Book Review- The Name of The Wind
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| The Name of The Wind by Patrick Rothfuss |
♥♥♥♥♥
Title: The Name of The Wind
Author: Patrick Rothfuss
Published: 2008
Publisher: DAW Books
Genre: Fiction, Fantasy,
Plot: ♥♥♥♥♥
Characters: ♥♥♥♥♥
World Building: ♥♥♥♥♥
Flow: ♥♥♥♥♥
Synopsis:
MY NAME IS KVOTHE
I have stolen princesses back from sleeping barrow kings. I burned down the town of Trebon. I have spent the night with Felurian and left with both my sanity and my life. I was expelled from the University at a younger age than most people are allowed in. I tread paths by moonlight that others fear to speak of during day. I have talked to Gods, loved women, and written songs that make the minstrels weep.
You may have heard of me.
So begins a tale unequaled in fantasy literature--the story of a hero told in his own voice. It is a tale of sorrow, a tale of survival, a tale of one man's search for meaning in his universe, and how that search, and the indomitable will that drove it, gave birth to a legend.
Review*:
I absolutely love high fantasy, anything with magic or mythical creatures I'm for. I do get a little intimidated because a lot of those books are thick mass market novels but if an author can get a nice flow it makes it so much easier to read.
I know a lot of people have added this book to their TBR, and I totally get why they haven't picked it up yet. There is alot of people out there gushing about this novel, it's written like an adult high fantasy, depending on your edition it's physically intimidating. However, if you think you want to read it you should, and although I haven't made it to the sequel yet I think you should put that one your TBR aswell.
Rothfuss did a great job with pacing of this book. I never felt bored or like we were stuck describing something for too long. His characters aren't instantly lovable, aside from Sim and Wil, but they are good characters. He also left a lot of room to build into this world.
The first 100 pages remind me of the video game, Skyrim. I pictured Kvothe's in as one you'd find in any of the villages, the spider like creatures reminded me of the Dwemer spiders, the similarities of the University teaching magic and the College of Winterhold. Shortly into the story, when Kvothe spoke of his time with Ben the mental image from the game started to shed away.
It took me a long time to become attached to any of our characters, including Kvothe. I actually started disliking him before I started liking him and alot of the time I forgot how young he was in the story. His ignorance felt like arrogance, his better than you attitude started to wear on my nerves, and his general overall disregard for his reactions started to get old.
I think my POV of Kvothe really started to change when he went following the rumors about the wedding in Trebon. I wasn't but was also surprised to find Denna as the only living person of the wedding and I really loved their time together trying to dig into the mystery of the murder. I appreciated Kvothe not immediately trying to win over Denna, and although it seems clear that she has feelings for him, I appreciate that they are both in this weird standstill romantically.
My favorite parts of Kvothe was when he displayed his cleverness and resourcefulness, such as during his time in Tarbean or when him and Denna tried to kill the draccus, I recently either watched a video about pet peeves in reading, and something I noticed in this book and in most high fantasy books, is the characters tell you that they're good at something rather than showing you. This book does a little of both, and I can see why it's a frustrating factor, especially when you pair it with a character who is both telling and showing you what he's good at. Kvothe will tell you, oh he's a fantastic liar and not really demonstrate it in a way that I think shows that. Then he'll show you how good he is at playing lute either from the story of him growing up in a troupe and winning his pipes with a broken lute. It speaks alot louder when you can show by example rather than just claiming something and not proving it.
The story is a great, gradual build up to the end, and although there is no huge climax I personal felt a bit of a climax around when Kvothe and Denna tried killing the draccus and Kvothe almost getting expelled for the second time. I suppose the posessed man coming into the Inn and Kvothe finding his secret entrance to the archives was ment to be a climax, however the attacked didn't feel well enough explained or attached to the story and although Kvothe did express emotion in finding his secret passage I didn't feel like weight of what finding the door ment like you would with alot of climaxes.
Overall, I would highly suggest reading, just give yourself some time to get through it. I put page tabs for every 10 chapters to help me visualize my progress and I think that will be a method I use in the future for any large novels I chose to devour. I will more than likely pick up the sequel, when I'm not sure but expect another review in the future.
I know a lot of people have added this book to their TBR, and I totally get why they haven't picked it up yet. There is alot of people out there gushing about this novel, it's written like an adult high fantasy, depending on your edition it's physically intimidating. However, if you think you want to read it you should, and although I haven't made it to the sequel yet I think you should put that one your TBR aswell.
Rothfuss did a great job with pacing of this book. I never felt bored or like we were stuck describing something for too long. His characters aren't instantly lovable, aside from Sim and Wil, but they are good characters. He also left a lot of room to build into this world.
The first 100 pages remind me of the video game, Skyrim. I pictured Kvothe's in as one you'd find in any of the villages, the spider like creatures reminded me of the Dwemer spiders, the similarities of the University teaching magic and the College of Winterhold. Shortly into the story, when Kvothe spoke of his time with Ben the mental image from the game started to shed away.
It took me a long time to become attached to any of our characters, including Kvothe. I actually started disliking him before I started liking him and alot of the time I forgot how young he was in the story. His ignorance felt like arrogance, his better than you attitude started to wear on my nerves, and his general overall disregard for his reactions started to get old.
I think my POV of Kvothe really started to change when he went following the rumors about the wedding in Trebon. I wasn't but was also surprised to find Denna as the only living person of the wedding and I really loved their time together trying to dig into the mystery of the murder. I appreciated Kvothe not immediately trying to win over Denna, and although it seems clear that she has feelings for him, I appreciate that they are both in this weird standstill romantically.
My favorite parts of Kvothe was when he displayed his cleverness and resourcefulness, such as during his time in Tarbean or when him and Denna tried to kill the draccus, I recently either watched a video about pet peeves in reading, and something I noticed in this book and in most high fantasy books, is the characters tell you that they're good at something rather than showing you. This book does a little of both, and I can see why it's a frustrating factor, especially when you pair it with a character who is both telling and showing you what he's good at. Kvothe will tell you, oh he's a fantastic liar and not really demonstrate it in a way that I think shows that. Then he'll show you how good he is at playing lute either from the story of him growing up in a troupe and winning his pipes with a broken lute. It speaks alot louder when you can show by example rather than just claiming something and not proving it.
The story is a great, gradual build up to the end, and although there is no huge climax I personal felt a bit of a climax around when Kvothe and Denna tried killing the draccus and Kvothe almost getting expelled for the second time. I suppose the posessed man coming into the Inn and Kvothe finding his secret entrance to the archives was ment to be a climax, however the attacked didn't feel well enough explained or attached to the story and although Kvothe did express emotion in finding his secret passage I didn't feel like weight of what finding the door ment like you would with alot of climaxes.
Overall, I would highly suggest reading, just give yourself some time to get through it. I put page tabs for every 10 chapters to help me visualize my progress and I think that will be a method I use in the future for any large novels I chose to devour. I will more than likely pick up the sequel, when I'm not sure but expect another review in the future.
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