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Title: The Name of the Wind (The Kingkiller Chronicle, Day 1)
ISBN: 0756404746
Author:
Patrick Rothfuss
Publicate Date: 2008-04-01
Publish: 2008-04-01
List Price: $7.99
Average Customer Rating: 4.5
Format: Mass Market Paperback
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Amazon Lowest New Price: $7.74
Amazon Lowest Used Price: $2.50
Amazon Merchant Price: $7.99
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| Customer Review: |
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1: IF you need a new author to read Rothfuss is him!
Thank God for amazon's recomendations because they got me to try this new author and his first book was riveting... He brings to life a great world filled with mystery as well as believable characters... This book is a keeper. He has moved up onto my list of great authors such as Tolkien, David Gemmell, and L.E. Modeseitt Jr.
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2: Don't bother...
If you are looking for a Brandon Sanderson, Christopher Paolini, Middle Earth, or even Narnia, don't bother! This author seems obsessed with childish bawdiness to the point where this morning I just had to put it down. I mean, let's get past the potty humor and tell a story. With that said, I love a story that grips me right away and gets me interested in hearing what the rest of the book has to say. I tried and tried and just couldn't find Kvothe interesting. This one will go unfinished and go...somewhere other than in my collection. Probably won't be trying more from this author at the present time.
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3: I'm speechless
Wow ...
The Name of the Wind was incredible! Just plain incredible. I had heard of it from a friend that tens to like the same books as I do, I was complaining that to read anything REALLY good, I always have to go back and re-read my favorites. He suggested TNotW, I could hardly put it down. Then I find out that its the Author's FIRST book! I am now in total awe of this guy! Looking for something new? Tired of the same old, retelling of the standard good vs. evil fantasy plot? Read this book! I mean it, click right over there and order it! Do it now!!
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4: Better than Harry Potter and more addicitive than pistachios
Patrick Rothfuss is a masterful spinner of fantasy stories. Rothfuss, who was an undeclared collegian for the first 3 years of college, is an up and coming master of the swords and magic book genre. I think that the character Kvothe is written very really. I like how there is a supernatural element in the story of the Chandrians and as the character Bast who is one of the Chandrian. I also like how magic is described with tie-ins to modern science like saying that steel has more carbon in it than iron, but then Kvothe would agree with the blacksmith's apprentice saying that it had more lime in it to appear less educated and blend in more. I also liked the vivid description of the Arcanium and how there was a master of different arts like naming and sympathy bonds and Fishery where people fabricated items. The addition of sympathy bonds to the fantasy world will be great. I appreciated how in books like this one and the ones in the Eragon Cycle, the person's ability is derived from their own strength. This doesn't leave too many what if scenarios. In the Harry Potter series, magic is formed by thought, so what if some had muttered a word that would of just destroyed the world in a second? Another thumbs up, to how Patrick Rothfuss pays homage to basic fantasy, dragons or Draccus as the Chronicler would of said, who is like the scribe like character of the story. My personal favorite part of the book is when the villagers are recalling the legendary adventures of Kvothe with his many names, and he is sitting among them unknown to them. The most memorable part of the story is how the Chronicler met Kvothe, while getting attacked by the Scrael at the same time. The funniest part of the book is when a young Kvothe sees Abernathy's cart with the word Alements on a sign, not Aliments because Abernathy brews alcohol, which is a joke. Name of the Wind doesn't have these plot holes except from the part where he is a street urchin and the question is asked, why doesn't he help lift himself out of poverty with his magical abilities, the ones that he learned on the road from Abernathy?
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5: Rollercoaster, of love?
This book took me on quite a ride.
The prologue read like a high school creative writing assignment, with prose like, "and he moved with the subtle certainty that comes from knowing many things."
The first chapter, thankfully, moved into the story itself without too much more flowery preamble, and away I went.
The story begins as typical fantasy, something is wrong in the world and we don't know what or why. We're given glimpses of the evil machinations, and as such provides adequate incentive to keep turning the pages.
As events unfold, we discover that the whole purpose of our second main character was to provide a reason for the first main character to tell the story of his life. At this point, I felt my skepticism struggling to break free again, but I calmed it and continued.
When parents are killed by dark forces and the sole surviving prodigy son vows revenge, well, we've certainly been here before but at this point I felt I had developed what I think was the proper approach to this book. That is, as one would approach one of those run of the mill action movies.
Once in this mindset, the book was actually quite enjoyable. Yeah, the main character was some kind of superhero with his unsurpassed intellect and aptitude for everything. Yeah, his love interest was this 'free spirit' that would make the most obnoxious decisions at every turn. And yeah, the rest of the supporting cast is reminiscent of Harry Potter.
Despite all that, by approaching the book the way I did, I was able to really enjoy it. It was entertainment and a 'fun' story. It takes no risks and brings nothing new to the table but still remained enjoyable.
I must make one formal complaint though, when you set the stage the way this author chose -- dumping us into a world with talk of looming danger -- there is a certain implied agreement made between the author and the reader. It is this: when the end comes, we will feel more informed about the world we were introduced to. Not completely informed, but enough to feel like we're a part of it and have some stake in its future.
In this, the book fails miserably. In fact, you learn nearly nothing about the little spider thing that is presented as the first conflict in the book by the end.
All in all, this book is a giant prologue to a greater story that we have yet to be made privy to, and I think that while the author will lose a lot of readers who were looking for greatness, he will still retain the readers that read for a simple escape from reality. By virtue of this, he will be likely be given a chance to bring the story into fruition, hopefully before readers lose patience with him.
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