The Name of the Wind
Quill Award 2007 (Fantasy), Publishers Weekly's Best Books of the Year 2007 (Fantasy). Locus Award nominee 2008, Tähtifantasia Award nominee 2011. 10th Anniversary Deluxe Edition.
My name is Kvothe, pronounced nearly the same as "quothe." Names are important as they tell you a great deal about a person. I've had more names than anyone has a right to.
The Adem call me Maedre. Which, depending on how it's spoken, can mean The Flame, The Thunder, or The Broken Tree.
"The Flame" is obvious if you've ever seen me. I have red hair, bright. If I had been born a couple of hundred years ago I would probably have been burned as a demon. I keep it short but it's unruly. When left to its own devices, it sticks up and makes me look as if I have been set afire.
"The Thunder" I attribute to a strong baritone and a great deal of stage training at an early age.
I've never thought of "The Broken Tree" as very significant. Although in retrospect, I suppose it could be considered at least partially prophetic.
My first mentor called me E'lir because I was clever and I knew it. My first real lover called me Dulator because she liked the sound of it. I have been called Shadicar, Lightfinger, and Six-String. I have been called Kvothe the Bloodless, Kvothe the Arcane, and Kvothe Kingkiller. I have earned those names. Bought and paid for them.
But I was brought up as Kvothe. My father once told me it meant "to know."
I have, of course, been called many other things. Most of them uncouth, although very few were unearned.
I have stolen princesses back from sleeping barrow kings. I burned down the town of Trebon. I have spent the night with Felurian and left with both my sanity and my life. I was expelled from the University at a younger age than most people are allowed in. I tread paths by moonlight that others fear to speak of during day. I have talked to Gods, loved women, and written songs that make the minstrels weep.
You may have heard of me.
So begins the tale of Kvothe – from his childhood in a troupe of traveling players, to years spent as a near-feral orphan in a crime-riddled city, to his daringly brazen yet successful bid to enter a difficult and dangerous school of magic. In these pages you will come to know Kvothe as a notorious magician, an accomplished thief, a masterful musician, and an infamous assassin. But The Name of the Wind is so much more – for the story it tells reveals the truth behind Kvothe's legend.
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Patrick Rothfuss
In the ever-evolving realm of modern fantasy, Patrick Rothfuss stands out not by the breadth of his bibliography, but by the depth of it. His name is nearly synonymous with The Kingkiller Chronicle, a series that didn’t just launch a story—it carved out a world, intimate and aching, one slow note at a time.
Rothfuss didn’t crash onto the literary scene so much as he unfolded, like a long-forgotten song remembered line by line. The Name of the Wind, his debut novel, emerged in 2007 after over a decade of behind-the-scenes refinement. Rather than racing to meet the market, he waited until the story was ready—fully formed, precise, and profoundly human. Readers met Kvothe, a man of myth and music, whose tale is told not in a blaze of glory but in the hush of candlelight. What began as a simple narrative about a young boy at a university for magic evolved into a reflection on power, loss, and the unreliability of memory.
The Kingkiller Chronicle
The Kingkiller Chronicle is a bestselling fantasy series that has captivated readers worldwide with its deep world-building, lyrical prose, and complex characters. Written by Patrick Rothfuss, this epic saga follows the life of Kvothe, a legendary figure whose tale is recounted through a narrative filled with mystery, adventure, and emotional depth. Blending elements of high fantasy with rich character studies, this series has become a landmark in modern fantasy literature.
The Kingkiller Chronicle consists of two primary books, and includes two additional books that complement the series but are not considered mandatory reads and series is set to expand with the upcoming release of two more books. The current recommended reading order for the series is provided below.
Book Reviews
The Name of the Wind is a delightfully well-written fantasy. It was easily one of the best reads I've had in some time. No spoilers: On the plus side of the book, the prose is fantastic. Rothfuss' descriptive capabilities are engrossing and while the pace is meandering, it is so in an enjoyable way. There are enough things to potentially cause danger, and most of them DO cause trouble, but Kvothe is within the realms of what is still expectable from a clever young man. The characters are interesting and intriguing, and you often can't quite pinpoint what an encounter will produce in the long run. Also, this is by far one of the best original worlds I've ever read. Everything from the concept of naming, to magic, fables, songs, currency, professions... it's all beautiful, well-done, realistic, and just generally intricate and wonderful. It's mysterious and enthralling all at once.
