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The Name of the Wind (The Kingkiller Chronicle: Day One)
by Patrick Rothfuss

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<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/186074.The_Name_of_the_Wind?utm_medium=api&amp;utm_source=blog_review" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img alt="The Name of the Wind (The Kingkiller Chronicle: Day One)" border="0" src="http://s3.amazonaws.com/photo.goodreads.com/books/1172529959m/186074.jpg" /></a> <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/186074.The_Name_of_the_Wind?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review">The Name of the Wind</a> by <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/108424.Patrick_Rothfuss">Patrick Rothfuss</a> 
 <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/18905161?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review"><h3>My review</h3></a>
 rating: 4 of 5 stars I had a really hard time rating this book... I both thoroughly enjoyed it and had reservations about it at the same time. 
 
 It started off a bit differently than I thought it would, and at first, I didn't think I was going to enjoy it at all. Kvothe (or Kote, or Reshi, depending on the perspective) wasn't a very interesting character at first. The Name of the Wind starts in its present timeline with Kvothe as a bartender, running from his past and trying to make sure no one knows who he is. He's a legend, for reasons mostly unknown, even at the end of this book. 
 
 The book starts with the small town in which Kvothe resides having an encounter with spider creatures that may actually be demons. The locals discuss the portents of this and Kvothe tells them how to deal with it without telling how he is knowlegable of these things. Soon Devan Lochees, or Chronicler (not The Chronicler, just Chronicler, oddly enoough) arrives, having wind of Kvothe residing there and deperately wanting to chronicle his story, as his name implies. 
 
 The dialogue between the locals and even between Kvothe and Chronicler was pretty typical and not very interesting and I was close to putting this book down. However... as Kvothe actually begins his story the book becomes insantly addicting. Somehow it seemed like a completely different book. The dialogue had whit and was clever and even funny in parts. His traveling theater troupe of a family and his first teacher Abenthy made interesting characters and Kvothe himself as a child did as well. The magic system that is explained by his teacher is also clever and partially explained by science, so when it comes up later, it doesn't seem to be a Deus ex Machina.
 
 The book moves from one setting to another, following Kvothe all the while as he lives through various events and tragedies. Mostly tragedies. He lives a pretty harsh life reminiscent of Fitz if you're familiar with Robin Hobb's work, though perhaps not QUITE as tragic. He meets various friends and mentors, and enemies as well. After theiving and hiding and trying to survive, he makes his way to the University to study the Arcane arts and the book finds its focal point. I think this is where people are coming up with the Harry Potter comparisons, but other than the fact that he attends a school that teaches magic in some form, there's really not much else to compare to Rowling's series. 
 
 This may sound a little boring but it isn't. Kvothe's life actually is very interesting and he develops to be a well thought out character, even if none of the secondary characters really do. And there is an underlying plotline behind all this that I can't really go into for fear of ruining it, but it involves powerful beings that resemble demons, and may even be so. That might sound familiar if you've read a bit of fantasy but it's handled well and provides a creepy underlying tone to the whole book.
 
 One of my biggest issues with the book is that Kvothe seems too perfect, as if there's nothing he can't do. Everything he tries to do, he excells at: music, theiving, arcane arts, outdoor survivalism and various other random things. He practically does everything in the story but have a child. But... as the story ended I realized that this must've been what Rothfuss was going for, after all, Kvothe is a legend. If you tell a story about a fictional legendary character, I suppose it has to come out something like this.
 
 Rothfuss' style is well read, though there are a few clumsy mistakes like repeating the same idea or the same phrase more than once in a paragraph. This doesn't happen much but it seems like something an editor should have caught.
 
 And of course there is the fact that this is only the first of a trilogy. I ususally don't mind this, but Kvothe's story doesn't really come to any kind of head or give a satisfying conclusion. The present day portion gives a bit of a surprise and revalation, but his past chronicle is basically just put on pause and really leaves one wanting more. I suppose I can't complain much abotu this part, as orignally the author was just going to write one book, rather than three.
 
 Still, this is a good read, despite my complaints. I have to admit after reading both of Scott Lynch's Gentleman Bastard books, my fantasy reading nose was held a bit high along with my expectations, but I can't compare The Name of the Wind with fantasy along those lines. There really isn't a whole lot that is new here, but most of it is very well done. Kvothe's change of character between past and present is pretty reasonably explained, so by the end I was satisfied with some of what bothered me in the begining. So I recommend this to anyone who likes a good story (or a good story about a good story, depending how you look at it.) It's not for those with a short attention span, as the action is few and far between, but as a good writer can prive, action can be provided in more ways than with blades. If you're looking to check out what's new in fantasy, Rothfuss may prove worth your while.
 
