THE NAME OF THE WIND
by Patrick Rothfuss
Penguin Group
Publication Date: April 2007
From Goodreads:
Told in Kvothe’s own voice, this is the tale of the magically gifted young man who grows to be the most notorious wizard his world has ever seen.
The intimate narrative of his childhood in a troupe of traveling players, his years spent as a near-feral orphan in a crime-ridden city, his daringly brazen yet successful bid to enter a legendary school of magic, and his life as a fugitive after the murder of a king form a gripping coming-of-age story unrivaled in recent literature.
A high-action story written with a poet’s hand, The Name of the Wind is a masterpiece that will transport readers into the body and mind of a wizard.
I picked this one up after hearing for years that it was great. One of the most unique fantasy books to come along in a while. A ground-breaker. And I’m not sure I can disagree with any of that. But I’m also not sure I can agree with any of it either.
Seems contradictory, doesn’t it? I’ll try to explain.
When I finished the book, I didn’t know what to think. I felt like there was some mistake when they were printing copies of the book and mine ended up missing the last section of the book.
This book almost felt like the world’s longest prologue to the actual story.
To be fair, I was never bored.
It was all interesting stuff. The magic system was really great. Pretty thoroughly explained by the time you reach the end. A lot of the time, magic systems are all like, “screw you science! Watch what I can do with wishes and a stick!” This system was different.
It showed how a lot of its limitations and capabilities were because of science. Why not invite science in. Show a little of how the magic happens, instead of hiding and telling people not to look behind the curtain.
The characters were pretty great, though I did find a lot of of the supporting characters blending together. Kvoth as the main is phenomenal. Author Patrick Rothfuss somehow managed to give us a hero capable of monumental feats and monumental screw ups all at the same time. Everyone around this kid talks about him like some kind of walking legend, but our intimate knowledge of him lets us know he’s just as human as anyone else getting by on a little knowledge and a lot of dumb luck.
The most interesting parts of this book were the enemies. The Scrael and the Chandrian. Both are viewed as non-existent boogeymen, and we barely see much of either. And maybe that’s why they’re the most intriguing. Even now that I’m done with the book, I know very little about them.
I think what really made this story feel like just the beginning was the format. We start off meeting Kvoth as an adult, years into the future compared to where the majority of the story takes place. So if you’re waiting for his story to reach “present day” it seems to fall way short.
I think it goes without saying that I won’t be hesitating to read the next in the series. When I comes down to it, that’s probably what counts most.
First of all, I’m not really a big fantasy fan, so I will probably never read this book. Secondly, I feel like you’re one of the first reviews I’ve read that tells it honestly, so I appreciate that.
This is one of my favorites. The second one is great also, although be prepared for it to drag a little bit. I loved the magic system in this story and how it explains actual boundaries in terms of science. I feel like you don’t see that very often in fantasy novels. I’m not going to lie, I have some concerns for the final book…if it ever comes out.
The magic system is great. I feel like I understood what was going on instead of it just being sparkles and flashing light. And yeah, who knows about that third book. Rothfuss seems very much like GRRM that way. He’s clearly a genius, but that means living by his timeline.
My brother literally just bought this on kindle and we were thinking of reading it together, and now I feel like we definitely should!
I don’t often read fantasy, but this book is one of my all time fave books ever. I loved the unique take on magic, how it was a science thing and Kvothe is such a wiseass <3