A Wonderful Journey to Somewhere: A Review of “The Name of the Wind”

Introduction:

The second installment in the Electric Thoughts Book Club series (new episodes semi-monthly) was the novel The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss.

When Ben suggested this book I was intrigued; he had read it before and hailed it as his favorite. Without giving away spoilers, he told me about the cool magic system and the beautiful prose it contained.

I also knew it was a rather long book, with two sequels (one still pending release), so while I was excited for the concepts it contained and the good writing it promised, I was apprehensive about starting it, knowing that it would be either hard to finish, due to my schedule, or hard to put to the side, should I not like it, because, the argument goes, perhaps it gets better further in.

As a result of these thoughts, I decided to start The Name of the Wind with the rule that if I wasn’t drawn into the story in the first couple chapters I would stop and read something else instead. It narrowly managed to pass my threshold, and I am exceedingly glad it did.

Spoiler-Free Review:

This book is the story of a boy becoming a legend. Actually, this book is the beginning of the story of a boy becoming a legend; keep in mind that the tale is far…