# [Reading Group] May 2014: The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss



## Philip Overby

Our May 2014 open themed book will be _The Name of the Wind_ by Patrick Rothfuss








Please borrow or purchase the book in your preferred format and begin reading it. We'll start discussion on May 1st, 2014. 

Since this the longest book we've read so far (about 700 pages) I'd like to make the suggestion to allow the discussion to go over to June as well. Of course if most people finish it before then, cool. But I'm a slow reader, so I don't suspect I'll read it that fast.

So I'm going to say let's try to discuss 15 chapters a week? If anyone has a better idea, let me know. (There are 92 chapters, a prologue and an epilogue). 

1st Week of May: Prologue-Chapter 14
2nd Week of May: Chapter 15-Chapter 30
3rd Week of May: Chapter 31-Chapter 46
4th Week of May: Chapter 47-Chapter 62

1st Week of June: Chapter 63-Chapter 78
2nd Week of June: Chapter 79-End

If you want to find out more about it, check here: Amazon.com: The Name of the Wind: The Kingkiller Chronicle: Day One eBook: Patrick Rothfuss: Kindle Store

Also of note, this book is extremely cheap, so that's a bonus! 

Since this book is highly regarded, I'm looking forward to it, but I'm a little more guarded this time around. Because it's so highly regarded, I don't want to be let down if it doesn't meet my expectations. Although what I read of it I did really like (got sidetracked per usual). 

Happy reading! (you can of course begin now if you haven't already).


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## ACSmyth

Apparently I bought this almost exactly two years ago, and I haven't read a single page of it yet. I've just reached the end of the book I was reading on Kindle, so I can make a start a bit early.


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## Kaellpae

Starting this today. I just finished reading I Am Legend for another reading group, so now I'll try to pace myself to read this in a month. I'll probably binge read it before then, though.


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## Ankari

I'm 135 pages into this book. There has to be a discussion about how flashbacks are a no-no. And when what appears to be a majority of the book is a flashback, the editor should have been fired...

...until you read the story and discover how fascinating it is. I'm finding things that would normally throw me out of the loop, things that are normally reasons I don't continue reading a story, and I keep flipping the pages because of how entertaining it is.

There is one thing I'd like to ask. Keep this question in the back of your mind while you read.

In our age of information, do you find it offputting when an author hides information from you? This is what's happening in _The Name of the Wind._ You're given a glimpse of the might of Kvothe, then the curtains come down. You have to earn the satisfaction of who Kvothe is by reading the book.

I ask this question for selfish reasons. I have a story I'm writing that does much the same, but the world is the mystery, not a singular character.


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## Philip Overby

I don't mind a certain amount of mystery about a character as long as I get a little revealed at a time to kind of whet my whistle. If it's just like "I'm not going to tell you anything about this character until the end" it feels kind of cheap. However, if I learn something new about the character, then I'll be like "Oh, that's cool." It depends on how it's done.

I think this novel might be described as using a framing device. Meaning a big portion of the book is what happened in the past, while a smaller portion is happening in the present. _Frankenstein, Heart of Darkness_ and others have used this. 

I'm re-reading the beginning now and remember how much I enjoyed it the first time. I stalled out when it went into the first flashback. I'm not sure why, it just happened. I do like Rothfuss's style a lot. It's not too flashy, but is descriptive enough to give a clear idea of what's happening.


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## skip.knox

I'm going to bow out of this one. I plowed through a couple hundred pages ... I don't really remember how far ... and could not get engaged at all. Even if I did finish it, nobody wants to hear someone complain for a month!


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## Ankari

skip.knox said:


> I'm going to bow out of this one. I plowed through a couple hundred pages ... I don't really remember how far ... and could not get engaged at all. Even if I did finish it, nobody wants to hear someone complain for a month!



Actually, I'd like to know what turned you off from the book.


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## ACSmyth

I've started reading, and discovered that I did in fact begin it. I stalled very early on, though, even before the proper story got going. I've got further this time, so I'll see how I go.

