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4.41 AVERAGE
4.41 AVERAGE
This is the best fantasy book I’ve ever read. Now on to the second.
400 pages of shonen filler ep that is book-ended by the relevant plot.
EDIT 4/1/2025: no this isn’t an April fools joke! Had to update after reading A Wizard of Earthsea, since the parallels are just too much. I mean, both books have a gifted young boy who studies and kills it at a magical school (who cares, so does Harry Potter) but they both have several Masters at the school, including a literal Master Namer who lives in a secluded tower, a proud highborn rival who is rude to the protagonist, and so many other things. Which would be fine, but Earthsea was written 40 (!!!) years before NoTW. I get that “true name” magic is wider than just Earthsea, but come on.
Also, unrelated to Earthsea, it occurred to me that of the two magic systems, naming and sympathy, in this book, naming is ripped off from another book series, and sympathy is basically *the strongest delusion*. Like seriously, you just have to *believe* and then there’s magic.
Downgrading to 1.5/5 stars
Original review:
It was sort of fun to read from pages 350 onwards, but that’s about it. It’s a slog to get started, the main character is annoying as hell, and the women characters (to be fair, most of the characters) are insultingly two-dimensional.
Rothfuss pulls you in at the beginning by setting up the main character, Kvothe, as a larger-than-life hero, the kind legends are passed down and songs are sung about. Kvothe, we’re told, has stolen princesses away, burned towns to the ground, talked to gods even, and we’re about to hear his story! It quickly becomes apparent, however, that if we are going to hear that story, it won’t be in this book. Sure, we see some scenes of Kvothe in the university (which he said he was going to tell us about), but the vast majority of the promised epic tale we’re teased with in the first chapters is never even mentioned again. Instead, we get some scenes of Kvothe’s tragic childhood, which he and his parents spent traveling with an idyllic acting troupe where he developed tons of useful skills such as photographic memory (from learning lines, of course), public speaking (from delivering monologues at 10 years old, of course), playing the lute like no other (since his dad taught him some lute when he was 11 and he ran with it and apparently that’s all you need to become the Steve Vai of the lute, of course) and even how to pick out the best horse for racing (??? I got nothing for this one, it just felt like Rothfuss didn’t want to spend time figuring out logistics).
Then we follow Kvothe being homeless for a moment after his parents are brutally murdered (well, the murder was off-screen so I can’t say if it was brutal. But it was necessary to the plot because that’s why Kvothe wants to go to university so badly! University? Yep, you know the classic trope where the main character wants revenge, but to get revenge he has to go to college? No? Me neither.) Then, Kvothe gets to college and makes a series of dumb and dumber decisions, which seems to be the only source of conflict in this story (aside from Kvothe being broke).
Yes, that’s right, for the majority of the book we follow a broke college student who’s a bit of an idiot, like a… well like a regular college student. But this is a fantasy college, it’s not like other colleges! This college has *fantasy* chemistry where you make… well you make lightbulbs. Which I guess is just regular chemistry, but without science? But still, they are fantasy lightbulbs!
Well, even if the classes are regular college classes, don’t worry because Kvothe gets up to some crazy fantasy shenanigans! Like: living in the dorms, eating gross cafeteria food, playing open mics on the weekends, and taking out student loans. Wait a minute, that also sounds like regular college activities.
Well, Kvothe also fights a dragon! Which apparently turns out to be just a large lizard. And Kvothe kills it by giving it a mega dose of fantasy heroin. Well, he also has an awkward on-again, off-again relationship with this one girl he met before college? Kind of like a regular high school sweetheart…
Look, 80% of this book didn’t need to be set in fantasy land or wherever Kvothe lives. After he gets to college, he also basically forgets about getting revenge for his parents until the last 100 pages of the book anyway. Like don’t get me wrong, a coming-of-age novel set in college is great, but then why is this marketed as high fantasy? Just search/replace “lute” with “guitar” and you’re good to go.
