The Name of The Wind by Patrick Rothfuss (3.5)
Genres: Adult, High Fantasy
Series: Kingkiller Chronicles #1
Summary: Told in Kvothe's own voice, this is the tale of the magically gifted young man who grows to be the most notorious wizard his world has ever seen. The intimate narrative of his childhood in a troupe of traveling players, his years spent as a near-feral orphan in a crime-ridden city, his daringly brazen yet successful bid to enter a legendary school of magic, and his life as a fugitive after the murder of a king form a gripping coming-of-age story unrivaled in recent literature. A high-action story written with a poet's hand, The Name of the Wind is a masterpiece that will transport readers into the body and mind of a wizard.
Review: Don’t be fooled by my middling rating of this book; I have strong opinions on it.
I liked this book overall, but there were things I didn’t like so much, and those things were Denna. Despite it’s flaws (Denna), I bought the sequel and am actually super excited to read it. Later in the review I’m going to take a little detour to rant about certain flaws, such as Denna.
So I guess I’ll get right to it, then.
The Name of the Wind begins in an inn and is told in third-person for the first fifty-ish pages. I, knowing the majority of the book would be in a different setting and time, kept thinking of it as a prologue and getting bored waiting for the ‘real’ book to start. There was some interesting and important stuff in there, though, so I don’t think it will be a problem for most people.
Anyway, this Chronicler guy comes into the inn wanting to record the story of the legendary Kvothe, believed to be dead, but actually the innkeeper of the inn.
The book switches to first person as Kvothe tells his story.
At first I was rolling my eyes at the idea that someone could talk for roughly six hundred pages and with actual quotes and imagery, etc., but after reading further and getting to know Kvothe, I find this plausible. Take that how you will.
It’s maybe two hundred pages or so before Kvothe gets to the University to study magic (Or ‘sympathy’, I guess), but it’s interesting before that. Don’t be worried that this book is boring. The pages go by quickly, which is a nice change for a long fantasy book.
Things happen before the University (sorry about the vagueness, but no spoilers), and the only thing that bothered me was the angst, but even that wasn’t so bad. In fairness, Kvothe had reason to angst, and he usually angsts at somewhat appropriate times. The only reason I mentioned it at all is that he had several opportunities to better his situation, but he ignored them because of angsty reasons.
There are some awkward metaphors, but they’re few and far between (at least until Denna comes along). I will say, I rolled my eyes quite a bit throughout the whole book, but I still had a good time reading it. It’s just that you get scenes where Kvothe will play a song that will move every single person to tears, despite the fact that people express emotion differently and have different taste in music. Scenes, not scene. Multiple.
I really became hooked once Kvothe got to the University. You meet characters who are fun to love or fun to hate, and it’s just nice. Well, not nice exactly, at least not for Kvothe a lot of the time, but nice to read about.
And then there was this scene. This really exciting scene, where my heart was literally beating fast (I get very invested in my reading). Thinking back on it, it really wasn’t super exciting. Actually, it was Kvothe playing a lute. But it felt exciting, because Patrick Rothfuss is cool like that.
It was probably my favorite scene in the book. Little did I know...it was where we meet Denna.
Here’s where the Denna rant begins. If you really like her and would rather not hear me trash her mercilessly, you can skip to the end where it says ‘rant over’ in bold.
I lied earlier. We first meet Denna when she and Kvothe are, I think, twelve-ish...? Maybe eleven, maybe thirteen? In that range.
They’re traveling together, and you know she’s going to be important because she has dark, pretty hair. To be fair, so does Fela from the University. I like Fela. Why can’t Fela be Denna?
Basically, Kvothe has a crush on her, she kind of leads him on then rejects him, and he’s sad. Your typical romance of twelve-year-olds. Except that it’s not, because I knew she’d be an important character later, but all we’re told of this important character is that she has pretty hair.
They have one conversation that we can see in which Denna’s all cryptic and Kvothe is impressed by how deep she is, then we get descriptions of her beauty and stuff like this:
I almost lost the sense of her words in the sweet fluting of her voice.
You know what? We actually lose the sense of her words when you ignore them to talk about the sweet fluting of her voice.
We get little recaps of what they talked about (some clouds, fanciful things, constellations, etc.), but we don’t get to actually hear the words. We don’t know Denna’s opinions, how she feels about anything, whether she’s quick with an answer or more contemplative. We don’t even know her speech patterns. Nothing.