And I'm not seeing it as a flashback as such, although I'm not gone on the idea that the whole book is effectively Kvothe dictating his memoirs. I'm guessing that Rothfuss decided to do it this way because either the story continues in the present at some point, or the "flashback" would make the story stupidly long. So he can gloss over his family travelling around in a few pages, rather than devoting chapters to Kvothe's childhood. I guess I'll see. I'm prepared to go with it for now, though it's not my most favourite way of telling a story.

If you hate flashbacks, Ankari, do you not like the Stormlight Archive books? WoK had a lot of Kaladin flashback scenes, and WoR does the same with Shallan. I thought those worked really well. (Although I probably shouldn't divert discussion onto another series. Sorry.)


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## Mythopoet

Ankari said:


> I'm 135 pages into this book. There has to be a discussion about how flashbacks are a no-no. And when what appears to be a majority of the book is a flashback, the editor should have been fired...
> 
> ...until you read the story and discover how fascinating it is. I'm finding things that would normally throw me out of the loop, things that are normally reasons I don't continue reading a story, and I keep flipping the pages because of how entertaining it is.
> 
> There is one thing I'd like to ask. Keep this question in the back of your mind while you read.
> 
> In our age of information, do you find it offputting when an author hides information from you? This is what's happening in _The Name of the Wind._ You're given a glimpse of the might of Kvothe, then the curtains come down. You have to earn the satisfaction of who Kvothe is by reading the book.
> 
> I ask this question for selfish reasons. I have a story I'm writing that does much the same, but the world is the mystery, not a singular character.



The story in the past isn't really as flashback in as much as the scenes in the present are a frame. 

In my opinion, Rothfuss makes a lot of huge promises and fails to deliver on them. He promises that Kvothe is the most awesome and interesting person ever and then spends two books developing him as an arrogant teenager whose main problems are that he's poor and that he makes enemies at school. The mystery of his childhood, who exactly killed his parents and why, is barely touched on. In two books you learn nothing about it. That really bothered me. In addition, he doesn't, in two books, do anything really awesome or noteworthy. Kvothe as a character really disappointed me and Rothfuss did not earn any trust with me. I'll read the last book because I would like to know the answer to the mystery but I'll probably get it from the library and I won't bother to read anything he does in the future.


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## Philip Overby

Just a reminder to anyone discussing the book: not all of us have read it. Please avoid posting spoilers and if you do put them in spoiler tags. We're only discussing the first 14 chapters this first week. Thanks!


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## Ankari

I don't mind flashbacks at all. From all the rules that are often touted, they are frowned upon.

This story is a flashback. Kvothe will tell a part of his story, then we see the three men in the present doing something, and then it's back to this back story.

A framing mechanism, if I understand it, would be revealing a scene close to the end of the story, and then telling the story from the beginning. It's meant to set up an audience for one result, but ending with another.


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## Ophiucha

_The Name of the Wind_ definitely has a framing device, in the form of people in the future telling the story of past events. The example that always comes to mind is _One Thousand and One Nights_, where the framing device is Scheherazade's story.  Or for a fantasy example, _The Princess Bride_ has a framing device in the form of the man reading the story to his grandson.

I don't mind it as a literary device, particularly when it is an in-universe framing device as opposed to a 'look at this fake story' kind like _Princess Bride_ which frames the story as fantasy even within the context of the book. It works well enough in this book, I think. I don't know if it _adds_ anything - I'll hold off on saying so until after I've finished reading it again - but it doesn't really bother me at all either.


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## skip.knox

@Ankari: I did not like the MC. He wasn't interesting. He was on the one hand overblown (all-powerful, etc) and on the other hand was just this kid with nothing especially interesting about him. Then the author introduced a number of standard tropes, such as the wise teacher, who sort of come on stage, say their lines, and exit for no purpose other than to come on stage and say their lines. Nothing resonated. 

And when there are scores of other books waiting in my reading queue, I just didn't want to invest the time. I followed him all the way to the school, saw where that was headed, and checked out.


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## Philip Overby

OK, just wondering how people are coming along so far with the novel. Up to this point we should be up to Chapter 14. I'm only up to Chapter 7 though. I plan to read more tonight and tomorrow though to get caught up.

