*This post has further spoilers for both books*

For example, did you know that both books are liberally strewn with clues that tell us Kvothe is a Lackless? Meluan's sister, who ran away with an Edema Ruh, is Kvothe's mother. There are numerous clues pointing to the idea that Kvothe will release the name of the moon that was trapped in a box (the Lockless Bo, and/or that he will release Iax, who is likely imprisoned behind the four-plate door in the Archives.

There are indications that Denna's patron may be either one of the Chandrian or one of the Amyr, and that either way Bredon is a likely suspect. Denna is potentially weaving magic into her hair by use of Yllish knots. Also whenever Denna and Kvothe meet (which is only when they're not looking for each other), their first spoken sentence often contains exactly seven words. All of the random stories Kvothe has been hearing, the legends and fairy tales of his world, can be sifted and stitched together to form the bones of a real history in which all of the mythological characters, right down to Tehlu, play a part.

It is possible that the Chandrian left Kvothe alive because they knew he was a Lackless and has the ability to open the box. It is almost certain that they put him into some sort of trance-like stupor that caused him to act differently for the three years he was homeless in Tarbean, a stupor that was only released when Skarpi found him and used his name, similar to how Elodin brought him back from a stupor after he first called the wind.

The Adem and the Edema Ruh were likely once one people, before they split. It's possible that Devi the blood-money lender is seeking to open the four-plate door as well, and that she will be very dangerous. Her alar is described as an ocean at storm, which is one of the three things all wise men fear.

There are two main theories as to why present-Kvothe doesn't have his abilities. One theory is that he used his own alar, his strength of belief, to separate his mind (as he is good at doing), locking parts of himself away so that he can hide. The other theory, which I like, is that Kvothe has changed his Name, either on purpose to hide or accidentally when he opens the box and releases the name of the moon (which also causes the moon to return fully to the Fae and joins the two worlds, allowing the horrors of the Fae to bleed into the mortal world). If his Name, his true name, has been changed, he may have lost parts of himself, such as his fighting skills, his magic, his music, his legendary charm, his ability to convince people to do things, etc. Elodin has indicated that changing a true name is a very bad thing to do. If this is what happened, it's possible that Kvothe's true name is what's in the thrice-locked chest that he can't open.

All of this information and all of these clues were seamlessly and naturally woven into the book. It's a very impressive storytelling feat when you realize what the author is doing. Virtually every single chapter has at least some small clue stitched into it, some indication as to what the overall mystery is and how it will be resolved. Even the made-up foreign language words he comes up with contain clues. For example if you look at other examples of old words you can piece together the notion that Tehlu means First Lock, which works right into the Lockless notion.

Even Chronicler, his name is Devon Lochees, which is one of the outlier branches of the Lackless family, which split hundreds of years ago. Coincidence? There is also the Lockless family (lacking a lock), a Lack-key family (lacking a key), and a Lacklith family (lacking a monolith, ie. the greystones).

I can't wait to see how he pulls it all together.

In addition, I have to say that the writing itself felt much better in Wise Man's Fear. I had no problem with the writing in Name of the Wind, but in Wise Man's Fear it was noticeably better. The word choice, the descriptions, the cadence of the words, all very good, while telling an interesting story. There are parts of the book that become poetic and metered, but it doesn't feel like poetry because it's still in standard sentence and paragraph format.