Book Review: The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss

“Words are pale shadows of forgotten names. As names have power, words have power. Words can light fires in the minds of men. Words can wring tears from the hardest hearts.” 

                             - Patrick Rothfuss, The Name of the Wind

When you name a person, or a thing, have you ever pondered at the significance of it? Not only does a name serve the purpose of identification, but it also speaks for the character of a person, or indicating a position in an establish order. Furthermore, this means the name we give to someone can either build and encourage, or destroy and hurt; names have great powers. So what does it mean, to search for the name of the wind?

Then Name of the Wind, is a fantasy novel. It is written by Patrick Rothfuss, who spend 7 years writing this novel during his pursuit in the degree of BA in English. This is a very well written novel, and have won numerous awards after the book was published in 2007. It is also the first book in a trilogy.

Synopsis:

The story follows a mysterious individual called Kvothe, and is told in 2 interwoven parts. The first part is told in the present, describing scenes of Kvothe sitting in an inn telling a chronicler the story about himself, Kvothe revealed his entire story will take 3 days to tell, and The Name of the Wind is day one of his story. The second part of the story is Kvothe's narrative of his story.

Kote is the Innkeeper of Waystone Inn. Together with his assistant, Bast, the duo manage the sparsely used inn. One night, Kote saved a chronicler from an attack from magical creatures known as "fae".Afterward, Kote brought the chronicler to his inn. Subsequently, the chronicler identified Kote's hidden identity is actually Kvothe. A famed magician, musician, and an unparalleled swordsman with a legendary past.

Kvothe agreed to tell the chronicler the true story about himself. Insisting the telling will take 3 days. The story told in day one constituted this book. 

In his narrative, Kvothe revealed in his childhood, he grew up in a troupe and showed considerable talents at learning things quickly. His parents were travelling performers. One day, a mysterious band appeared and murdered the entire troupe, including Kvothe's parents. Left alone in the world, Kvothe told the story of how he survived on the streets of a big city as an urchin, and his eventual acceptance into the University at very young age, to study and became an arcanist (or wizard). But Kvothe's study at the University is just the beginning, a stepping stone that will one day make him one of the most famous legends in the world..

What I think about this book:

The Name of the Wind is very well written. Most of the book is about Kvothe's time spent at the University as a student learning magic. In some ways, The Name of the Wind feels a little bit like Harry Potter, both have scenes of the protagonist studying magic at a school. However, Kvothe is a character with a much stronger personality than Harry Potter.

The pace of the story can become a bit slow at certain places, but I was never bored while reading this book. Most importantly, Kvothe is a fascinating character, full of mysteries. While reading this book, I always wanted to find out find out more about Kvothe and his past. Overall, The Name of the Wind is a great read. If you like Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter, then you will definitely like this book.