The Name of the Wind / Patrick Rothfuss

The Name of the Wind

category: fantasy, author:

Patrick Rothfuss

book 1 of Kingkiller Chronicle
original copyright 2007

read in February 2012

Agamedes' opinion: 8 out of 10: really quite good

This is a book of contrasts... A pastoral introduction with the hero retired and waiting to die, interspersed with enough violent action to tell us that the story is not really over. A flashback narration with enough here-and-now action to keep us on our toes. A standard getting-an-education and coming-of-age tale with enough mystery, threat and interest to make me want to read more...

It's a story of a young man developing the skills and knowledge needed to survive. Skills that will make him a killer. By the end of this book one, he has only some of the necessary knowledge -- and none of the killer skills. Yet the journey-so-far has been fascinating.

The flashback style lets us know that the hero will be both hated and feared. Yet he saves innocent lives and helps those in need. It is clear that he would send money home to his grey-haired mother, if he had a mother at all.

As I read The Name of the Wind I could not help thinking, this is Tom Brown's Schooldays, with magic. Worse, this book is just the introduction; it's book one of Kingkiller Chronicle and we have not yet even met a king. This book should be boring.

This book is not boring.

This is no non-stop-actioner, yet The Name of the Wind grips the reader.

Okay, on the down side...

A lot of the incidents draw us on, with strong characters and imaginative settings. (Unbelievable but imaginative. That's good; this is a fantasy.) Yet the incidents appear to go nowhere. The story is somewhat episodic.

This may be the fault of being "book one". But it is a weakness.

Read as a standalone book, The Name of the Wind is a series of related anecdotes rather than a complete novel. Yes, there is a satisfactory conclusion. But it is simply a cliff-hanger, even though the hero is at least left standing safely on a ledge.

This is a book of contrasts... A build-up of tension rather than a strong plot with a climactic conclusion. A clear path forward but with an inconclusive ending. A book which should be boring, yet it inspires the reader to want to read more.

I enjoyed this book. I enjoyed the characters and the fantasy universe. I would have liked a better conclusion, even if this is only book one.

I definitely want to read more.

..o0o..

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