By this point, I’ve read a lot of high fantasy. It was time to add this iconic, almost cannon, high fantasy to my list. But I couldn’t stop comparing it to what I could be reading instead, and ultimately, I don’t think this one is worth it. Here’s why.
This review is spoiler-free.
Rocío Sogas
Told in Kvothe’s own voice, this is the tale of the magically gifted young man who grows to be the most notorious wizard his world has ever seen.
The intimate narrative of his childhood in a troupe of traveling players, his years spent as a near-feral orphan in a crime-ridden city, his daringly brazen yet successful bid to enter a legendary school of magic, and his life as a fugitive after the murder of a king form a gripping coming-of-age story unrivaled in recent literature.
A high-action story written with a poet’s hand, The Name of the Wind is a masterpiece that will transport readers into the body and mind of a wizard.
A PALE COMPARISON
Lorenn Tyr
Want a beautiful coming-of-age story that starts with he MC as a young boy, insanely gifted, bursting with ambition and wanting to learn the names of things?
The Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. LeGuin.
A beautiful coming-of-age story that takes its time about a boy who deals with lots of trauma, has delightful eccentric teachers and a very sweet first love (plus magic and potions and plots)?
Assassin’s Apprentice by Robin Hobb.
A sweeping fantastical struggle between good and evil and all the shades between, with exciting battles, both internal and external, and a bunch of cool magic besides?
The Stormlight Archive by Brandon Sanderson.
An extremely male fantasy about some buddies who love each other very much and travel all across the land having all sorts of unique and interesting experiences with extremely innovative storytelling techniques and a spotlight on song?
Yep, Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkein.
Oh, and if you’re looking for exciting and expertly executed framing and storytelling devices, check out The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin.
My point is, I couldn’t find anything new in this particular story. Which is fine—I read plenty of fantasy that doesn’t reinvent the wheel. But for something so iconic, I was at least expecting The Name of the Wind to do the wheel quite well. Maybe some chrome rims or a flashy spoke design. Instead, I found the MC deeply annoying, the women (few that there were) underdeveloped, the magic system derivative, and the conflict cookie-cutter.
(Also, if you want vaguely homoerotic boys school drama, I still think Ender’s Game is the definitive SFF work on that.)
FROM MEH TO BAD
I’m not even saying TNOTW was average or that it wasn’t written for me, because there were specific things that made it a bad experience.
Kvothe is every know-it-all I hated in my middle-school math class.
I get it. He’s traumatised. He makes that very clear when definitely not justifying the questionable choices he makes throughout the book. Usually I’m so down for a traumatised and therefore mean or generally unpleasant character. But the way Kvothe acts, especially once he gets to university, is less Draco Malfoy and more…well, I don’t have a comparison, but just think of your school’s most annoying know-it-all.
Being naturally gifted is a huge part of Kvothe’s personality, but at least in this first novel of the Kingkiller chronicles, he doesn’t struggle or engage with that in any meaningful way. It simply saves his ass time and time again, and he proceeds to learn the lesson of I’ll just be more crafty and clever and keep acting the way I’ve been acting—like I’m more important than everyone around me. I was waiting and waiting for it to bite him in the ass, and the fact that it never did makes me honestly sympathise with his bullies. Oh, and he’s super handsome and strong, don’t forget.
A few other gripes that are just as large but perhaps easier to articulate:
- Oh, the writing of women was just awful. There are certain intermissions in the story where it attempts to be somewhat self-aware; at one point Kvothe, who is telling his own story, asks what it is missing, and his listeners immediately and correctly say women. But then he corrects them and says a woman, as if that’s wise and not indicative of an overall issue! There is literally one woman in this whole story who has any sort of depth. And she’s still treated as an awe-inspiring, always, beautiful, unreachable, so-high-up-on-the-pedestal-she-can-barely-see-him ideal. Blergh.
- I do like the alternative theory that Kvothe at least swings both ways, because there is definitely something homoerotic about his relationship to Bast.
- I do like the alternative theory that Kvothe at least swings both ways, because there is definitely something homoerotic about his relationship to Bast.
- The magic system, at least in this first book, is giving strong Wizard of Earthsea vibes. But less cool. And anyone who even accidentally puts themselves in competition with the literary colossus that is Ursula K. Leguin is going to lose.
- The conflict was boring. Kvothe wants revenge on an evil entity that killed his parents. Kvothe wants to be accepted by his peers. I was really looking for more emotionally challenging moments for Kvothe in order to care about these conflicts, which, without an outstanding MC, are boring even for a standard fantasy.
- Don’t get me started on the mysterious and quirky teacher characters. My eyes rolled so far into my head they came around the other side.
I made a list…
I jumped between boredom and rage with this book, but in the moments of range, I took notes. Here they are:
I would never want to be friends with Kvothe. Give any Brandon Sanderson character and we are besties for life.
Every girl of remotely marriageable age is ‘the most beautiful woman’ Kvothe has ever seen yet who do we get descriptions of in detail? the BOYS. The BROS.
A girl anywhere in this story is genuinely shocking?? The vibe is oh shit I forgot those existed?
Chapter 45: This is so cliche, it would be so obvious and silly to do this
Also chapter 45: ok but that said here’s that exact cliche
The foreshadowing is so unsubtle that I actually feel like I’m being bludgeoned
Kvothe is literally the worst, he’s whining about mistakes he is knowingly making and I feel no sympathy.
Once he starts dating it immediately turns into high school – any feeling of high fantasy is absolutely out the window
Not me being DISAPPOINTED when he’s not ******** I was ready for the villain arc he so clearly deserves
Well did you like ANYTHING?
Yeah, the bits about music were pretty cool. I would have loved a story about a travelling bard coming of age on a mission to complete the song his father never did. Alas.
I generally feel so validated in my opinions when I read other one-star reviews of this book. They never fail to pick out yet more utterly absurd elements of this high fantasy that I truly hope I forget quickly.
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