Some questions for discussion:

1. What do you think of Kvothe/Kote so far? 

2. Do you find the story engaging?

3. How do you feel about the framing device of Kvothe telling his life story to Chronicler?

4. What do you think of the world so far?

5. Do you like the style?


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## Kaellpae

Philip Overby said:


> OK, just wondering how people are coming along so far with the novel. Up to this point we should be up to Chapter 14. I'm only up to Chapter 7 though. I plan to read more tonight and tomorrow though to get caught up.
> 
> Some questions for discussion:
> 
> 1. What do you think of Kvothe/Kote so far?
> 
> 2. Do you find the story engaging?
> 
> 3. How do you feel about the framing device of Kvothe telling his life story to Chronicler?
> 
> 4. What do you think of the world so far?
> 
> 5. Do you like the style?



So far into it I've had trouble relating to Kvothe with him being so brilliant and powerful, but I can't put the book down. 
I've read books that have been a memoir type story, so I've had no problem with the framing device. One of the things I'm really enjoying is his style. I'm used to long-winded storytellers like Jordan and King, so it's refreshing to have the story move along at a bit faster pace.


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## Philip Overby

I'm finding I like this one second behind Prince of Thorns on the ones I've read so far. I do like the style mostly, although I'm not a huge fan of "starting the story at the beginning" stories, it works pretty well here so far. I also find I'm not getting too bogged down in the actual writing.

It's interesting recently that I'm really getting into books that have more readability. That's strange considering I really like some more difficult writers like Steven Erikson or Gene Wolfe now and again. I guess I'm going through a phase when I just want to read something that is slow paced. This may have to do with my current reading lifestyle of basically only reading on commutes.


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## ACSmyth

I'm more or less up to target on this, I think. Maybe a chapter behind. I started a bit ahead, so I'm slipping back a bit. Need to get a move on.

1. What do you think of Kvothe/Kote so far?
I've heard a lot about what a compelling character he is, but I'm not seeing why so far. Hopefully it will start to kick in soon. But if you're trying to conceal who/what you are, then surely putting a honking great sword up on the wall isn't the best way to go about it?

 2. Do you find the story engaging?
It's engaging without being compelling. I've got this one on Kindle and a Juliet McKenna novel in paperback on the go at the same time, and currently I'm more inclined to pick up the other one. I could happily leave it here and move to something else. Again, I'm hoping I'll get drawn in as the story progresses. Especially as I've already bought book 2!

 3. How do you feel about the framing device of Kvothe telling his life story to Chronicler?
I've read other books with this sort of structure. One of the Robin Hobb series is done as memoirs or similar IIRC, although I could be thinking of someone else.

 4. What do you think of the world so far?
Haven't seen much beyond the standard fantasy tavern type setting. Again, I'm assuming we'll see farther as Kvothe grows up and does more.

 5. Do you like the style?
It's an easy enough read. I haven't found anything that's tripped me up yet.


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## Philip Overby

I'm sure Kvothe is what would be called a Mary Sue or whatever the male equivalent of that is. I don't really care about that kind of stuff. I imagined there's something about this character that has connected with so many people somehow. So far I think he's interesting, but I haven't gotten to the parts where he shows how incredibly powerful he is. It may become tedious once I get there, but so far it's been pretty good and I've liked his character.


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## Ankari

I'm neck deep into this story (almost done), and I like the experience.

1. Kvothe: Many accuse Kvothe of being a Mary Sue, but I'm not sure how they come to that conclusion. Is it because he's talented? I've read many stories where the MC is talented. In fact, I think the more you read of Kvothe, the more you understand he isn't a Mary Sue. He endures real trials, fails at many things, and displays questionable characteristics and judgement. I think the "Mary Sue" tag comes from his intelligence. I'm not sure why an intelligent character is frowned upon.

2. The story is engaging. If you strip away the fantasy, much of the story is about a boy who goes to university. That I'm nearly done with this book attests to it's quality of content.

3. I had to look up framing device. Yes, it's a framing device, but I don't understand why. There is a current story that is happening in the background. We see this when Kvothe saves Chronicler's life. Someone on another forum stated only the first book uses a framing device. The second, apparantly, isn't.

4. The world is what threw me off. I typically don't like stories revolving around fae, demons, and angels. Again, the quality of the story makes such things digestable.

