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conventicleofmagpies's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
3.25
jordanmyers23's review against another edition
5.0
Disappointed that this will be Game of Thrones 2.0 for me.
Anyways, imagine you're in the world of Tamriel. You stumble into the village of Riverwood after a long day of travel and finally find yourself at The Sleeping Giant Inn. Replace Delphine with Kote, up their badassery by 100000-fold, and picture yourself immersed by their telling of personal story--a tale so imposing that it makes the Battle for Whiterun look like child's play. Then up this by another 100000-fold and that is what you get with this magnificent book.
Anyways, imagine you're in the world of Tamriel. You stumble into the village of Riverwood after a long day of travel and finally find yourself at The Sleeping Giant Inn. Replace Delphine with Kote, up their badassery by 100000-fold, and picture yourself immersed by their telling of personal story--a tale so imposing that it makes the Battle for Whiterun look like child's play. Then up this by another 100000-fold and that is what you get with this magnificent book.
bergsteiger's review against another edition
4.0
This book vaguely reminded me of Ursula K. LeGuin's "Wizard of Earthsea". Both take place in fictional worlds, heavy on bleakness and light on imagination. The main character is exceptional, but often his own worst enemy due to hubris. The growth to manhood takes place at a university of the dark arts. Here the similarities end. Where LeGuin is succint, Rothfuss is verbose. Where Earthsea is more like Scandinavia in the Dark Ages, the Four Corners of Civilization are more akin to Renaissance Italy.
While I did quite enjoy the coming to manhood story of a gypsy/street urchin turned rebellious student, ultimately, this book is just too long. It feels rambling and at 700 pages it certainly is, despite Rothfuss' master storytelling and above average writing. And as alluded to above, it is not particularly imaginative, which is one of the draws for the fantasy genre. All that said, the characters resonated and I plan to pick up the sequel, which means it couldn't have been that bad and makes it a solid 4 stars in my book. Go ahead and pick this one up if you are looking for some new fantasy to read.
While I did quite enjoy the coming to manhood story of a gypsy/street urchin turned rebellious student, ultimately, this book is just too long. It feels rambling and at 700 pages it certainly is, despite Rothfuss' master storytelling and above average writing. And as alluded to above, it is not particularly imaginative, which is one of the draws for the fantasy genre. All that said, the characters resonated and I plan to pick up the sequel, which means it couldn't have been that bad and makes it a solid 4 stars in my book. Go ahead and pick this one up if you are looking for some new fantasy to read.
hannahharv's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-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? Yes
5.0
ellelovessnow's review against another edition
adventurous
inspiring
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0
joan_bandy's review against another edition
4.0
Great writing. The ending felt jumbled and odd to me. Highlighted a lot of quotables in it. Enjoyable read.
jediknightjoey3's review against another edition
5.0
Utterly breathtaking. I’ve read my fair share of fantasy, but this novel was entirely different from most tales of adventure and woe. What stuck out to me the most is how stories are really just a one-way mirror: you see the story reflected onto yourself, but can you really see how others perceive it? The darkness, the tragedy, every bad thing that etches itself into the weave of your tale — and are you just a pawn? This is why I enjoyed this book so thoroughly. The way Patrick Rothfuss switched from a man telling his tale to who that man is in the present. The hero; the myth; the legend, but is his great life of adventure truly his downfall? God, this book was pure poetry. A true delight for any fantasy reader. This’ll definitely stick with me for a while.
annaclairebear's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
5.0
sasha_aki's review against another edition
boring and writing is only ok and is so straight man
hillmert's review against another edition
4.0
This is the type of book that if you enjoy the world you are in when reading, you will enjoy that the author spends so much time telling the story with all the details. If you aren't "feeling it" when you are reading, then you will wish some of the details and long winded stories were trimmed. As you can tell from my rating, I enjoyed spending time in the world created by Mr. Rothfuss. But, I am warning you, this is a pretty long book and in the telling of his life, Kvothe, only gets to his teen years, and his second year at the academy. There is still a lot of story to go to get us to present day. And he is telling the story in flashback form, so there is about another 30 years or so to cover. I loved the details and I found myself caring about the characters and really wanting to see what was going to happen. Plenty of surprises to keep it interesting. I am slowly working my way through the sequel, and the enjoyment continues. I just don't have enough time to spend reading it and the other books I want to get to.