The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
I had seen this book on thebooksmugglers.com/ when Thea LOVED it and I've seen it a bit since they've been doing their Smugglivus as authors' favorite books of this year. So, when I saw it at the Crappy Base Bookstore, I decided to check out the first page and see if I could get back into some fantasy writing. Um ... I ended up reading it as I walked through the Crappy KMCC and out to my car and then sat down and ignored little things like food and water and family as soon as I got home.
Now, I'm not a huge fantasy reader in the recent years. I have my favorites (Jacqueline Carey, Juliet Marillier, Sara Douglass, Anne Bishop, Michelle Sagara) and I haven't gone outside those lines in quite some time. I'm SO glad I did now.
The Name of the Wind is told in a fascinating (for me, anyways) style. You have a two (and sometimes three) part story going on. You have what's happening in the present day with Kote, the Chronicler and Bast (and assorted towns-people) told in third person. Then you have Kote/Kvothe's life story told in first person. And THEN you have (in a few selected spots) stories within Kvothe's life told in third person. Despite this being a situation that could very easily confuse a reader, Mr. Rothfuss handles it masterfully.
And his writing itself is beyond beautiful. But, for all its beauty, it doesn't slow down the action or the story one bit. It draws the reader in until little things like sleep seem completely optional.
The characters really come alive as well. I LOVE Kvothe (although he has his faults like any other person and I have a feeling they'll get more pronounced as time goes on) and I have something of a crush on Bast (goat-legs and all). Hell, I even like Denna/Dianna/whatever her real name is. She's flighty (so an extent) and practical and knows her nature and I KNOW she's going to break Kvothe's heart ... but I like her anyways.
I know I'm leaving out a ton of things, from Kvothe's love and skill with music to his time spent learning, first from an alchemist traveling with his family and then at the University itself. That's not even bringing up the years he had to fight for every minute of his life on the streets of Tarbean. And all before he turns sixteen.
From what I understand, this is the first in a trilogy (as so many fantasy books are). I know I say this all the time, but I'm literally withering away waiting for the second book. And the greatest (as far as I'm concerned) thing about it is that I really have no idea what happens next. I want to know how a young Kvothe rises to fame (or infamy?) and then ends up hiding away as an innkeeper. I just ... have to know. 10/10
***
And, if my review isn't enough, I'm going to include the back cover blurb for you guys:
MY NAME IS KVOTHE.
I have stolen princesses back from sleeping barrow kings. I have burned down the town of Trebon. I have spent the night with Felurian and left with both my sanity and my life. I was expelled from the University at a younger age than most people are allowed in. I tread pathes by moonlight that others fear to speak of during day. I have talked to Gods, loved women, and written songs that make minstrels weep.
You may have heard of me.
So begins a tale unequaled in fantasy literature - the story of a hero told in his own voice. It is a tale of sorrow, a tale of survival, a tale of one man's search for meaning in his universe, and how that search, and the indomitable will that drove it, gave birth to a legend.