I was profoundly irritated by Rothfuss' treatment of women in book one. Enough so that I refused to pay for book two, though curiosity and some people's assurances did lead me to check it out from the library.

Book two is simultaneously a bit better and WAY worse. The badass fighter/teacher who is also a loving grandmother? Neat! The healer who talks about hard choices? Neat. But they don't really make up for pretty much every other woman being a sex object, in need of saving, or both.

Kvothe is still funny. The storytelling isn't nearly as tight and neat, but aside from a long, pointless, irritating dalliance in Fae, it does move along. I still wonder how we get from the end of this book to the beginning of the first, in only one more installment.

I am frustrated with myself for having any investment in this sexist Mary Sue character and his story, given how little space Rothfuss' world has for people like me.