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freevortex's review against another edition
5.0
Rothfuss has a simply astounding way with words. His attention to detail and masterful weaving of the story are impossible to describe- I simply implore you to pick up this book and see for yourself. It is neither fanciful nor commonplace, and it is certainly not the type of book I was expecting when I grabbed it off the "fantasy" shelf and noted that it was over 700 pages long. This is no high-fantasy quest for glory; rather, this is a story of a boy and how he became the man he is. It has been some time since a book has gripped me in this manner, at times forcing me to read in small chunks due to the wrenching story, at others urging me to turn just one more page to find out what happens next.
alreadyemily's review against another edition
4.0
Brilliantly-written. 4.5 stars The only thing keeping it from 5 stars is the lopsided and tropey approach to female characters. Doesn't pass the Bechdel test.
oculallen's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
thenovelcourt's review against another edition
2.0
I've spent the last 36 days trying to fall in love with this book. Or if not love, at least be at peace with it.
This 662-page book is 500 pages too long, and the one thing I can say is that it showed me just how incredibly slow I am able to read a book.
This 662-page book is 500 pages too long, and the one thing I can say is that it showed me just how incredibly slow I am able to read a book.
witchy_book_babe's review against another edition
2.5
Debating between 2-3 stars because this may very well be the most disappointing book that I've read in a handful of years.
I am honestly a little prickly right now after finishing that final 695th page that concluded the Epilogue.
So prickly in fact, that I did something that I rarely do...and that was skip over those last few closing pages of a book (afterword and note from the author).
I initially purchased The Narrow Road Between Desires that caught my eye in Target. It is stated by the Author: "...First, if you haven't read my other books, you probably don't want to start here....if you start here, you're going to be missing a lot of context."
I have seen others use this comparison and it is a great expression of how this book made me feel, The Name of the Wind was a 695 page long Prologue. That, in my opinion, was a complete waste of my time and money to read before I could read the Novella (The Narrow Road Between Desires).
The first 40-50% of the book was so well balanced, engaging, and full of promise! Then, I felt that the story completely lacked focus, there were too many subplots that felt like unnecessary filler, and there was a piling amount of not only contradictory things, but also a lot of impossible/unlikely occurrences that could have been corrected with finer tuned editing.
Things I liked:
-Kvothe was a likeable character for the first half of the book...then, I felt like the second half was a totally different Kvothe...this character was created and molded into a shape, but for some reason the second half of the story decided to tear that shape in half and one of the halves became unrecognizable; no longer being able to fit with its other half.
-Auri, even though she was a much more docile-and female- version of Gollum...I liked her very much. But, there were some missteps in her character as well, because how she appeared did not make sense. How she wasn't sick with disease from where she lived, is beyond me. She should have reeked, or had rotten teeth, chipped/dirty fingernails, been weaker...etc. I did appreciate chapter 87 very much when I was getting irritated with the way the story was dropping off... it was a chapter that actually was relevant to the progression of the story. Just a shame that it was short lived.
-Elodi, the MVP of the book. He was so strange and peculiar. And honestly, I seriously couldn't understand in ALL of the university, everyone continued to think this man mad/off his rocker. Like hello...he is an absolute genius and I would be trying to befriend him nonstop. (Ch. 86 was one of the few good chapters in those last 100 pages that were really hard for me to get through.)
-Lastly, if I hadn't had the Anniversary Edition with the illustrations, I would have dnf'd this book at 50%. The images are absolutely breathtaking.
Short version of what I didn't like:
-Denna, oof this character was slimy and I could not stand her. I struggled to get through ALL the chapters consisting of her because she had no value in my opinion to the overall plot. She kind of reminded me of Jenny in Forrest Gump.
-Ambrose, I saw someone compare him to the Draco to Kvothe's Harry Potter...it's kind of true. There was a little bit of Harry Potter element going on here. Ambrose is a character that I felt really took away from Kvothe's development. I would think that Kvothe would act more like he has everything riding on the line to not engage in his feud with Ambrose. I felt that this completely detracted from the only reason why Kvothe attended the University in the first place and his recklessness, not only from his actions with Ambrose, didn't make sense.
-The money situation....Kvothe made many clear commentary on how poverty stricken he is...yet, he seemed to have money for many non-essential items. He didn't always DO things with a character that is supposed to be poor...and he was also very loose with his money as well. Which was not a characteristic I would expect of someone who had been homeless for years...I just expected him to be rationing himself and more methodical with his spending.