5. It is an easy read, but with many lines blatantly purple. And I like it.


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## ACSmyth

I have to say that Bast is interesting me more than Kvothe at the moment. I have a feeling there's more to him than meets the eye.


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## monyo

I'm on chapter 18 at the moment. Honestly the book keeps sucking me in and then losing me, then sucking me in again. I think I'll have to wait longer to form a solid opinion of it. 

1. I liked him better as Kote at first, when he was still more of a mystery. Have to agree with the comments that he's less interesting as an all powerful character, rather than when he's being more humble and only occasionally showing who he really is. As fun as it is to watch him do cool stuff, he makes me think of how Achilles gets remembered more for his heel than for anything else. Think I'll like him a lot better by the end if Ankari's analysis (i.e. real trials, tries and fails, etc.) is accurate.

2. It occasionally does things that turn me off a bit, but otherwise yeah, I'm pretty anxious to finish it. I think the parts that turn me off are when it goes into some of the romance/women-chasing stuff. Personal preference, I guess, same as how someone said they didn't like Fae and demon stuff. I wish he hadn't explained the meaning of the cryptic title on like the fourth page.

3. No complaints. Chronicler and Bast are interesting, imo, and so far I think I've enjoyed the parts in the inn more than the rest.

4. Particularly like the magic system. Mainly the naming and the conservation of energy, thermodynamics stuff mixed in with the sympathy. Finding the stuff with the scrael and Chandrian to be among the more interesting parts.

5. It's good, though occasionally seems like it could have been better (not that _I_ could have done better). The stuff with him being trained in various disciplines is pretty cool, and sort of reminds me of _Dune_, though I think was better done there. None of it is bad or dislikeable, it just seems like parts are really good and then other parts are more typical fantasy trope stuff.

Opinions likely to change as I keep reading.


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## Philip Overby

OK, all of you are way ahead of me. I'll just avoid this thread until I get caught up.


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## Steerpike

I'll chime in when I can. I've decided not to re-read it. I'm swamped at work right now, and my time for reading is already limited. I don't want to be re-reading books except when I have more spare time.

I liked Kvothe well enough. I think "May-Sue" is a term whose meaning has changed, and that also gets thrown out as a general criticism when someone doesn't like a character who exhibits certain characteristics. Of course, literature is full of successful examples of characters who might be considered "Mary Sues," under the later definition. There is nothing wrong with them; it's when the author blunders into creating one unintentionally that you have trouble.


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## Ankari

Finished the book last night. Compact review: excellent.


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## Philip Overby

Wow, that was super fast. I'm just now getting to Chapter 14 (so I'm pretty well behind schedule). I guess I just have to accept I'm a slug at reading.

That said, since I'm sort of caught up, I'm interested to see the conflict between Bast and Chronicler. I kind of suspected something was up with Bast, but I wasn't sure. I've gotten further than I did the last time I tried reading it. Last time I only got up to the point when Kvothe was listening to his parents talk with Ben about his aptitude for pretty much everything.

I guess I don't see Kvothe as a Mary Sue or overpowered at this point because I haven't read far enough. But I tend not get bothered by characters like that as long as they're still engaging to me. Hearing about fae and Chandrian early on makes me wonder what's going to happen later. Lots of blue flames I'm guessing.


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## Kaellpae

I've just finished the book and it's definitely in my list of favorite fantasy novels. I was hoping to pace myself, but once I get into a story it's just really hard for me to put the book down. I can sort of understand where people are coming from when they say Kvothe is a "Mary Sue," but I read fantasy for all the traits he's shown in the story. There were a few times that I was jutted out of the story and world, mostly when they did the story within a story within a story, but it helped me to understand a bit of their lore and mindset in the world. I'll be buying the second novel tonight, so then I can be caught up to the complete story so far, and then I'll be anxiously awaiting the final volume.

(I apologize for how short my answers to any questions about the novel will be, but I mostly type on my phone. I can't stand typing too much without the feel of the keyboard under my fingers, so it leads me to get frustrated with trying to get thoughts across.)


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## Philip Overby

It's good to hear we've had a couple of people zip through the novel so fast. Without posting any spoilers (I'm on Chapter 15 or 16 now, again I'm a slow reader), can you say what made you enjoy the novel so much that you couldn't put it down?

