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Bookman has been after me for quite some time — a few years — to read The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss. It’s the best fantasy I’ve read since Lord of the Rings, he says. I’m pretty sure that was a bit of hyperbole to get me to read the book because now that I have read it I’ll say it’s really good but not the best thing since Lord of the Rings good.

Part of my reluctance to read the book was that it’s one of those multi-book epic fantasy sagas and while those are enjoyable from time to time, I much prefer stand-alones. But now I find myself working through all the Game of Thrones books (only have one more before I’m caught up and waiting for the next one with the rest of the world) and now I’m committed to the Kingkiller Chronicle of which Name of the Wind is the first. The second in the series was published in 2011 and a short side story book was published in 2014. It’s a good thing the second book is even fatter than the first one, I will have plenty of time before I find myself caught up and waiting for the next book.

So what’s Name of the Wind about anyway? It’s about a big red-headed man named Kvothe (pronounced like “quothe”). He’s an innkeeper in a backwater farming town. Except he’s not really an innkeeper. He’s in disguise. He’s actually a hero who has songs and stories written about him. We aren’t quite sure why he’s masquerading as an innkeeper but he’s been at it for a little over a year. Except things are starting to happen, rumors filtering in and strange, huge spider-like creatures attacking people on the roads.

One day Chronicler arrives at the inn. Chronicler is a very famous historian-type person come to find Kvothe and get the true story behind all the songs and legends. Kvothe reluctantly agrees, and so begins his tale of when he was a boy in a troupe of traveling players. His father was head of the troupe and they sang and performed plays and did all sorts of things that traveling troupes do. Kvothe is an extremely bright boy and picks things up faster and more easily than anyone else. One day an arcanist joins the troupe. An arcanist is someone who has trained at the university, knows magic and other things. Ben had healing skills and could also do some great things with lighting which made him a welcome addition to the troupe. He began teaching Kvothe math and chemistry and history and eventually, magic. By the time Ben met a woman and decided to marry her and leave the troupe, Kvothe was more skilled than a good many students who had been studying several years at the university.

Kvothe’s idyllic childhood comes crashing to an end when he returns to the caravan one evening, after having been sent out by his mother to gather some herbs and told to take his time, to find everyone in the troupe killed and all the wagons burned. The men that did the nasty work were still there, sitting by his parents’ campfire and saw Kvothe. He would have been a goner too but was saved by the approach of some mysterious something or other approaching in the dark night sky.

Orphaned and alone, Kvothe eventually ends up living on the streets in a mean city for several years before he finally manages to come into enough money to allow him to travel to the University and attempt to become admitted. Of course he is even though he is only fifteen at this point. And of course he is still poor and he makes friends and enemies and has adventures and gets into trouble. He is still at university when the book ends, but it ends in a good place, one that leaves you feeling satisfied but also wanting more.

Now, if you decide to read this book you should know that this is one of those stories where the first hundred pages are slow going and sometimes downright boring. It’s a slow build. But by the end it fairly barrels along at near breakneck speed. The writing is at times a bit uneven, especially in the first half of the book. Once the momentum gets going the writing improves too and everything eventually clicks together for a great fun read that I had a hard time putting down. I’ll be taking a little break before I venture into the next book, probably during the summer months. I do, after all, have that Games of Thrones book to read.

At Powell's, our book buyers select all the new books in our vast inventory. If we need a book recommendation, we turn to our team of resident experts. Need a gift idea for a fan of vampire novels? Looking for a guide that will best demonstrate how to knit argyle socks? Need a book for [...]

At Powell's, our book buyers select all the new books in our vast inventory. If we need a book recommendation, we turn to our team of resident experts. Need a gift idea for a fan of vampire novels? Looking for a guide that will best demonstrate how to knit argyle socks? Need a book for [...]

Friends of science fiction author Jay Lake have united to raise money for his battle with cancer. They have already doubled the original fundraising goal of $20,000 for Lake (pictured).

