The Name of the Wind
As a child I, like most Indian kids, used to get a larger than usual dose of fantasy stories thanks to national obsession with Mahabharata, the longest epic poem in the world. Back then it was just a long story with Gods and demons, incredible weapons and wars and ever so often a moral lesson on how to lead your life. When we grew older, the fantasy angle seemed childish and was left completely ignored while we went off searching for the deep truth s and philosophies buried inside the epic. Embarrassed for no reason, I refused to read any more stories labeled 'Fantasy'. It didn't help that the novels that I glanced at on rare ocassions were turgid piece of work that I promptly put down before someone caught me reading them. Then someone recommended The Lord of the Ring (mind you, long before the movie came out) and I surprised myself by finishing the trilogy in a week or so. Sadly no other work captivated me after that, that is until I started reading Rothfuss's debut fantasy "The Name of the Wind (The Kingkiller Chronicle: Day One)".
It was night again. The Waystone Inn lay in silence, and it was a silence of three parts (...) The third silence was not an easy thing to notice. If you listened for an hour, you might begin to feel it in the wooden floor underfoot and in the rough, splintering barrels behind the bar. (...) It was heavy as a great river-smooth stone. It was the patient, cut-flower sound of a man who is waiting to die.
So starts the story of Kvothe, aka Kvothe the Bloodless, Kvothe the Arcane and Kvothe the Kingkiller. The story starts off with Kvothe living under an assumed name of Kote, working the quiet life of the innkeeper of Waystone Inn with his protege Bast. The peace and quiet is short-lived as 'demonic' black spidery creatures attacks a traveler on the road. Soon a Chronicler arrives in the village and recognises Kovthe. Persuaded by the Chronicler and Bast, Kvothe starts the narrate his life's story. His story as a kid in a troupe where he gets a fascinating glimpse of magic and hears of the University, the unfortunate events of his childhood, his effort to enroll in the University, his youthful bliss, love and arrogance and the story of the mysterious Chandrians.
We love heroes, be it in real life or in fantasy. Arrogant heroes are intriguing and a fallen hero captivates us. Rothfuss develops Kvothe's character with effortless ease while keeping a tight interesting narrative going on. What is more, he adds in a good amount of wit, music, emotions and love to the already potent mixture to make "Day One" an enchanting read.
Plainly said, he was giving me enough rope to hang myself with. Apparently he didn't realize that once a noose is tied, it will fit one neck as easily as another.
I can't wait to get hold of Day Two and Day three. Fantasy genre has reached a greater height thanks to Rothfuss's storytelling.
I struggled for a moment, failed. "So blue is a name?"
"It is a word. Words are pale shadows of forgotten names. As names have power, words have power. Words can light fires in the mind of men. Words can bring tears from the hardest hearts.(..) But a word is nothing but a painting of a fire. A name is the fire itself."
My head was swimming by this point. "I still don't understand."
He laid a hand on my shoulder. "Using words to talk of words is like using a pencil to draw a picture of itself, on itself. Impossible. Confusing. Frustrating."
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