Other issues: aside from delivering on about 1 promise and nothing else, I have some other gripes. The story-within-a-story format was unnecessary, and really broke up the main story. After something important happens, I don’t need a scene with present-day Kvothe telling me how important that thing was I just saw. Also, somehow every woman around Kvothe’s age is throwing herself at him. Kvothe is 16. Why would any 20+yo woman want to be with a teenager? Also why did Kvothe have to be 16 anyway? He talks and acts like an adult the entire book, so why have him be so young? Just so he can say “I was thrown out of college younger than most people get in?” Also why is Kvothe amazing at everything without having to try? Since this is the case, the only source of conflict in the book is him being broke (which gets old fast), him having enemies who are always out to get him (eye roll), or him making mind-numbingly dumb mistakes every once in a while to drive the plot forward (several times I closed the book and said “come on” out loud. For example, he wants to go to university to see the library to research his parents killers. First day, he brings a candle into the stacks with tons of old dry books, and gets banned from the library for the rest of the book. Major eye roll).
Overall I was really not impressed with this book, and totally don’t understand the hype. The one positive thing I will say is that Rothfuss’s writing style is nice to read (unlike some more bare-bones authors like Sanderson), but anything deeper was not impressive.
Also, unrelated to Earthsea, it occurred to me that of the two magic systems, naming and sympathy, in this book, naming is ripped off from another book series, and sympathy is basically *the strongest delusion*. Like seriously, you just have to *believe* and then there’s magic.
Downgrading to 1.5/5 stars
Original review:
It was sort of fun to read from pages 350 onwards, but that’s about it. It’s a slog to get started, the main character is annoying as hell, and the women characters (to be fair, most of the characters) are insultingly two-dimensional.
Rothfuss pulls you in at the beginning by setting up the main character, Kvothe, as a larger-than-life hero, the kind legends are passed down and songs are sung about. Kvothe, we’re told, has stolen princesses away, burned towns to the ground, talked to gods even, and we’re about to hear his story! It quickly becomes apparent, however, that if we are going to hear that story, it won’t be in this book. Sure, we see some scenes of Kvothe in the university (which he said he was going to tell us about), but the vast majority of the promised epic tale we’re teased with in the first chapters is never even mentioned again. Instead, we get some scenes of Kvothe’s tragic childhood, which he and his parents spent traveling with an idyllic acting troupe where he developed tons of useful skills such as photographic memory (from learning lines, of course), public speaking (from delivering monologues at 10 years old, of course), playing the lute like no other (since his dad taught him some lute when he was 11 and he ran with it and apparently that’s all you need to become the Steve Vai of the lute, of course) and even how to pick out the best horse for racing (??? I got nothing for this one, it just felt like Rothfuss didn’t want to spend time figuring out logistics).
Then we follow Kvothe being homeless for a moment after his parents are brutally murdered (well, the murder was off-screen so I can’t say if it was brutal. But it was necessary to the plot because that’s why Kvothe wants to go to university so badly! University? Yep, you know the classic trope where the main character wants revenge, but to get revenge he has to go to college? No? Me neither.) Then, Kvothe gets to college and makes a series of dumb and dumber decisions, which seems to be the only source of conflict in this story (aside from Kvothe being broke).
Yes, that’s right, for the majority of the book we follow a broke college student who’s a bit of an idiot, like a… well like a regular college student. But this is a fantasy college, it’s not like other colleges! This college has *fantasy* chemistry where you make… well you make lightbulbs. Which I guess is just regular chemistry, but without science? But still, they are fantasy lightbulbs!
Well, even if the classes are regular college classes, don’t worry because Kvothe gets up to some crazy fantasy shenanigans! Like: living in the dorms, eating gross cafeteria food, playing open mics on the weekends, and taking out student loans. Wait a minute, that also sounds like regular college activities.
