Review - The Name of the Wind

Rating: * * * * *
Release Date: Available Now
Pages: 662
Author: Patrick Rothfuss
Publisher: DAW Books

Before going any further, it should be noted that The Name of the Wind was released in 2007; this review is very late to the party, as this writer has only just discovered Patrick Rothfuss.

But better late than never, right?

Fantasy novels eventually tend to fit into two categories, you either have the realistic or the mythological. The realistic fantasy novel will tell it as it is, showing you the hardships of the characters and their adventure, slowly building their story into what could later become an epic tale to share around the campfire; the mythological, on the other hand, is the more traditional fantasy story, of a gallant knight fighting off the evil dragon and winning the princess, never really suffering any sort of emotional damage in the process.

It is rare, then, that a fantasy series comes along that can seemingly combine these types of story into one single adventure. Tolkien is famous for it, George R.R. Martin and Robert Jordan continued in their own unique way, and I now feel comfortable to say that Patrick Rothfuss can stand with these writers with his debut novel.

Kvothe (pronounced similarly to quothe) is a hero, a legend amongst the people of the four corners of the civilised world; he’s a talented musician, a brilliant actor, a strong warrior, and a talented thief. He’s also retired, vanished, rumoured to be dead.

Storytellers all over the four corners speak of Kvothe’s epic quests, his early days at The University, his conquests, and his misadventures, but as with all tales of adventure they are misrepresented. Direct from Kvothe’s mouth, we hear the truth.

The novel swaps between the first person narrative of Kvothe’s adventures, and the time of his telling the story. The tale is, at times, somewhat reminiscent of Harry Potter in the fact that we follow Kvothe through his childhood and into The University, where he learns what the average person calls “magic” but is referred to as “Sympathy” by the well educated and informed members of society. However, the minor similarities of ‘boy at school that teaches magic’ is really as far as it should ever be taken, as the writing style itself is not only far more in-depth and descriptive, but the storyline is broader and clearly aimed at a much more mature audience.

The first person narrative sections of the book (which probably takes up a good 85% of the novel) may be slightly off-putting to some people, but with perseverance a certain depth and history to the world becomes apparent and it is possible to look past the constant references to ‘I’ and ‘me.’

The Name of the Wind is one of the better new fantasy novels to have been released within the past few years. Many established and fantastic series’ are available, but for something new this book comes highly recommended.

An extract from the book can be read on Rothfuss’s official site [HERE]