 <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/221650?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review">View all my reviews.</a>

Josh's review
rating:
bookshelves: fantasy

I had a really hard time rating this book... I both thoroughly enjoyed it and had reservations about it at the same time.

It started off a bit differently than I thought it would, and at first, I didn't think I was going to enjoy it at all. Kvothe (or Kote, or Reshi, depending on the perspective) wasn't a very interesting character at first. The Name of the Wind starts in its present timeline with Kvothe as a bartender, running from his past and trying to make sure no one knows who he is. He's a legend, for reasons mostly unknown, even at the end of this book.

The book starts with the small town in which Kvothe resides having an encounter with spider creatures that may actually be demons. The locals discuss the portents of this and Kvothe tells them how to deal with it without telling how he is knowlegable of these things. Soon Devan Lochees, or Chronicler (not The Chronicler, just Chronicler, oddly enoough) arrives, having wind of Kvothe residing there and deperately w...more I had a really hard time rating this book... I both thoroughly enjoyed it and had reservations about it at the same time.

It started off a bit differently than I thought it would, and at first, I didn't think I was going to enjoy it at all. Kvothe (or Kote, or Reshi, depending on the perspective) wasn't a very interesting character at first. The Name of the Wind starts in its present timeline with Kvothe as a bartender, running from his past and trying to make sure no one knows who he is. He's a legend, for reasons mostly unknown, even at the end of this book.

The book starts with the small town in which Kvothe resides having an encounter with spider creatures that may actually be demons. The locals discuss the portents of this and Kvothe tells them how to deal with it without telling how he is knowlegable of these things. Soon Devan Lochees, or Chronicler (not The Chronicler, just Chronicler, oddly enoough) arrives, having wind of Kvothe residing there and deperately wanting to chronicle his story, as his name implies.

The dialogue between the locals and even between Kvothe and Chronicler was pretty typical and not very interesting and I was close to putting this book down. However... as Kvothe actually begins his story the book becomes insantly addicting. Somehow it seemed like a completely different book. The dialogue had whit and was clever and even funny in parts. His traveling theater troupe of a family and his first teacher Abenthy made interesting characters and Kvothe himself as a child did as well. The magic system that is explained by his teacher is also clever and partially explained by science, so when it comes up later, it doesn't seem to be a Deus ex Machina.

The book moves from one setting to another, following Kvothe all the while as he lives through various events and tragedies. Mostly tragedies. He lives a pretty harsh life reminiscent of Fitz if you're familiar with Robin Hobb's work, though perhaps not QUITE as tragic. He meets various friends and mentors, and enemies as well. After theiving and hiding and trying to survive, he makes his way to the University to study the Arcane arts and the book finds its focal point. I think this is where people are coming up with the Harry Potter comparisons, but other than the fact that he attends a school that teaches magic in some form, there's really not much else to compare to Rowling's series.

This may sound a little boring but it isn't. Kvothe's life actually is very interesting and he develops to be a well thought out character, even if none of the secondary characters really do. And there is an underlying plotline behind all this that I can't really go into for fear of ruining it, but it involves powerful beings that resemble demons, and may even be so. That might sound familiar if you've read a bit of fantasy but it's handled well and provides a creepy underlying tone to the whole book.

One of my biggest issues with the book is that Kvothe seems too perfect, as if there's nothing he can't do. Everything he tries to do, he excells at: music, theiving, arcane arts, outdoor survivalism and various other random things. He practically does everything in the story but have a child. But... as the story ended I realized that this must've been what Rothfuss was going for, after all, Kvothe is a legend. If you tell a story about a fictional legendary character, I suppose it has to come out something like this.

Rothfuss' style is well read, though there are a few clumsy mistakes like repeating the same idea or the same phrase more than once in a paragraph. This doesn't happen much but it seems like something an editor should have caught.

And of course there is the fact that this is only the first of a trilogy. I ususally don't mind this, but Kvothe's story doesn't really come to any kind of head or give a satisfying conclusion. The present day portion gives a bit of a surprise and revalation, but his past chronicle is basically just put on pause and really leaves one wanting more. I suppose I can't complain much abotu this part, as orignally the author was just going to write one book, rather than three.

Still, this is a good read, despite my complaints. I have to admit after reading both of Scott Lynch's Gentleman Bastard books, my fantasy reading nose was held a bit high along with my expectations, but I can't compare The Name of the Wind with fantasy along those lines. There really isn't a whole lot that is new here, but most of it is very well done. Kvothe's change of character between past and present is pretty reasonably explained, so by the end I was satisfied with some of what bothered me in the begining. So I recommend this to anyone who likes a good story (or a good story about a good story, depending how you look at it.) It's not for those with a short attention span, as the action is few and far between, but as a good writer can prive, action can be provided in more ways than with blades. If you're looking to check out what's new in fantasy, Rothfuss may prove worth your while.
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