Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
Book review: Name of the Wind
*Spoiler alert — this review reveals some events from the plot, proceed with caution!
The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss is the first in a trilogy, called the Kingkiller Chronicle. I was looking for something new to read and my boyfriend found this book when we were perusing various fantasy titles, so I decided to give it a go.
I was excited to start and when I began, I noticed that the writing style seemed decent. It definitely was not poorly written, but it was different — almost like a combination of modern times and an attempt to be like Tolkien (if that makes sense). I quickly came to realize that the descriptions were rather long, the novel is written as a story within a story. The main character, “Kvothe,” is an innkeeper (in the present time) and tells his story as a flashback of everything that he endured while growing up.
Personally, I felt that a significant amount of time was spent analyzing the death of his family and the troupe that they were in, and this was one aspect that made the book really drag throughout the first half. His family was apparently killed by the “Chandrian,” and they are these powerful immortals, that I won’t even be able to properly describe. Let’s just say that they’re extremely powerful and they don’t want anyone to uncover their history and how they came to be.
After the death of his family, Kvothe is left with no money, no place to go, and is entirely alone. He becomes a beggar in a nearby town and that’s when the book *really* starts to slow/drag on. It felt like there wasn’t much of a plot, and this lasted for about 250-300 pages (there are 662 pages total). I struggled to get through, as it was pretty depressing, anything and everything went wrong for Kvothe. I carried the book around for weeks. I debated whether to leave this as a DNF (“did not finish”), though the thought of doing so really irked me.
Finally, I decided to dive in and try the book again, and I’m glad that I did, because it ended up getting much better (at least better than the first half). Kvothe got accepted into the magical university (which is literally only called the “University” during the book) and met a woman that he fell in love with (and forever ends up chasing). The book depicts him as a talented musician, so the reader gets to experience how music positively influences his life. His life at the school is much more interesting than his life as a beggar, that’s for sure.
Overall, the last half of the book is comprised of what happens to Kvothe while at school and his journey to follow any signs of the Chandrian. He travels to a nearby town in an attempt to solve the “blue fire” mystery. The book ends with no real answers, probably to lure the reader into purchasing the second book.
In short, this book was just “okay.” It wasn’t awful by any means, but it wasn’t the best either. At this point in time, I won’t be purchasing the second, as I have read that it is even slower than the first with no real answers/plot. Maybe in the future I will give it a try, but for now I’m content with not moving forward in the series.
If you are interested in reading this book, I recommend just picking up a copy up at your local library. This way, if you don’t enjoy it, you will have at least saved yourself some money.