“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.”
― Patrick Rothfuss, The Name of the Wind
If I were to describe this the first book of the Kingkiller Chronicles, it would be long. With an impressive length of 662 pages, and for me who listened to the audio book, 28 hours, it did not just feel long. It was long. Much of this fantasy book could have been summed up in details, some of them funny, some of them interesting, but a lot of it was not necessary for the story. Then the writer spends minutes describing a recipe or maybe the filing system of the archives and you wonder, why?! There are to much unnecessary details, and it makes Kvothe seem like a bad storyteller. Which is funny since he is describe as a great one.
The plot begins in an inn, were people talking about demons. The innkeeper meeting a chronicler who realize who he was. The famous Kvothe and convinces him to tell his life’s story. Then the main plot of the story beginning with Kvothe’s childhood, his parent’s death, him living on the street and finally how he enters the academy to learn everything from tinkering and magic. It’s hard to describe the plot of this book since it is intertwined with the book after it and so on. The main purpose of the main character is to find the people who killed his family and avenge them. But the first book just set it up this book is about him growing up to becoming a man.
By the end, the story has hardly begun and I asked myself, did I really just spend 28 hours and the story has hardly begun? The answer: Yes.
So, when you go in (if you do) reading this book I would suggest that you don’t focus on the ending, for there is none in this book. This is a long journey and this book hardly scrape the surface of the unanswered questions. Such as, which king did he kill? What do the enemy want? What about the demons in the presence, how are they intertwined with his past? And so on.
If you like slow burning stories then this one is for you. I do not, I can be patient but I want a feeling of progress by the end of the book and I did not feel anything of the like in by the end of The Name of the Wind. It made me feel a bit empty, though I did want to read, or listen, for the rest of the story. The writing itself is very fluently, dramatic but still entertaining. Which make you live yourself into the world and the characters who feels very living.
I adore the characters. The main character, being a genius, a bit arrogant but still kind. He is entertaining and oddly relatable. His friends are funny, the kind and emotional Simmon and the grumpy and harsh Wilem. The arrogant rival, Ambrose, who is a bit of a trope as the wealthy and spoiled brat, was a bit underplayed but is hinted to have a larger role in the future. The love interest, Denna, get some well written scenes but falls under the love at first sight trope. Though they do joke about her not being as beautiful as Kvothe thinks. Some of the teachers are also enjoyable.
Have you noticed it yet? Most of the characters I praise is actually introduced later in the book, when he arrives to the Academy. A rather large portion is dedicated to him living in the streets and that part was frankly rather boring. One entire chapter was dedicated to a man telling a story, which surely had some hints to who had killed Kvothe’s parents, but still was too long for my liking.
So, would I recommend it? Yes… If you have the time and most importantly have the patient for a long story. It will take time before the story becomes interesting and become fruitful. It has good writing and interesting lore. The author has spend a large amount on the worldbuilding which have left us with a world buzzling with life and atmosphere. But as I mentioned, I felt it had too much spaces of nothing and infodumps with no real reward for my dedication by the end. As such, I would give it a 7 out of 10 but I can fully see why others would give it a higher rating. It only shows that they have far more patience than me.
How about you? Does this story interest you?
With Kind regards
Senefer.
Read with Senefer 