Retro Review: The Name of the Wind
/When I started this blog, I had been posting reviews on Goodreads for about 6 months. In the interest of having all of my book writing in one place, I will post one of these old reviews every Friday. They weren't written with a blog in mind, so please forgive the lack of summary and off-the-cuff tone.
3 stars. This book is like the stoned version of A Song of Ice and Fire.
It's got terrific world building and great writing. But it's sleepy. It's mellow. It's super chill. It hyperfocuses on things that don't really warrant attention.
It's actually so good!
But something is definitely missing. A true climax? It just doesn't have the nastiness I enjoy so much in other fantasy novels.
Also - the money. Oh, the money. Kvothe's bank account yo-yo's more than mine, which is saying something. And we, as lucky readers, are privy to every transaction, deposit, and withdrawal. I stress enough about money as it is; I'd rather not stress about it through my characters.
Certainly, certainly. It adds a sense of realism and background and context to the character and to the story. It just isn't my cup of tea.
Again, terrific world building. It reminded me a little bit of the Harry Potter books in that sense - we get the good, we get the bad, we get the normal. Books tend to focus on extreme situations and this one slows down so we get the big picture. I enjoyed that. Maybe it slowed down a little too much, though.
Bottom line: yeah, I guess I'll read more.