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The Tale of Laniel Young-Again (working title) is a companion story set in Modeg. Originally envisioned as a novella, it grew into a 100,000 word novel in 2014. Author Patrick Rothfuss shelved the book after writing two-thirds of it to focus on The Doors of Stone.

Plot summary[]

Patrick_Rothfuss_reads_"The_Tale_of_Laniel_Young-Again"

Patrick Rothfuss reads "The Tale of Laniel Young-Again"

Patrick Rothfuss reads from a 2013 draft of the "Laniel Young-Again" prologue.

Laniel Young-Again is a prequel novel set in Modeg, around 150–200 years prior to The Name of the Wind. It tells the origin of one of the legendary figures in Temerant, Laniel Young-Again. She is a woman who decides to go out and see the world after marrying and raising her kids. The author is playing against the idea that any female heroine is either the plucky tomboy type or inspired by a need to protect her children.[1][2]

Laniel Young-Again is mentioned a few times in The Wise Man's Fear, though little is explicitly stated about her. She is generally mentioned in the company of great figures in the history of Temerant, such as Illien and Oren Velciter.[3]

Background and publication[]

In an episode of Triangulation 99 Rothfuss said he was originally going to write a novella about the tale of Laniel, but ended up shaping it into a full-length book of approximately 100,000 words.[4]

The novella was supposed to come out before the third book of the trilogy, The Doors of Stone. In November 2013, during Worldbuilders 2013, at a show with Paul & Storm in Chicago, Rothfuss informally polled the audience about whether they would like it to come out soon or waiting for The Doors of Stone with nothing to tide them over. The response, and the response at later shows, was overwhelmingly in support of the former.[5]

By the time the Worldbuilders 2013 AMA rolled around, Rothfuss said that both The Slow Regard of Silent Things and Laniel's Tale would come out prior to The Doors of Stone. By June 2014, when The Slow Regard of Silent Things had a release date, Laniel's Tale remained unfinished and seemed to be undergoing major rewriting.[5]

After publishing The Slow Regard of Silent Things and gauging the response, Rothfuss' editor Betsy Wollheim from DAW Books decided that The Doors of Stone is to be finished and published first.[6] Rothfuss estimated that the book had been "two thirds" complete when it was postponed.[7]

in The Chronicle[]

Laniel Young-Again never appears in The Name of the Wind or The Wise Man's Fear, but is mentioned twice in the second book: she is the subject of a duet sung by two women[8], and the subject of several stories, mentioned in the same breath as Oren Velciter and Illien.[9]

References[]

  1. Rising Shadow. Laniel's Tale (working title)
  2. Reddit Fantasy. Heya everybody, I'm Patrick Rothfuss - AMA (January 14, 2015)
  3. The Wise Man's Fear, Chapter 86: "The Broken Road"
  4. YouTube. Triangulation 99: Patrick Rothfuss (Apr 18, 2013)
  5. 5.0 5.1 Reddit KingkillerChronicle. When is Laniel Young-Again's book coming out? (December 5, 2014)
  6. Reddit KingkillerChronicle. Laniel Young Again. (October 29, 2014)
  7. "Projects after book three — Patrick Rothfuss on JoCo Cruise 2017"
  8. The Wise Man's Fear, Chapter 5: "The Eolian."
  9. The Wise Man's Fear, Chapter 86: "The Broken Road."
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