Review by katelyn11 - The Name of the Wind

katelyn11 's review for:

The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss

5.0

adventurous challenging emotional reflective slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Summary

The Name of the Wind tells the story of Kvothe, a legendary figure recounting his life of magic, tragedy, and pursuit of knowledge, from gifted child to infamous myth.

Character Notes

Kvothe: is brilliant, but suffers a tremendous loss at a young age, which causes him to struggle for survival and pursue answers to his trauma-driven questions
The Chronicler: writes down the story as told to him by Kvothe
Bast: Kvothe’s student and servant
Denna: also known as Dianne, Deanna, Dina; a young woman with whom Kvothe is enamoured who does not stay put for very long, always moving from city to city
Auri: a former university student who lives underground after potentially suffering from mental illness

Plot Highlights

The story begins in the inn of a remote village, where we quickly realize that the innkeeper is not merely an innkeeper.
Kvothe tells his story as a young traveller of the Run. He had a happy childhood and was taught a strong education (magical and non-magical) by his mentor.
After his parents’ tragic death, he survives in the wilderness for six months before travelling to the city, where he scrapes along for three years.
He finally makes his way to the University, where he is admitted under extremely unusual circumstances.
His young, reckless behaviour earns him quite a reputation among the students, including a strong rivalry with a fellow student, Ambrose, who also happens to be a noble.
As with all coming-of-age stories, Kvothe falls in love, and the fourth act is much about the mysterious Denna.
The story ends unfinished, having only told the ‘first day’ of Kvothe’s tale as told to the Chronicler. The reader is left with a sense of foreboding; something ill has befallen Kvothe since his university days, but the reader does not yet know what happened.

Themes & Reflections

Names: Denna’s name changes as often as her location. She doesn’t wish for others to pin her down, and changing her name and location is one way in which she can keep her autonomy. Kvothe names the wind, a powerful magic that hints at his coming power as a sorcerer.
Narrative: The power of the narrator is evident; Kvothe tells his story with intelligence and detail, but the reader is left wondering at the things that are left out or missed altogether. A first-person narrative is always incomplete. It does, however, tell Kvothe’s story, and that is to be honoured.
Knowledge: Kvothe is hungry for knowledge. He wants to know the truth of what happened to his parents, who the Chandrian are, and how well-known folklore tells this truth.

Quotes

“I have stolen princesses back from sleeping barrow kings...”“It's the questions we can't answer that teach us the most.”

Review Summary

This is an example of excellent fantasy. The Name of the Wind has everything that good fantasy ought to have: travel, quests, magic, lore, and folktales. While coming-of-age stories are not a favourite of mine, I enjoyed Kvothe’s narration. Due to his genius, I think, he sounds more like an adult than a child. This could also be due to his telling of the story as an adult, rather than immediately as a child.

Kvothe is wrapped up in mystery. The reader wants to uncover all his secrets. This book satisfies only a very small part of those questions. The tale covers his childhood up until his university days, including his rivalry with Ambrose and adventures with Denna. In truth, I enjoyed the story much better before Denna entered it for good. Young love is so angsty; I’d rather not have it take up space in an otherwise brilliant fantasy novel.

Naturally, much of Kvothe’s energy is spent surviving—first in the wild, then in the city, and then in the university. It seems that most of the book is busy telling us about how he scraped enough money together to continue the story. Nevertheless, the plot does progress, though slowly, in true epic fantasy fashion.

I’m looking forward to reading the second book… and then waiting with innumerable fans for the third book should it ever be published.

Content Warnings