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Monday, May 30, 2016

The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss

The Name of the Wind (The Kingkiller Chronicle, #1)The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Oh, what to say... The Name of the Wind is such a fantastic fantasy book. The world-building is great, the characters are complete, and the good vs. evil conflict is up and running. I just can't go above three stars. While the big picture is all sunshine and roses, up close there are too many things that bug me. I can't call them out as flaws, that would be pretentious, but I can hold back a few stars.

Here are a few of the things that bugged me:
1. I would have preferred a direct narrative rather than the "story within a story" approach. The story was too deep and it was too long for that type of action. We even got into a story-within-a-story-within-a-story situation for a while. Not necessary.
2. The plot, while enjoyable, just didn't get it done. The train didn't get to the next station. All of a sudden the book was over, sans major climax and resolution. It was a huge let-down and I was willing to go down to 1 star at first, out of indignant anger. I've cooled off a bit, but I can't give more than 3 stars to a book that didn't actually have an ending...
3. Kvothe, the protagonist. While he had some quirks that made him human, which I appreciate, the chip on his shoulder was too much for me. He spent too long trying to get even. Admittedly, this is different than my other issues because it is dealing with a character rather than a feature of the writing itself, and it is the least of my concerns, but it is true. I want to like the protagonist, even after all their faults, and a lot of the time Kvothe just wasn't a character I could connect with. He was well-written, but was, well ... a punk.

As I said, the rest of the book I liked. It was a great read. While I hope that the series is "fixed" in the next book, I've heard that it might be a little slow at times, so I'm just enjoying what was there, and hoping for the best. The next book is in on my list.