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4.41 AVERAGE
4.41 AVERAGE
This book was well-written and kept me quite engaged, once I got into it. I appreciated the detail and cleverness put into the story. The latter half of the book was a reward for getting through the depressing beginning.
Despite the hype I found this fantasy novel rather boring. Unnecessarily verbose at times
adventurous
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
challenging
funny
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Genuinely some of the best prose I’ve ever read. It strikes a perfect balance between flowery and descriptive, with a compelling and layered story. I hesitated to pick it up as the status of book 3 is unknown, but ultimately really enjoyed it for what it is. My only hesitation in giving this 5 stars would be minor pacing issues but that could be intentional, to mimic the rhythm of the wind.
adventurous
lighthearted
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
adventurous
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
After hearing so much praise about this series, I just had to read it and I got completely engrossed in The name of the wind. The basic plot of this story is not unheard of : gifted kid, meets a master, learns about magic, loses his friends and family, goes to university, encounters friends, enemies, falls in love, thinks about revenge, nothing original.
But ! It goes without mentioning Rothfuss's writing style (I read it in French, borrowed from the library, but the prose shone through), his love of words, his deep curiosity and cleverness. When I say clever, I mean Kvothe, the main character, can think of doing things that I would never ever even have thought of doing in my life ! I mean the hairs and the leaves kind of stuf : awesome ! I felt deeply admirative towards him, who also has the gift of speech, telling stories, singing and lying. I could also relate to his constant fight for the necessities of life (money) and the way he is flawed, arrogant, but loveable anyway.
The way the novel is constructed - a story within a story - is nothing original either, but it works beautifully here. You see how things are in the present, you're dying to know how it all came to this and what these characters went through (and came from, especially in Bast's case, I'm widely curious).
The fun, wit and cleverness is never far from a sense of danger and Kvothe is not perfect (he almost kills himself at the beginning) : for instance, I really enjoyed reading about the antagonism between "Jackass" Ambrose and Kvothe, how Ambrose does his best to harm him in any possible way and how Kvothe is able to back off and avoid the worse with wit and style - he comes from a background of comedians. Yet every time, you know Ambrose has power and is dangerous and you know it's going to bite Kvothe in his arse some time. It has before, several times.
Now that I've finished book #1, I'm dying to read book #2 except that... I began reading Nygardshaug's Mino series : unforgettable first book, the second book was... meh. I began reading Pullman's dark material series : wonderful first book, the second book was... highly disappointing. Book #2 in the Kingkiller chronicles is a 1000 pages long, so I do hope it will be worth it and won't let me down. Fingers crossed ?
But ! It goes without mentioning Rothfuss's writing style (I read it in French, borrowed from the library, but the prose shone through), his love of words, his deep curiosity and cleverness. When I say clever, I mean Kvothe, the main character, can think of doing things that I would never ever even have thought of doing in my life ! I mean the hairs and the leaves kind of stuf : awesome ! I felt deeply admirative towards him, who also has the gift of speech, telling stories, singing and lying. I could also relate to his constant fight for the necessities of life (money) and the way he is flawed, arrogant, but loveable anyway.
The way the novel is constructed - a story within a story - is nothing original either, but it works beautifully here. You see how things are in the present, you're dying to know how it all came to this and what these characters went through (and came from, especially in Bast's case, I'm widely curious).
The fun, wit and cleverness is never far from a sense of danger and Kvothe is not perfect (he almost kills himself at the beginning) : for instance, I really enjoyed reading about the antagonism between "Jackass" Ambrose and Kvothe, how Ambrose does his best to harm him in any possible way and how Kvothe is able to back off and avoid the worse with wit and style - he comes from a background of comedians. Yet every time, you know Ambrose has power and is dangerous and you know it's going to bite Kvothe in his arse some time. It has before, several times.
Now that I've finished book #1, I'm dying to read book #2 except that... I began reading Nygardshaug's Mino series : unforgettable first book, the second book was... meh. I began reading Pullman's dark material series : wonderful first book, the second book was... highly disappointing. Book #2 in the Kingkiller chronicles is a 1000 pages long, so I do hope it will be worth it and won't let me down. Fingers crossed ?
The main character is incredibly annoying and the love scenes are too much.
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated