"Name of the Wind" - NerdCon Oct10 No Date for Book 3 Yet

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Just wanted to let everyone know that while I'm only ~150 pages in, Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss is an excellent page turner! This may be old news because its in paperback and the next in the trilogy is due in the fall.

One of the most appealing parts of fantasy books is fresh takes on magic, magic systems, or how they intertwine magic into rational reality. I am really enjoying Rothfuss's interpretation/explanation.

I mentioned page turner but this book has a unique feel. Its what I can only subscribe as a dense page turner. you can quickly lose yourself in it. Time passes quickly while reading it but yet I'm only ~150 pages in of a 700 page book. I can't shake the feeling I should be further despite not being able to devote more than a hand full of sittings with it.

It is also difficult to describe what is so great about it. It doesn't have extraordinary dialogue, details or descriptions. But yet it puts the reader into its world firmly, effectively and immediately. The author gives you a lot of details passively. He doesn't describe characters in detail upon introduction. As a matter of fact the main character is introduced as being worn, wise and having fiery red hair. The rest we get through actions and dialogue. One of the most threatening dangers is described as a wagon wheel heighted spider with blade legs. Yet, the reader understands the fear if the unknown in the story's environment instantly.

But enough going off into long tangents. I highly recommend "Name of the Wind" to Goodjers.

Glad to hear it's good!

I found out about this one on George RR Martin's blog. I think he was using it as a "get outta my hair" suggestion while he finishes his own book. I downloaded it on my Kindle and plan to read it next.

Yah, the cover is filled with a who's who of fantasy authors, including Anne McCaffrey herself, heaping piles of praise for the rookie author.

Isn't George supposed to be writing the last Wheel of Time book in place of now deceased Robert Jordan?

This is the kind of book that several friends and coworkers recommend to you all in the same week without any collusion. Its that awkward coincidence that overwhelms you that makes you want to hunt the book down through rain, sleet or snow.

fangblackbone wrote:

Isn't George supposed to be writing the last Wheel of Time book in place of now deceased Robert Jordan?

First: who the f*ck is George?! Second: no, it's Brandon Sanderson.

EDIT: Oh, G.R.R.M.? No sirree bobcat. Not that he wouldn't be capable, but he best be typing up some Dance With Dragons verbiage in between pining for more NFL action.

EDIT EDIT:

TAZ89 wrote:

I found out about this one on George RR Martin's blog.

Ditto! Added it to my "to read" list and, damn it, am going to go pick it up today!

I read this and thought it was fantastic. I like the way the story the narrator tells is affected by the life of the narrator as he tells it. The magic is well thought out and believable in the context. The best thing is that the main character gets ahead because he is smart. I couldnt recomend this book enough.

Read this back when it came out. Quite good. Looking forward to the sequel. ****. Would read from this author again.

Very good book, I recommended it here on GWJ in at least one of the book threads. I was disappointed to find out the second book was not coming out in April as originally expected. As of February the author was still writing it, so I wouldn't count on the "fall" release, Fang, although it is still possible.

Agree with everyone here. This is a very good book. My only disappointment with it was that all of the other books are still to be written. I hate getting in at the beginning of a series. When I like something I want to binge read all the books in a row.

I thought this was a great book and really enjoyed it. My only hesitation in recommending it to others is that he seems to be suffering from the GRRM syndrome. When the first book was published, he claimed that the next two were basically already written and would be released one per year. Then the second was delayed a year due to rewrites, plot changes, etc. And now delayed again until this Fall. I'm not saying that his reasons for delaying are not good, because I think they are. It just sounds so familiar if you read GRRM's blog at all.

lostlobster wrote:

Agree with everyone here. This is a very good book. My only disappointment with it was that all of the other books are still to be written. I hate getting in at the beginning of a series. When I like something I want to binge read all the books in a row.

This. Probably why I won't be reading it until 2012 or later...

Ah-HAH! Bought it today!

Ah-HAH! Bought it today!

