REVIEW: The Name of the Wind

The Name of the Wind (The Kingkiller Chronicle #1)  by Patrick Rothfuss

Published: March 27th 2007 by DAW
Genres: Epic/High Fantasy, Science Fiction, Magic, Adventure

Pages: 722 pages

Format: Paperback
Rating: 10/10
Description: Told in Kvothe's own voice, this is the tale of the magically gifted young man who grows to be the most notorious wizard his world has ever seen. The intimate narrative of his childhood in a troupe of traveling players, his years spent as a near-feral orphan in a crime-ridden city, his daringly brazen yet successful bid to enter a legendary school of magic, and his life as a fugitive after the murder of a king form a gripping coming-of-age story unrivaled in recent literature. A high-action story written with a poet's hand, The Name of the Wind is a masterpiece that will transport readers into the body and mind of a wizard.

What more can I say about this novel that hasn't been said already? Simply put, this novel is a masterpiece. It truly is a work of art. 

Basically, The Name of the Wind is an absolutely beautiful narrative about a legend named Kvothe. As a gross simplification, it's a retelling of his life from boyhood. 

The Characters? I don't know how all the characters in The Name of the Wind managed to be so fully-fleshed out. Every. Single. Character. Even the minor characters such as merchants, or quick acquaintances felt so real. Each character was so interesting and stood out. 
Kvothe was a wonderful protagonist. It was a privilege discover his mysterious and heartbreaking past. He is a legend, and he was shaped and molded into the stuff of fairy-tales and we got to see a sneak peak as to how. He is extremely intelligent and talented in so many areas. I had faith in Kvothe! I felt like I knew him. He is a great protagonist. 

The Setting? Beautiful. The Name of the Wind is not only for those who are fans of fantasy... It is for anyone who wishes for a brilliant escape into another world. From the colorful and magical travels with the troupe, to the dark and dangerous streets of Tarbean, to the prestigious and ethereal airs of the University and Archives... This world was magnificent, to say the least. 

The Plot? Dazzling. I can honestly say that I lost myself in this book. I loose all sense of time as the only things I could think about when I wasn't reading The Name of the Wind was what Kvothe was doing. I laughed, I cheered, and I gasped out loud, and I might have cried. I didn't have to do any work at all... Rothfuss carried me through with his beautifully crafted story. 
I especially love the system of magic that Rothfuss uses. It takes intelligence, concentration, and a whole lot of talent for one to successfully use magic. I love how science such as chemistry and mathematics are weaved seamlessly into magic.  

Overall?The Name of the Wind lives up to it's hype. It is an authentic and exciting journey of a young boy. It carried me through emotions that I didn't know I could feel while reading a book. It is an absolute masterpiece, and I could honestly recommend it to almost anyone, regardless of their preference in genres. Excuse me as I pick up the second novel in the Kingkiller Chronicles...

 

The Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling simply because of the magical academic setting. A majority of The Name of the Wind is set in the ever famous University. Here, students will continue their education studying alchemy, chemistry, healing, sympathy... magic, essentially. The fully fleshed out cast of professors in The Name of the Wind reminds me of Harry Potter as well. You have the loony teachers, the strict teachers, the kind teachers, the blatantly abusive teachers... It's great. 
However, it does differ from Harry Potter, so don't pick up The Name of the Wind expecting it to be super similar. 

 The A Song of Ice and Fire series by George R.R. Martin purely because of the similarities in genre. If you enjoyed the epic fantasy that is A Song of Ice and Fire series you will most definietly enjoy The Name of the Wind. I do not see other similarities past that, though. ASoIaF follows a huge cast of characters while The Name of the Wind focuses on the life of only one man. However, both are wonderful epic fantasy reads.

REVIEW: The Rithmatist

The Rithmatist by Brandon Sanderson with illustrations by Ben McSweeny
Published: May 14th 2013 by Tor Teen
Genres: Fantasy, Science Fiction, Steampunk, Young Adult, Mystery

Pages: 374

Format: Hardcover
Rating: 8.5/10
Description: More than anything, Joel wants to be a Rithmatist. Chosen by the Master in a mysterious inception ceremony, Rithmatists have the power to infuse life into two-dimensional figures known as Chalklings. Rithmatists are humanity’s only defense against the Wild Chalklings — merciless creatures that leave mangled corpses in their wake. Having nearly overrun the territory of Nebrask, the Wild Chalklings now threaten all of the American Isles. As the son of a lowly chalkmaker at Armedius Academy, Joel can only watch as Rithmatist students study the magical art that he would do anything to practice. Then students start disappearing — kidnapped from their rooms at night, leaving trails of blood. Assigned to help the professor who is investigating the crimes, Joel and his friend Melody find themselves on the trail of an unexpected discovery — one that will change Rithmatics — and their world — forever.