Well, Kvothe also fights a dragon! Which apparently turns out to be just a large lizard. And Kvothe kills it by giving it a mega dose of fantasy heroin. Well, he also has an awkward on-again, off-again relationship with this one girl he met before college? Kind of like a regular high school sweetheart…
Look, 80% of this book didn’t need to be set in fantasy land or wherever Kvothe lives. After he gets to college, he also basically forgets about getting revenge for his parents until the last 100 pages of the book anyway. Like don’t get me wrong, a coming-of-age novel set in college is great, but then why is this marketed as high fantasy? Just search/replace “lute” with “guitar” and you’re good to go.
Other issues: aside from delivering on about 1 promise and nothing else, I have some other gripes. The story-within-a-story format was unnecessary, and really broke up the main story. After something important happens, I don’t need a scene with present-day Kvothe telling me how important that thing was I just saw. Also, somehow every woman around Kvothe’s age is throwing herself at him. Kvothe is 16. Why would any 20+yo woman want to be with a teenager? Also why did Kvothe have to be 16 anyway? He talks and acts like an adult the entire book, so why have him be so young? Just so he can say “I was thrown out of college younger than most people get in?” Also why is Kvothe amazing at everything without having to try? Since this is the case, the only source of conflict in the book is him being broke (which gets old fast), him having enemies who are always out to get him (eye roll), or him making mind-numbingly dumb mistakes every once in a while to drive the plot forward (several times I closed the book and said “come on” out loud. For example, he wants to go to university to see the library to research his parents killers. First day, he brings a candle into the stacks with tons of old dry books, and gets banned from the library for the rest of the book. Major eye roll).
Overall I was really not impressed with this book, and totally don’t understand the hype. The one positive thing I will say is that Rothfuss’s writing style is nice to read (unlike some more bare-bones authors like Sanderson), but anything deeper was not impressive.
3.5 stars, rounded up
Solid read. I really couldn’t get into it at first (like literally on page 150 and still not invested) but then I lost my first copy on the plane right when it started to get interesting. I didn’t think I would care that much but I couldn’t stop thinking about it- I finally got a second copy and ended up loving the story!
Solid read. I really couldn’t get into it at first (like literally on page 150 and still not invested) but then I lost my first copy on the plane right when it started to get interesting. I didn’t think I would care that much but I couldn’t stop thinking about it- I finally got a second copy and ended up loving the story!
I LOVED this!!!!!!! This is exactly my kind of fantasy book! The characters were memorable, and the world and magic system is SO COOL and so well crafted! I can't wait to read the next book eeeeeee! Honestly i could have read another 600 pages of this, it was addicting and i didn't want it to end :D
What do you want from the media you consume? Entertainment? Depth? A new perspective? A lesson in an aspect of writing? All of them? None? Something I didn't mention?
I tried reading this book three times before and I kept losing interest within the first hundred pages. I have some friends who absolutely adore this book, one who even took a class that the author taught in college. I wouldn't have tried finishing this book if it wasn't for them.
I feel like the reputation that precedes this book really hurt it for me. It's mentioned everywhere with so much enthusiasm, anyone even remotely fantasy-adjacent has heard of this book. Fans give it such high praise, mention it's the only book in the past few years that's held their attention, and they speak about it in such a nostalgic way when recommending it to you. It ended up being painfully average in my opinion.
Don't get me wrong, I can see why people rate this four and five stars. It holds your attention, it's fun, and it's really entertaining. I've been in a reading slump for the majority of 2022 and I was pretty surprised that it took me less than a month to finish this. So why the complaints? Why the 3/5?
If you're looking for depth, or anything subversive, or an attempt at something new, or a good plot, move on. Find something else, this ain't what you're looking for. If you're looking for something to read while on vacation, well, first off I'd recommend The Lies of Locke Lamora (Yea, I'm a shill, fuck off) before anything else, and then I'd probably recommend this. It's easy, you know? It's not going to challenge you or change your perspective or take your breath away and that's fine if you're not looking for any of that. Are you looking for a fun fantasy book? Congrats, you found one. Are you looking for a gateway into the genre? This is a great place to start. Are you looking for something to read while lounging in a hammock somewhere? Grab a copy and lounge away!
