The Name of the Wind: Kingkiller Chronicle, Book 1

Building a good high fantasy story is a lot like building a fire. You need to lay down the ground work, loosely piling the tinder in the center, adding the kindling on top of that, larger pieces of wood then light the match and get it started. Add some more tinder as the fire grows until the larger pieces of wood burn on their own and then you just have to keep it going. In a good High Fantasy novel or series I’ve found that really takes about 30% of the book. Things kind of just plod along as you learn of the Hero/Heroine and their surroundings. This is no exception to that rule but it is totally worth it because the world building is phenomenal and the characters complex.Meet Kvothe:-- “I have stolen princesses back from sleeping barrow kings. I burned down the town of Trebon. I have spent the night with Felurian and left with both my sanity and my life. I was expelled from the University at a younger age than most people are allowed in. I tread paths by moonlight that others fear to speak of during day. I have talked to gods, loved women, and written songs that make the minstrels weep. You may have heard of me.”He is the heart of this story. Currently Kvothe is in hiding pretending to be an innkeeper, he doesn’t seem that special when we first meet him but all of that is about to change. This is his story told to a scribe who has followed rumors to find him. Kvothe has led quite the life, currently his best friend is a demon, he grew up traveling with something alike to gypsies, lived on the streets as a beggar and attended a school of magic that might even rival Hogwarts.He has all kinds of interesting stories to tell and this is just the first day of the telling. The friends he makes, professors he has and enemies he acquired along the way are all spectacularly interesting and full of pizazz. There are numerous characters that I loved in the book but I don’t want to take up 15 pages righting about then so I have picked my favorite threeThe one and only Lady Love of Kvothe the mysterious DeenaShe is unlike any heroine in a story I’ve ever read. She is not the prim and proper Mary Jane character. She is so likeable but often in the company of other men as she tries to eke out a living of sorts. As a woman she has limited prospects and you can tell she likes Kvothe very much possibly loves and if she got to choose she would choose him but he has nothing he can give her now and so she floats in and out of his life.-- “Denna is a wild thing," I explained. "Like a hind or a summer storm. If a storm blows down your house, or breaks a tree, you don't say the storm was mean. It was cruel. It acted according to its nature and something unfortunately was hurt. The same is true of Denna.”She is a fierce, smart and brave. I love the banter between them and really it is a love of the whole person. Kvothe sees Deena for exactly who she is and is able to accept her and never judge. She is beautiful and men throw themselves at her all the time but Kvothe will bide his time just being happy to spend time with her and the depth of that loyalty and friendship that he offers is one more reason that I adore Kvothe.-- “I have known her longer, my smile said. True, you have been inside the circle of her arms, tasted her mouth, felt the warmth of her, and that is something I have never had. But there is a part of her that is only for me. You cannot touch it, no matter how hard you might try. And after she has left you I will still be here, making her laugh. My light shining in her. I will still be here long after she has forgotten your name.”You can tell they are going to have an epic love the kind that might end in tragedy but it will be beautiful, bold and brilliant.Eloden the Mad Professor-- “Elodin proved a difficult man to find. He had an office in Hollows, but never seemed to use it. When I visited Ledgers and Lists, I discovered he only taught one class: Unlikely Maths. However, this was less than helpful in tracking him down, as according to the ledger, the time of the class was 'now' and the location was 'everywhere.”He is the best professor ever. You are never quite sure what he is doing and he is either the smartest man at the school or the craziest. Every interaction with him is perplexing and wonderful. He is full of so many fantastic characteristics that you are never sure what he is going to do next.Auri, the girl living in the sewer Kvothe’s little moon beam:I desperately want to know who Auri really is, as that is not her real name but the one that Kvothe picked for her. She is skittish and shy and she always brings Kvothe something when they meet up that is ridiculous like an ‘apple that thinks it is a pear’ or a ‘key that unlocks a door on the moon’. But there is something that tells me she may play an important role in Kvothe’s life. She is also just a little on the crazy side as well.-- “I was wondering, Auri. Would you mind showing me the Underthing?”Auri looked away, suddenly shy. “Kvothe, I thought you were a gentleman,” she said, tugging self-consciously at her ragged shirt. “Imagine asking to see a girl’s underthing.” She looked down, her hair hiding her face.…”Auri,” I asked slowly, “are you joking with me?” She looked up and grinned. “Yes I am,” she said proudly. “Isn’t it wonderful?”What a fantastically imagined world that Patrick Rothfuss has created. There are stories within stories throughout and even though you didn’t see the need for a few details on page 70 the importance of the come to light down the road. Everything is so well explained and shown that I feel like I could have gone to the Arcanium and learned to be and Arcanist.Kvothe is flawed and broken trying to make it in this world and he is unapologetic of the mistakes he makes along the way. He is easy to like in all of his struggles because at the heart of him is a good man even when he is making bad choices. I loved everything about this story and can’t wait to see what happens next. The fire has been built and I will sit and warm myself by it's flames until there is nothing but embers left.

