Phil Wayne

The Name of the Wind

25 Mar 2020

My Dearest Mad-Readers,

I have spent quite some time lately reading the Kingkiller Chronicle, by Patrick Rothfuss. For those of you who are not familiar with this saga, it is composed of three books :

  • The Name of the Wind* (about 250 000 words, which is roughly equal to the lenght of the first three Harry Potter books).

  • The Wise Man's Fear* (about 400 000 words, which represents approximately twice the size of Harry Potter 7).

  • The third volume is still eagerly awaited by the fans of the saga, all over the world. Its title should be The Doors of Stone. Needless to say, I am one of these impatient fans. I am almost done reading the second volume and each time I pick up the book I try to slow down a bit and remind myself that it may be years before The Doors of Stone is released.

The Name of the Wind is also the first day in the story told in the Kingkiller Chronicle. It was published on the 27th of March, 2007 by DAW Books, which is an American science-fiction and epic-fantasy publisher. For those of you who may know this last one better, I will add that its parent company is Penguin Random House.

If you like epic fantasy, let me tell you that you will not be disappointed. This book is a masterpiece. Which is fortunate, given the awfully long time it took Patrick Rothfuss to write it : 15 years.

If you are not familiar with the saga, here is a tiny mise-en-bouche to wet your appetite : Kvothe, our red-haired main character, is the owner of an establishment called the Waystone Inn under the name Kote. He is hiding from his past. One day, he meets a traveler and scribe named Chronicler. As a collector of stories, he would be most curious to hear Kvothe's story, since our hero has quite the reputation throughout the Four Corners of Civilization. This is where the story truly begins, and where we, readers, start holding our breath.

Have you read The Name of the Wind ? If you have, did you like it ? If you have not would you consider reading it ? Leave a comment if you wish to share your opinion with me.

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