That was…Fine

 I read The Name of the Wind because Lin-Manuel Miranda is going to be involved in the tv and movie adaptations of this book. From the press release: “Lin is an incomparable talent and a huge fan of the trilogy and, working closely with Pat, his creative oversight of the franchise will bring an incredible level of detail and continuity to all of the projects.”

First of all, it’s not a trilogy. It’s only got two books so far. I found the book….fine. Certainly not one of the greatest fantasy works I’ve heard (I listed to the audio). There is a lot of darkness in the book. The year that Kvothe spends homeless is pretty hard to listen to. I hope the second book goes into the fact that no one seems to recognize that the infamous hero in the stories they all know is right in front of them. I actually didn’t find Denna that bad. She helps advance the plot (finally) at the end after long sections at the University draaaag.

It is a story that sounds a lot like an adventure read by a Dungeon and Dragons Game Master. That’s not a criticism per say, I’ve heard a lot of really interesting, immersive stories playing role-playing games. I really liked the drama of Kvothe earning his pipes. I hated the plot with the bullying rich student (hey look…a cliche!) Denna was fine for me. I appreciated the idea that Bast has seen her at some point and she’s not as stunning as Kvothe makes her out to be. I will speculate that Bast is some kind of fae creature and not a demon. I like that the other creatures in this world are not black and white good or evil.

I don’t want to give the impression that I’m not looking forward to reading the next one. The writing is gorgeous, the world is immersive and lovely. Once the plot finally moves at the end of the story it makes you anxious to find out what happens next. But they spend too much time at the University. If Kvothe ends up getting kicked out of the University after his first incident *cough* in the tv show, that would be just fine with me.