Rating: 3 out of 5
Genre: Sci-Fi / Fantasy
People who should read this: People who love epic fantasies…. What else can I say?
Be warned… The Name of the Wind is not for the faint of heart. It’s for the lovers of worlds not story… or really, good writing.
Every person I’ve talked to, granted that’s a narrow window of people who like to read, have raved about The Name of the Wind. Here’s my little secret… I don’t like epic fantasies. I read the first six Wheel of Time books and Mistborn, but since then, nothing. Zilch. So then why would I pick up The Name of the Wind? A book that has only confirmed my utter hatred for the genre.
Because I’m a sucker for puppy dog eyes. The worst part is (she’s going to hate me for telling the interwebs this), said friend that begged me to read it with her, also abandoned me halfway through the book and finally in life. Which makes me really wonder why I even gave it a chance or bought the next book which I’m a solid 100 pages into.
*eye roll*
Before said split, The Name of the Wind wasn’t the first book that I was left hanging with, and in response had revoked her buddy reading card. Not that that matters anymore since we are no longer friends. (Note to readers: I had written this blog weeks before our horrible break-up and didn’t know if I was going to leave the parts about her in. Well, I don’t plan on hiding the truth of the matter or the fact that she is the very reason that I picked it up. I tend to do what my friends want which is a huge detriment to myself. If you’re like me, I give you permission to say no and to read what you want.)
Enough about that. Let’s get back to the point.
Since I’m an adult and had already read 450 pages of this very long book, I powered through and finished it. It only took me (checks calendar) three months to do so.
And if you hadn't noticed, this is going to be an unpopular review.
First things first… You’ve heard of the book, you’re all about those epic fantasies, and you see the rating on Goodreads. Even I’m colored impressed. So you go and get the book, turning it over to read the very exciting blurb on the back listing all the things Kvothe has achieved in his life. Who wouldn’t want to read something so epic? I just want to know how he did it all? Getting expelled from the University younger than most are accepted? Let the mischief commese. I mean, the book is 722 pages long. That’s plenty of time to fit in all the heroics. Just leave out a little dinner here. Shopping for clothes there. You sit down to read, getting closer and closer to that last page, seeing that you’re still at the University when bam… you’ve read the last word.
Sitting there shocked, you have no clue what it even means. Was there an arc? Are we just living in a world for the sake of living in the world? Except for the expulsion from the University which I've been told didn’t actually happen either, nothing else made it into those 722 pages. I call that a bit of false advertising.
That’s just my first grievance. Here’s the second. You’ve accepted the fact of the story and you actually like the world you’re in (I do not by the way), but then you start to see the writing. If you’re forced to live in this world, don’t you want to really live in it? Don’t you want descriptions and writing to pull you into the story? What you get is a character recounting his life. What a smart way to break the rules of showing versus telling. I don’t recommend it. What happens is a disjointed story style. As Kvothe recounts his misadventures, he’s telling what happens while Rothfuss is trying to give the readers enough to suck them in. It’s a weird combination that leaves me with enough distance from the story to hate every second that I’m reading it.
I still have one more grievance to air with all of you. It’s the point of conflict in the story. Besides the great one listed above, Kvothe’s bad behavior is easily explained away by his age. With what he’s already achieved in those 722 pages, I say that loosely, he’s only fifteen when we leave him. Alrighty. Do I actually remember his age while reading the book? No. How would I think a kid in Middle School would be so grand in all of this? Give us a better reason to believe it or is this the second suspense of disbelief that I must carry? In the end, I was just cringing at all the stupid things that began to happen. All the misadventures that befell him. I couldn’t sit in that angst much longer. When something good started to go his way you just knew the other shoe was about to drop.
I will end this by saying that I already ordered the next book. Do not judge me. I actually enjoyed the second half of the book, maybe because it was reminiscent of Hogwarts and all the classes. Here was a place of magic, with cool rules, and a system that I understood. Plus, the cast of characters here were more likable. There was more to hold onto than the depression that descended in the beginning. I’m hoping that with the foundation laid, the next book will get to the action a lot quicker. Or atleast keep the same pace that we left off on in the first book. Then again, it’s been a good chunk of years between the books. And we don’t even know when the third is coming out. What have I set myself up for?
Thank you for being with me until the end.
Happy Reading
Love Kait
Reading Challenge: 115/175