Friday, August 29, 2008

The Name of the Wind


I have been remiss in posting lately and for that I apologize. You will be happy to know, however, that I have been busy reading reading reading. I've actually cranked out a couple of books since my last post; the first of which was The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss.

The Name of the Wind was Mr. Rothfuss's debut novel and the blurb on the back cover of the paperback edition really got me excited for what it offered:

I have stolen princesses back from sleeping barrow kings. I 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 paths by moonlight that others fear to speak of during day. I have talked to Gods, loved women, and written songs that make the minstrels weep. My name is Kvothe. You may have heard of me

When I read that I though, Holy Crap - this is a different protagonist - this guy is an arrogant self absorbed ass - I can't wait to read the book.

It turns out he is a different kind of protagonist but he isn't anything like I expected. He is actually fairly modest and rather likable. The entire story is told in various first person perspectives that toggle between Kvothe and Chronicler, the man writing the story of Kvothe's life - this means the timeline bounces around between the past exploits of a young Kvothe (upto the age of 16 or so) and the present time where Kvothe is a "retired" adventurer cum innkeeper telling his tale.

I really liked this form of presentation and found myself really curious about Kvothe and the other patrons of his inn. Most importantly I am very interested in what we haven't learned yet about Kvothe's life before he became an inn keeper and I eagerly await the second book.

RATING 5