The Name of the Wind (The Kingkiller Chronicle, #1) in Reading List Completists

Sep 22, 2018 Jenbebookish rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy, tome-investments, 2018, series, series-1st-book

Wow, that took a minute to get through. At just over 700 pages, it's a brick of a book and those tend to be intimidating for me. Not only because of the time it will take to get through, and the many other books I won't be reading because I will be reading the tome instead, but in this particular case it is the first book in a trilogy, all of the books equally as thick, and tackling a book like that takes some commitment. The Name of the Wind has been sitting on my shelves for a very long time, Wow, that took a minute to get through. At just over 700 pages, it's a brick of a book and those tend to be intimidating for me. Not only because of the time it will take to get through, and the many other books I won't be reading because I will be reading the tome instead, but in this particular case it is the first book in a trilogy, all of the books equally as thick, and tackling a book like that takes some commitment. The Name of the Wind has been sitting on my shelves for a very long time, sitting there, taunting me, promising goodness and fun and possibly GOT-like experiences, but my lazy ass passes it by time and time again for a more reasonably paged book. People have been raving about this series for awhile now, but per usual, I've also heard mixed reviews. The most common complaint I seemed to hear about TNOTW was that it was boring, or rather that nothing really happens. How can that be? one might think. At 700-and something pages, things must happen. The cover promises creepy cape wearing men and mysterious stormy nights. But yet that complaint persists, one of my GR friends told me herself that the whole first book is a whole lotta nothing, but that she invested so much time on the story that she feels compelled to see how it plays out and to see what happens to Kvothe, the main character. But, on the other end of things, I heard really positive things more often than I heard negative things, there was a whole lot of comments on what a truly wonderful writer Rothfuss is, how this was a lot of people's favorite fantasy series, understandably comparisons made to the mad-genius-master-of-fantasy George R. R. Martin. (the fact that there are also many physical similarities between the two was not lost on me) So all that being said, I finally picked this one up and dove in.

And how did it go? Well let's just say the first 150 pages or so were a drag. It took me about two weeks to CRAWL through the first 150 pages, and there were many days where I didn't pick it up at all. But I might mention that this is a common occurrence in high fantasy series' like this for me. The world building, while typically rich and complex, can get a bit tedious. Setting the scene for what will be a very deftly drawn up story takes a minute, and there's no rushing the creative genius of these fantasy pros. The scene must be set. That's why this stuff doesn't always appeal to everybody, for those people with limited attention spans who need a hook from page one or else the book will be tossed aside by page three, these types of series' aren't for you. But it is a very rare occurrence that I start a book and do not finish it, even if I have to slog through it for weeks, which is what I did here actually and in this case it paid off! By the time I got to page 200, I was hooked, and I flew through the remaining 500-ish pages in half the time it took me to get through the first 200. I absolutely enjoyed myself, I absolutely was entranced by Rothfuss's writing, but I also absolutely understand why people complained that nothing really happens in this book.

The story starts off pretty mysteriously. For the epilogue, we are thrown into a little village with barely a handful of people, these people are hardly doing anything exciting, just existing in a little tavern in a little town, only we are told that the red headed innkeeper is a man who's waiting to die. Hmm. No explanation as to what this means, why he is waiting to die, how he expects to die, or any details like that, only that the town is eerily silent and Kvothe, the innkeeper, is awaiting his death.

Okay, I'll bite right? I liked where things seemed to be going. And Lord knows I love my male characters, particularly in fantasy where they get to be totally awesome and heroic. So far so good. Now the story had an even stronger opening, a man stumbles into the inn after having had a terrible encounter with some kind of creature, narrowly escaping death by sheer luck and thanks to the heft and weight of his poor now injured horse. He even brought one of the dead creatures as evidence, opens up his cloak and unveils a massive spider like thing. About the size of a small dog, with multiple legs like a spider, only the thing is faceless, mouthless, eyeless. And the legs are sharp at the ends, razor sharp, at first contact the creature shot about with alarming speed, cutting and thrashing anything it came in contact with, cutting up both the man and his horse, and would have ultimately killed them both if the man's horse hadn't fallen on it and killed it. Not knowing what it was, he wraps it in his cloak and brings it to town for everyone to see. The mysterious red headed Kvothe seems to know exactly what it is. While the townsfolk utter words like demon, Kvothe interjects, the creatures are something called Scrael. The men of the town are wary, how does he know what it is? What is a Scrael? Where do they come from? Kvothe seems to rethink his involvement and sharing, and recedes back into the background. It's only after the men take the creature and dispose of it according to what is customary for disposing of demons, that Kvothe discusses the Scrael with Bast, his friend (and employee?) Kvothe and Bast clearly know exactly what the creatures are, and they seem more than a little alarmed by their presence this far south, trading ideas as to how they might have reached this southern distance, and why there was only one of them, implying that generally the Scrael travel in packs. Coincidentally the townsfolk happened to dispose of the Scrael correctly, what is local custom for disposing of a demon also happens to be the correct way with handling this particular creature, but Bast mentions the not-minor detail that if anyone happened to decide to take a piece of the Scrael for a souvenir, that the results would be disastrous, never stating specifically why. I guessed that a piece of one of the creatures could turn into a whole one? That seemed to be the implication but who knows. Maybe a piece would attract other Scrael from elsewhere? Whatever it might be, it was never discussed again.

