March 2009

I first read this about a year and a half ago, back in July 2007, while waiting for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows to come out. I had re-read the first six books and July 21 was still a week away, so I picked this up to pass the time. Bad idea. When you're suffering from Potter Fatigue, it's not a good idea to check out a popular new work of fantasy and expect to fully enjoy it. I know I didn't. Oh, don't get me wrong; The Name of the Wind was good stuff, but my mind was still addled from an overdose of The Boy Who Lived, so I didn't fully appreciate its merits. But a year and a half later, with the release of The Wise Man's Fear approaching in April, I figured it was time for a well-deserved re-read.

(And then Pat reminded everyone that the sequel wouldn't be out in April '09. Oops. Guess I wasn't paying attention. But I had already started the book, so I just shrugged and went back to reading)

I'm generally wary of hype when it comes to The Next Best Thing in speculative fiction, but occasionally I let my guard down to see if the hype is true. And I liked The Name of the Wind the first time I read it. I was impressed. But honestly, I wasn't awed. I guess you can blame Harry for that; but the second time around? Oho, this book is fantastic.

The story: The legendary, near-mythical hero Kvothe, in retirement or self-exile, is tracked down by a famous scribe who convinces him to tell his story, which Kvothe claims will take three days, of which this is the first. Barring interruptions: the frame story keeps abruptly halting when elements of the outside world--which has been steadily unraveling since Kvothe disappeared--threaten to intervene.

Basically, it's the Hero's Journey, repackaged to look bright and shiny again--or so I thought. As with the hype, I read the first few chapters with the same kind of doubt: this isn't so great, I thought. It's the same old story about the same old hero. I wasn't too impressed at first. It was comfortable, though, and well-written, so I kept reading: I figured as long as it didn't get boring, I'd still be entertained. It just wasn't all that special--

And then Kvothe's parents died.

I don't think I need to add a spoiler tag to that; it's a staple of most modern stories which employ The Hero's Journey According to George Lucas. When the Call to Adventure meets up with our young hero, his parents/aunt&uncle/guardians will not survive It can't be avoided, really: in fantasy and sci-fi, the "Surprise! You're An Orphan!" card is the best (at least, the most popular) way to send Our Hero out into the world on his quest. It happened to Luke, our modern ur-example. It almost happened to Rand al'Thor. Harry's parents came pre-dead. I'm not going to talk about Eragon. And etc. Point is, in Fantasyland, if you've lived long enough to marry and have a son, and that son has special abilities, then you are dooooomed.

But here--and here's the kicker--the deaths in this book mattered. When he lost his parents, Kvothe didn't shrug, shed a single tear, and decide to go off adventurin'...oh, and, um, maybe avenge their deaths while he's at it, I guess. The sudden, tragic deaths are a huge blow to Kvothe, and unlike other characters who barely blink before embarking on an Epic Journey, he spends over three years in a near-catatonic state, too shocked to properly mourn and move on. It's pretty clear: These deaths matter.

And that's what convinced me that The Name of the Wind was good--different, interesting, and loads better than most heroic fantasy out there. Pat doesn't just throw a bunch of cliches and half-assed elements of the Hero's Journey into the mix to make the plot move along: he stops along the way to make the cliches and the elements work. Every aspect of the jounrey that turns Kvothe into one of the world's greatest heroes is examined and studied, and--most importantly--it all matters. And that's why this book is freakin' awesome.

I just hope I didn't spoil anything for you.

Next: The Wise Man's Fear