Product Description
The riveting first-person narrative of a young man who grows to be the most notorious magician 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- ridden 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. It is a high-action novel written with a poet's hand, a powerful coming-of-age story of a magically gifted young man, told through his eyes: to read this book is to be the hero.

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

CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 4.5 based on 376 reviews)

Compelling world-building and magical system

He's a humble inn-keeper--despite his red hair. Or so he tells the world. But Chronicler knows better. Kote was once Kvothe, a mage and hero. With monsters on the prowl again, the world may need Kvote the hero rather than Kote the innkeeper. But first, he's got to awaken himself--and maybe telling his history is a good start. The bulk of the story in THE NAME OF THE WIND is just that--Kote recalling his life for Chronicler.

Kvothe has had an interesting life--starting with his childhood in an acting troop, his studies under a mage, the destruction of his dreams by forces supposedly out of fairy tales, his living on the streets of Tarbean, and finally his attempt to gain admission and success at the University and its famous archives.

Author Patrick Rothfuss delivers really strong world-building and a fascinating story of a young man's attempts to survive and to find his place in the world. With a full range of mythology, a host of monstrous creatures, plenty of plants that pay off through the story, and a consistent magic system, I had a hard time doing anything but read this story.

Although THE NAME OF THE WIND makes fascinating reading, in many ways it feels like a prequel. We know that Kvothe is the Kingkiller, but we don't actually get to see him deal with any kings. That, perhaps, is reserved for the follow-up volume. Also, although telling the story from the standpoint of the older and more cynical adult Kvothe adds poignancy and sets up a powerful scene at the end, I really wanted to know more about why we needed the hero Kvothe back--and why he refuses to emerge from the shell he's created for himself. Finally, while Rothfuss did an excellent job with his male characters, his female characters seem one-dimensional.

I'm amazed that Rothfuss was able to pull off such a complex and compelling piece of story-telling in his first novel. I'll definitely be looking for the sequel--with the confident hope that it'll provide a great payoff for all of the (wonderfully written) setup through THE NAME OF THE WIND.

October 11, 2008

Splendid

Let me just say that this book is a work of genius. It is really all you need to entertain yourself for a while. The story is so good and just keeps getting better as you read, through all 700 pages. At the end I literally felt like I wanted to read about 2000 pages more of it. And for anyone who starts reading now, you don't have very long to wait for the second book. Believe me, you WILL be waiting for the second book.
October 09, 2008

Sucked me right in from the start, and never let me go

First a word on length. The Name of the Wind, in case you didn't notice, is over 700 pages long. That might sound overly long or daunting, but it actually works very well for this book. I took it with me on vacation thinking that I would never read a book that long from front to back in about a week's time. Boy was I wrong!

Granted, I'm probably a faster reader than most, but this book is a quick read. The chapters are short, which helps pull you through at a good clip. There's lots of action and dialog without a great deal of internal dialog or exposition to slow things down. As a reader I found myself constantly wondering what was coming next and looking forward to finding out.

The Name of the Wind actually represents two stories. There is a third person current events type of story which wraps around a first person narrative. The Kingkiller Chronicle part is the latter story told by one of the characters introduced in the former. That's where the Day 1 thing comes from - it's the first day of a multiday telling, and focuses on that character's youth to latter teen years.

Basically, you have two parallel tales working to keep you engaged. I, for one, think it's been fantastically done through this point, and I'm eager to get on to the next book in the set. I find myself missing the characters and the world since finishing this first one. I can't think of any book I've read in a long time that has sucked me in like this.
October 07, 2008

good but not great

The beginning of this book is wonderful. I was drawn immediately to the main characters, the writing is very good, and the story engaging. The book starts in the present and then focuses on Kvothe's early years with his family. The evil force (this is fantasy after all, there has to be a dark side) are the Chandrian, a group of demonic beings with a hidden agenda. The Chandrian are described so well you can feel their malevolence.
Once Kvothe gets to the university, the book drags. There is only so much I can read about the mysterious love of Kvothe's life. Kvothe is fascinated by her, but the author's portrayal of Denna reads more like an adolescent's fantasy woman than an actual person. She is wooden, unsympatheric and uninteresting. Fortunately, towards the end, the story picks up again and I will certainly read the next one. Maybe Mr. Rothfuss will kill Denna off and focus on the adventures and the evil Chandrian that he described so well.
One other note. This book is not as complex and well written as the Song of Ice and Fire series, but it is not as bleak either. Rothfuss is like a $20 bottle of wine, where Martin is a single malt scotch.
October 05, 2008

Great book - boring parts

If ever i wrote a book, if I was very tallented, if I was very lucky, it would be something like this one.
It has to be said that Rothfuss takes sometimes to much time on boring parts of the story or is to descriptive.
This is all (and it is a lot, the book could come down from 661 pages to 450-500) that stands bettween it and a masterpiece.
October 04, 2008

SIMILAR PRODUCTS

The Lies of Locke Lamora
by Scott Lynch

The Blade Itself (The First Law: Book One)
by Joe Abercrombie

The Wise Man's Fear (The Kingkiller Chronicle, Day 2)
by Patrick Rothfuss

Red Seas Under Red Skies
by Scott Lynch

Before They Are Hanged (The First Law: Book Two)
by Joe Abercrombie