The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss Review

 

The Name of the Wind

by Patrick Rothfuss

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Told in Kvothe’s own voice, this is the tale of the magically gifted young man who grows to be the most notorious wizard his world has ever seen.

The intimate narrative of his childhood in a troupe of traveling players, his years spent as a near-feral orphan in a crime-ridden city, his daringly brazen yet successful bid to enter a legendary school of magic, and his life as a fugitive after the murder of a king form a gripping coming-of-age story unrivaled in recent literature.

 

 

 

 

 

The Name of the Wind is the fantasy novel I’ve been looking for. I don’t know where I was or what I was looking at for the last 13 years, but this book only came to my attention within the last few years when it was recommended to me. Before that, I hadn’t heard of it or if I did, I didn’t give it the attention it deserved. As I’ve been on the lookout for amazing fantasy novels, specifically adult (not YA) fantasy, this is an incredibly exciting read for me. All I can say is that I wish I’d read it sooner. 

The Name of the Wind is an experience of a book. It was everything I like in a fantasy novel, with traditional fantasy elements and the atmosphere of a traditional fantasy world but with its own unique flavor and writing that’s half the magic. Despite the traditionally familiar atmosphere, The Name of the Wind certainly stands out from the crowd. 

This is the origin story of a legendary hero but different in that it’s told through the hero, Kvothe’s, perspective and recollections. I don’t believe I’ve read another novel told almost exclusively through a flashback narrative as this one is or with the framework around it that The Name of the Wind had. I love that readers are introduced to Kvothe as he is now—a full grown, though still relatively young, adult with tales to tell and legends surrounding him living as a simple innkeeper. Knowing what we know about current day Kvothe allows readers to be immersed in young Kvothe’s tale but completely shifts any ideas we may have about his future. I can’t explain how much I appreciated that. Young Kvothe is brilliant and exceptional in many, many ways but the framework around that first person account tells us that this story isn’t just the rise of a hero, it’s going places we can’t predict. 

I love novels that have a real sense of storytelling about them. Though I still want to feel that I’m watching the events unfold right before my eyes, I love when authors write with a stronger sense of overall story instead of just plot, shaping their prose into something slightly different where atmosphere becomes less of a scene-level element and more of an element of the prose itself. That’s the case with The Name of the Wind. In terms of plot, this is a slower, more subdued novel that takes its time in all it does. While there are some exciting parts, it doesn’t have a terribly exciting, fast paced plot overall. However, it does not suffer from this lack of usual plot. Even using the word “lack” feels wrong because my point is that this novel is doing something different, not failing to meet some standards set by other novels. Kvothe’s narrative is utterly compelling. Substantial amounts of time are spent on parts of young Kvothe’s life that I feel like, if written by another author, would’ve been skimmed over and described in vague, condensed ways in order to get to the more “exciting” stuff–which is exactly what I don’t want. I want to spend time watching Kvothe’s life unfold, I want to see in detail how he comes to be the legendary hero we’re told he is. I didn’t want to stop reading this book. I was continually surprised by how the story unfolded. It was nuanced and compelling, with creatures, characters and histories that created so much intrigue. All of this was twofold because of the occasional breaks in young Kvothe’s story to jump back to current day Kvothe, where more was going on than the simple telling of a tale. 

I loved everything this novel did, the world it laid out, the intrigue it built and everywhere the story went. There’s so much to explore and questions I need answered. In the hands of a brilliant author like Rothfuss, a slower story that’s been described as a sort of very long prologue (which is accurate) can be amazing. And The Name of the Wind is. 

 

 

The Name of the Wind is truly fantasy done right. The world feels vast and brilliantly crafted and is so, so interesting. I love the magic system. It’s familiar but unique, makes total sense and is presented in a way that never feels like readers are being given an overwhelming explanation with too much information at once. In fact, the magic makes so much sense and is so well written that it feels simple enough for the reader to grasp the fundamentals early within the book so droning, detailed explanations throughout the story aren’t necessary. We learn organically as Kvothe learns and it’s fascinating. The magic, Sympathy, is somewhat scientific but isn’t too concrete and has just enough mystery and wonder to be truly magical. 

Kvothe is a fantastic character. Because he is so exceptional at such a young age, readers may think they know what type of person Kvothe is going to be or the type of story they’re in for. They’d be wrong. He’s incredibly smart in a number of unexpected ways but this is balanced by just how imperfect and difficult his journey was and the fact that he still seems very much like a regular person. His mind is his advantage but so many other aspects of his life are working against him. Again, I appreciated the time spent on these difficult parts of his life. In other novels, I think a lot of the hardships of his adolescence would’ve been summed up in perhaps only a few paragraphs but spending this time with Kvothe and seeing it firsthand makes him a much more real and complex character. Readers get to know him extremely well living alongside him for so long. He’s fantastically written and has an incredible narrative voice. I also appreciate that though he’s brilliant and has experienced hardships, he still has moments where his youth and inexperience are obvious. The writing in this book is just exceptional. It’s rich, detailed, evocative and humorous at times. I loved it. 

I am so happy I read this book. I’ve been struggling to find both YA fantasy and adult fantasy novels that excite me for a long while now and The Name of the Wind was exactly what I needed. With a complex and intriguing world, fantastically written characters and incredible prose, I couldn’t have loved it more. It may not have a fast paced plot with chaotic happenings every other chapter, but it doesn’t need it. I highly, highly recommend it and am eager to read the second book in The Kingkiller Chronicle, The Wise Man’s Fear. 

5/5

Have you read The Name of the Wind? Do you want to? Let me know what you think in the comments!

Thanks for reading, 

Madison