A review by pagesof_autumn
The Name of the Wind, by Patrick Rothfuss
5.0
There is so much to love here, literally!
I loved the structure of this book. The story-within-a-story is set up really nicely from the start and I almost felt like I was sitting at Chronicler's table in the Waystone Inn myself, listening in awe. Rothfuss's prose is just lovely, he paints his story with words like a master artist. I actually listened to the audiobook version of this for a pretty decent part of it and basically got the same feeling as I got from listening to my mom tell me fairytales as a child.
The story itself doesn't seem too farfetched. A young boy in a big world, looking for knowledge and revenge, only getting by with his not-inconsiderable sense of wit. We have seen it before, but Kvothe is a lovely protagonist. He's street-smart and cheeky; he's clever and he knows it and he has a great sense of humor. He might be a tad overly talented in some areas, but it's easily forgiven because it's so easy to empathize with him as you watch him grow up and go through several impactful events.
The magic system in this world is really interesting and unlike any I've encountered before, being a tentative blend of both a hard and a soft magic system. There's Sympathy, Naming, and even a decent chunk of articifery. I'll steer clear of any explanations here, so as to not spoil any of you. Let's just say you as the reader try to figure out the magic system together with Kvothe and learn as he learns and grows more proficient.
The world itself could be explored a little further, in my opinion, but since this is the first installment in the trilogy I'm willing to look past it. I'm very curious to learn more about the different cultures and locations mentioned in TNOTW in the following installments.
Some minor points of critique:
- It seems to be a habit of Rothfuss to describe many "beautiful" girls/women as having dark hair. While that's totally fine, I think it got a bit repetitive at times. Kvothe just seems to have a type.
- The complicated, dark complex romantic interest ... Can we leave this trope behind? Everything about this character and the relationship that develops between her and Kvothe just screams bad news and it's a teeny bit frustrating at times.
All in all, I loved this book and I couldn't put it down. I'm so happy some of my friends gifted it to me while I was in a really bad place recovering in a hospital bed. It really transported me to a different realm and I'm very grateful for that. Rothfuss has a great style and I'm really excited to start the sequel soon! 5 stars well deserved.
I loved the structure of this book. The story-within-a-story is set up really nicely from the start and I almost felt like I was sitting at Chronicler's table in the Waystone Inn myself, listening in awe. Rothfuss's prose is just lovely, he paints his story with words like a master artist. I actually listened to the audiobook version of this for a pretty decent part of it and basically got the same feeling as I got from listening to my mom tell me fairytales as a child.
The story itself doesn't seem too farfetched. A young boy in a big world, looking for knowledge and revenge, only getting by with his not-inconsiderable sense of wit. We have seen it before, but Kvothe is a lovely protagonist. He's street-smart and cheeky; he's clever and he knows it and he has a great sense of humor. He might be a tad overly talented in some areas, but it's easily forgiven because it's so easy to empathize with him as you watch him grow up and go through several impactful events.
The magic system in this world is really interesting and unlike any I've encountered before, being a tentative blend of both a hard and a soft magic system. There's Sympathy, Naming, and even a decent chunk of articifery. I'll steer clear of any explanations here, so as to not spoil any of you. Let's just say you as the reader try to figure out the magic system together with Kvothe and learn as he learns and grows more proficient.
The world itself could be explored a little further, in my opinion, but since this is the first installment in the trilogy I'm willing to look past it. I'm very curious to learn more about the different cultures and locations mentioned in TNOTW in the following installments.
Some minor points of critique:
- It seems to be a habit of Rothfuss to describe many "beautiful" girls/women as having dark hair. While that's totally fine, I think it got a bit repetitive at times. Kvothe just seems to have a type.
- The complicated, dark complex romantic interest ... Can we leave this trope behind? Everything about this character and the relationship that develops between her and Kvothe just screams bad news and it's a teeny bit frustrating at times.
All in all, I loved this book and I couldn't put it down. I'm so happy some of my friends gifted it to me while I was in a really bad place recovering in a hospital bed. It really transported me to a different realm and I'm very grateful for that. Rothfuss has a great style and I'm really excited to start the sequel soon! 5 stars well deserved.