I am finding that I'm enjoying this one a lot more than I expected since the first time I got hung up on one part, but now I feel like it's going at a nice pace and I'm enjoying it a lot. I can't say it's in my favorites of all time as of yet, but it is interesting to hear this is another one with pretty divergent opinions.


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## Ankari

There are several reasons why this story sails:

1) Patrick Rothfuss cheats. He baits you with a believable threat, then switches to the past.

2) His prose is poetic enough to allow for some consideration. He's not overly poetic, but there are some lines/pages.

3) The prose is easy. I can't think of a better example of "making the writing invisible." This may sound like a contradiction to point 2, but it's not. I appreciate the thoughts a sentence generates. That I consider them from Kvothe, rather from Rothfuss, makes it that much better.

4) Rothfuss keeps Kvothe away from the true prize.


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## Kaellpae

Ankari just put everything into words that I just couldn't. The first point is probably the main one that kept me turning to the next page and starting the next chapter. I'm horrible with pacing myself with even the minute cliffhangers that are found in some books at the ends of chapters.

I just got the 2nd volume and didn't realize that it was 400 pages longer, in the epub version, than the previous installment.


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## Philip Overby

Well, got to the parents getting killed part, which I assume most of you saw coming from a mile away. I didn't feel like it hit me emotionally in any way because it seems to happen a lot in fantasy fiction. However, I think Rothfuss handled it well with the introduction of Haliax and the other Chandrian (I'm assuming since they had the black eyes and everything). I'm curious to see how this plays out later. 

I have a question though: why are parents getting killed so prevalent in fantasy fiction? If I was a farm boy I'd make my parents wear disguises and not tell anyone who they were.


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## ACSmyth

The hero/protagonist needs to be broken down to be built again stronger, and to toughen him up for what's to come. If he's going to do his heroic acts, anyone he might rely upon to save or protect (or even teach) him, needs to be out of the picture, at least for a while. He needs to stand on his own two feet (answering the call, in hero's journey terms).

I have to say, though, that although so far this book is well written and an easy read, I am wondering if it's going to bring anything new to the table any time soon. I'm at chapter 33 (31%), and it feels like I could have read this before, except I know I haven't.


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## Philip Overby

I understand breaking down/building up of the main character as a dramatic device, but it seems like parents dying seems like the go to way to do so in fantasy stories. Not that I mind it if it's done well (which Rothfuss managed to do), but yeah, just wonder other ways to break down a character other than just killing someone close to them.


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## ACSmyth

Yeah, I figured once I posted it that it was a rhetorical question. Sorry. Didn't mean to teach my grandmother to suck eggs.

But if you've got a young protagonist (Kvothe is what, 12?) then you've either got to kill carers or have them separated by some other means. I've got a story that is emerging all too slowly, where my protagonist is kidnapped. I intend for her to be reunited with her parents, but still wanted her away from them so she can do her own thing.

It has started me thinking about exceptions, though. Rand al'Thor gets to see Tam again (yes I know, but still carer). Perrin loses his family. I think Mat's survive, though, don't they? In Stormlight Archive, Kaladin's parents are still alive as far as we know, but he joins the army to achieve the separation. In the Hunger Games books, Katniss is put into the game environment. Actually, I think if there's another reason why they are parted from their families it can give them a stronger motivation. Then they are fighting to save people they love, not just themselves. Like Frodo wanting to protect The Shire. Sometimes "saving the world" can be too big a thing for a person to get their head around, and they need to save something or someone that's important to them as their primary goal. Saving the world is just a nice by-product.

Anyway, I'm getting through this one, gradually. Kvothe now seems to be at Hogwarts.


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## Kaellpae

I was going to point out that you missed Harry, but the Hogwarts comment was a nice save. It's definitely seen by me with the magical school. I was also going to say for Rand, Tam is his father as far as he's concerned. 

I think a lot of killing parents off has to do with drilling into people's empathy, it makes you feel sorry for the character, so then you feel obligated to finish their story of revenge/acceptance or whatever else.


