The Name of the Wind

MINOR STORY POINTS WILL LIKELY FEATURE IN THIS REVIEW

I've been looking forward to starting 'The Kingkiller Chronicles' for some time. Maybe about four years ago I read 'The Lightning Tree' which is a short story featuring a character from the series and I found it so very charming I knew I wanted to dig in a little more to this world.

So how do I feel about 'The Name of the Wind'? Right now I'm really not so sure. You know when you read a book and you know you've really enjoyed it but at the same time you have a list of things that bugged the hell out of you? That's kind of where I am. Therefore, I can definitely see why some people think this is the best book they have ever read and I can see why some people absolutely hate it.

The book is the story of Kvothe, a man in his mid-20's though he seems much older. He's an innkeeper in the middle of nowhere who is keeping a whole bunch of secrets and is essentially keeping his head down with his friend / apprentice / employee Bast who also happens to be one of the fae. We get a real sense early on in the book that although the inn is a little off the beaten track it is a time of danger, we are regularly told the roads are not safe and that there are creatures or demons abound the roads. We also get a sense of political instability and armed conflict is happening somewhere -- I suspect the reasons why will be revealed in later books and will have a lot to do with Kvothe.

Kvothe tells his story to a scribe, or storyteller known as the Chronicler who just happens to end up in his inn due to a fortunate set of circumstances and when the Chronicler works out who Kvothe is (our innkeeper is using an assumed name that sounds not to dissimilar to the one he has). Kvothe has a list of epithets which follow his name, some which sound more wicked than others but all a little grandiose, so this innkeeper is setting the record straight and tells the Chronicler if he wants his story he'll tell it once, and it will take him three days (which is kind of cute because it's then obvious that each book in the series will be the story told on each day).

I'm going to give a very high-level synopsis of what happens in the book so if you truly want to be spoiler free, look away NOW! (Though really, I won't give anything spectacular away). In short Kvothe is a little boy who has an uncanny memory to pick up literally anything and be immensely proficient quickly in it, whether it is playing a lute or working out complex mathematical equations. His family are part of a travelling band of troubadours and on their little travels they pick up an arcanist (think a scientist, but also a wizard at the same time) and he teaches Kvothe. Events occur which see him separated from not just his family but the arcanist too, he lives in poverty as a street urchin for a few years in a big city, travels to another city and signs up to the university. There he makes some friends, makes some enemies, before the book ends with a little adventure he embarks on searching for the truth about what has happened to his family.

Interspersed with these chapters there are the occasional interlude where we are brought back to the present day where something is happening in the inn or maybe they are just having a refreshment break. Though the chapters in the inn are sparse and infrequent one gets the impression that the events in the present day are going to link back to the story being narrated by Kvothe.

There are mixed perspectives reading reviews on Rothfuss's prose. I will side with those who say he writes beautifully. Often there are sentences which just land so well, or are particularly evocative or manage to put into words feelings and emotions that are incredibly difficult to convey. I can see how some may find it overwrought at times but it's mostly a joy to read. It slips into that device, where authors say, 'and my Dad sang to me before bed' and then proceed to give the reader six verses of the song, so I get why it may grate.

My biggest challenge with the book is Kvothe himself. He is perfect at seemingly everything he wants to do -- a perfect musician, scientist, mathematician, fighter, athlete, thief, engineer, medic, outdoor survivalist -- you name it Kvothe is brilliant at it. I get that he's an exceptionally and uniquely gifted person (maybe we will learn he is some kind of god later or something) but he's absolutely insufferable in him being great at everything. It feels like a wish fulfilment character. Now I can here the criticisms from fans of the book, 'but he DOES have failings and he DOES make mistakes' and that's true but that's because he is also incredibly stupid and it's really inconsistent. So one minute he is running rings with logic around a university master and the next he does something so incredibly thick it's clear he doesn't have any common sense whatsoever. Having super competent characters is always a risk in a book, because it instantly makes them unsympathetic, and when I am reading hundreds of pages of Kvothe's life story I want to make sure I care about him. Despite everything that happens in the novel, I really am not sure I like him at all.