-The final 100 pages, excluding Elodin and Auri's additions, were utter nonsense. I don't understand why so much time was spent on the little side adventure in Trebon....then, for the story to pull back with current time Kvothe and the attack at the inn. Then, for Kvothe, Bast, and Chronicler to just shrug it off and go right back to the story telling...
Anyways...I will not be continuing this series. This was enough for me. I enjoyed the journey until I didn't.
I am honestly a little prickly right now after finishing that final 695th page that concluded the Epilogue.
So prickly in fact, that I did something that I rarely do...and that was skip over those last few closing pages of a book (afterword and note from the author).
I initially purchased The Narrow Road Between Desires that caught my eye in Target. It is stated by the Author: "...First, if you haven't read my other books, you probably don't want to start here....if you start here, you're going to be missing a lot of context."
I have seen others use this comparison and it is a great expression of how this book made me feel, The Name of the Wind was a 695 page long Prologue. That, in my opinion, was a complete waste of my time and money to read before I could read the Novella (The Narrow Road Between Desires).
The first 40-50% of the book was so well balanced, engaging, and full of promise! Then, I felt that the story completely lacked focus, there were too many subplots that felt like unnecessary filler, and there was a piling amount of not only contradictory things, but also a lot of impossible/unlikely occurrences that could have been corrected with finer tuned editing.
Things I liked:
-Kvothe was a likeable character for the first half of the book...then, I felt like the second half was a totally different Kvothe...this character was created and molded into a shape, but for some reason the second half of the story decided to tear that shape in half and one of the halves became unrecognizable; no longer being able to fit with its other half.
-Auri, even though she was a much more docile-and female- version of Gollum...I liked her very much. But, there were some missteps in her character as well, because how she appeared did not make sense. How she wasn't sick with disease from where she lived, is beyond me. She should have reeked, or had rotten teeth, chipped/dirty fingernails, been weaker...etc. I did appreciate chapter 87 very much when I was getting irritated with the way the story was dropping off... it was a chapter that actually was relevant to the progression of the story. Just a shame that it was short lived.
-Elodi, the MVP of the book. He was so strange and peculiar. And honestly, I seriously couldn't understand in ALL of the university, everyone continued to think this man mad/off his rocker. Like hello...he is an absolute genius and I would be trying to befriend him nonstop. (Ch. 86 was one of the few good chapters in those last 100 pages that were really hard for me to get through.)
-Lastly, if I hadn't had the Anniversary Edition with the illustrations, I would have dnf'd this book at 50%. The images are absolutely breathtaking.
Short version of what I didn't like:
-Denna, oof this character was slimy and I could not stand her. I struggled to get through ALL the chapters consisting of her because she had no value in my opinion to the overall plot. She kind of reminded me of Jenny in Forrest Gump.
-Ambrose, I saw someone compare him to the Draco to Kvothe's Harry Potter...it's kind of true. There was a little bit of Harry Potter element going on here. Ambrose is a character that I felt really took away from Kvothe's development. I would think that Kvothe would act more like he has everything riding on the line to not engage in his feud with Ambrose. I felt that this completely detracted from the only reason why Kvothe attended the University in the first place and his recklessness, not only from his actions with Ambrose, didn't make sense.
-The money situation....Kvothe made many clear commentary on how poverty stricken he is...yet, he seemed to have money for many non-essential items. He didn't always DO things with a character that is supposed to be poor...and he was also very loose with his money as well. Which was not a characteristic I would expect of someone who had been homeless for years...I just expected him to be rationing himself and more methodical with his spending.
-The final 100 pages, excluding Elodin and Auri's additions, were utter nonsense. I don't understand why so much time was spent on the little side adventure in Trebon....then, for the story to pull back with current time Kvothe and the attack at the inn. Then, for Kvothe, Bast, and Chronicler to just shrug it off and go right back to the story telling...
Anyways...I will not be continuing this series. This was enough for me. I enjoyed the journey until I didn't.
pageturner42's review against another edition
4.0
I would give this book 10 out of 5 stars if I could. It's been far too long since I've fallen into a book this deeply. I'm off to the library to find the The Wise Man's Fear now...
gregm's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
stace1814's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0