The Name Of The Wind
Description:
MY NAME IS 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.
So begins a tale unequaled in fantasy literature--the story of a hero told in his own voice. It is a tale of sorrow, a tale of survival, a tale of one man's search for meaning in his universe, and how that search, and the indomitable will that drove it, gave birth to a legend.
My review:
I FINISHED IT ! ♡♡♡
489,968 ratings on GR the moment I write this.
69% of the ratings are 5 stars.
30,623 reviews without mine….
30,624…here we go:
5 GLORIOUS STARS to The Name of The Wind by Patrick Rothfuss.
This novel reads effortlessly and timeless. It is the kind of book you will get lost in as you may have perhaps when you were a kid reading on long summer days, or under cover hiding during bed time. Kvothe’s journey is captivating and takes you away along with him to distant places as he is coming of age and tells his story.
“When we are children we seldom think of the future. This innocence leaves us free to enjoy ourselves as few adults can. The day we fret about the future is the day we leave our childhood behind.”
― Patrick Rothfuss, The Name of the Wind
Kvothe tells his story in three parts / days. This book equals day one and starts as he sits with the chronicler at his Inn, telling him about his childhood and a tragic event that happened to him when he was 8 years of age that changed his beautiful childhood to what is to come.
“The boy grows upward, but the girl grows up.”
― Patrick Rothfuss, The Name of the Wind
Left penniless and alone, Kvothe and his lute make a new home on the streets and rooftops of Tarbean. A divided harbor city where he quickly finds out to which side of town he belongs to. Hunger, disease, steeling and looting are the norm here, in a city where you are either a noble or a beggar. An honest living and hard work hardly account for anything, and desperate times call for desperate measures.
“No matter how you spend your life, your wit will defend you more often than a sword. Keep it sharp!”
― Patrick Rothfuss, The Name of the Wind
Kvothe’s dream is to make it into university, and after fending on the streets for a few years, he finds himself beaten but not so much without the will to make his journey with a few hard scraped coins in his possession. His travels happen to be the luckiest of things that happen to him, and beyond reason but rather cleverness, he passed the entrance exam at a stroke to midnight and is accepted into the university. Of course, this school is fantastical in its' subjects, and Kvothe is a gifted student whilst getting in trouble countless times.
Praise on the back of the book:
“THE NAME OF THE WIND, is one of the best stories told in any medium in a decade. Patrick Rothfuss’ debut novel combines the intricate stories-within-stories structure of “The Arabian Nights” with the academic setting of the “Harry Potter” series, and transforms it all into a brooding, thoroughly adult meditation on how heroism went wrong…shelve THE NAME OF THE WIND beside “The Lord of the Rings” …and look forward to the day when it’s mentioned in the same breath, perhaps as first among equals.”
– The Onion A.V. Club
Kvothes’ university years feel magical at times of his studies and the friendships he forms become well established. Of course there are sinister dark things going on at the school as well as in the land that seem to have a calling for the young lad. His inquisitive nature and abilities keep the troubles coming, while he resumes playing his lute to cope. Still struggling with money and debt, he meets an elusive girl from the past and it spins him for loops and occupies his time. Cat and mouse….and so much to learn.
“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.”
― Patrick Rothfuss, The Name of the Wind
The book ends back at the Inn, where the chronicler just notated all of the first days’ telling. But rest assured, there is more to come. Up until now it seems, it was just an intro to a turbulent second day I believe. That tome sits in front of me now, waiting to be read. And if it is anything like the first or even better, then the ongoing hype that surrounds this series is justified. I for one agree with all the good things that have been said. My favorite part of it is that it reads so effortlessly. It does not feel like a new YA fantasy on steroids, but builds a world and characters slow and in depth. However why the third book has not been released, is something I would like to know and research.....and I am off to reading again...tata.