[Cunningham]

I just finished this book this morning, and it's probably going to go up with my favorite fantasy books. To me it's on the same level as Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norell, or Neverwhere, or The Book of the Dun Cow, and just a hair behind Tolkien (who is honestly always going to rule the roost). But I think it's the only "high-fantasy" book I've ever read that was even in the same ballpark, as most of those others differ from the medieval wizard and warrior genre.

Even though I love Tolkien, I usually shy away from high fantasy, for one reason, because of the way they always seem to be written as part of a never-ending series. One thing that I appreciate about The Name of the Wind is that it seems to be written with the series end in mind already. Considering the ending of the first book that kind of teases what's going to be in the next one, I'm guessing there will be two or three more books that comprise Kvothe's story, and then one more that focuses on the frame of the story ties up this conflict with the scrael, and, I expect the

Spoiler

Chandrian

— or maybe that conflict will be dealt with piecemeal as it is in the first one and by the end of the last book it will be taken care of, though it seems to be to be bigger than can be dealt with in that amount of narrative time — it's not going to be real plausible for Kvothe to be dictating to the scribe for more than three or four days. I also like the fact that it's not going to pass through generations of characters, but rather follow this one hero through his story.

One thing I wish I'd known as I started it was the it is a frame story. I got really into the "frame" and when the actual story wanted I kept wanting to come back to the frame. Not that the story wasn't good too, but I'd gotten myself psyched about the story that surrounded it. If I'd known a bit more about what to expect from the book's structure I think I would have enjoyed it a bit more during the first quarter or so, until I caught onto the way the story was going to be told.

But even in spite of this nit-pick (which was more the fault of my expectation than the author's work), I really enjoyed this book. I flew though it. It's hefty, but I read it in only three or four days, and I'm really looking forward to the next in the series to come out (though there doesn't seem to be any buzz about it, so that could be a while...) Has anyone here read it?

edit: I did some actual research after writing this and see that it's planned to be the first book of a trilogy, and as of February book 2 had been edited to about 90% of what Rothfuss wants it to be. So it's still a ways off, but still moving forward.

This post has been edited by Cunningham: 13 April 2010 - 06:32 PM

[opus]

I read this last summer and really enjoyed it. Like you, I found it to be a very fast read in spite of its length; Rothfuss' writing is incredibly breezy without being shallow, and with just enough twists and turns to keep you guessing. I love the hints at the larger mythology that are dropped here and there, be it the history of the primary villain, the explanation for the book's system of "magic", or the true nature of Kvothe's companion. At the same time, Kvothe is such a fascinating character in and of himself -- flawed and broken yet also fiercely proud and even arrogant.

Suffice to say, I'm looking forward to The Wise Man's Fear as much as I'm looking forward to George R. R. Martin's A Dance with Dragons.

[BethR]

I was also swept away by this book and am very much looking forward to vol. 2. In the meantime, Rothfuss's blog is quite entertaining.

[opus]

Rothfuss has just announced that the second book -- The Wise Man's Fear -- will be out on March 1, 2011.