May Books 8) The Name of the Wind, by Patrick Rothfuss
Chronicler dipped his pen and Kvothe looked down at his folded hands for as long as it takes to draw three deep breaths.
Then he began to speak.
After a run of epic fantasy novels that didn't really impress me, I picked this up, the last of my Christmas presents, noted with dismay that the last page was numbered 662, sighed and started reading.
But in fact I really really enjoyed it. For once, the world-building and languages worked for me; the coming-of-age story of the disguised magician hero had some new wrinkles; the university setting of much of the book has of course echoes of other fantasy educational establishments, but remains very much its own; and basically, Kvothe as a character engaged my interest and I needed to find out what happened next. And having reached page 662, I still want to know what happens next, and will get more books in the series in order to find out.