Solid and entertaining fantasy novel, deftly plotted. Highlight was the character of Kvothe, one of the extremely rare protagonists in modern literature who is successful, at least to a large degree, because of his cleverness.Author's pacing is superb, it's quite difficult to stop reading this as every chapter ends on a kind of cliff-hanger.The envisioned world where Kvothe lives is deeply detailed and yet has a consistency and reality, almost heft, that very few other authors can match. I'm currently actually reading the second book in the series, and the consistency strengthens the effect even there.Without giving away too much, the plotting is fair and very interesting.The writing is superb at the sort of clause and phrase level. As appropriate for a book about names, the author deploys a rich and beautiful vocabulary of archaic, obscure and nonce words that help bring the world to life all the more. And as I said above, the writing is also superb at the chapter level, with excellent pacing, and complex stories within stories within stories completely clearly narrated.I'm a little bit less enthusiastic about the writing at the sentence level, and perhaps even the paragraph level. The writer is an advocate or practitioner of that modern trend of using short, clear sentences (tied together in fairly short paragraphs). Semicolons and colons, even dashes, are eschewed. I find this style gets irritating and monotonous after a while, although, to be fair, it is certainly much easier to read on a Kindle than one relying on more intricate sentences. Anyway, there are really no contemporary masters of the sentence writing any more - I suppose Ted Chiang with his once-a-decade short stories. Even Chabon seems to have moved away from the exquisite stylizing in say Final Solution (one lyrical fantasy writer is Bishop, in Etched City though).Despite this, the book abounds with memorable phrases, e.g.: "the Waystone Inn lay in silence, and it was a silence of three parts" (evoking Gibbon?); "tucked away his bowl of stew with the predatory efficiency of a lifetime bachelor"; "A poet is a musician who can't sing"; "That's why stories appeal to us. They give us the clarity and simplicity our real lives lack"; "everyone tells a story about themselves inside their own head" (not that I am a fan of the modern but still annoying plural pronoun here); "I don't want to find either one of dead or the building on fire"; "all the more's the tragedy; the second thing to go is a man's memory"; "there's no good story that doesn't touch the truth"; "You see light dappling on the water and forget the deep, cold dark beneath".Although Kvothe is one of the most interesting protagonists I've read in a long time, his portrayal does have flaws where the author risks making him seem cartoonish:(1) Making Kvothe not just a good musician but a great one, a sort of Mozartean character, was a bit too much.(2) Making him bad at math - or maybe this comes up in the second book, I'm not sure now - is ridiculous (he can't keep up in the advanced math seminar with one of the other characters). Given his character - his photographic memory, his brilliance at artificing, his musicial skill, his skill in answering the math questions in his interview - he should have been excellent at math. It's a lot more plausible that he would be able to take an advanced math seminar than that he would be one of the great musicians of the area, it seems to me.(3) By far the worst problem in the book, and the only really serious plot problem, was Kvothe's relationship with Denne and, to some extent, with Fela (although I might be into book 2 here). The portrayal is unrealistic, inconsistent and strained. It felt like the author shoehorned in a jejune, trite love interest for no reason at all, or more likely to try to make the book more cinematic in the eyes of some studio executive. The relationship just doesn't jibe with Kvothe's age, studiousness, life experience or character. It's really awful, especially in an otherwise very plausibly plotted and characterized book. We're supposed to believe in Kvothe, to see him as a real person of his age, and throwing around this cliche and improbable relationship, and at great length and verbosity, is too much. By contrast the relationship with Auri is much more credible and interesting.I was also put off by Kvothe's - even the older Kote's - self-justifying stance toward his behavior towards Ambrose and Hemme. Kvothe created his problems with Ambrose - really they were entirely of his own making there. Kvothe barged in and started mocking Ambrose while he was trying to impress his girlfriend, for absolutely no reason other than some imagined self-righteousness and busybodyness (not really realistic for someone coming from Tarbean anyway). Even the author seems somewhat unaware of how inappropriate Kvothe's treatment of Ambrose was in that key library scene. I'm not supporting Ambrose's reaction, but Ambrose was absolutely the one wronged initially, and Ambrose was understandable in wanting revenge. Similarly, Kvothe's behavior towards Hemme was just wrong, although Hemme too was wrong in his reaction. Maybe the younger Kvothe couldn't see this, but the older one should have seen things as crystal clear.That said, the book is nonetheless thought-provoking, fun to read, and virtually impossible to stop reading once started.

Patrick Rothfuss is a consummate story teller. It has taken him awhile to complete the series so I enjoyed the series so much I have repurchased his earlier books in the series and am re-reading them on my way to the final book in the series. The adventures of Kvothe are written so well they draw you into his life and trials so completely that you feel you are witnessing them yourself. One of the best series of this genre I have read !

If you would like to read a different type of saga, one that engulfs your mind and takes hold of your thoughts and captures your heart, read this book. Beautifully written and well thought out with characters so realistic you can watch them dance to the writer’s tune. This is a must read.

Beautifully written. The captivating narrative and rich world-building make it a fantastic choice for fantasy enthusiasts. Rothfuss's writing style and character development contribute to a truly immersive experience. Definitely must buy for fantasy readers, you won't regret.

it is not as pretty as the Daw 10th anniversary edition with it's sprayed edges, but it's still really good

Cheguei ao primeiro livro de Kingkiller Chronicle totalmente por acaso e me apaixonei imediatamente! Tanto que comprei o segundo livro antes mesmo de terminar o primeiro. A narrativa é envolvente e desenvolvida de maneira muito inteligente (um grande diferencial), com inúmeros pontos de contato com outros universos fantásticos consagrados, especialmente Lord of the Rings e Eragon. Chama a atenção o fato de não haver passagens repletas de sexo e sangue (como infelizmente parece ser a tendência atual nas obras do gênero), e de elas realmente não fazerem falta nenhuma para manter a tensão da história. Infelizmente, isso parece ter desagradado aos fãs e/ou à editora, pois o segundo livro já tem tais passagens - a meu ver, inúteis em quase a sua totalidade. Mas isso é assunto para outro comentário...Recomendo a série para todos os fãs do gênero que se interessam por personagens bem construídos e narrativas inteligentes e envolventes, com muitas surpresas e desenvolvimentos inesperados!