(no subject)
I think I may be going slightly insane after being stuck at home most of last week with a stomach bug and then having a long weekend. I've studied, I've written fic, I've watched old episodes of Frasier (Niles! Daphne!) and caught up on House, and I think I'm ready to do about anything else. Even if it is work, in a few hours. *sigh*
Currently re-reading The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss, which I first read a couple of months ago after seeing it recommended in a few places. It's pretty standard fantasy fare on the surface, with a pseudo-medieval European setting and a white, male (red-haired and green-eyed, to boot) protagonist with Tragic Dark Secrets. What sets the book apart for me is the effort that the author has put into making the novel's world work at a fundamental level, as seen through the eyes of characters at the lower levels of its society. It's good to see a fantasy novel recognise and embrace the fact that in a society like this, the monarchy and aristocracy are distant figures with very little bearing on day-to-day life rather than it it being all about the hero shaking the dust of his poor upbringing off his boots in his rush to claim his rightful place on the throne or beside it. The main character, Kvothe, shuffles around the social ladder quite a bit, being a tinker in origin but spending a chunk of his childhood in poverty on the streets before gaining a place in a university that trains students in the use of a surprisingly precise system of magic that's more like physics with your brain than supernatural power. He's pretty well strapped for cash throughout, and a fair portion of the plot is devoted to him scrimping to try and get enough money for clothing and food (not as dull as it may sound).
Kvothe does suffer from a touch of Gary Stu -- he plays musical instruments amazingly well and is very clever -- and the first-person portions have moments of clunkiness because of it, but he has his flaws and the narrative seems to acknowledge them, though it being the first book of a trilogy, it's hard to say with certainty. There's a love interest in the form of a woman named Denna, although she vanishes and reappears and seems to have a Tragic Past of her own. The tentative relationship is quite well handled, and she's treated as a character in her own right rather than an off-shoot of Kvothe. (I quite like the fact that she has a string of patrons-and-or-suitors because she has no other means of supporting herself whereas Kvothe doesn't get a single girlfriend, and there's no judgey reprobation in the text on her at all; her platonic relationship with Kvothe seems to be the closest she has, and they're both aware of it, and it's all handled with a nice amount of subtlety).
Robin Hobb's Farseer trilogy springs to mind as a similar series through the strength of the characterisation (and, of course, the first person narrative), but as much as I love that series, its world had some holes in it (the royal succession was a mess, for instance), whereas Rothfuss seems to be very mindful of the typical fantasy traps. I also picked up a Star Wars feel in some aspects, though it's not as blatant as some other heroic fantasy attempts (hello, Eragon). Kvothe's Obi-Wan goes by the nickname of Ben, so, yeah, I actually think that could be a deliberate nod. Rothfuss seems to have a certain amount of genre-awareness infused into the novel deliberately, but for the most part it's tongue-in-cheek rather than winkingly cloying.
I have a frustrating relationship with heroic fantasy, because when it's well done, I love it, but for that to be the case it has to have a certain configuration of character and atmosphere. Wind follows standard formula in terms of setting and plot (which is typical of an origins/coming of age story and takes a while to get moving), and I think it is a little overhyped (*eyes amazon reviews*), but it's an enjoyable read that achieves what it sets out to do, and it met those indefinable criteria for me. The rest of the series will have to prove whether it can exceed formulaic expectations, but if it manages to deliver on the promise so far, it will be worth watching.
Currently re-reading The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss, which I first read a couple of months ago after seeing it recommended in a few places. It's pretty standard fantasy fare on the surface, with a pseudo-medieval European setting and a white, male (red-haired and green-eyed, to boot) protagonist with Tragic Dark Secrets. What sets the book apart for me is the effort that the author has put into making the novel's world work at a fundamental level, as seen through the eyes of characters at the lower levels of its society. It's good to see a fantasy novel recognise and embrace the fact that in a society like this, the monarchy and aristocracy are distant figures with very little bearing on day-to-day life rather than it it being all about the hero shaking the dust of his poor upbringing off his boots in his rush to claim his rightful place on the throne or beside it. The main character, Kvothe, shuffles around the social ladder quite a bit, being a tinker in origin but spending a chunk of his childhood in poverty on the streets before gaining a place in a university that trains students in the use of a surprisingly precise system of magic that's more like physics with your brain than supernatural power. He's pretty well strapped for cash throughout, and a fair portion of the plot is devoted to him scrimping to try and get enough money for clothing and food (not as dull as it may sound).
Kvothe does suffer from a touch of Gary Stu -- he plays musical instruments amazingly well and is very clever -- and the first-person portions have moments of clunkiness because of it, but he has his flaws and the narrative seems to acknowledge them, though it being the first book of a trilogy, it's hard to say with certainty. There's a love interest in the form of a woman named Denna, although she vanishes and reappears and seems to have a Tragic Past of her own. The tentative relationship is quite well handled, and she's treated as a character in her own right rather than an off-shoot of Kvothe. (I quite like the fact that she has a string of patrons-and-or-suitors because she has no other means of supporting herself whereas Kvothe doesn't get a single girlfriend, and there's no judgey reprobation in the text on her at all; her platonic relationship with Kvothe seems to be the closest she has, and they're both aware of it, and it's all handled with a nice amount of subtlety).
Robin Hobb's Farseer trilogy springs to mind as a similar series through the strength of the characterisation (and, of course, the first person narrative), but as much as I love that series, its world had some holes in it (the royal succession was a mess, for instance), whereas Rothfuss seems to be very mindful of the typical fantasy traps. I also picked up a Star Wars feel in some aspects, though it's not as blatant as some other heroic fantasy attempts (hello, Eragon). Kvothe's Obi-Wan goes by the nickname of Ben, so, yeah, I actually think that could be a deliberate nod. Rothfuss seems to have a certain amount of genre-awareness infused into the novel deliberately, but for the most part it's tongue-in-cheek rather than winkingly cloying.
I have a frustrating relationship with heroic fantasy, because when it's well done, I love it, but for that to be the case it has to have a certain configuration of character and atmosphere. Wind follows standard formula in terms of setting and plot (which is typical of an origins/coming of age story and takes a while to get moving), and I think it is a little overhyped (*eyes amazon reviews*), but it's an enjoyable read that achieves what it sets out to do, and it met those indefinable criteria for me. The rest of the series will have to prove whether it can exceed formulaic expectations, but if it manages to deliver on the promise so far, it will be worth watching.