5 Patrick Rothfuss first editions are documented on this shelf, from The Name of the Wind (2007) to The Narrow Road Between Desires (expanded Bast novella) (2023) across 2 different publishers. Each linked guide gives the points of issue that separate a true first printing of that Patrick Rothfuss title from later printings and book-club copies — the publisher and year to expect, the number-line or edition-statement conventions, and the tells that show up in online listings.
Identification only, per the house rule: no prices and no appraisals here. Checking a Patrick Rothfuss copy in hand? Type the title into the First-Edition Checker or photograph the copyright page with Snap & Sort.
- The Name of the Wind — 2007 · DAW BooksFirst hardcover (DAW Books, 'DAW Book Collectors No. 1396') states 'First Hardcover Printing, April 2007' on the copyright page, with a full number line beginning at 1. Bound in black boards with a black cloth spine and copper spine lettering. The jacket carries the printed US price and the Canadian price at the front flap. Two Donato Giancola dust-jacket paintings were used on the first printing and have no…. The US DAW hardcover is the true first; the UK Gollancz is the UK first. DAW is historically associated with unconventional number lines, so rely on the stated 'First Hardcover Printing, April 2007' wording together with the presence of the 1 in the number line. Both first-printing jacket variants (green-man/stone and Kvothe/'Fabio') are legitimate. Note that unsold first-printing stock is reported to have been…. No prominent book-club edition is the main trap; the traps are later-printing hardcovers (the printing statement changes and the number line loses the 1) and the Science Fiction Book Club (SFBC) issue, which is smaller, carries a blind gutter code, and has an unpriced jacket. The fifth-printing (2008) redesigned cover is not a first-printing jacket.
- The Wise Man's Fear (Kingkiller Chronicle 2) — 2011 · DAW BooksUS DAW hardcover, published March 1, 2011. First printings exist in two states: copies with a complete number line running to 1, and copies with no number line at all — a printing error that occurred only on the first printing, confirmed by the author. A copy with no number line is therefore a first printing, not a later one. US DAW is the true first; the UK Gollancz edition appeared at essentially the same time but the US edition is the collected state. The book went through several printings within its first week, so genuine first printings are a small fraction of early copies. Later printings carry a number line that does not reach 1. The Subterranean Press signed limited is a separate later edition. Do not assume a missing number line means a later or book-club copy on this title.
- The Lightning Tree (novella, in Rogues) — 2014 · Bantam SpectraBast novella; first appeared in the cross-genre anthology Rogues, edited by George R. R. Martin and Gardner Dozois, published in hardcover by Bantam Spectra (Random House) on June 17, 2014. First printing carries a full number line. The first publication of this text is within the Rogues anthology, not a standalone volume — collect the anthology first edition for the true first appearance. No standalone first edition of this original text exists; the 2023 standalone The Narrow Road Between Desires is an expanded, rewritten version and is a different text.
- The Slow Regard of Silent Things (Kingkiller novella) — 2014 · DAW BooksAuri novella, illustrated by Nate Taylor. US DAW hardcover published October 28, 2014; the first printing carries a complete number line reading 1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2 on the copyright page, ending in the 1. The dust jacket should retain its printed price on the flap. US DAW is the true first; the UK Gollancz edition follows. A Subterranean Press signed limited edition also exists as a separate later state. Later printings drop the 1 from the number line, so a line beginning at 2 or higher indicates a later printing rather than the first.
- The Narrow Road Between Desires (expanded Bast novella) — 2023 · DAW BooksExpanded reimagining of The Lightning Tree, roughly twice the original length, illustrated throughout by Nate Taylor. US DAW hardcover published November 14, 2023 (ISBN 978-0-7564-1917-2), 240 pages; the first printing carries a complete number line running down to 1, with the printed price present on the jacket flap. US DAW hardcover is the true first of this expanded text. Distinct from the earlier, shorter novella (The Lightning Tree) that appeared in the Rogues anthology in 2014.
More Fantasy & Horror shelves: Paul Tremblay, Peter S. Beagle, Peter Straub, Ramsey Campbell, Richard Bachman (Stephen King), Richard Laymon.
← All authors · All genres · part of the First-Edition Identification resource.