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GeekNights Book Club - The Name of the Wind
Tonight on the GeekNights Book Club, we review Patrick Rothfuss's The Name of the Wind.
This is the riveting first-person narrative of Kvothe, a young man who grows to be one of the most notorious magicians his world has ever seen. From his childhood in a troupe of traveling players, to years spent as a near-feral orphan in a crime-riddled city, to his daringly brazen yet successful bid to enter a legendary school of magic, The Name of the Wind is a masterpiece that transports readers into the body and mind of a wizard.
All in all, it's OK. Not great, not terrible, enjoyable enough, but not quite as fun as The Lies of Locke Lamora. Do note that we are at times quite harsh on the work, its merits nonwithstanding. Simply put, the book is not bad, or else we would actually have little to say. It is good enough that we must bring to bear our strongest criticisms, for it falls just short of being excellent. We both look forward to the continued growth of the author, and consider this a wonderful young adult fantasy novel.
We've discussed this book on two other occasions: relating to arrows and knees, and just as we'd finished it.
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Comments
It's a great book. I think you're too hard on it. I think 20% of it could have been edited out, but I don't think it's as big a hindrance as has been represented on this forum generally.
In conclusion: Phhhbbbbbtttttt!!
While I agree with muppet (there's something I never thought I'd say, ever) that the bits that could have been chucked out the window aren't that big of a hindrance, the fact that they exist in the first place is a problem for me. Whenever I came across those sections, the book completely lost my attention. I usually had to put it down for a few hours to just get some separation from the jarring disconnect that those bits made me feel. It's unfortunate.
I completely agree with your opinion of Ambrose , and his "rivalry" with Kvothe; people can be dicks by nature, but they tend not to escalate things as quickly as he did unless provoked. The only thing that Kvothe did that I could see that escalated anything was stopping Ambrose from seducing/raping Fella. Ambrose "got him back" by sending him into the Archives with a candle, and if Kvothe had been able to unscrew his head from his ass then he probably would have been able to realize that an open flames+books is a BAD IDEA. Heck, the other obvious factor was the donkey song, and jumping from being a dick to outright murder seemed incredible unreasonable to me. Rothfussssssss was forcing their "rivalry" at every point he could for no particular reason that I could see, and unless this somehow connects with the Chandrians then it was effort completely wasted.
I just started the second book, and I too have been skimming it until something not related to wizard school drama bullshit happens; 70-ish pages in, and no dice so far.
OK I'm going to end my half hearted participation in this thread now. :-)
As for me, I thought it was fun. Perhaps people were under the misconception they were getting some crazy, high fantasy story. It's not that. It's wizard school.
I enjoyed it enough that I immediately brought and started reading *cough, listening* to the next book. And yes, as said above, Elodin is boss. He has one of the best scenes in the opening of book 2, probably a single better scene than any in book 1, so this gives me hope of more.
If Rothfusssssssss can keep up THAT level of writing and little pockets of fun, I will most certainly keep reading.
Short version: agree with Rym and Scott, for the most part. Too long, too many cycles, too much unconnected magic. However, fun enough to read the first and then continue with the second (actually audiobooks, as I probably wouldn't read such chunky books unless I was more enthusiastic about them).
Things Scrym didn't mention:
In the second book you get more of Kvothe's history (the identity of his mother, etc) but he NEVER FUCKING JUST WORKS TOWARDS DISCOVERING THE CHANDRIAN!!! It's a clever book because there were nested diversions, all fun, but FUCKING GET ON WITH THE MAIN MYSTERY!!!
Also I wanted/predicted that it would be like the Star Wars prequels, starting with a perfect Anakin style figure (perfect and too good) and moving on to Darth Vader (the Kingkiller of the title). But by the end of book two he still hasn't turned towards any kind of darkness. Which is very, very disappointing.
I break mine very, very often due to my lifestyle. Traveling means things get knocked about a lot. And I wear them in hot tubs. Just in general I can't treat my earphones like gold leaf.
Which means I've collected about 20 broken Apple remote/mic earphones. Maybe I'll take a photo or make a video of them all. I've spent about as much on them as my iPhone, I'm sure. However, at €30 a pop, they are the best value for what I need and want.
If I was Chronicler, I would have stabbed out both my eyes with my quill by now...
I get it, he plays a lute! I get it, they all get drunk in bars!
Dear god, is there even a THREAD of a STORY in this book??
I'm listening on 2x and I suspect that even on 4X the story would be slow...
Just finished book 2 this morning, and pretty much agree with Luke's review of it.
The storytelling is too genuine, too earnest, and far too detailed. It reads like a book in and of itself, with the "current" story being little more than window dressing.
The sheer level of intimate detail of the told story belies any chance of there being a meta-element related to the storyteller himself. If he does indeed end up unreliable, then the works are profoundly flawed.
If someone gets your blood, you are FUCKED. That’s it. Plain and simple.
I was really hoping for some kind of way to “feedback” the mother fucker who malfeasance’s you. A proverbial “pissing on the electric fence” situation. An advanced technique or something…
But no… The entire plan revolved around destroying the physical blood/object. Yawn.
Well, *better*...
I'm actually really enjoying it again.