The Name of the Wind

I read Patrick Rothfuss's The Name of the Wind on the recommendation of the owners of Mystery & Imagination Bookshop (238 N. Brand Blvd, Glendale, CA) when I wandered in there looking to see if maybe some of my favorite authors had published anything new that I had missed.

After much discussion, she recommended Rothfuss' debut novel, saying that no one she had recommended it to had been disappointed. She was correct.

The Name of the Wind is the best fantasy book I have read in a long, long time.

It has a number of features that make it similar to other very popular and classic works in the genre, such as: a story within a story, the ubiquity of magic instead of science and technology, a school (university) setting where magic is taught to impressionable teens, an orphaned protagonist anda trio of friends that includes the central character.

The author has announced that The Name of the Wind will be the first book in a trilogy, called The Kingkilller Chronicles. The next book, called The Wise Man Fear is set to be released on April 19, 2009. I can't wait!

Rothfuss has made me consider reading fantasy again and expanded the list of authors whose work I have begun reading, which include China Mieville and Scott Lynch. There are also several others who I haven't even gotten around to reading yet: Joe Abercrombie's First Law series, Hal Duncan's Vellum and Carlos Ruiz Zafón's The Shadow of the Wind.

These last two are suggestions by the good people at Mystery & Imagination. I'll get to them after reading the The Wise Man's Fear or the end of the semester--whichever comes first!

The Name of the Wind is 736 pages long in the mass-market paperback edition released April 1, 2008.

PLOT: A
IMAGERY: A+
IMPACT: A-
WRITING: A

OVERALL GRADE: A