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## Ophiucha

Yeah, I feel like the 'kill off their parents' part is less for the emotional impact and more for the convenience of giving young characters nothing to hold them back from going on an adventure. Since parents, generally, would. It is a bit tired, but two birds with one stone and all. It doesn't resonate with me on an emotional level, though, so I'd rather see more siblings or best friends get killed/captured instead. Even at 12, there were a lot of people in my life who were important to me.

It's written well in this book, I can't complain.


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## monyo

I second what Ophiucha just said. It seems to avoid having to write complicated parent-child relationships, and realistically most parent-child relationships I've seen involve some sort of protectiveness or parent-setting-the-future-path-of-child thing, which isn't really conducive to going off adventuring.

I'm nearing the end now (ch. 61), and I have to say that the surprises/twists in this book seem a bit predictable. Very few times has it caught me off guard with anything. Usually I'm pretty bad at figuring out what's going to happen before it does, so I wonder if anyone else notices the same thing. I find myself figuring out what someone really meant or what's obviously going to happen before Kvothe does, which seems a bit odd considering he's supposed to be a genius (though he is only 15, for most of the story, too). No major spoilers in these examples, but just in case...



Spoiler: things past chapter 29



The "less three talents" part when he first gets admitted to the University. Again at the part where he first tries to get into the archives, it was pretty obvious what was going to happen just from the conversation. And much later on, I'm fairly sure I just saw someone straight up tell him the name of the wind that he has been searching for, and he just walked off without even noticing. Now it's only a matter of time before that revelation gets unveiled...



Perhaps those weren't meant to really catch the reader by surprise, but it seemed like they were set up that way. Overall though it's pretty good, judging by the fact that I just binge-read about 300 pages yesterday.


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## Philip Overby

An interesting thing I was thinking about this novel is that there are extended scenes that might be viewed as info dumping, yet they way they are done makes them interesting and not "get on with it" moments. For example, the origin story of Haliax. I wonder if there have been any major complaints about these scenes. I found them interesting, but I could see how some may say it detracts from the main story. Thoughts?


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## ACSmyth

Confession: I pretty much skipped that bit.


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## monyo

I rather liked those two mini-stories, particularly the Lanre/Haliax one. Though they could have been spaced out a bit more... the triple story inception was kind of amusing (I kept wondering if it would go to the fourth level), but I don't remember it happening outside of that one part. Might have seemed a bit less info dumpy that way. My only complaint might be...



skip.knox said:


> Then the author introduced a number of standard tropes, such as the wise teacher, who sort of come on stage, say their lines, and exit for no purpose other than to come on stage and say their lines.



Skarpi's role seems to fit this description. He doesn't really have much meaning to the story or theme except to dump info, and frame the church soldiers as corrupt hypocrits. There's also less of a "solving the mystery" feeling; he just kind of tells you the answer through Skarpi.


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## ThinkerX

Oh well...I've been shadowing this group on and off since it got started.  Been rereading the book at hand and its sequel lately.

Without going past the current cutoff (30 chapters?)...a couple things were real clear to me by this point:

1) Kvothe is what is termed an 'unreliable narrator'.  He makes it very clear in the first few chapters with Chronicler that he's not so much reciting his history, but telling stories about himself - tales he takes liberties with.  He's good (talented), yes, but not quite as much as he puts forth.  Which leads to the next item...

2) This work is a collection of short stories bound together with a unifying narrative more than a novel.  Some of the stories are (embellished) things that Kvothe did or went through; others are stories he's heard.


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## Philip Overby

I was under the impression that some of what Kvothe says isn't completely true. Perhaps that ties in to the whole super smart, super powerful character type. If he's telling a story about himself, maybe he'd be telling about himself the best way he can? 

I stopped reading this the past couple of days though because I'm trying to pick which book I want to read for the June group. I'm reading a bunch of samples before I make my decision. I have full intention of finishing this book though as I have really enjoyed it so far. I wouldn't mind a bit more fantasy in it, as most of the parts with Kvothe are pretty much non-fantasy. When he tells some stories about Lanre/Haliax etc. the fantasy element spills into it more. I'm assuming he gets magic and such later on because he's about to go to the university and everyone says this is the "Harry Potter" part.


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## ACSmyth

I've got halfway through and I've set it aside for now. I'll go back to it, but it's not holding my attention. I've picked up another couple of books and once I've finished them I'll read Gone Girl, then I'll probably go back to this one. I'll maybe skip the July book to get this finished up, depending on what's selected.

