Reviews Literature / The Name Of The Wind

Surprisingly realistic fantasy

I know I'm not the first to mention Ender's Game in connection with The Name of the Wind, but it's really a good comparison. While some people look at Kvothe and see a Sue, to those of us who grew up as the smartest kid around, it has the exact same "ring of truth" to it as Ender's Game. This is the story of a gifted child coming of age, and both his numerous talents and his numerous flaws are portrayed quite realistically, even in a highly fantastical story. Because this is the story of a gifted child coming of age in a Heroic Fantasy world, he ends up becoming a (somewhat) heroic character.

The other thing that's truly surprising about the way many people speak of this story is the way they talk about Denna as detracting or distracting from the plot. Such an accusation seems particularly bizarre because Kote makes it quite clear early on that she is the plot. This becomes more clear in the second book, (Kvothe's travels would never have happened if he hadn't had to leave the University for a time as a direct result of actions undertaken to retrieve the ring Ambrose had stolen from her,) but even in the first, she plays a very important role in moving the plot along at several different points, and even before beginning to tell his story, Kote mentions he loved and lost in his brief version of his life story, and the first time he tries to begin telling the story, the first thing he thinks of as "the beginning" of what's relevant is Denna singing with him.

To understand the story, it's important to understand it for what it is, and not try to impose some other structure on it and then get annoyed when it fails to live up to that structure. And the narrative makes it clear from the beginning that, above all else, the story of Kvothe is a tragic romance, and like any Tragedy, it's the story of the fall of a great man due to his own mistakes and flaws.

Before our Tragic Hero can fall, though, he has to be established and built up. The Name of the Wind is that story. Kvothe explains how he got his start, he explains how he became interested in learning about the Chandrian and the Amyr, he explains about his studies at the University, about beginning to build his reputation, and about meeting Ambrose and Denna and his relationship with both of them, laying the groundwork for the rest of the story.

The author does an amazing job of mixing the realistic (who didn't go to school with personalities like Ambrose, Fela and Simmon?) with the fantastical, making the magic into a real part of the setting and exploring what characters do with it a la Brandon Sanderson, so that while the magic fascinates and delights, it's the characters and their interaction with each other that truly draws you in and keeps you captivated. Which is, after all, the point: it's the story of the characters.