My name is Kvothe, pronounced nearly the same as "quothe." Names are important as they tell you a great deal about a person. I've had more names than anyone has a right to. The Adem call me Maedre. Which, depending on how it's spoken, can mean The Flame, The Thunder, or The Broken Tree. "The Flame" is obvious if you've ever seen me. I have red hair, bright. If I had been born a couple of hundred years ago I would probably have been burned as a demon. I keep it short but it's unruly. When left to its own devices, it sticks up and makes me look as if I have been set afire.
"The Thunder" I attribute to a strong baritone and a great deal of stage training at an early age.
I've never thought of "The Broken Tree" as very significant. Although in retrospect, I suppose it could be considered at least partially prophetic.
My first mentor called me E'lir because I was clever and I knew it. My first real lover called me Dulator because she liked the sound of it. I have been called Shadicar, Lightfinger, and Six-String. I have been called Kvothe the Bloodless, Kvothe the Arcane, and Kvothe Kingkiller. I have earned those names. Bought and paid for them.
But I was brought up as Kvothe. My father once told me it meant "to know."
I have, of course, been called many other things. Most of them uncouth, although very few were unearned.
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.
When I was trying to decide which book I wanted to read next I kept getting recommendations from various sites to check out The Name of the Wind by first time author Patrick Rothfuss. I really fought that recommendation for a while. See, NOTW is the first book in a trilogy and I have a general rule about book series I try to follow: Do not read a book until the series is complete.
Why?
You know that terrible wait between each week of 24 when you just have to know what happens next? Stretch that out for a year. Three years. Forever, if the author never gets around to finishing it.
There are definite exceptions. I read the New Jedi Order as each book was released until I got distracted (hmm, I need to finish of the last couple books….). I was the old guy in line at midnight releases for Harry Potter. I’m convinced George R. R. Martin personally hates me and releases his books slowly just to mess with me.
When I read the above quote on the back cover of NOTW I figured I would give it a chance and I’m sure glad I did.
The Name of the Wind [DAW Trade, 2007, 672 pages] is the tale of Kvothe and is told from his point of view. I would almost liken it to a memoir, but that would be inaccurate. The trilogy is not a standard trilogy with three complete stories that are bound into an overarching story across three books. Instead, this trilogy (called The Kingkiller Chronicles) consists of one story told over three books. So, yes, there are many loose ends at the end of the book and a strong incompleteness that makes me want to run, not walk, to buy the second part….which isn’t out yet.
I really don’t want to give out any spoilers so I will just let the quote above wet your appetite as to the themes of the book. I will say that I really enjoyed the way this book was written. It doesn’t fall into a lot of the genre-traps that a lot of fantasy writers can’t seem to avoid. Everything, even the magic, has a since of realism to it. The character development of Kvothe is excellent and the cast of characters around him and against him are enjoyable and rarely cliché.
I almost hate to say this because I think it might mislead you, but NOTW is a good stepping stone away from the Harry Potter books to more ‘real’ fantasy books for those that have come into the genre via Harry Potter. You still have your magic and your academic settings, but you get a story written for adults. For as much fun as Harry Potter is, it completely rips off a lot of other fantasy writers – but that is a post for another day.
I read a lot of fantasy novels. There are a lot of terrible novels that are exactly what you think the whole fantasy genre is. However, for all the crap, there are many, many excellent fantasy novels that come out each year and some true classics that you can’t go wrong reading. I think The Name of the Wind would be a good place to start.
One last side note: towards the end of the book some profanity starts showing up. The vast majority of the book is alright, but the last hundred pages or so it does pick up a good bit. I just wanted to give you a heads up.
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