Are you looking for a gary-stu MC who calls himself a genius? You got him! Seriously, Kvothe has to be one of the most eyeroll inducing main characters of all time. He's perfect. This book does the "This would take a normal person 3 months to learn but I learned it in a week" thing like EIGHT times! He always knows what to do, he's always the center of attention, deus ex machina is always at his fingertips. He - I still can't believe this was unironic - he plays a song for an audience on his lute and by the end everyone is sobbing, he does this TWICE. Every girl in this book is constantly making suggestive remarks to this 15 year old kid. Everyone is always impressed by what he does. Every villain is defeated with haste (except the Chandrian of course).
The book also uses the "Character getting hurt as character growth" trope liberally. I mean seriously, I feel like someone is wailing on the kid every other chapter. Same goes with the "Character is always broke" trope. By the time he gets to the university you know he's going to find a way to make money, somehow, or fall into just enough to get by. There's no real tension because everything that gets set up is handwaved away or immediately resolved with no effort.
For all the time this book spends on Denna, which is an insane amount, she isn't really given any depth, and neither is the relationship (or lack thereof) she has with Kvothe. I feel like this book just repeats itself when it comes to Kvothe and Denna, they go looking for each other but constantly can't find one another, she's always finding a new guy, Kvothe is always trying to outplay him, they have the same "I can see that you're lonely on the inside" conversation a million times. How many times does it mention that Kvothe went into Imre hoping to find her or catch a glimpse of her and it not happening? It's obsessive and uncomfortable to read. It's messy, and not in the entertaining way, in the "Hey buddy, we need to have a conversation about you going to therapy" kind of way.
Lastly, the plot is a mess. It's like a video game that gives you the inciting incident and a taste of the main story before forcing you through endless side quests. I like the present bits, especially at the beginning and the end, they add tension and pose a lot of questions. I feel like the story he's telling to the chronicler just isn't that engaging. He just moves from one tangent to the next and they're all mildly fun to read about. Like his feud with Ambrose, or the various things he's leaning/perfecting at the university. I just feel like it doesn't fit with the overall theme of the story. For a character promising boundless adventure, he doesn't seem to be too adventurous. The final act in the story almost brings the inciting incident back into focus and then just fumbles the ball and kicks it five fields over. Seriously, I've never seen a story ramble its way through a final act this badly..
Overall, I had some fun reading this book, it didn't take my breath away or give me the compulsive need to gatekeep the genre, but it was quite the romp. It's enough to convince me to read the second one, and I'm excited for the conversations I'll be having with my aforementioned friends about this book and its sequel.
3/5 (3.5/5 on a good day). This book is literally just male wish fulfillment don't @ me.
I tried reading this book three times before and I kept losing interest within the first hundred pages. I have some friends who absolutely adore this book, one who even took a class that the author taught in college. I wouldn't have tried finishing this book if it wasn't for them.
I feel like the reputation that precedes this book really hurt it for me. It's mentioned everywhere with so much enthusiasm, anyone even remotely fantasy-adjacent has heard of this book. Fans give it such high praise, mention it's the only book in the past few years that's held their attention, and they speak about it in such a nostalgic way when recommending it to you. It ended up being painfully average in my opinion.
Don't get me wrong, I can see why people rate this four and five stars. It holds your attention, it's fun, and it's really entertaining. I've been in a reading slump for the majority of 2022 and I was pretty surprised that it took me less than a month to finish this. So why the complaints? Why the 3/5?
If you're looking for depth, or anything subversive, or an attempt at something new, or a good plot, move on. Find something else, this ain't what you're looking for. If you're looking for something to read while on vacation, well, first off I'd recommend The Lies of Locke Lamora (Yea, I'm a shill, fuck off) before anything else, and then I'd probably recommend this. It's easy, you know? It's not going to challenge you or change your perspective or take your breath away and that's fine if you're not looking for any of that. Are you looking for a fun fantasy book? Congrats, you found one. Are you looking for a gateway into the genre? This is a great place to start. Are you looking for something to read while lounging in a hammock somewhere? Grab a copy and lounge away!
