The Name of the Wind - Patrick Rothfuss

I was hesitant to start such a big book and commit to a series (I can tell myself if I don't like it I don't have to read the rest of the series but who are we kidding here, I even read Allegiant when I wanted to rip out my own eyeballs). But I can confidently say, I'm all in on Kvothe and his story. I want big big things for him. I want to know how an orphaned actor became a hero and then gave it all up to be a lowly innkeeper. I want to know all the things that were hinted at and not yet talked about. I want Ambrose to suffer horribly and come to ruin. 

So yeah, I'm forcing myself to interlude with another book. I made a mistake once of reading two George RR Martin books back to back and halfway through the second had become to resent my choice, and the characters whose intrigue could not be wrapped up succinctly. 

For now, let's recap The Name of the Wind. Kvothe is a young boy travelling with his parents' theater troupe and enjoying life on the road. He's very bright and picks things up very quickly. Then Ben joins the group. He's something called an Arcanist, meaning he's kind of magical, but in a more metaphysical way rather than wands and spells type of thing. He teaches Kvothe about Sympathy (the connection of all things) and Kvothe, being an exceptionally bright student, learns faster and more thoroughly than Ben can account for.

And then, well then Kvothe's family is killed by some very bad beings called The Chandrian and he vows to spend his life avenging his family. But first, he needs to learn how and make it to a place called The University - to do all that learning that Ben started. There he meets the love of his life, a truly brutal adversary, and some very good friends. 

And then this stupid book ends and I have NO IDEA HOW THIS WORKS OUT AND WHY OH WHY DID THIS HAPPEN AND.....

Well you know, good cliff hangers are what keep the folks coming back. Anyway, I loved this in the way I love a good fantasy big book series and although I have the second book sitting on my shelf at home, I'll get to it when the itch doesn't feel quite as urgent, so my mind can truly appreciate the expanse of the world created by Rothfuss.

But, I will say that I wish some of the other characters got half the build out that Kvothe receives. No one else gets as much page time and Denna, the only other "principal" actor in the narrative has some mysterious backstory that Kvothe is too much of a coward to ask about. 

4/5