[McLovin]

Sounds interesting. There sure have been a lot of very well-received debuts of late. If I ever get a chance to actually read fiction again, I will definitely check this out. Thanks!

[paladin]

i just ordered it as my next book(and the last wish, by that polish dude.. sapkowski or some crap), so hopefully its good..

amazan has the hardcovers for like 15$, so not bad

[Imperial Historian]

Picked this up in America, I enjoyed it, but the flashback narrative used managed to aggravate me sometimes. Still I'm looking forward to treading the sequel as it showed a lot of promise.

[Werthead]

Wow. Wasn't expecting this. My review copy of the UK edition of The Name of the Wind just thudded through the letterbox five months ahead of publication. Result! Will get on this after finishing the brilliant Un Lun Dun.

[Werthead]

Review here.

Overall, a very good book, comparable to or slightly better than Lies of Locke Lamora in quality although tonally somewhat different. I really liked the magic system, the characters and the laidback, detailed writing. I wasn't so keen on the ending (it doesn't have one; the book just stops in its tracks) or some of the cheesy winks the author gave the audience about this not just being another fantasy story.

[Puck]

paladin;175145 said:

(and the last wish, by that polish dude.. sapkowski or some crap)

Sapkowski is good when you like his writing style. He beats the crap out of some fantasy clichés and even gets rid of some classical fairytales, too, even if his world at the first glance seems to be the fantasy cliché with everything one associates with said cliché.
But I must admit, I'm prejudiced. The Last Wish got me into reading fantasy when I was twelve or so and I loved this and all the following novels about Geralt ever since. Read TLW a week or so ago and it hasn't lost anything over the years, there are just some... other things that catch my attention or amuse me than when I was a little kid. Love Sapkowski's sense of humor.

But this is, uh, off topic, so btt:
Bought The Name of the Wind yesterday and I'm quite curious about it

[paladin]

started reading name of the wind today and it lasted longer than ysabel, so thats a start

[cervantor]

I know that there’s plenty of press surrounding Patrick Rothfuss and “The Name of the Wind�, but here’s some more for you if you can’t get enough. So, you can check out an interview that I did with Mr. Rothfuss HERE. We started it in early April, but because of time constraints, etc., didn’t finish it until mid-May. I think it turned out pretty good though. I tried to ask questions that hadn’t been asked already by the interviews I’ve seen, but I think there were some overlaps. Still, some interesting things in there if you decide to check it out. Thanks to anyone who does, and I hope everyone has a nice & safe Memorial Day weekend…

Robert

[Rob B]

ChrisW;171098 said:

Right forum and welcome. You can find a good review at http://www.sffworld....revoff/342.html

That HAS to be the best review I've seen of the book yet.

[Optimus Prime]

I liked it....it kept me interested even though it had 1st person narration..which usually annoys me for some reason. It didn't have a lot of "Action" but I think that is only because he was using this 1st book to draw us in and build his character, story and world. All in all, i give it about an 8.5 out of 10...and am eagerly awaiting the second book...hopefully he doesn't suffer from RobertJordan8yearsbetweenbooksitis

[paladin]

cervantor;188915 said:

I know that there’s plenty of press surrounding Patrick Rothfuss and “The Name of the Wind”, but here’s some more for you if you can’t get enough. So, you can check out an interview that I did with Mr. Rothfuss HERE. We started it in early April, but because of time constraints, etc., didn’t finish it until mid-May. I think it turned out pretty good though. I tried to ask questions that hadn’t been asked already by the interviews I’ve seen, but I think there were some overlaps. Still, some interesting things in there if you decide to check it out. Thanks to anyone who does, and I hope everyone has a nice & safe Memorial Day weekend…

Robert

very good interview! i havent seen anything about that in the eye of heaven book rothfuss mentioned, anyone know if thats any good? gritty dark age fantasy is nice.

[Werthead]

Xander;191161 said:

I liked it....it kept me interested even though it had 1st person narration..which usually annoys me for some reason. It didn't have a lot of "Action" but I think that is only because he was using this 1st book to draw us in and build his character, story and world. All in all, i give it about an 8.5 out of 10...and am eagerly awaiting the second book...hopefully he doesn't suffer from RobertJordan8yearsbetweenbooksitis

Books 2 and 3 are complete and scheduled for March 2008 and March 2009, so no, that's not a problem. Although in fairness to RJ, the longest gap between any of his books has been 3 years, and on average more like two years.

Quote

i havent seen anything about that in the eye of heaven book rothfuss mentioned, anyone know if thats any good? gritty dark age fantasy is nice.

I think that's the book Steven Erikson recommended, by his friend and co-writer David Keck. The book has had a mixed critical reception, to say the least.

[paladin]

"to say the least".. meaning it sucks?

[caladanbrood]

paladin;191319 said:

"to say the least".. meaning it sucks?

It's not the best, certainly.

[paladin]

bummer..
anyways, on topic.. im more than halfway through name of the wind and it is a real pageturner. very hard to put down.

the style reminds me of something that shakespeare would create or something.. various static but detailed settings, great character interaction, lots of emotion and characters that are morally flawed or immature, etc. basically, not your typical fantasy, and not even your atypical fantasy. definately worth the read so far.

[Katran]

I found this book very entertaining and readable, sort of like Harry Potter but without all the fan baggage and with a less whingey protagonist. (Although he did his fair share of complaining, he hasn't gone into any page-long CAPS LOCK FITS in one book, but I guess there's still two more for him to make up for that. ) Don't get me wrong, though, because I love Harry Potter as much as anyone else.

Some of the reviewers didn't like the way that Kvothe would make comments like "if this were a story, then X" but I like that sort of thing. The only part of the book I didn't really like was Denna. She seemed to bring out the worst sort of socially-incompetent lovesick nerd in Kvothe, and she didn't seem worth it. Hopefully something will be made of this later on...either she really will turn out to suck, or her character will change, or she'll be gotten over, but if this is all there is...alas. :/

[Cnai?r]

For those curious to read another Rothfuss interview, here is one that I conducted with him...or rather, Part I of II, since it's quite lengthy and we have a few minor things left to do (probably will be posted Tuesday). It was quite a "fun" interview, to say the least

[QuickTidal]

You want a reason to read this book other than those already mentioned? I have 4 words for you....

Spoiler

Drugged out rampaging dragon!

[Werthead]

Katran;191921 said:

Some of the reviewers didn't like the way that Kvothe would make comments like "if this were a story, then X" but I like that sort of thing. The only part of the book I didn't really like was Denna. She seemed to bring out the worst sort of socially-incompetent lovesick nerd in Kvothe, and she didn't seem worth it. Hopefully something will be made of this later on...either she really will turn out to suck, or her character will change, or she'll be gotten over, but if this is all there is...alas. :/

With Denna:

Spoiler

It seems a common interpretation that Denna is an agent of those knights Kvothe is looking for, or an actual knight herself. Her explanation for being at that farmhouse is ridiculously full of holes, but Kvothe doesn't follow up on it.

With the scene QT mentions:

Spoiler

I liked it that the dragon was just an animal. However, I really want to read a fantasy novel with no dragons at all in it now. I'm so fed up of them, I cheered when SE crucified a few!

[paladin]

wert,

Spoiler

I think it's more in line with a large komodo dragon type creature that has properties similar to the scientific explaination of dragons in Reign of Fire.. to me, thats enough not to be a fantasy dragon