Rothfuss takes action, stuffs it into a mystery, then shoves that into a fantasy. A literary Turducken, yum yum. Chapter after chapter of characters so real and personable that you, at not always different times, want to hit them upside the head, take them out for a drink, or try out your best pickup line… (how you doin’?). All that dropped into a world with fully fleshed out magic, political and socioeconomic systems that make so much sense that you wonder why we don’t do things that way in our world. Hint hint, Mr. President.