Another failing of the book is how young women are portrayed in the book. At the university I think we are to assume that Kvothe is about fifteen and men outnumber women ten to one and yet the few female characters in the book practically fawn over him. Fela is a brilliant academic but she swoons all over Kvothe any chance she gets (and in one scene it's almost laughable how she comes on to him). Devi is a loan shark (who is also portrayed as cute and flirtatious) and Kvothe manages to make her lend him far more than she ever would. Auri is mentally unwell, but is always depicted in a rather flirty, floaty way. There is an ever-present tone in the book that 'you know, Kvothe could definitely bed any woman or man or fae he wanted, if he wanted, because despite being fifteen he's really hot yeah?'.

Which brings me to the most interesting character in the book -- Denna. Denna is a woman probably in her late teens and similar to Kvothe she is brilliant at singing and incredibly beautiful -- literally every man who sees her falls in love with her, including Kvothe. Even here, it's intimated that 'if he really wanted to he could screw her because he's different and perfect' but he doesn't because she means to much to him. I was reading that a lot of people hate Denna, and I kind of think it's because she doesn't give Kvothe what he wants easily. Her story arc is that she's poor so she travels around singing, and attracting the attention of men who bestow her with gifts and money and when they get to close she flits. I kind of like that she lives life on her own terms, but the book kind of shames her a bit for leading men on, getting amorous with them (but Rothfuss is ever so certain to assure us regularly that she has her virtue intact). Denna is depicted as cruel, and insensitive even when we are told she has no family, no assets and unless she can make money she has to move on otherwise she ends up into wage slavery or prostitution anyway. There's a music club owner who we are led to assume must be in his thirties or older and he's swooning all over Denna every chance he gets. It's a bit creepy. Kvothe's jealously seeps through and there is a running arc throughout the book where they bump into each other then split up or pass each other. I kind of like the idea of them being in each other's orbit but never close. Maybe I am a bit weird, because I saw her as one of the most likeable characters in the book and most interesting (even if she does fall for our hero a little easily).

With those criticisms out of the way, let's talk about what's good. This book is long, and if I am being honest the first third of it is a little slow going. I can definitely see a lot of people not finishing this and checking out by page two hundred. That said, once we get to the University this novel really picks up. All of a sudden we've got a wonderfully realised setting that is evocative in it's descriptions and there is a sense of a world happening around Kvothe rather than just waiting for him to do stuff. I didn't get into his 'arch enemy' story as much as others, but I really enjoyed how alive the university is. From the description of the buildings (which echoed Mervyn Peake's Gormeghast), to the eccentric masters (straight out all your favourite magic school books), to a magical system realistically entwined with science, to arcane rules which struggle to make sense until they do -- the book really seems to start when Kvothe gets to university.

There is also a really interesting observation about money in the book. Despite Kvothe's extensive skills he is always in need of money, at first to survive, and then to pay for his university tuition. I read this as a critique of privilege in education and inequality and how even if you are there on merit you always have your hands tied behind your back compared to those who have assets. Whenever he is on the up, it's not long before he's lost it all -- he's always one crisis away from destitution.

The final part of the book feels 'very side-questy' in terms of the story even if it is hooking into the wider purpose of Kvothe's tale. Even when I think of some of the elements that kind of bug me a little, I think this is the part where Denna and Kvothe's relationship and understanding of each other is developed the most. It was also the part of the book where I felt most engaged in the story, and I guess that's because of it's hook to the core plot. At times I found it quite touching and sweet, and then at others less so.

Summing up, despite my criticisms I still think this is a book to get lost in, with beautiful writing and a vivid, realised world. I have learnt I don't like Kvothe, but those who care about him and who he cares about (Denna and Bast) I find myself drawn to as the most interesting characters. I am guessing Kvothe is going to grow up in book two and I am suspected some kind of 'Anakin Skywalker' turn to the dark side deal.

Still a thumbs up from me and a good book despite the limitations.