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50 of 57 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good debut!, 3 April 2007
In a nutshell, The Name of the Wind recounts the tale of Kvothe, a young man destined to become the most powerful wizard the world has ever seen. It begins with Kvothe's childhood years, first as a member of a traveling troupe of musicians and artists, and then as a street urchin forced to fend for himself in a violent environment. Later, the story shifts to his adolescence, at a time when he is admitted to the University, renowned school of magic.
Reading along, I found the structure of the story a little odd. The better part of the novel is comprised of Kvothe's back story, with only a few scenes occurring in "real time." Having never encountered something like it, I discussed it with Betsy Wollheim. She did shine some light on the matter, and it turns out that Rothfuss' first trilogy will focus on the main character's past, with occasional tantalizing hints of things to come. A second trilogy will then recount Kvothe's "present" tale.
The Name of the Wind is told in a first person narrative. Hence, other than those "real time" segments told in the third person, most of the book is told from Kvothe's perspective. Those who have a problem with single-POV narratives similar to that of Robin Hobb's The Farseer and The Tawny Man trilogies, consider yourselves warned. The main danger in using the first person narrative is that the entire story rests on the shoulder of a single character. If you like Kvothe, terrific. If you don't, that's where it gets tricky. I had no problem with that facet of the novel, but I'm acutely aware that some readers don't care much for the first person perspective.
The worldbuilding doesn't play a big role in this debut. And yet, Rothfuss hints at a much vaster depth, hopefully to be explored in future sequels. The author has an eye for details, and the story does come alive as you turn the pages. The magic system appears to be well thought of and interesting, and I'm eager to learn more about it.
The Name of the Wind is a character-driven book. As a first person narrative, it can't be anything but that. The supporting cast is composed of a relatively small number of characters, which is rather rare for a book of this size. I'm looking forward to learning more about them in the upcoming installments.
The novel suffers from only one flaw -- a flaw shared by various Daw books: it's too long. I feel that Rothfuss' attention to details slows the pace in several portions of the book. I feel that some scenes could have been truncated and others excised without the readers missing out on any major plotlines. In my opinion, this would quicken the rhythm and improve the overall quality of the book.
Unlike some debuts that are not easily accessible -- Hal Duncan's Vellum and Steven Erikson's Gardens of the Moon come to mind -- I'm persuaded that The Name of the Wind can appeal to both neophytes and long-time fans of the genre. As such, it's similar to both Brandon Sanderson's Elantris and Joe Abercrombie's The Blade Itself in that regard. It's also a throwback work, which brought fantasy novels likes Raymond E. Feist's Magician and David Eddings' Pawn of the Prophecy to mind.
Although a bit overlong, The Name of the Wind is a solid and ambitious effort. Two years ago I would have claimed that it could well be the debut of the year. But Hal Duncan and Scott Lynch have forced us to look at debuts in a different way. Still, Patrick Rothfuss wrote an auspicious debut, and I'm curious to discover the rest of Kvothe's tale.
Check out my blog: www.fantasyhotlist.blogspot.com
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37 of 42 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fantastic debut, 27 Jul 2007
I was luckily enough to be given this as a proof copy by a friend... I'm very glad she did so. I've read a fair amount of fantasy, most of which is not exactly well-written. However, this is a great piece of work - I can only hope the rest of the trilogy lives up to it. The previous reviewer has already encapsulated the plot so no need for me to do so :) Briefly, I had the same warm glow of having read something worthwhile that I got when I first read Robin Hobb (which this is similar to, but in a good rather than plagaristic way), George R.R. Martin, and Lois McMaster Bujold, as opposed to say Eddings (who I think tells a good story, but in a style that makes me want to gnaw my arm off!). Highly recommended.
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8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
An interesting start to a series, 3 Jul 2008
This book leaves me a little bit confused. On one hand, I found it compelling and could not put it down. On the other hand, it was not actually that good. It's a very accessible story with an interesting structure. I enjoyed the mystery of what could have brought Kvothe to the village where the story opens, and I found his tale very emotive. The university is a fascinating setting, and Kvothe's world is very well fleshed out.
However, over the course of 600 pages, not an awful lot actually happens. I was left with the feeling that the entire story could have been told in half the length without any of the atmosphere or depth being lost.
I found that some of the characters were utterly fascinating - particularly the university professors and Kvothes's mentor, Ben - while others were tedious and/or too perfect. Kvothe himself would have been better spending less time describing his apparently great skills, and the character of Denna is almost painfully clichéd. A woman described as having no female friends because she's so perfect is almost impossible for the reader to empathise with.
And finally, don't be fooled by the product description. None of those feats committed by Kvothe actually happen in this book. I'll be reading the sequel to find out if and when they do (which is probably the goal of mentioning them on the book's cover), but unless it improves on the first I may not follow the series through to the end.
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