Okay, so in my opinion that was an excellent opening. The threat of some seriously creepy demon things, an introduction to a world where creatures like this exist, mysterious flame haired inn keeper. At this point, I was hooked. I love really great villains, monsters, creatures. A truly great foil/villain can make the whole book in my opinion. And these Scrael in just a few short pages managed to fully creep me out. But this is where the action ends. When another man ends up at the Inn, and he reveals himself to be "The Chronicler," the story takes a turn. Rather than being the excitement filled story I was expecting, rather than following this line of action and uncovering the mystery behind why Kvothe is waiting for his death or where these Scrael come from, we go backwards. The Chronicler seems to recognize Kvothe by his red hair, insinuating that Kvothe may be in fact famous. A hero, a legend, whatever, something along those lines, and while we don't know exactly why he's famous or what his story entails, I hoped to find out.

Chronicler is in his own right a well known figure. Only his fame comes from his writings, his records, hence the name Chronicler. He writes stories, memoirs, etc, and upon first meetings with Kvothe has the curiosity and nosiness of a true writer. Poking around for details, hinting at things, making not so gentle inquiries. So Kvothe makes a deal with Chronicler. He will share his entire story, from beginning to end, as he remembers it all, if Chronicler will promise to simply write and record, making no changes whatsoever. Chronicler gleefully agrees, conveying to the reader a bit the extent of Kvothes fame and importance to the people of this world. And so they begin, Kvothe going back as far as he can remember, to a time when he was a young boy in a traveling theater group lead by his father. And this is where the story gets boring. Not only for me, but also to all the people who complained of the lack of activity. TNOTW in it's entirety is a recounting of Kvothe's life. It becomes a little more clear the extent of Kvothe's fame and brilliance as he tells his story, but TNOTW barely covers Kvothe's youth. He has a somewhat sad childhood, it's a story of homelessness and his struggles, but ultimately Kvothe manages to get himself accepted to the University (not normal college, but a university for magics basically, all the different types of magic and humors and their studies.) He has quite a few trials and adventures, a childhood spent learning under a magician while traveling with his family's theater group, and then his life changing, defining moment where he returns from a frivolous chore in the woods to find his entire family and theater group has been murdered. In a complete state of shock, his encounter with the murderers is hazy but his memory of them is ultimately his driving force. They seemed human like, but their abilities proved they were more than. One of them mentions to Kvothe something along the lines of, "someone's family has been singing entirely the wrong kind of songs," and then seems to become one with the several other men that are there, and then disappears. Understandably, Kvothe is in shock and the following days are a haze of numbness and instinct, so also understandably, once he awakes from his stupor he comes to doubt his own recollection of the events. What exactly did he see? How much was real and how much was a figment of his broken imagination? What follows that life altering experience is a young Kvothe coming up with creative ways to escape and survive, plenty of beatings, unpleasant encounters, but there's also other things. There's the beginnings of a love story, a nobleman enemy, a slaying of a drug addicted dragon, an interesting assortment of friends, a very petite, beautiful, and deadly loan shark, and an education at a University that takes front and center in Kvothe's life.

So, clearly it's not entirely uneventful. As Kvothe reveals his past to Chronicler there's plenty of storyline that kept me invested and engaged, but ultimately the big mystery is left mostly unexplored. We get a sense that the true story will be about the Chandrian. But what we know of them by the time we get to the end of TNOTW is hardly anything. We know that the Chandrian are legendary creatures of evil, but how much of what is known about them is fact and how much is theory/story? We don't know. We get scraps of info that may or may not be accurate, things like the Chandrian are associated with blue flame, and waves of cold, things supposedly rust whenever they are near, though none of these things are ever confirmed. We also know that Kvothe believes that the Chandrian killed his parents. Despite the fact that he doesn't trust his memory, when he starts studying history and legend and finds the stories to match his memory, he becomes more sure that what he remembers was reality and not just something his broken mind conjured. Naturally, Kvothe has some deeply ingrained desire for revenge, or at the very least understanding, so his thirst for knowledge and education is closely tied to that. But despite all this being a seemingly very significant part in Kvothe's life, we barely touch that stuff. All we get is the sense that the search for the Chandrian will be Kvothe's life's work, but what I couldn't guess was whether any of the Chandrian mystery will have been solved by present time, or if there will be more storyline that takes place after the chronicling of his life. Meaning that I don't know whether the entire trilogy will be Kvothe's recollections, Kvothe telling his story, or if Kvothe will get us caught up to the present, and then more will happen after, or if his life has already all been lived.

