This Rebecca Reads is a little over due. I finished reading The Name of the Wind at the end of August. For shame, I should’ve posted this sooner and especially because I love this book.
The Name of the Wind (Kingkiller Chronicle Day One) starts at an inn, which is owned and operated by Kote, who is also known as Reshi. And Kvothe the Bloodless .. and Kvothe the Kingkiller .. and quite a few other names. A Chronicler (literally, someone who writes stories) comes to stay at the inn. He recognizes Kvothe, who had presumably died some time ago. Kvothe had basically been in hiding, and the Chronicler asks to write down Kvothe’s story.
After being persuaded by the Chronicler, along with Kvothe’s friends Bast, Kvothe sits down to tell his infamous story. He starts from the very beginning, when his parents were part of a traveling troupe and were killed by a supposed mythical group called the Chandrian. Kvothe was orphaned and survived the streets on his own. He slowly made his way to the University, where he hopes to not only train in magic but also learn how to hunt down and kill the Chandrian.
What ensues could basically be described as a multitude of rabbit trails. He makes friends and enemies at the university, and he learns a lot about magic. He doesn’t learn much about the Chandrian, though, which was his main point for going there. His love interest makes a few appearances, and he slowly, ever so slowly, makes more and more enemies at the university.
The story line jumps between the story of his past and the story that’s developing in the present, which is when the Chronicler is recording his story at the inn. I really liked that, and it was easy to follow.
To be honest, nothing is really tied together in the end. This is the first book in a trilogy, of which the third has not been released yet. So, I wasn’t expecting things to be wrapped up at the end of this book. But, it does kind of just … stop. As part of the title suggests (Kingkiller Chronicle Day One), the first book is the entire first day of Kvothe’s dictating his story to the Chronicler.
I find it hard to describe this book, because not much happens in the book. It’s basically just Kvothe recalling his life when he was younger. He’s obviously known as the Kingkiller, but you don’t read the part of his story where he apparently kills a king. You know that something immensely tragic happened, but you don’t know what. You know he’s basically hiding in the village and running the inn, but you don’t know how he got from the university to that village. It’s all mysterious, which is what kept me reading.
This story is obviously heavy in the fantasy/other-world genre, but I honestly think this is a book that anyone could enjoy. There is not a lot of world-building, so you don’t need to commit to any new vocabulary. This might sound ridiculous, but if you enjoy stories you will enjoy this. It’s more about telling stories than it is about magic and wizards. I enjoy Patrick Rothfuss’s writing style. It draws you in and makes you want to read more, more, more!
I’m currently reading the second book in the Kingkiller Chronicles, which is called A Wise Man’s Fear and follows Kvothe after he leaves the university.
Have you read The Name of the Wind?
Rebecca has been writing about style, beauty, and lifestyle topics since 2011. Thank you so much for reading this post! Feel free to leave any questions or comments below. I love hearing from you!