The Name of the Wind is Patrick Rothfuss's debut novel which took (according to his own words) fourteen years to complete. It won the Quill Award 2007 in the category for SciFi/Fantasy/Horror. The author succeeds in telling an incredibly detailed story without being longwinded and creating a new, fresh and surprising world with different kind of magic . I love the style and the novel can handle re-reading (which I will definitely do). The Name of the Wind restored my passion and interest in fantasy genre after I abandoned it for few years. This novel could be recommended even for people who normally wouldn't pick up a fantasy book.
The Name of the Wind was a 10/10 read for me, and I honestly couldn’t put it down. I picked it up randomly at the airport, not knowing what to expect, and it completely captivated me. I found myself so immersed in Kvothe’s story that I read it nonstop through my holiday. I was so hooked, I couldn’t even leave the hotel room in London until I finished the book!
Rothfuss’s writing is absolutely beautiful. The world-building is intricate and magical, and the way the story unfolds, jumping between Kvothe’s past and present, kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time. Kvothe himself is an incredibly compelling character—intelligent, talented, yet deeply flawed, which made his journey both relatable and fascinating.
Two of the stars are for the prose alone. Although this book very well-written, and I finished it, I didn't much like it. Seems too few authors these days appreciate In Medias Res, and letting the reader find out things on their own. There's just too much information, some of which is uninteresting and irrelevant, and the pacing is horrendously slow. When the information load is that great, there isn't much room for surprises. We already know what happens to (young)Kvothe, so when he finds himself in a dangerous situation there's no thrill or excitement there, because we already know he's going to pull through. His life is never really at stake...I find the outer tale to be far more interesting, and I wish he'd spent more time on that in the first book. I am going to read the second book just to see how things happen, and if there's more of a development in older Kvothe's story. But my main issue is that young Kvothe is, for me at least, a wholly unlikable character. He's too "perfect", he's selfish, ego-centric, reckless, disrespectful, inconsiderate and in general a major douche. But maybe I just think that about all teenage boys who have no siblings. A kid without siblings is an acquired taste, especially as grown-ups. That said I didn't like Harry Potter much either. Oh, I loved the series, but HP himself is a brat. Ronny Weasley, on the other hand, is a wonderful character. The problem with The Name of the Wind is that Kvothe doesn't really have a Ron Weasley to even out some of the douchiness... If I was going to compare this book to any other(without having read Lies) I would say Peter V Brett's The Painted Man. Almost two-thirds of the books is spent on backstory, and the plot itself is barely enough for a 100-150 pages.
an amazing read and a unique settling that i havnt found before or after
Book review: 2 Treasure Boxes Kvothe was the most notorious wizard ever known, but now he can no longer access magic and he is hiding out in a small town. Kvothe is retelling his life story which he claimed would take 3 days for the tale to unfold; this is day one. The story covers the first part of his life, reliving in detail the early years of his life. The Name of the Wind is Patrick Ruthfuss’ debut novel and it is the first book in the Kingkiller Chronicles. The story is told primarily in a first person narrative from the point of view of the main protagonist, Kvothe. This book is a fantasy, and in this world magic, dragons, elfs, as well as the Chandrian exist. The story was interesting, moving back and forth through time, but it progressed at a pretty slow pace. As Kvothe tells his life story the past is replayed. Kvothe is a likeable and interesting character. The world that the story takes place in is unusual and unique with a fascinating magic system. This is not a standalone story, but only one third of the tale, and by the end of the book, we still do not know how of Kvothe ended up as an Innkeeper. I am curious to find out what happens next, so I will be reading the next installment, Wise Man’s Fear. I recommend this book as a good read. For more of my reviews go to http://books-treasureortrash.com