Feel free to Kvothe me

A few weeks back I was browsing the local brick and mortar bookstore when I spied an interesting cover in the Fantasy section. I'm likely the world's biggest sucker for covers as that's how I often choose/buy books. I started reading R. A. Salvatore because of the Crystal Shard cover I saw on the back of a GI Joe comic. I loved the Hardy Boys covers. I avoided George R. R. Martin's series because the cover was just too plain.


Back to the story. I spied this interesting cover. The book was called The Name of the Wind. I didn't pay much attention to the title or the author's name, just the artwork. Something about it drew me in.


I spotted the cover again on a return trip two weeks ago. Again I was drawn to it. Over and over in my head, I kept asking myself "should I really spend $20 some odd dollars on a hardback book from an unknown author when I'm trying to cut back on my spending and my book collecting?" Over and over in my head. To buy or not to buy.


Finally I decided to buy it. I picked it up. I saw the alternate cover (the plain one) behind it. Well that's cheesy I thought. I put it back.


But that damn read-haired guy on the cover holding the lute kept pulling me back. I didn't even notice he was showing his chest. I just saw the hair. And the eyes. The eyes kept looking at me, daring me to buy this book.



I gave in. I bought it. My wife thought I was acting strange (stranger than I usually act). I got home, and put it in the honored spot on my nightstand that holds the "Book I Shall Read Tonight." It lay there quietly as I went about the rest of my day.


As night approached, I began to think about my upcoming read. A new adventure. I was hoping I wouldn't waste my money. Or my time. 600+ pages is a lot to read. The first page should have clued me in. A silence of three parts. I love the number 3. It's my lucky number. I was born on the third. As I turned to the next page, I caught a glimpse of the title page. Whoa, this book is only day one? Hmmm, now I'm even more interested.


So I read. I laughed. I groaned. I pondered. I cheered.


But I read. And I continued to read until I finished last night.


In the span of two weeks, I finished a 600+ page book. I stayed up until at 12:30 each night reading. I forced myself to keep the book at home for fear I would read at work and accomplish nothing. I spent every free moment yearning to read more. Television had become boring.


I felt like I was 12 again and reading The Crystal Shard into the wee hours of the morning by smothering my reading light with my pillow so my father would think I'm asleep. I was nearly giddy with joy at times. I had in my hands one of the best written stories I have read in ages. Years. Maybe decades.


If I haven't lost you so far, then please continue. I'll try to be more objective in my review.



Patrick Rothfuss is the new kid on the block, hangin' tough with some heavy hitters. Kvothe (pronounced quothe) is the center of the story. Posing as an inn-keeper, he lays out his life's story to the Chronicler (a journeyman scribe or historian of sorts). His story takes you from a childhood in a traveling troupe, through the death of his parents, to University where he learns magic (of a sort). He falls in love, gains friends, and makes enemies.


At times it feels like Harry Potter with a "normal" boy forced into a different life. But it goes beyond that. Potter is so full of magic and tangents that, despite being set on "Earth," it's a very "fantastic" story. Not so with the Four Corners. It is so ordinary, it's like Star Wars. Things look and feel used. Lived in. Real. Kvothe's world is so ordinary, it's noticeable. But it doesn't take away from the flow, in fact, it helps it along.



There are hints, references, even mentions of other-worldly things that bring you back to the fantasy world here and there. And Kvothe's killing of the draccas (essentially a dragon, but I prefer the lizard-chicken) is surely not ordinary. Nor his studying to be an arcanist.


Of the entire book, only the last few pages were a bit of a let-down. The ending wasn't very strong and the allusion to the future didn't quite make a great impression on me. But I know more is coming, and that does more than enough to get me hooked.


On a side note, Patrick Rothfuss is a certainly odd character. From reading his interviews, he's a charmer, a genius, and a comic. He's like that weird guy that sits in the cube next to you. He may have some strange things to add to the conversation, but he's just an ordinary guy. And he has great tastes in shirts.