The Name of The Wind

Author: Patrick Rothfuss

Genre: Adult, Epic Fantasy, Adventure, Magic.

Publisher: Daw Books

Year: 2007

Ranking: 4/ 5

  

Synopsis

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.

The Author

Patrick James Rothfuss (born June 6, 1973) is an American writer of epic fantasy and college lecturer. He is best known for his projected three-volume series The King killer Chronicle. Patrick Rothfuss was born in Madison, Wisconsin, and received his B.S. in English from the University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point in 1999 after spending nine years as an undergraduate exploring various majors such as Chemical Engineering, Clinical Psychology, and others. He contributed to The Pointer, the campus paper and produced a widely-circulated parody warning about the Goodtimes Virus. 

He graduated in 1999, received an MA at Washington State University, and returned to teach at Stevens Point.  In 2002, he won the Writers of the Future 2002 Second Quarter competition with "The Road to Levinshir", an excerpt from his then-unpublished novel The Wise Man's Fear. Rothfuss subsequently sold the novel to DAW Books.

Personal Experience with This Book

I decided to read this book because two of the Youtubers I follow and trust a lot read it and said it was a great book and they had loved it. The book intimidated me a bit at first because it is really long and the fact that is an epic fantasy as well. However, I am very happy I decided to read it. Although it has taken over a month to finish it.

The story is unique in my opinion. We have a story within story and in that other story we can find many more stories. It sounds confusing, isn’t it? Kvothe is our main character and, for unknown reasons, he is now playing a role as the owner of an inn. Kvothe hides many secrets and stories about him are told so Chronicle seeks him to write his true story. Kvothe accepts to tell it and then we begin to delve into his memories. Moving from a story told in from a third person perspective to a story told in from a first person perspective - by Kvothe. Moreover, the author manages to explain this world he created while Kvothe is telling his story so we can see many more stories told because of the background and historical events of the world created by the author. I hope that cleared out the things.

I will start my review by saying that I really enjoyed the book. I cannot say it's one of my favorite books and that it let me with that special feeling about it or something like that because it would be a lie. The story is good and the narrative is FANTASTIC (More of that later). The thing is that it is not a wonderful book but it's not bad and you end up enjoying it very much for several reasons.

Kvothe is a fabulous main character. It is a complete character and has many distinctions. We know him from his childhood and that makes the reader gets to become attached to him. It is a character that feels real. I really liked this because it is not the typical hero who seems to have no flaws. Kvothe has many shortcomings as a person and has many personality traits that make him feel not only special but human. It's a character learnt to love while seeing his life progress and his evolving and growth.

Rothfuss's narrative is WONDERFUL. I personally was delighted and I think that's what kept me glued to the book more than the story itself - I will explain why. This man not only created a great world but every detail was also thought to its highest level. The description of the places, the way of looking at religion, beliefs, different cultures, languages, clans, etc. Everything is precisely calculated and Rothfuss describes everything so well that does not feel overwhelming when it is read. Besides having a poetic sense in the way the emotions, places and situations experienced by the characters are described. I loved reading this man, seriously I did.

Now what I found negative about the book and why I had great difficulty reading it was definitely its length. The book does not feel as dense as I was waiting for mainly because of the narrative of the author. It is not overwhelming; I would say is the opposite because I felt it relaxing. At least for me. What happened to me was that although I understand and, appreciate very much that the author is meticulous with his story, I believe that many parts were unnecessary or that might have been a shorter way to tell them. There were parts of the story that were not too important to the main story and it makes the reader feel like the story does not progress. I think it would have been better if the book was a little shorter because the reading becomes boring at some point. 

The book is good. It has its flaws but in general is a pretty good book and I believe that is worth reading it. I think that what it stood out from the book was definitely the author’s narrative and the presence of Kvothe as a main character. It was worth reading this book and I will for sure be reading the next one.