Summary: A weary innkeeper with secrets tells his life story - filled with magic and love and lies and crimes - to a scribe passing through town.
Rating & Recommendation: 5/5; recommend for anyone who enjoys fantasy, but then you've probably already read this
Review: I am by no means a reader of epic fantasies. This, however, was worth the time. It’s 700 pages of the most delicate, intentional writing I have ever had the pleasure of reading. I immediately went to the bookstore and bought the sequel.
It’s lyrical and poetic, adventurous and sentimental. I found myself chuckling every few pages, because it’s relatable. The story telling takes place over the course of one day, but the story itself spans years, beginning with the protagonist's youth. He's orphaned early on, but his wit and resourcefulness keep him alive until he reaches his destination - a university. Here, he picks up a few friends, a few foes, and a reputation of mythical proportions. He studies and practices "magic," proving to be the best scholar the university has seen in years. The magical element is so secondary to the adventure, though, even those who don't like that kind of fiction would probably enjoy this.
I found myself at times thinking, Are you kidding me? Every time Kvoth gets caught in a jam, he somehow miraculously finds his way out of trouble (relatively speaking). It's almost like watching every season of 24 and wondering, How does Jack Bauer keep ending up in all these life or death scenarios and SURVIVING?
But that's the point. It's a hero story. In fact, it's a story within a story (sometimes within another story), but not one word was superfluous. World building is hard and rarely well executed, but Rothfuss nails it. It’s always a treat to read something you know was labored over for years. In the Author’s Note, he specifically says the original text for NofW was started in 1997, which makes it a full fledged adult by now!
I find this sort of book hard to read because you have to reorient everything you know and suspend your skepticism and disbelief in magic, which is hard. At least for me. But both the author and the narrator hold your hand through the adventure, and in the end you're craving for more. I think anyone who loved Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings will appreciate the scope of the world here and how quickly you get immersed in it.
I can’t wait to check in on Kvoth in the next book, and I’m anxiously awaiting the final volume of the Kingkiller Chronicle like everyone else. I never knew how fandoms came to be, as if from nowhere, overnight, a swell of support builds until it bursts forth from social media and conventions and game shops. I get it now. I'm transformed.
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