With all the hype I expected something amazing. It's well written, but it's not bringing anything very new to the table. Enjoyable enough, but not what I was expecting at all.

I'm also wondering if I need to get away from fantasy for a bit. I've read almost nothing but fantasy for the past two years solid, so maybe I need to change it up a little.


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## Philip Overby

I feel the same. I've been reading fantasy non-stop for years now and I feel every time I read outside the genre it's like a breath of fresh air. I love fantasy so much, but I think sometimes it's good to mix things up a bit. I really like _The Name of the Wind_, but I'm up to the point where he gets to the University. I'll probably do the same as you and finish it after Gone Girl (which is one of the easiest reads of my whole life with the exception of an Elmore Leonard book I read). 

I do like this book a lot, but I feel like it's filled a hole left by Robert Jordan in some way. I believe Rothfuss and Sanderson are both very good writers and they're providing the kind of fantasy that Jordan did. Sort of the new "fantasy standards" so to speak. If someone was new to fantasy I'd definitely recommend Rothfuss. He's accessible and a great writer, but if you're read as much fantasy as a lot of us have, maybe it's not doing enough to shake things up? 

I'm curious how the rest of the book turns out though because I do like Kvothe as a character. I'll have to finish it up later though. Gone Girl has my undivided attention now. Hell, I'm waking up in the morning and reading it, something I never do.


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## ACSmyth

You see, with Stormlight Archive I'm gripped in a way I'm not with Name of the Wind. It's a different sort of world than I've seen before. In terms of prose, Rothfuss wins, but in terms of keeping me coming back for more, Sanderson has it nailed.


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## Philip Overby

I have the first Stormlight Archive book, but got about 100 pages in before I started reading something else. The main reason? I have it in hardback. I can't bring myself to get the book on Kindle since it was a gift from my wife. For that very reason I should finish it. 

I do feel Sanderson's worlds and characters feel more interesting to me, but like you said Rothfuss's prose works better for me as well.


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## ACSmyth

Don't look now, Philip, but I think we might just have agreed on a book. Or at least, as close as makes no odds.


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## Philip Overby

Yeah, I thought about saying that, but was hoping you'd notice first. 

My thoughts so far: I like the book, but I guess I've yet to have that "wow" moment. The coolest part for me so far has been them discovering the spider-like thing at the beginning. For some reason I really like that part. I have gone through this novel faster than some of our other reading group books. I guess it goes like this for me so far.

Fastest: Gone Girl most definitely (actually losing sleep over this one)
Prince of Thorns
The Name of the Wind
Swordspoint
Slowest: His Majesty's Dragon

If June goes pretty well for our non-fantasy themed month, I might consider asking if people might want to try another one. Sometimes a change of pace is just what you need.


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## Philip Overby

So I'm at the University part of the book now and the story has slowed to a crawl for me. I think this is mostly because the cast suddenly exploded. There are nine masters, other students, etc. to keep up with. I know this is one of the major reasons people love this book so much because it has similarities to Harry Potter with this section, but I'm having trouble getting through it. I've liked most of the novel up to this point, but can't put my finger on why it's slowed down so much for me.


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## Ankari

Did you like Harry Potter? I never read it, so I'm curious to see if it's because you may feel you've read this story before. You'll meet some interesting characters at the University, and you'll meet characters that frustrated me because of how they fit the cliche role (A love that he cannot love, a cocky noble antagonist, and an eccentric teacher).


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## Philip Overby

I do like the Harry Potter movies, which I assume aren't much different (plotwise) from the books. I find myself having this whole "been there, done that" feeling with a lot of books lately, so maybe reading Gone Girl was a good idea. 

I feel like Rothfuss is an excellent writer, but there are just parts of the story, although well done, I just feel like I wish had more...I don't know...spark to them? I don't know if that makes sense.


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## monyo

Seeing as May is over and I think a lot of people have already finished or are already moving on, I wanted to post something that I found kind of odd about the way the story unfolded. I said at one point that parts of it seemed kind of predictable, and several things didn't turn out quite like I expected, but I'm also not sure why. It seems like the author passed up some opportunities that would have made everything tie together a bit better.



