The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
On Greg and Michelle’s recommendations, I read The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss (check out his blog) a few weeks ago.
It’s the best book I’ve read in a long while. Unnameably good. For realies.
So good, in fact, that I left my living room, walked the mile to Borders on the 17th to see the author in person at a book reading/signing. So good that I “fanned” him on Facebook. So good that I’m actually blogging for once.
If I were stranded on a desert island and could only have one book with me (that’s a choice I get to make before getting stranded? that’s stupid), I would take a frisbee instead just to spite all those ego-hungry authors begging me to take their books. But I’d really think long and hard about The Name of the Wind first.
Pat is totally cool. He has professed undying love for Joss Whedon, Neil Gaiman, and Jamba Juice (not necessarily in that order) and signed Greg’s book for me with just that little extra something.
Dear Greg,
I will cut you open and dance in your entrails.
Love Pat <3 xxoo
Now, if only I could get him (and his publisher?) off Blogger and onto WordPress. Hell, I could probably swing him a VIP on WordPress.com.
Well, based on everyone’s recommendations, I also picked up this one too. And I have to agree that it’s one of the better new books I’ve read in a while. I did feel that there were a few places where the pacing was off and there were a few things I wish he had done differently. However, it may in fact be the best *debut* novel that I’ve ever read. I can’t wait for the second book to come out. My understanding is that book two is scheduled to be released eventually.
I don’t actually remember the “dance in your entrails” line. Is it a paraphrase of:
“I will slit you open and splash around like a child in a muddy puddle. I’ll string a fiddle with your guts and make you play it while I dance.” ?
I couldn’t stop laughing for several minutes when that line was followed up by “Listen, there’s no reason we can’t be friends.”
Dear robert my name is ruth means i was born september 3rd 1969 to a william robert rothfuss and my mom’s name was maxine she has been passed away for three years and i have been trying to find my dad and some of my relative’s can u please gl if possible
Well, I’ve got to admit, this book caught me out – I actually picked it on the basis that it was that rarest of gems in fantasy – a standalone book. More fool me. Only just started reading it, but regardless of its quality I still wish it had been advertised as (yet again) a 1/3 of a book for £14.99. I think I’ve finally nailed down the fundamental difference between sci-fi/fantasy and fiction, and it’s quite simple. Pick ANY 30 books from a fiction shelf, and the same from a fantasy. Notice a pattern? Shuffle them up if not, and then try stripping out all books with words such as “part 1”, “part 2”, “trilogy”, “epic”, “series”, “saga”. There’s your fantasy. Simple really. I’ve been an (increasingly) reluctant fan of sci-fi/fantasy for 30 years now, and quite frankly I’m beginning to wonder if fantasy writers are capable of writing a standalone book. Accepted they need to make a living, but there are limits. I’ll continue with this book – I did splash out on it after all – but if I’d found it in a library I’d have dropped it like a hot potato by now. I’m certainly no writer myself, but do these people actually set out with the intention of creating a series of one sort or another before pen even hits paper? As an avid reader I find this pretty depressing, and often find if I do plough through a series that the quality frequently slides once a captive audience has been obtained. Enough ranting anyway – I actually find the story very good so far, and if you fancy paying £45 for the whole story I’d probably recommend it.
A thoroughly disillusioned and disgruntled sci-fi/fantasy fan :)
Acctually the story was meant to be one long book named The Song of Wind and Flame, the publisher has made him split it into 3 books. So technically you are right about it being 1/3 of a book, but you are wrong to belive that it was the authors intent to “gain money”. If you check out his page you would see this man has no care for money, just for writing “the perfect book” for his fans. Hence why book 2 is taking forever.
If you are choosing books for stand alones only then I think thats kind of sad. If I get a good character and story why not stretch it as long as its good. Once it goes down hill then yes put it out of its misery.
Anyone looking for a dose of reality and wanting to consider a different genre – real life, for example?
I’m a struggling author who has just published her memoir and trying to generate a bit of interest (which is almost impossible unless you throw a ton of money at it).
And yes, this is part one of two books – providing this ever gets off the ground that is!
The book is called No Easy Road (available on Amazon) and deals with, among other things, the invisible ghostly world which surrounds us all and to which I have been witness.