Whilst I enjoyed The Wise Man's Fear, there were many parts of it that did not hold up to the standards of Patrick Rothfuss's first novel. The most glaring of these, for me, was his treatment of women. In the first book, Rothfuss seemed to have a good grasp on the concept of women as people. But once we get to the second (namely, once Felurian enters the scene), all of that fades away. In The Wise Man's Fear, we shift from having women who can stand as characters in their own right to women being set up as objects for Kvothe: objects for Kvothe to save, objects for Kvothe to sleep with, and/or objects to fuel Kvothe's ego/desires. Part of my enjoyment of The Name of the Wind was derived from the fact that, although most of the women did seem inordinately impressed with our dashing fifteen-year-old hero, they also were presented as real people. Not so with The Wise Man's Fear, much to my disappointment.