Spoiler: Major Spoilers



It seems implied at several points that Denna's mysterious patron will turn out to be Ambrose. Ambrose plays the lyre, her unnamed patron also gave her a lyre. Right after the part where two thugs, hired by Ambrose, try to knife up Kvothe, he coincidentally overhears something about the Chandrian appearing in Trebon, such that he needs to rush off there. It's already been shown that Ambrose basically has huge portions of the town in his pocket, to the point where he can afford to get Kvothe kicked out of all but one inn, and keep Threpe from being able to find him a patron. Then when Kvothe shows up in Trebon, Denna is there having been lured to the exact same wedding by her lyre-loving patron, who... wait for it... convinced her to let him smack her around a bit just before Kvothe shows up. Add to this that when he initially shows up and asks about the wedding, most of the town immediately goes quiet... kind of like they'd been paid off and knew he was coming? Add to all this that Kvothe had already said, "I burned down the town of Trebon," which is a bit different from "some random beast started a huge fire and I barely stopped it from killing everyone." He also heavily implies a woman (who is most likely Denna) will betray him at some point, and coincidentally she's somehow the only one to escape the fire? Really? And her patron needs to beat her a little so others won't be suspicious?

You can see where I went into all this thinking that Ambrose was Denna's patron. She even leaves Kvothe the note about her new patron immediately after he stands her up without warning, Deoch telling him that she'd instead been pulled off by someone else who showed up in his place. It would have made considerably more sense for the wedding massacre to have not been the Chandrian - instead Denna, known to be a bit dishonest with her constant lying about her name (which is incredibly suspicious and a huge red flag, honestly), would have been pulled into a plot by Ambrose to lure Kvothe to Trebon, where he could actually murder him (or something) safely away from the University. Ambrose hits Denna as a way of indirectly getting at Kvothe, then pays off most of Trebon as part of the plot. Kvothe somehow gets out of it and ends up burning down the town in the escape attempt, or just as revenge, since the entire town had been paid off to help fake the wedding and not warn him what Ambrose was up to.

Now, add to all this that right before he runs off, when he's still running from the two knifers, he randomly encounters Elodin in the roof, who tells him the name of the windy courtyard place is actually [something something, can't remember], or "House of the Wind" (may have gotten that part wrong)... so he basically told him the word for "wind" in some other particular language, like he knows about the whole thing and is giving Kvothe the knowledge/power he needs to get out of Ambrose's Trebon plot.. but only if he's clever enough to realize the meaning of this chance encounter. It would have even tied in better with the title of the book, if Name of the Wind was chosen over Name of Fire or Name of Stone specifically because that was the tool Kvothe used to escape the big climatic betrayal at the end.



But instead, none of that happens. Everything basically just unfolds the simplest way, without really weaving any of those threads together. I'm even far enough into the second book to say with fair certainty that it isn't just being saved for a later unveil. It's like there was the awesome opportunity to tie it all together in that way, but instead all these hints get thrown out, just to misdirect you... the problem is that the misdirection only ends in a less satisfying outcome, imo. He makes you think a really clever plot is afoot and it's going to be awesome, and while the stuff that does happen is actually quite good, it leaves all those separate strands of story dangling. The chance encounter was really just a chance encounter that didn't need to happen at that particular moment. The stuff that Denna does is just part of her character, not tied together with some grander plot arc. I'd like to think Rothfuss had a good reason for having it unfold this way (and perhaps he did), but it does seem like he chose the less interesting story arc. It's not "predictable" to me, but only because I was expecting something more interesting to happen.

The best theory I can think of is what someone said about Kvothe being an unreliable narrator. He's making half the story up to cover up the way things really unfolded, and he's telling it off the cuff so he occasionally realizes halfway through, "Oh man, this is going to look bad. Lemme just change the subject a little." He's not actually quite so masterful a storyteller that he has the whole day's narration planned out ahead of time, that's just part of his mystique he builds up. That would explain why at certain points the story just seems to drop a certain subplot and pick another one up, and occasionally a few things don't add up the way you'd expect. Still, kind of seems like a forced interpretation, compared to the author just picking plotline A over plotline B.


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