I was thinking about The name of the wind, and I realized that I have a lot of strong opinions about it that I've never actually shared them, so I guess this is as good a time for it as any. (This is going to be a long post, but I also think it's very important) I'm gonna preface this by saying that I read The kingkiller chronicles when I was 14 or 15, I'm not that sure (I'm now 19 btw), by my father's recommemdation, and that I listened to the audio books last year, too. And now that this context is set, let's start with one of my favourite aspects of the books, which is that the prose is so incredibly beautiful. This was my highest motivator for reading it that first time, and listening to the audio book most recently.The plot itself is really interesting. It's very well paced, and it hooks you from the beginning.
However, one thing that I remember being particularly critical about that first time I read it, and still to this day, is the characterisation of women. Most of the female characters seem to be there for Kvothe to save them (Denna tries to be independent but ultimately needs him to help her almost every time, he heroically saves Fela from the fire so she dedicates her life to try to help him in favour...), a dangerous opponent because of their high power (Devi, economically and Felurian... well, I'll talk about her in a minute), or an object of his desire (Felurian, again, in a sexual matter along many others, and Denna too as his ideal but imposible love). Even Auri, who seems like the most independent woman whose power doesn't threaten Kvothe, is perceived by him as a kid or a lost puppy he has to feed and help, even though in her own book Rothfuss doesn't present her as such. Which leads me to my maybe controversial take (?): this series is unnecessarily misogynistic. I know, it's set in some kind of medieval world, but when you're writing about dragons getting high on tree resin the historical accuracy is already lost, so why not change things a bit more? Or, if you're trying to write this as a critic to a patriarchal society, why is the lesson that these poor girls can't survive without the main character and that women in positions of power are scary? Because it doesn't seem to help the feminist cause.
Finally, on a similar matter, I really believe that the hole Kvothe loses his virginity to a magical sex fairy, becomes incredibly good at sex and fucks every woman he makes contact with is completely unnecessary, especially when it takes a big chunk of the second book. When Felurian was first mentioned in the synopsis I thought she'd be some cool witch or something like that, so I was very unhappy when I realized she was actually a fairy that seduces men and gives them a heart attack because of her majestic sex skills. Like, really, come on. Another scene that really grossed me out was the time when, after he learns the art of sex from Felurian, he starts learning how to fight with a female coach and straight up gets a boner because "it smells like sex". And maybe it's just my asexual ass, but I think it's kind of logical that if you're fighting and doing exercise you'll smell of sweat, but for him to necessarily identify it with sex... idk, it feels kinda weird.
I think what makes it worse is how much Kvothe brags about it. He skips really interesting parts of the story, but explains in great detail how he had sex with multiple women. If he'd been doing that at the time I'd kinda get it (but still would be judgemental) because he's a teenager trying to impress other boys. But by the time he's narrating the story he's an adult!! It especially pisses me off that Kvothe and Bast can be openly sexual and celebrated by it, but if it's a woman, like Felurian, she's evil and criticised. I think the terrible seductress trope is really overdone and also plainly sexist.
This all doesn't mean that I don't enjoy this story, I wouldn't have listened to it again if it wasn't the case. But liking a book doesn't mean not being able to criticise its weaker points, and I think these are worth pointing out. Because lots of fantasy loving girls, like I was at 14 and still am now, need well written female characters to look up to, and I remember being disappointed when I read this for the first time. Women are often left to the side, especially in epic fantasy, and even if we're starting to change this, there's still a long way to go.
