Boxes within boxes and a useless map. Spatial (and temporal) phenomena in the "Kingkiller Chronicles"

Abstract

At first glance, The Name of the Wind and The Wise Man’s Fear, volumes I and II of Patrick Rothfuss’ as yet incomplete trilogy Kingkiller Chronicles, appear to fulfill many conventions of heroic fantasy. The books are set in a world called the Four Corners (of civilization), consisting mostly of feudal states, a mostly rural and agrarian landscape. This world has a distinct but slightly vague ‘old-timey’ atmosphere – there is little technology, transport is  mainly  by  horse-power,  there  seem  to  be  no  fire-arms  and  no  media. However, a form of postal service exists, science and medicine are taught at university and women have access to university education, so it is hard to place this fictional universe within a ‘real-life’historical epoch