Reviews Literature / The Name Of The Wind

Polished 'til it Shines, or How to Save a Mary Sue

Wikipedia states that it took Patrick Rothfuss 7 years to write the first book in the Kingkiller series, the Name of the Wind. That shows. The work that has gone into the book is astounding; everything flows along at a perfectly calculated pace, and even the places where relatively little happens is saved by the excellent writing and clever language, reminiscent in many ways of Pratchett. Characters are lovingly crafted (with a few exceptions) and you feel like you are dealing with humans, not clichés, even if many embody a common archetype.

The character I'm most impressed with in this book is Kvothe. I will be honest: I had him down for a blatant Mary Sue in the first 50 pages. I was pleasantly surprised by the way the book handled him later. Yes, he's a prodigy who is extremely intelligent, perceptive and charismatic and also can play the sound of Soft Winds Ruffling the Rye Fields or some such stuff on his lute. Strangely enough, he doesn't become a Mary Sue. Instead, we see someone who struggles, who despite his gifts are far from always the stronger party, who is, in the end, human. Hell, the whole premise of the book is to take his character down a notch! This is one of the great strengths of the book. It's not flawless; at some points, particularly when on trial in front of the university masters, it feels like the universe picks favourites. The irritating moments are few and far between, though, and it certainly manages to avoid the atrocity it could have been.

I'd say that this book is what Harry Potter would have been like if it was co-written by Tolkien and Pratchett. Make of that what you will.