As various levels of funding were reached, fellow science fiction writers unlocked special fundraising treats. For instance, author Patrick Rothfuss shared an excerpt from his high school novel and novelist John Scalzi sang a lost Bob Dylan song.

Here’s more from the fundraiser: However, a new technology is becoming available—one that may offer his doctors a better option for treating the cancer. We’re trying to raise funds to allow Jay to have whole genome sequencing. There is a small possibility that the results of such a test, which is more comprehensive than conventional genetic testing of tumors, may suggest a treatment path that Jay’s doctor’s may not have considered, and that could be life saving. It’s a really small chance, and Jay knows that. For this fundraiser, we have asked some science fiction and fantasy writers to donate an “Act of Whimsy” which they will share with the community as we reach milestones in our fundraising.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

It’s a week after Comic-Con and I’m still working through my notes! Two more panels and another booklist to post, and then it’s likely to get quiet around here for a spell.

I scrawled a crazy amount of notes at the Once Upon a Time panel—six authors of epic fantasy discussing their craft—but the odds of my being able to translate the scrawl to English are slimmish, so never fear. This was a fascinating panel. (Hence the 12 pages of notes.) Have I mentioned I love hearing other writers talk about their work? Yeah.

The panelists, in order of seating: Brandon Sanderson, Brent Weeks, Lynn Flewelling, Megan Whalen Turner, Christopher Paolini, Patrick Rothfuss. The moderator: Maryelizabeth Hart of the awesome Mysterious Galaxy bookstore. She was great. They were all great.

Hart’s first question was about the everyman character vs. the larger-than-life superheroic character. In epic fantasy, with these sweeping adventures and grand-scale worldbuilding, does the main character also need to be larger than life?

SANDERSON: talked about Bilbo and Frodo, everymen, little guys, ordinary, small. “If Tolkien did it, it must be okay.” (Gave context of Tolkien as originator of high fantasy.) Made interesting point about Sam having superheroic loyalty—i.e. Sam is not a typical everyman. But came back to “at core of every everyman there is something exceptional.”

WEEKS: If we can follow them [everyman characters] through that journey, we are great too. We know there is something great within us, potential; as the everyman becomes great, we become great with him.

FLEWELLING: likes to see the process (of becoming great), doesn’t like to see heroes from the start. Wants backstory. If protag is superstrong, etc, can be boring.

WHALEN TURNER: Likes themes of “extraordinary performances of ordinary people.” Talked in terms of flavors—her favorite flavor is a book about an extraordinary person, but it requires careful handling to maintain dramatic tension. Spoke about the Mary Sue character, two different definitions of that; one is “squicky,” where the character represents the author; but in another sense a Mary Sue character is an everyman who can represent the reader. She likes that, thinks it makes for satisfying story.

PAOLINI: Basically it comes down to: “Batman is better than Superman.” (Gets huge laugh.) Talked about the difference between the extraordinary SETTING and the extraordinary CHARACTER. You can put an extraordinary character in an ordinary setting (like Superman in Kansas corn field) or vice versa, ordinary guy in extraordinary setting (Frodo in Mordor). Over time, the ordinary character becomes larger-than-life—best example, he says, is Arthur Dent in Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, “a larger-than-life doofus” with flaws and weaknesses.

ROTHFUSS: 1) Paolini beat him to the Batman thing. 2) He’s a contrarian so has to reflexively disagree with what everyone else said. (Big laugh.) For him, a really big story (and epic fantasy is always a really big story) needs an everyman for people to relate to. He also spoke about the Mary Sue—my notes say “Your main char is one”—was he talking to Paolini? I think so, think it got a laugh, Paolini nodding in agreement. Rothfuss likes characters like Cyrano, Odysseus—unusually cool and clever.

PAOLINI: discussed “hereditary vs earned skills” (again Superman—hereditary—and Batman—earned/learned). “Escalating powers” can make problems for a writer—if the guy can simply “snuff the sun,” no story left. He too likes CLEVERNESS in a character.

SANDERSON: talked about origin of epic fantasy, founded by Tolkien, before that there were heroic tales (Conan, Tarzan, the guy starts off as hero). Tolk