I found this fattie (736 pages) while clicking through the fantasy listings on Amazon. It came attached with gushing praise from many sources. Set in a medieval-like world (de rigeuer for fantasy), it's the story of Kvothe, a man who began his life in a troupe of traveling minstrels and actors and then later enters a university devoted to the study of magic. Kvothe relates his tale in three days to the Chronicler (so this is only a third of the story.) Rothfuss' story is engaging and detailed but the pacing is slow and the action is minimal. That said, I'll be reading the next installment when it becomes available. My wife's reading this now -- she had little options at the time -- and so far she finds it to be rather "dark." ( )

There are lots of books were the protagonist is ultra-human. Whether it be Heinlein's Uber Mensch or Doyle's "Sherlock Holmes", the classical Achilles, or a Manga vampire-like creature, literature (good and bad) is full of them. What really separates the Good books and Bad books that have such people is whether the protagonist pulls a solution out of his rear end, or whether we've been methodically led to each achievement, ready and primed for him/her to do their 'stuff'.

Kvothe's story, in Rothfuss' "Name of the Wind", falls into the latter category. Kvothe is a character that can do many things well, but none of them can come as a surprise or as unbelievable if you've been paying the least bit of attention to the story. Rothfuss brilliantly prepares the reader to understand how each feat was achieved. And honestly, it's been a long while since I have read a book that was so well conceived and derived. It is simply brilliantly micro-managed.

Now, some of you might be looking at the book size and thing 'egads' that's a lot of words. Let me tell you that the book is a quick read. I mean, I'm as slow as molasses when it comes to words per minute, and I finished it in a few days.

The story is told as a memoir, but the book doesn't start at that point. It starts in it's own 'present' and then for it's own reasons goes into the flashback. When I first read the 'present' chapter I was somewhat discouraged, and thought that in all likelihood, what I had in my hands was an average sort of book. But that was not the case. So if you find yourself in a similar frame of mind, do continue on.

Talking Points:::
Excellent World Building
Very Good Writing
Excellent Plotting
Interesting characters
One of THE Best Books I've read this year

Be forewarned that the book does not cover Kvothe's entire life. I have written the publisher, but they had no clue as to when-where-how a sequel would appear. They referred me to the author's own webpage. So I, and a very large number of other people, await a new work more than eagerly.

Pam T~ ( )

In this story you actually get two stories for one. There is a current time period and the story time period. In some books this blending is at times hard to keep separate. However, in this book it is very distinctly divided and there is no confusion as to what time period you are reading in.

The story starts off with an Inn Keeper, named Kote, tending his customers and maintaining his Inn. Kote is listening to all the talk at his inn for something... Some information as to how the world is doing, see there is a war currently being fought. Then a man named Chronicler comes in looking for Kvothe. Chronicler recognizes Kvothe as the Inn Keeper, and requests him to tell his life story so he can record it.

Kvothe comes up with some guidlines for the recording of his lifes history and Chronicler reluctantly agrees to them. As the story starts Kvothe takes you all the way back to when he was a happy, go lucky child with his family and troupe, and how he meet and was intreged by an Arcanist. Kvothe learned many things from this Arcanist, Ben, along with touching on Sympathy, or as we may call magic. Kvothe was very interested in the sympathy and after watching Ben call upon the wind Kvothe wanted to learn the name of the Wind in the worst way possible. With the many things Ben taught Kvothe, Ben learned that Kvothe was an exceptionally brilliant child. Ben told Kvothe and his parents of the University, the place for learning all there is to learn to be a guilded Arcanist.

Kvothe is not sure if he wants to leave the life style he currently has to go to the University, though it does sound wonderful to him. However, as you know in books there is sometimes not a choice, life leads the way for you. There are many unfortunate things that happen to Kvothe here as he is growing up and he losses his way for a few years. But, when Kvothe comes out of the state of shock he had been in for three years he makes the decision to go to the University. Kvothe is one of the youngest and poorest kids to sit for the admissions of the University. Kvothe is accepted in with a tuition he needs to figure out how to pay.

Kvothe has many trials and tribulations he needs to over come and surpass to keep going throughout the book. You are probably asking, what sets this book apart from others or makes it special. Aside from the troubles Kvothe gets into and the unique resolutions, the writing style holds you attention. You are left wondering what analogy Patrick is going to use next. Or what discriptive words he will rhythmically link together to make the perfect visual, sound, touch or taste. The descriptions of all the senses are so detailed you can visualize with ease what is being told. The story itself has a rise and fall like poems or music do. There is a flow to the way of the story that you just follow along very smoothly.

You get to hear what happens from Kvothe then you get to hear the stories that are spread and told by the other students and towns people. It is funny to hear the legendary stories and compare them to what really happened, amazing how a story can get changed around depending on what people thought they saw then mix in their believes.

Do I recommend this book? Whole heartedly! You may think the story is just the simple story of another poor boy, but I have to say this story is anything but simple. The uniqueness of the problem solving used, along with the descriptive writing should be shared with all. ( )

Le pongo tres estrellitas porque me ha gustado mucho... pero en realidad no debería puntuarlo hasta acabar el resto de la serie.
Mas detalles y diario de lectura (en catalán) en http://hevist.tumblr.com/tagged/nameo... ( )

This book is a work of art. I don't think I could use any better words to describe it. It is a work of art that surpasses most modern fantasy novels to date. I put this next to The Lord of the Rings--all though the writing is quite different. The character himself, Kvothe, is someone who I believe not many people can relate to, and I would think--if he were alive and in our world--that he would have a lot of trouble relating to others. A complex, intelligent, and strong novel, this book is one of my favourites. ( )