"The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss. A Short Review

The Name of the Wind (The Kingkiller Chronicle, #1)The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The book was readable....and long....and ended too late. The play back and forth between early Kvothe (the main character) and the older, more seasoned Kvothe was good. But for some reason the length of the story, and the story line, brought me to ask several times, "When will the author get to the point?" The point never appeared to be reached in this volume, and when I came to the end of the book I felt disappointed. This book was written so you would buy the next one (and I assume the one after that) to finally get to the point.

I gave it 3 stars, even with my disappointment, because the author is a good writer, and obviously knows how to tell stories that keep attention. This one didn't rouse my excitement, and wasn't a page-turner. It started out slow, and sluggishly built up momentum until it trotted and galloped in places.

Maybe it's me. I gave it to my 15 and 18 year old sons, and they both enjoyed it. And yet, neither of them talked in any depth about the content. That's usually an indication to me of whether a book has durability or not. If you like fantasy, with magic, areas of the "unknown", personal conflicts, faeries, etc. you may want to give the book a try. You just might enjoy it.


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