4.5 stars out of five
The Name of the Wind is the debut novel for Patrick Rothfuss, and the first book in his ambitious The Kingkiller Chronicle series.
As much a story about stories as it is a proper novel in itself, The Name of the Wind looks at the life of Kvothe: musician, magician, king killer, and the apparent cause of the present civil war—told from the perspective of Kvothe himself. The self-narration style of The Name of the Wind, which is framed as an innkeeper trying to tell the truth behind the mythology of his life, instantly made the story of Kvothe more engaging as he tries to recount all of the triumphs, and failures, in his life. It’s the mistakes of Kvothe’s life that separates The Name of the Wind from other bildungsroman fantasy stories like Harry Potter. The reader knows from the outset of Kvothe’s tale that his story ultimately ends in sorrow and tragedy.
“Rothfuss is a master of lyrical prose, making the most mundane tasks sing despite their nature.”
With the final outcome already known, Kvothe’s journey from being a young trouper to a student at the University is tragic on multiple levels, from the challenges that he faces in his young life to his eventual failure. There are still moments of joy and happiness in Kvothe’s tale, which are further accentuated by Rothfuss’s writing style.
Rothfuss is a master of lyrical prose, making the most mundane tasks sing despite their nature. The Name of the Wind is over 700 pages long and much of that time is spent delving into the world that Kvothe inhabits, whether it is providing local history, folklore, or exploring the day to day life of the protagonist. Under a less skilled author, these more domestic sections could drag or feel bland in comparison to the novel’s multiple action set pieces, but Rothfuss is able to utilize these calmer moments to flesh out his characters, and form a connection between Kvothe and his audience.
“…it’s fascinating to watch a hero’s journey where the reader knows the eventual result will be the hero failing.”
As the central character of The Name of the Wind, as well as the novel’s narrator, Kvothe is characterized in a different way than other magical protagonists like the more popular Harry Potter. Kvothe is neither as generic and, in turn, as likeable as Harry. Kvothe is temperamental, arrogant, and manipulative at times, but he is still written with a good heart despite his numerous flaws. The eventual failure of Kvothe, though the reader doesn’t exactly know what it is, combined with his flawed character make him an interesting character as well.
As readers, we have been trained to expect our heroes to eventually succeed, or at least this is the case in the majority of popular fiction, so it’s fascinating to watch a hero’s journey where the reader knows the eventual result will be the hero failing. As the narrator, Kvothe is never positioned as being completely reliable, and he states early on that the best stories are always partially constructed with lies. This challenges the reader to question whether Kvothe’s “true” account of his life can even be regarded as complete fact, or whether there is still a layer of fiction in the worn-out storyteller.
Rothfuss’s The Name of the Wind is a complex look at the hero’s journey in a post-Harry Potter world, and while the final book in the trilogy is still unreleased, I can’t wait to see how The Kingkiller Chronicle concludes.
Photo courtesy of Patrick Rothfuss.