That might sound confusing. The fact of the matter is that The Name of the Wind is mostly a retelling. It's Kvothe sitting down with Chronicler after all has been said and done and telling the story of how his legend came to be, from his very humble beginnings, through his humble youth. I think that it sets the scene for something potentially really great, the Chandrian has the makings of a truly great villain. So, while I understand the complaint that nothing really happens in this book, I don't necessarily agree. Yes, the entire 700+ pages was Kvothe sitting down telling the story of his past, but his childhood and youth was pretty eventful in my opinion. Was there the taking down of a great evil force or the confronting of one? No. Was there the avenging of his parent's death? No. But for 700+ pages of setting the scene, I have to say this was really great. Rothfuss is just such a skilled and talented writer that he captivates you without even having to fill his pages with action.

I have high hopes for this one, and will need to be picking up the second book in the near future before I forget too much of TNOTW, though it is annoying to me that the third book isn't out yet. Rothfuss, from what I've heard, has been pretty vague about the third book...called tentatively, 'Doors of Stone.' He hasn't shared with us any publication date, not even being kind enough to narrow it down to a year, but he has mentioned that the book was capped at around 1100 pages and that he is in the revision process, so that gives me hope. Maybe if I wait a few months before reading 'Wise Man's Fear,' that will bring me close enough to Door's of Stone's release date.

AGH! I have to say, starting in on an unfinished series is one of my literary no-no's. But I couldn't help myself in this case. Same goes for Sanderson's Way of Kings which has also been sitting on my shelves tempting me, looking juicy. But for somebody who can hardly remember a book several months after reading it, I just can't be having years in between continuing a series.

Fingers crossed Rothfuss doesn't disappoint. ...more

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Jun 26, 2012 Jessica rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites, owned

When I first received this book, it was as a gift from a long time friend. I was hesitant to open it up and began reading for two reasons.
1. I am really picky about books I read in YA and Fantasy genres.
2. I had never been gifted a book that wasn't something I had asked for.

(Sidenote: My husband was given Martin's Game of Thrones. Two addictions were on our horizons)

A few months passed before I, finally, sat down and began reading this book. When I did I found a passion for reading that hadn't When I first received this book, it was as a gift from a long time friend. I was hesitant to open it up and began reading for two reasons.
1. I am really picky about books I read in YA and Fantasy genres.
2. I had never been gifted a book that wasn't something I had asked for.

(Sidenote: My husband was given Martin's Game of Thrones. Two addictions were on our horizons)

A few months passed before I, finally, sat down and began reading this book. When I did I found a passion for reading that hadn't existed since Harry Potter. This has been my second time reading the book and I am still overcome with a passionate love/obsession for this book. It's unique perspective and Rothfuss's lovely writing make for quite the adventure. There's music, love, food, hardships, tears, and smiles.

I mentioned the perspective of the story...It's written in first person (partly). I realize it is not something often done within the fantasy genre. However, let me assure you Rothfuss does so with ease and talent. It actually adds a whole other layer to the story. Can the narrator telling his story be trusted? We don't know! You have to open up and make the decision to trust or follow skeptically along. I love it! Theories and questions raced through my head. It's like the story became and interactive playground for my imagination.

But wait! There's more I want to say....
The music in this story is beautiful. I hope I can, one day, hear what played in Pat's head as he wrote the lyrics for the many songs in this story. To only have the lyrics and still cry!? It's powerful stuff. But I think it is because it means something to me. Kvothe loves music the way a true musician loves music. And, if anyone ever wants to understand what music means to me and why, this is the story I would direct them to. Not only does Kvothe word more eloquently than I would, he lives it. It's not just love it's a vital part of his being. That is passion for you. I find that passion beautiful and I relatable.

Then there is the food. I salivate when I read this series. You can smell the fresh cider, feel the flaky crust of a homemade apple pie, hear the crunch of ripe apple, and taste the cheese and salami freshly cut and prepared. Again it's like I am actively reading a story. I am not just seeing words ordered nice and tidy across a page. No, I am experiencing the story with my senses and responding to it. And that is not something I can say happens often when I read. It takes a damn (pardon my french) good writer to be able to successfully accomplish this. Which, Rothfuss does.

I could write forever about how wonderful this story is and why everyone should read it. But I am going to stop here. You need to experience this book/trilogy for yourself. I promise you won't be let down. ...more

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