Product Description
The New York Times bestselling novel.
This is the riveting first-person narrative of Kvothe, a young man who grows to be one of the most notorious magicians his world has ever seen. From his childhood in a troupe of traveling players, to years spent as a near-feral orphan in a crime-riddled city, to his daringly brazen yet successful bid to enter a legendary school of magic, The Name of the Wind is a masterpiece that transports readers into the body and mind of a wizard.
Amazon.com Review
Amazon.com’s Best of the Year…So Far Pick for 2007: Harry Potter fans craving a new mind-blowing series should look no further than The Name of the Wind–the first book in a trilogy about an orphan boy who becomes a legend. Full of music, magic, love, and loss, Patrick Rothfuss’s vivid and engaging debut fantasy knocked our socks off. –Daphne Durham
10 Second Interview: A Few Words with Patrick Rothfuss
Q: Were you always a fan of fantasy novels?
A: Always. My first non-picture books were the Narnia Chronicles. After that my mom gave me Ihe Hobbit and Dragonriders. I grew up reading about every fantasy and sci-fi book I could find. I used to go to the local bookstore and look at the paperbacks on the shelf. I read non-fantasy stuff too, of course. But fantasy is where my heart lies. Wait… Should that be “where my heart lays?” I always screw that up.
Q: Who are some of your favorite authors? Favorite books?
A: Hmmm…. How about I post that up as a list?
Q: What are you reading now?
A: Right now I’m reading Capacity, by Tony Balantyne. He was nominated for the Philip K Dick award this last year. I heard him read a piece of the first novel, Recursion, out at Norwescon. I picked it up and got pulled right in. Capacity is the second book in the series. Good writing and cool ideas. Everything I’ve like best.
Q: How did Kvothe’s story come to you? Did you always plan on a trilogy?
A: This story started with Kvothe’s character. I knew it was going to be about him from the very beginning. In some ways it’s the simplest story possible: it’s the story of a man’s life. It’s the myth of the Hero seen from backstage. It’s about the exploration and revelation of a world, but it’s also about Kvothe’s desire to uncover the truth hidden underneath the stories in his world. The story is a lot of things, I guess. As you can tell, I’m not very good at describing it. I always tell people, “If I could sum it up in 50 words, I wouldn’t have needed to write a whole novel about it.” I didn’t plan it as a trilogy though. I just wrote it and it got to be so long that it had to be broken up into pieces. There were three natural breaking points in the story…. Hence the Trilogy.
Q: What is next for our hero?
A: Hmm….. I don’t really believe in spoilers. But I think it’s safe to say that Kvothe grows up a little in the second book. He learns more about magic. He learns how to fight, gets tangled up in some court politics, and starts to figure unravel some of the mysteries of romance and relationships, which is really just magic of a different kind, in a way.
Patrick Rothfuss’s Books You Should Read
 The Last Unicorn |
 Neverwhere |
 Declare |
 Beatrice’s Goat |
 Blankets |
See more recommendations (with comments) from Patrick Rothfuss
Robin Hobb @ 3:32 pm
It seems to me that every year there are more books I want to read and less time for me to read them. Because my time is limited, I’m guilty of picking up the books by my favorite authors first, and fitting in new authors only when it’s convenient.
Due to a stroke of luck, I’ve had an advance copy of The Name of the Wind by my bedside for over six months, just waiting for me to open it. Unfortunately, deadlines of my own kept getting in the way. But in a way, it’s lucky that I didn’t crack this book until just a few days ago. If I’d had this tale to distract me, I’d have been even later getting my work done.
I loathe spoilers, so I’m not going to discuss the plot of this book. I will say it has all the things that I demand of a book. The characters are real, the action is convincing and it has a compelling story to tell.
One of the things I like best about this book is that the magic is absolutely rooted in the book’s world. Nothing seems contrived; the consistency is excellent.
The characters are very well realized. That means that when the protagonist does something clever, it’s believable. And when he does something youthfully dumb, it rings just as authentically true. Because the characters are real and the magic is true to its own world, I closed this book feeling as if I’d been on a journey with an entertaining new friend, rather than sitting alone looking at words on a page.
This one is well worth some of your precious reading time. I’ll wager that the books to follow it will also be.
Robin Hobb
James D. DeWitt @ 4:44 pm
This is the kind of novel that fantasy readers dream of reading. It’s the kind of novel would-be writers dream of writing. Excellent writing, deeply complex characters, careful revelations and wonderful plot twists. I haven’t enjoyed a debut fantasy novel this much since Barry Hughart’s “Bridge of Birds” or Rosemary Kirstein’s “The Steerswoman.”