Brandon Sanderson has done it again and he created a beautiful book. One word to describe it: creative. It is masterful and cool (heads up: I say "cool" alot in this review). This whole book was just fun. The Rithmatist a combination of the coolest elements including magic, art, mystery, it has steampunk elements, and it is just really cool. Basically, the story is set in an alternate world where North America is separated into islands called the United Isles. Like, how interesting is that? 

Also, due to the lovely and intriguing design of the cover, people constantly asked me about this book. I took it to school one day, and a bunch of my friends picked it up to study it. I, of course, made them look at the United Isles map, and then proceeded to give them a brief description of the book. Seriously, click the picture and study it more closely. It's just so cool. 

Inside the book, there are a ton of illustrations and drawings. Some illustrated various defense tactics, and they were very clever. Others were drawings of chalklings. 

 

Some of the illustrations were kind of blurry which did kind of bother me, to be honest. But they were beautiful and added so much life to the book, so what can you do? 

The Characters? Joel was a good character. He is highly intelligent and bright. However, he's one of those smart-but-don't-try kind of kids, which annoyed me a lot. I hate people like that... Who take their talents for granted. Other than that, though, Joel was a great protagonist. His ambition and obsession with Rithmatists and the magical art of Rithmatics was admirable. Melody was awesome. Her vocabulary and speech was so relateable. That fact that she had repeated phrases made her really believable because a lot of teenagers talk like that. Every time she said something like "It's tragic" and "The unicorn is a very noble and majestic animal" I laughed out loud. All her banters are so funny. She reminded me of Hermione with her stubborn and... well... kind of annoying character. We all love her, though. This book reminds me of Harry Potter so much. There's a character named Finch, for goodness sake! All the characters were fully-fleshed out and even the minor ones were interesting.

The Setting? The alternate universe in which this book was set is so interesting. I loved hearing about how their society works. The form of travels were awesome (steam-powered horses and the sky train). And coins with the gears inside were so cool. The names of the cities were so fun, for example "Nebrask", "Albert", and "New France." I wish this book was an epic, so I could immerse myself in this cool world more. It was very interesting.

The Plot? I loved the story progression. It was quite simple and easy to follow. The storyline is just SO creative. Brandon Sanderson made me scared of chalk drawings. How is that possible? The magic system was very unique. It was complicated, and very immersive. The diagrams really helped the whole story come to life. The illustrations made everything feel real. I liked the inception ceremony, and the fragile state of the war waging on with the wild chalkings. The mystery was riveting. 

Usually in young adult books, I can guess the ending. This book? Nope. It wasn't predictable. Sanderson just took me on this really fun ride. The two battles at the end were just perfect. The last battle had me smiling the whole time.

Overall? This is one of the most creative books I have ever read. It is just so full of fun. At the same time, it is very clever, with a rather complicated system of magic and defense. I LOVED the military jargon, and the in-depth descriptions of the defense systems. The characters were loveable, the world was beautiful, and the plot was engaging the whole time... Sanderson is quite obviously a word wizard. 

 

Harry Potter (both the books by J.K. Rowling and the movies) because of the awesome magical elements. Also, the setting? It's a boarding school... where kids learn magic... Harry Potter, anyone? The characters as well! Muggles and Wizards, are like the Rithmatists and the regular humans. Professor Finch? FINCH? Nalizar was like Snape, with Joel having this uncanny obsession with him. Melody reminded me of Hermionie with her stubborn, headstrong, and kind-of annoying nature.

Enders Game by Orson Scott Card (the book, not the movie). I just used the movie poster because Asa Butterfield is adorable. It reminds me of The Rithmatist because of the huge military component of the book. Ender's Game is filled with all these complicated military strategies, and so is The Rithmatist. Ender's highly analytic and strategic mind is quite complicated, and very interesting to read about. The military defense in The Rithmatist is equally as complicated and interesting to read about. The setting is also simmilair. Ender attends a battle school, Joel attends a magic school. Also, the two fairly young protagnists remind me of eachother. Both Joel and Ender are sort of ostracized, and they don't really fit in with their peers, but both are so intelligent. Oh! Petition for Asa Butterfield to play Joel if The Rithmatist ever turns into a movie!