The Name of the Wind
⭐ ⭐ ☆ ☆ ☆
The Name of the Wind (The Kingkiller Chronicle, Book 1) by Patrick Rothfuss
If you have not seen any of the Pitch Meeting videos on YouTube, I recommend you watch at least one before reading this, it will make a lot more sense.
The Name of the Wind Pitch Meeting
PUBLISHER - So tell me about this new fantasy novel you’ve written.
ROTHFUSS - Well it’s going to be a trilogy all about this character named Kvothe.
PUBLISHER - Bless you.
ROTHFUSS - Oh no, that’s the character’s name, Kvothe.
PUBLISHER - Oh, because it sounded like you coughed and sneezed at the same time. Are you sure you don’t want to go with something that people can actually pronounce?
ROTHFUSS - No, I’m hoping that all the talk about how to pronounce his name will help keep the book relevant.
PUBLISHER - Any publicity is good publicity.
ROTHFUSS - Right?! So anyway, it’s about this guy named Kvothe whose orphaned at young age and forced to survive alone on the streets.
PUBLISHER - Wow, sounds like he’s going to have a hard time just trying to get by.
ROTHFUSS - Actually it’s going to be super easy, barely an inconvenience.
PUBLISHER - Oh, really?
ROTHFUSS - Yeah, I’m just going to make him, like, super good at everything.
PUBLISHER - Everything?
ROTHFUSS - Everything!
PUBLISHER - Now when you say “everything”, do you mean –
ROTHFUSS - EVERTHING!
PUBLISHER - So, like, fighting?
ROTHFUSS - AMAZING!
PUBLISHER - Magic?
ROTHFUSS - THE BEST!
PUBLISHER - Knowledge?
ROTHFUSS - GENIUS! Oh, and he also has the ability to learn really quickly, so he can be great at things he’s never even done before.
PUBLISHER - He sounds an awful lot like a Mary Sue, maybe you should give some kind of character flaw so he’s somewhat relatable.
ROTHFUSS - That’s just it, he’s also reckless and short tempered.
PUBLISHER - That just sounds like it would make things worse.
ROTHFUSS - Totally! His arrogance is always getting him into trouble.
PUBLISHER - Hold on, so you’re saying that most of the characters problems could be avoided if he wasn’t such a douche?
ROTHFUSS - Yeah, but where’s the fun in that?
PUBLISHER - True. I guess if we’re going to make him flawless and unrelatable, we might as well make him a douche as well. As long as he’s not a Mary Sue.
ROTHFUSS - Can’t have both.
PUBLISHER - Anyway, tell me about the world building? Fantasy fans love their unique, in-depth worlds.
ROTHFUSS - About that, I wanted to make Kvothe stand out as much as possible, so I just made the rest of the world a very generic medieval setting and threw in some magic for good measure.
PUBLISHER - That’s it? Aren’t you worried people will be disappointed at the lack of world building?
ROTHFUSS - No, I’m hoping it’ll be so generic that people won’t even notice.
PUBLISHER - I might be able to help you out with that, with some extraordinarily vague cover art.
ROTHFUSS - Love it!
PUBLISHER - Oh yeah! Extraordinarily vague cover art is tight! So, what about the story?
ROTHFUSS - Well, the whole thing is actually being told as if Kvothe is telling his life story to a writer.
PUBLISHER - Wait, wait, wait, so we’re being told about how amazing this character is by the character himself?
ROTHFUSS - Yup.
PUBLISHER - I’m not sure the conflict of interest makes him a trustworthy narrator. Is the writer at least going to talk to some of the other characters to get their perspective?
ROTHFUSS - Nope.
PUBLISHER - Why not?
ROTHFUSS - Because.
PUBLISHER - But how does the writer know if any of it is true? He could be making it all up to make himself look good.
ROTHFUSS - Yeah, it works better if you don’t think about it too much.
PUBLISHER - Phew! Well that’s a load off my mind.
ROTHFUSS - So what do you think?
PUBLISHER - A fantasy trilogy I don't have to think about, with a guy who can do anything in a world that could very easily be anywhere? I’m in! So when do you think it’ll be finished?
ROTHFUSS - [13 years and counting]
(Now for a more tradition review in case all that didn't make sense to you)
Quite possibly the most overrated fantasy book of all time.
Kvothe might be the worst protagonist I have ever read. He is not just a “Mary Sue,” he is an arrogant, insufferable version of one. He has no flaws, and not in a compelling way. He is the absolute best at everything for no reason at all. Even when it comes to skills that are notoriously difficult, he masters them instantly with little or no practice.
Because he is so good at everything, he is also a gigantic asshole. Most of his problems are the direct result of his own arrogance and stubbornness. Instead of rooting for him, I spent most of the book rolling my eyes at him.
As for the world, it is as generic and bland as fantasy settings get. It is so neutral that it barely registers, which explains why I have never heard anyone either praise or criticize the world building. There is simply nothing memorable about it. It's so neutral, it’s forgettable.
