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A review by capturedinwords
The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
5.0
My video review: https://youtu.be/QUVl4OL7PtI
If you follow my GoodReads you may have noticed I've had this book on the last page in my currently reading for quite awhile now with a message saying I would have a review up soon. I've finally come to terms with writing a review, but it is going to be incredibly hard for me- you see, I feel I cannot do justice to a book I almost consider perfect.
Patrick Rothfuss’s The Name of the Wind, the first book in The Kingkiller Chronicle is a masterpiece in today's fantasy genre. I truly wish I read this book a long time ago because I was missing out on something big. Patrick Rothfuss is an inspiration for the author I one day want to write like, and from now on he is an insta-buy author for me.
The Name of The Wind is a story that all takes place in one day yet at the same time spans over years. You see, the story is an autobiography told by Kvothe. At the time Kvothe is telling his story he is a bartender going by the name Kote in order to hide his identity. The chronicler knows his true identity as well as the legend he once was and decides to take on the duty of recording the true story about Kvothe's life.
Kvothe's story begins from childhood where we are told that he is of the Edema Ruh, a cultural group of travellers and performer with talents like storytelling, acting, and music. After his family is killed by a mysterious group of seven evil mages called The Chandrian, Kvothe is thrown into hard times living as a street urchin. Yet Kvothe is fuelled by the passion of vengeance and yearns to discover more about The Chandrian; a quest that eventually leads him to a magical college.
At this college is when we really get to see and understand the magic system in this book. And it is rather fantastic. The magic system is very scientific in nature and has many rules that make it seem believable. One of the main forms of this system is called Sympathy. Okay... how do I even begin to describe Sympathy. Basically, the one performing the magic, splits their mind into two different parts- one to make a sympathetic bond with an object, and the other to make a secondary bond. If these two objects are similar in nature (say, two different coins) then the bond will be even stronger. The sympathetic bond allows the wielder to be able to move one object while having the same object move as well (although it will be as heavy as moving both objects).
There is different ways in which this can be used. If you manage to get a hair from someone's head as well as make a doll of them, bond both the hair and the doll and place it under a torch, then that person's hair would light on fire. An even more dangerous example would be if you bonded a candle wick with your body temperature. With some immense concentration the candle could light, but the heat from your body would drain and could possibly kill you.
Alright are you utterly confused yet? I probably didn't explain it the best way but currently I am ridiculously tired. Oh and to make things more crazy, there are other types of magic as well. Sygaldry uses runes and metalwork to enchant stuff and Naming is a magic in which you can discover the true name of things and bend it to your will. There is also mention of Fae magic which I believe is more traditional to what we know.
Patrick Rothfuss writes in such a beautiful way that I found this book to just breeze buy. THIS book. This 720 page beast of a novel lasted me my plane ride. It just went by so fast but I loved every bit of it. The parts in the book when Kvothe plays his lute are some of my favourite. Although I found Denna (the love interest) to be confusing at times I still found her and Kvothe's relationship to be damn cute.
Anyway I'm not going to make a super long review for this one as, like I said, I'm utterly tired at the moment. I've also already made a video review for The Name of The Wind if you want to check it out. Perhaps I'll come back later and expand the review.... or maybe not, I don't know. For now I will head to bed! ^_^
If you follow my GoodReads you may have noticed I've had this book on the last page in my currently reading for quite awhile now with a message saying I would have a review up soon. I've finally come to terms with writing a review, but it is going to be incredibly hard for me- you see, I feel I cannot do justice to a book I almost consider perfect.
Patrick Rothfuss’s The Name of the Wind, the first book in The Kingkiller Chronicle is a masterpiece in today's fantasy genre. I truly wish I read this book a long time ago because I was missing out on something big. Patrick Rothfuss is an inspiration for the author I one day want to write like, and from now on he is an insta-buy author for me.
The Name of The Wind is a story that all takes place in one day yet at the same time spans over years. You see, the story is an autobiography told by Kvothe. At the time Kvothe is telling his story he is a bartender going by the name Kote in order to hide his identity. The chronicler knows his true identity as well as the legend he once was and decides to take on the duty of recording the true story about Kvothe's life.
Kvothe's story begins from childhood where we are told that he is of the Edema Ruh, a cultural group of travellers and performer with talents like storytelling, acting, and music. After his family is killed by a mysterious group of seven evil mages called The Chandrian, Kvothe is thrown into hard times living as a street urchin. Yet Kvothe is fuelled by the passion of vengeance and yearns to discover more about The Chandrian; a quest that eventually leads him to a magical college.
At this college is when we really get to see and understand the magic system in this book. And it is rather fantastic. The magic system is very scientific in nature and has many rules that make it seem believable. One of the main forms of this system is called Sympathy. Okay... how do I even begin to describe Sympathy. Basically, the one performing the magic, splits their mind into two different parts- one to make a sympathetic bond with an object, and the other to make a secondary bond. If these two objects are similar in nature (say, two different coins) then the bond will be even stronger. The sympathetic bond allows the wielder to be able to move one object while having the same object move as well (although it will be as heavy as moving both objects).
There is different ways in which this can be used. If you manage to get a hair from someone's head as well as make a doll of them, bond both the hair and the doll and place it under a torch, then that person's hair would light on fire. An even more dangerous example would be if you bonded a candle wick with your body temperature. With some immense concentration the candle could light, but the heat from your body would drain and could possibly kill you.
Alright are you utterly confused yet? I probably didn't explain it the best way but currently I am ridiculously tired. Oh and to make things more crazy, there are other types of magic as well. Sygaldry uses runes and metalwork to enchant stuff and Naming is a magic in which you can discover the true name of things and bend it to your will. There is also mention of Fae magic which I believe is more traditional to what we know.
Patrick Rothfuss writes in such a beautiful way that I found this book to just breeze buy. THIS book. This 720 page beast of a novel lasted me my plane ride. It just went by so fast but I loved every bit of it. The parts in the book when Kvothe plays his lute are some of my favourite. Although I found Denna (the love interest) to be confusing at times I still found her and Kvothe's relationship to be damn cute.
Anyway I'm not going to make a super long review for this one as, like I said, I'm utterly tired at the moment. I've also already made a video review for The Name of The Wind if you want to check it out. Perhaps I'll come back later and expand the review.... or maybe not, I don't know. For now I will head to bed! ^_^