Are you looking for a gary-stu MC who calls himself a genius? You got him! Seriously, Kvothe has to be one of the most eyeroll inducing main characters of all time. He's perfect. This book does the "This would take a normal person 3 months to learn but I learned it in a week" thing like EIGHT times! He always knows what to do, he's always the center of attention, deus ex machina is always at his fingertips. He - I still can't believe this was unironic - he plays a song for an audience on his lute and by the end everyone is sobbing, he does this TWICE. Every girl in this book is constantly making suggestive remarks to this 15 year old kid. Everyone is always impressed by what he does. Every villain is defeated with haste (except the Chandrian of course).
The book also uses the "Character getting hurt as character growth" trope liberally. I mean seriously, I feel like someone is wailing on the kid every other chapter. Same goes with the "Character is always broke" trope. By the time he gets to the university you know he's going to find a way to make money, somehow, or fall into just enough to get by. There's no real tension because everything that gets set up is handwaved away or immediately resolved with no effort.
For all the time this book spends on Denna, which is an insane amount, she isn't really given any depth, and neither is the relationship (or lack thereof) she has with Kvothe. I feel like this book just repeats itself when it comes to Kvothe and Denna, they go looking for each other but constantly can't find one another, she's always finding a new guy, Kvothe is always trying to outplay him, they have the same "I can see that you're lonely on the inside" conversation a million times. How many times does it mention that Kvothe went into Imre hoping to find her or catch a glimpse of her and it not happening? It's obsessive and uncomfortable to read.
Spoiler
Also, there's absolutely nothing you can say that makes her inclusion in the final act at Trebon make sense. She's forced into that part of the story so hard and I feel it suffers heavily for it. Especially when it resolves with her just GOING HOME ON A BOAT LIKE NOTHING HAPPENED.Lastly, the plot is a mess. It's like a video game that gives you the inciting incident and a taste of the main story before forcing you through endless side quests. I like the present bits, especially at the beginning and the end, they add tension and pose a lot of questions. I feel like the story he's telling to the chronicler just isn't that engaging. He just moves from one tangent to the next and they're all mildly fun to read about. Like his feud with Ambrose, or the various things he's leaning/perfecting at the university. I just feel like it doesn't fit with the overall theme of the story. For a character promising boundless adventure, he doesn't seem to be too adventurous. The final act in the story almost brings the inciting incident back into focus and then just fumbles the ball and kicks it five fields over. Seriously, I've never seen a story ramble its way through a final act this badly.
Spoiler
Fighting a drug addicted Draccus wasn't where I was hoping the story would go when the Chandrian came back into play (barely at that)Overall, I had some fun reading this book, it didn't take my breath away or give me the compulsive need to gatekeep the genre, but it was quite the romp. It's enough to convince me to read the second one, and I'm excited for the conversations I'll be having with my aforementioned friends about this book and its sequel.
3/5 (3.5/5 on a good day). This book is literally just male wish fulfillment don't @ me.
adventurous
adventurous
medium-paced
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Holy freaking God!
This was bloody amazing! Definitely one of the best fantasy books I've read.
First of all, I love stories within stories. My brain really liked the narrative structure of this book. It was such an immersive experience and I loved every second of it.
I don't even know where to start with Kvothe. I was reading this story about this incredibly awesome, genius man and by the end of it I realised he's still only supposed to be 15 years old while all this is happening. He's rather incredible.
I could waffle on for hours about how cool the magic system was and how much I loved the story telling but really you just need to read this book.
This was bloody amazing! Definitely one of the best fantasy books I've read.
First of all, I love stories within stories. My brain really liked the narrative structure of this book. It was such an immersive experience and I loved every second of it.
I don't even know where to start with Kvothe. I was reading this story about this incredibly awesome, genius man and by the end of it I realised he's still only supposed to be 15 years old while all this is happening. He's rather incredible.
I could waffle on for hours about how cool the magic system was and how much I loved the story telling but really you just need to read this book.