The protagonist, Kvothe, is seemingly hiding as an innkeeper. But there are nasty creatures about, that may or may not be attracted to him. After Kvothe rescues a bard, he ends up telling the bard his life story. So you get the back story on a nearly-mythical wizard, mixed with increasingly dark events happening in the present. It is an extremely effective way to to tell a story. It certainly kept me up all night. And I can truthfully say I savored each of the 660 plus pages.
Maybe the best part is that Rothfuss, in his blog, says all three books in the trilogy are written, and will be released at one year intervals. I can’t wait.
This is about as good as high fantasy gets. An imaginative, powerful and compelling story that is exceptionally well told. My compliments to Mr. Rothfuss. And my very highest recommendation to readers.
C. T. Hunter @ 7:01 pm
Even after reading the star reviews on the back of the book and all the praise for Rothfuss on Amazon reviews, I had my doubts. People tend to get a little over-excited about new authors and their debut novels. Still, I thought I’d give this one a chance. Good damn thing too! Don’t take it lightly when I tell you that I think Rothfuss will be recognized as one of America’s very best fantasy authors in the near future.
This is the first part of a three-book series recounting the life of Kvothe, an almost mythical man somewhere between an outlaw and a hero. As Kvothe-in-hiding narrates the majority of this book, recounting his early days as a child to his coming of age as an advanced student at the University, a new story is also starting to unfold in the present tense. The overall effect is that you’re really reading two separate stories at once, one being the primary story of Kvothe’s youth, and the other being much more brief and mysterious but guaranteeing dark futures. Both stories are extremely infectious and promise excellent tales to come. You’re left with a feeling of only knowing a small part of an epic tale with many secrets and mysteries yet to be discovered.
As other reviewers have stated, the characters are incredible. Kvothe, the main character and storyteller, is somehow at once intimately knowable and mysterious. One of the strange dynamics of the story is being able to compare the Kvothe of the present to the Kvothe of his story. Two very different seeming people. Most of the side characters hold their own secrets as well. What is the role of the creature of fae who appears to be Kvothe’s apprentice or protector or something else? What is the deal with the frustrating Denna, who presents young Kvothe with so much heartache but appears to be desperately in love with him too? I can’t wait to find out.
The overriding theme of this first book is in the form of foreshadowing great events to come. The reader knows much less than the characters in the book, but gains hint after hint of mysterious secrets to be discovered in the future. I can’t think of another book that takes quite the same approach to telling a tale, but it worked quite well for this one. Props to Rothfuss for taking the chance on doing something new with his first novel.
It is going to be hard waiting two years for the conclusion of the trilogy, but you can bet I won’t forget much of this compelling story in the mean time. After reading Rothfuss’ first novel, I’m convinced that he deserves the hype.
Alexander Reznik @ 8:11 pm
By far the best fantasy book I’ve read in a while.
Kvothe is one the most real, imperfect and relatable fantasy heroes you will ever have the pleasure of reading about, and the rest of the characters (with the exception of Ambrose, who is a little too stereotypical for my taste) are just as good.
The setting is also very well done. The world we’re introduced to is more conservative than most fantasy worlds, there are no elves or dwarves, but they aren’t necessary as it turns out. What is distinct about it is the lore. It is a world complete with gods and demons, myths surrounding them, holidays and celebrations revolving around them, people who believe in them and people who don’t, all of them making the world feel much more real than many other comparable endeavors. The magic “system” is also very unique and detailed, a little hard to understand in some cases, but that makes sense because its supposed to be a hard thing to learn, hence its an even harder thing for Kvothe to explain as he tells his story.
What really brings it home is the writing. It is verbose and concise in all the right places, suspenseful (to the point where you have to exert a considerable amount of effort to keep yourself from skipping down the page to find out what happened), and funny.
The only real downside is that its only part one, and the rest of the series isn’t even on the horizon yet. I finished reading a week ago, and I’m still going through withdrawal, so be careful.
However, in all seriousness, if you ever found a fantasy book enjoyable, chances are you will like this one. So buy it, you wont be sorry.
P. R. Ranville @ 8:52 pm
This book is truly fantastic. If you have ever wanted to see how a hero in a book becomes a hero, then read The Name of the Wind. In a way, it is the book I have been waiting for for years.
The characters are all developed nicely, and the plot moves of its own accord, never forced. But the biggest draw for me is the magic system. Finally, an author has sat down and created a truly unique system (from what I can tell) that is very well explained and easily believable.
There is not quite as much action as I would like, but that turns out to be okay because I have a feeling that Rothfuss is going to unleash some crazy stuff in the next books. Everything in this book seems believable, and I can only remember one slightly drawn out moment, which is not bad for a 662 page novel.
The main point I would like to stress is that, if you like fantasy at all, you should buy this book. Don’t borrow it from a friend. Purchase it. Trust me, you are going to want to have it 15 years down the road. And that is probably the highest praise I can give a book.