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A review by bergsteiger
The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
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.