Tuesday, February 21, 2012

The Name of the Wind


So I recently finished this book by Patrick Rothfuss, called The Name of the Wind. The book was released in 2007 and it is the first book in a trilogy known as the Kingkiller Chronicles. The second book of the trilogy was released earlier this year. I found out about this book over the summer when NPR did a list of the top 100 science fiction/fantasy books. Interestingly enough they released this list on my 24th birthday, so in a way I guess it was a birthday gift.
Anyway the trilogy (even though it's still not done) came in at #18 on the list. I really liked the book. I feel though that the explanations about it confused me about what the book would be about, but that's fine. The synopsis on the back of the book is extremely vague and deliberately so, but there are so many reviews praising the book that are printed on the first few pages of the book. These reviews also make the book seem to have a different theme than what I thought after I finished it, but it's still a good book.
What I wish I had known before I read the book is that it is essentially about a man who recounts the story of his life to a biographer. The biographer wishes to know more about the man because of the various legends that swirl around him (that is once he recognizes who the man is). The first 50 pages of the book set up to get to the point where he recounts his story and then the remaining 650 pages or so are him recounting his life, he tells the biographer he will need three days to tell his life story (hence the reason why it is a trilogy).
So if you do happen to come across this book and feel interested in reading it, don't read the synopsis on the back nor the pages of reviews praising the book, because they will give you a different idea about what the book's about.

1 comment:

Grampa said...

700+ pages and it's only the first book of the trilogy. This guy must be getting paid by the word. Very intriguing. I'll have to check it out.