Reading List: The Name of the Wind

Very good books are hard to find anymore. For every decent book I have found or been told about. there are like dozens of crappy, cringe worthy novels that just overpower the Sci-Fi/Fantasy section at my local bookstore. A friend of mine heard about this book and after hearing his views on it, I decided to try it out for myself. The Name of the Wind is easily one of the best fantasy books that have come out in recent years. It tells the story of Kvothe(pronounced "Quoth") as told by himself to a "Chronicler" who finds him hiding in normalcy as a tavern owner. The story switches between Kvothe's story of how he became the legend that is alluded to and the very strange happenings that have occurred as of late in the town where his tavern is located. At first I thought that I would not be able to get into it, but after the first several chapters, I got hooked. The "now" part of the story remains mysterious and reveals small hints on things to come, while the "then" part shows just how some of the legend myths are misconstrued and merely rumor instead of basic truth. This shows our hero Kvothe is both very powerful and vulnerable at the same time, a thing that is heads above most characters in the fantasy genre. The Name of the Wind is a great coming of age story mixed with mystery. I for one cant wait for the next in the series.