Fans of Patrick Rothfuss' beloved fantasy series The Kingkiller Chronicle have been waiting over a decade for the third and final book in the trilogy, The Doors of Stone, but it's still not out. Here's everything we know about the status of the third book.
For those who don't know, The Kingkiller Chronicle begins with Kote, an old innkeeper in a faraway village called Newarre. Kote keeps himself to himself, working only alongside his apprentice Bast. But when he's discovered to be Kvothe, one of the most notorious men in the world, he sits down one night to chronicle the tragic, exciting and mysterious story of his life. The first two novels in the series -- The Name of the Wind and The Wise Man's Fear -- are regarded as some of the best works the fantasy genre has to offer. But now over 13 years have passed, and the third and final book in the trilogy, The Doors of Stone, is yet to be seen.
The situation with The Doors of Stone can be likened to George R.R. Martin's writing of The Winds of Winter, the long-in-coming sixth book in his Song of Ice and Fire series. We've been waiting over a decade at this point, and the release of The Doors of Stone doesn't feel any closer. With that said, Rothfuss has been actively writing in the Kingkiller world. Last year, he published The Narrow Road Between Desires, a novella following a day in the life of Bast. The story is an extended version of Rothfuss' short story The Lightning Tree, which was published in the Rogues anthology in 2014.
The good news is that Rothfuss been making good progress on the third book, and we're starting to see things come to fruition. For instance, back in 2021, he read out the prologue to the novel on his Twitch page after his Worldbuilders charity reached its goal. The prologue, titled "A Silence of Three Parts," opens similarly in both The Name of the Wind and The Wise Man's Fear. It takes place in the Waystone Inn, the main location in the frame story. It sets the atmosphere, with beautiful descriptions and metaphors. His words flow like poetry. If you haven't seen it already, you can watch Rothfuss read aloud the prologue below:
Additionally, Rothfuss had promised to read an entire chapter of The Doors of Stone during a live-stream, but that never happened. The chapter wasn't going to follow Kvothe, but instead be a related short story. Unfortunately, Rothfuss never managed to get it out. "It got complicated and it got hard and various fires in my life which meant I couldn’t keep it going, couldn’t put a bow on it, and I feel bad about it," he said when asked about the chapter.
The Doors of Stone will complete Kvothe's story. Yes, we'll most likely see him kill the king from which the title of the series takes its name, and various other mysteries will be uncovered. On his Twitch live-streams, Rothfuss has dropped myriad hints and tidbits about the third book. Let's overview some of his more interesting answers.
Firstly, it seems The Doors of Stone will still spend a lot of time at the University, one of the key locations in the series. When asked for a rough figure of how much of the book is spent there, Rothfuss said: “More than 20%, less than 50%.” And when asked about whether Skarpi — the old storyteller from Tarbean — will show up, he implied that there's a chance. “That would not be an unreasonable to think,” he said.
One thing that fans are very excited to see more of it the Fae realm, home of all sorts of non-human entities. Kvothe has ventured there before, most notably during his encounters with Felurian and the Cthaeh. According to Rothfuss, the Fae realm will play a big role in the final book. “Yes, you will see more of the Fae,” he said. “Absolutely yes, I’m excited about doing that.”
And finally, Rothfuss weighed in on Kvothe's mental state in the threequel. His answer was pretty straightforward: “Kvothe is a mess psychologically,” he said.
The Doors of Stone is not the final book set in Temerant
Rothfuss has previously called The Kingkiller Chronicle a "prologue,", saying more novels will come in the future, following different characters. “[The Doors of Stone] is the final book of this series, and there will be more books set in the world,” he revealed.
But what might these additional books be about? The founding of the University? The Fae realm? Rothfuss has a mich bigger story in mind. “I think it would be fun to do something about the creation war, which was so long ago, kind of back before the world broke, that time is kind of hard to measure meaningfully.”
His ideas don't stop there, either. "I have a cool idea for the story of a girl who lives in Modeg, she makes Gods. I’ve had the first line running around in my head for years,” he added.
When The Doors of Stone will drop is the question on everyone's minds. And the answer is one you won't like: we simply don't know. Our patience has been tested beyond comprehension. But what we do know, however, is that Rothfuss is actively writing in the Kingkiller world. Last year, The Narrow Road Between Desires released, and it went down brilliantly among readers.
Hopefully it'll be sometime soon. Remember to only trust dates that come solely from Patrick Rothfuss' social channels. Every year people get excited over Amazon placeholder dates. Don't be one of those people. And don't shout at Rothfuss; that won't make the book come any faster. He wants to get the book out just as much as we want to read it.
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