Ah crap! Now I have to go finish it before you ;P

I wouldn't worry. ColdForged isn't what we'd call a "reader". Or what we'd call "literate".

Quintin_Stone wrote:

I wouldn't worry. ColdForged isn't what we'd call a "reader". Or what we'd call "literate".

OH YEAH?! At least I can spell "litterate", asshat! HAHAHAH! Who's "illitterate" now?!

Your MOM!

MY MOM LEARNT ME EVERYTHING I NO!

*runs off crying*

And... done. Very enjoyable. Rothfuss is quite a storyteller. My only surprise is just how little we know at the end of the book. I won't even say he's scratched the surface, but there may be a slight dent there. If he metes out the info at the same pace throughout the series this is destined to be a long ride.

Dunno about Name of the Wind, but there is this Weight of the Wind by A-Ha from back in 80s, and it's still pretty good.

Ugh, finally just finished it.

I had no time so I was pecking at it a few times a week.

But the last 400 pages I had to binge over a 2 day period.

Its a fantastic book! It is the best fantasy book I've read in a long while and is definitely in my list of top three fantasy books if not the top. He so masterfully weaves improbability with impossibility and grounds it in layman scientific reality.

He takes a page from Tolkien with considerable bits of story-exclusive: mythology, religion, song, languages and a dialect or two. All of which are cross examined for their truths, exaggerations and contradictions.

I have been recommending it to everyone I know and through my own exuberance have inspired those that recommended it to me to read it again.

At this point I want to know more of the story with as much zeal as everyone else. But I really want him to take his time, even 3-4 more years if need be. Following this up with mediocrity would be such a let down, I'd rather not read it at all. He is not only competing against his book but with the experience of reading it. Those are big shoes to fill.

Necro!

Book 2, "The Wise Man's Fear" is out today!!!

I meant to go back and listen to the audiobook of the first one before this one came out. Slipped up on me.

Squee!

Finished the Name of the Wind last month. Very very good. 2nd one out now!

Will download to my Kindle. $15 seems fair for this long book.

Timely resurrection. I just found out about Rothfuss from the Firefly thread. I grabbed a Kindle sample but haven't started it yet. Glad to hear it's good readin'.

Maybe I should get the audio book, despite loving reading the first one. This way i can play DoW2 Retribution and listen to the book at the same time.

Maybe I need to get two monitors so that I can read the book during the loading screens of DoW2:R.

fangblackbone wrote:

Maybe I should get the audio book, despite loving reading the first one. This way i can play DoW2 Retribution and listen to the book at the same time.

Maybe I need to get two monitors so that I can read the book during the loading screens of DoW2:R.

Check to see if your library is part of Overdrive. If they are, you can download it for free, although you might have to wait in a queue to get a copy.

Subscribed! I ordered it online (thank you B&N Groupon) and it should be delivered soon. Rothfuss is coming to DC on his book tour so I hope I can see him and get him to sign it.

Looking for a new book.
I was hoping for a: if you liked that, you'll like this.
I only picked up on the wheel of time.
Me, I'm a trilogy guy. I read Wheel of Time, and The Legend of the Seeker about four or five books in, until it became repetitive or too detached from the original idea.
The ole Shanara books suffered the same fate.

Can anyone do a comparison?

and

Is there a "recommend me a fantasy novel" thread?

There's a general book recommendation thread here. With this crowd, you may be assured that there are plenty of fantasy novels in it.

Nightmare wrote:

There's a general book recommendation thread here. With this crowd, you may be assured that there are plenty of fantasy novels in it.

And some My Little Pony fanfic links.

Just sayin.

I bought this for my Kindle this morning. I was very eager to start it - I finished my re-read of The Name of the Wind last night. I'm so annoyed to discover that the text is left-justified and not full. It's so damn distracting. Enough that I'm wishing I had bought the hardcover instead. I'm hope that I'll get used to it eventually, but I'm a few chapters in and it's driving me nuts.

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