The novella covers seven days in Auri's life, a period between chapters seven and eleven of The Wise Man's Fear.
• The story is set in the Underthing, a hidden location of old rooms and tunnels under the University.

Writing and structure

The writing occasionally adopts a poetic flow when describing small details in Auri's daily life. Patrick Rothfuss stated that the book does not do what a proper book should do, lacking a clear plot. The story cannot be easily divided into a beginning, middle, and end, and has no proper climax. Unlike the main Kingkiller Chronicle books, this novella focuses on one character, depicting her day-to-day life, worldview, and thought processes.

Background and publication

In 2012, George R. R. Martin and Gardner Dozois invited Patrick Rothfuss to contribute to their anthology Rogues. Rothfuss initially planned a story about Auri as a counterpoint to classic rogue characters, but the story exceeded the word count and diverged from the rogue theme. He instead contributed a story about Bast, published as The Lightning Tree in Rogues in June 2014. Rothfuss then returned to the unfinished Auri story, completing it in February 2013 under the working title The Weight of Her Desire, a phrase appearing in the first and last chapters. Encouraged by feedback from friend and mathemusician Vi Hart, he presented it to his agent and editor, who were enthusiastic. Rothfuss asked illustrator Nate Taylor to create illustrations, specifying no explicit pictures of Auri or the Underthing rooms. Finalizing the illustrations took about two months. The story was published as the standalone novella The Slow Regard of Silent Things in November 2014. The character Auri was partially inspired by real-life tunnel dweller Tunnel Bob from Madison, Wisconsin.

Reception

The book debuted at number two on the New York Times Best Seller Hardcover Fiction list about three weeks after release and spent a month on the list before falling out of the top 15. It received positive reviews from critics. Marc Alpin of Fantasy Faction praised the writing, noting the beauty of metaphors, authenticity of Auri's voice, and emotional strength. Alister Davison of Starbust Magazine described the prose as verging on poetic, with carefully chosen words creating a lyrical, heartfelt, and unique story. Gizmodo calculated that the book was a victim of the 2015 Sad Puppies controversy, where slate voting knocked it off the Hugo Award nominations list for Best Novella.