12th July, 2007
The Name of the Wind
The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss.
I have three words for you: Buy. This. Book. I’d add a forth word (Now) but I really don’t like the prices of hardcover editions. One thing of note when you rush out to buy it, the book has two different covers in the US. I have no idea why. I read the edition with the “alternate cover”. The one that is pictured above is the “non-alternate” version or something. You can see them (and the U.K. cover as well) at the official website here.
Anyway, enough of that. This is a most excellent book. It is set in a fantasy world, but, really, it could take place anywhere and it would still be fantastic. Mr. Rothfuss has a wonderful knack for storytelling. Intelligent, witty and engaging dialogue with characters who really seem alive. Both laugh-out-loud moments as well as teary-eyed ones can be found within. I zipped through this ~650 page monster in 3 days and was left wanting more. Did I mention that this book was really good?
Fortunately, there will be more as this is the first book in a trilogy. Unfortunately, the 2nd book won’t be out for a while (Amazon is showing a release date of April 1, ’08). I’m hoping this is just a cruel, cruel joke and it will be released sooner. Of course, I’ve also been hoping to become filthy rich and that hasn’t happened yet, so… yeah.
I am going to mark down the book just a smidgen due to some repetitious phrases and there are a couple of areas where the story feels a little loose (but hey, this is only his first novel). Aside from that, it’s damn good.
4.8/5 gogs.
[edit] Oh, and hey, he’s got a blog. Very amusing. Me likey.
Posted at 5:29 am | Comments (2)
On August 13, 2007 at 9:03 GogBlog » Flow said:
August 13, 2007 at 9:03
[...] Rothfuss, you know, the author of the most excellent The Name of the Wind that I talked about a short while back posted an amusing flowchart, detailing the complex decision tree he has to face [...]
On February 27, 2009 at 15:46 GogBlog » Rothfuss speaks said:
February 27, 2009 at 15:46
[...] to yesterday’s post on eagerly anticipated yet much-delayed novels, Patrick Rothfuss of The Name of the Wind fame offers his 2 cents and confirms that The Wise Man’s Fear has been delayed. Again. Sure, [...]