I remember discovering Name of the Wind in 2013, I managed to get my hands on the UK version of the audiobook narrated by Rupert Degas.
Side note – Rupert Degas’ narration of this series is one of the most incredible voice performances in history and I feel like most Americans don’t know about it. The US version is done by a different narrator with an American accent and… in my opinion it doesn’t elevate the story at all… it’s quite dry.
I remember being very, VERY into it on my first read.
The prose alone was intoxicating, the prose was so good that I forgot to pay attention to other aspect of the books.
Things like story, character work/depth, plot, intrigue, world building, pacing….. originality..
These all became secondary with the incredible narration and the insanely good prose.
I read the first two books.
By the end of book two I was thoroughly creeped out. I didn’t return to it or anticipate a third release anytime soon.
So after so many years and still no release, I’m considering returning to it again and seeing how it lands with me.
As I recall, the times I have thought about it since I listened to it, I’ve had mixed feelings.
I wanted to cos out the most reasonable and fair minded place in the world on this subject, here.
What and how do you all feel about this weird looking back?
by Sunbather-
8 Comments
i remember being obsessed with name of the wind back in college. the prose really is something special but yeah the longer we wait the more the flaws become obvious. kvothe is basically a mary sue and the whole felurian section was uncomfortable. still hoping for book 3 though
The first few times I’ve read it I love it.
I still love it even now, despite the lack of Book 3. The depth of those books go well beyond the enjoyment (and the eye-rolling) of Kvothe’s journey.
Read both once. Enjoyed them. Haven’t given it any thought since then.
He keeps writing and the story keeps going nowhere. Kvothe is a ridiculous character who’s the best there ever was at everything he does. I doubt another book will wrap things up, and at this point I’m not really that excited about it. I’ll probably read it if it comes out.
After all these years, things I remember:
1. Book One…pretty, pretty, pretty good!
2. Book Two…meh.
3. The plot barely progressed after 1500 pages so there is no way this will wrap up as a trilogy.
frankly my feelings have not changed, Name of the Wind is one of my favorite books and i have reread it many times and i feel the same about it every time i read it, ive always seen its flaws and they have never bothered me enough to affect my enjoyment but i do understand why said flaws put people off the books
i think rothfuss has had many struggles, said some questionable things and made some bad/questionable choices, but i also think the vitriol people have toward him is too much a lot of the time, i think he wrote some things in a questionable and flawed way that he might write differently if he were to write them now, and i also still love the books deeply with all my heart, all of these things can be true at once
if he ever releases another ill read it and probably love it, if he doesnt it doesnt affect me in really any way, im content
I read the first one in a single day, so. I love it, if nothing else comes out, that was enough for me.
After GRRM, I refuse to read anything that’s not finished. I’ve heard to many good things about the Name of the Wind over the year, but waited before starting it. Now, I recognize that I will never read it, but I am okay with that. There are a lot of other books out there, and a lot of finished series.