Her skin was more luminous than the moon, her eyes wider than the sky, deeper than water, darker than the night.
She smelled like road dust, and honey, and the smell the air holds the seconds before a heavy summer rain.
If Kvothe wants to harp on how pretty she is and how good she smells, fine, but all of that belongs AFTER she’s spoken more than eight lines. Yes, she’s spoken more to Kvothe, but to us, it’s eight lines. Do you want to know how many words? 77. Yes, I counted. Let me tell you, it didn’t take too long to count. 77 isn’t many.
Of course, they meet later when they’re older (but still only teenagers), and you know she’s so special because she can quote plays that Kvothe’s heard of.
They have a conversation that pissed me off so much that I read it out loud to several different people. Thanks a lot, book, you made me annoy my friends and family. In the conversation, Kvothe is trying to assign a flower to Denna. It’s supposed to be a little ridiculous, but...I mean...still.
He goes through a bunch of flowers, which gives him the opportunity to say things like:
“There is a brightness about you. But dandelion is common, and you are not a common creature.”
“There is much of you that is both shadow and light.”
What is he basing this on? The few conversations they had when they knew each other as children for four days, or the small talk they made a little while ago?
I’d like to point out that at this time, Kvothe thinks Denna doesn’t remember them meeting way back when.
And then later Denna says,
“You remind me of a willow. Strong, deep-rooted, and hidden. You move easily when the storm comes, but never farther than you wish.”
What the hell? Where where WHERE is she getting this from? And the worst part? She’s right. And he’s supposed to be right about her. It would be one thing if they were judging one another before knowing each other well and were wrong, but they’re RIGHT. How can Kvothe make all these random judgements about Denna’s character, and then be right?
He’s right because Denna was made for him. Not in a romantic (I mean, sappy) soul-mates kind of way, but in a literal way. Denna was created to be a love interest. If she has ambitions, we don’t know about them. We don’t know about them because Kvothe doesn’t care about them. Remember, this is IF she has ambitions, because I don’t imagine she does.
We don’t get to see her personality, because it doesn’t matter. Her personality is whatever Kvothe wants.
You know what flower she’d be? A pressed flower. Pretty, flat, and lifeless. And yes, I am way too proud of that little comparison I came up with, but I did come up with it on the spot in like two seconds, so just let me have this, dammit!
So much emphasis is placed on her looks. I have never in my life read a book that focused so little on a major character’s personality and so much on her looks. And I read a lot of high fantasy, which is a big offender of skewed looks:personality ratios, especially with women.
Denna is blank. She’s supposed to be independent and mysterious, but sorry, I think she’s a sphinx without a secret. What are Denna’s interests? We know she likes plays/poetry because she finishes Kvothe’s quotes. We know she likes singing, because she accompanies him. Aaaand that’s about all we know. For someone who’s supposed to be a free spirit, she’s awfully chained to Kvothe.
I think Kvothe is delusional, and whether or not it’s intentional, it’s not fun to read! Delusional characters can be fascinating, but not like this.
I’m being harsh, I know. I’ve just read so many Dennas, and I’m so sick of them.
To anyone concerned, Denna’s not the only female character. There aren’t many, but they’re memorable and different from one another. There are no token women or empty stereotypes, is what I’m saying.
Actually, there weren’t any cardboard characters at all, as far as I can remember. Even the minor characters who weren’t fleshed out were distinct and real. That was nice. There are some archetypes, but for the most part they’re done nicely.
I found Kvothe’s time at the University to be the most enjoyable part of the book. After he left, there was a little digression with a dragon that felt a little random, but the premise is Kvothe telling his life-story, so it doesn't really follow a plot arc.
It's important to note that the Name of the Wind doesn't have a focused plot and isn't meant to. Personally, I didn't mind.
Throughout the Name of the Wind there are interludes that jump back to the inn in third-person. Don’t worry, interesting things happen in those, too.
So there you are. I realize this review contained more ranting than actual reviewing, and I apologize.
Conclusion: There is both good and bad (Denna) in the Name of the Wind, but the good outweighs the bad. It’s fast-paced, engaging, and you should probably read it. If you go in wary of Kvothe's Gary Stu status (I didn't get into that much, did I?) and of Denna, you'll be fine. Go for it!
Sidenote: This alternate cover of the Name of the Wind is hilarious. Look at it:
I hate it...but I also kind of love it. You know? It's charming in its terribleness.