Description

‘I have stolen princesses back from sleeping barrow kings. I burned down the town of Trebon. I have spent the night with Felurian and left with both my sanity and my life. I was expelled from the University at a younger age than most people are allowed in. I tread paths by moonlight that others fear to speak of during day. I have talked to Gods, loved women, and written songs that make the minstrels weep.

My name is Kvothe.
You may have heard of me’

So begins the tale of Kvothe – currently known as Kote, the unassuming innkeepter – from his childhood in a troupe of traveling players, through his years spent as a near-feral orphan in a crime-riddled city, to his daringly brazen yet successful bid to enter a difficult and dangerous school of magic. In these pages you will come to know Kvothe the notorious magician, the accomplished thief, the masterful musician, the dragon-slayer, the legend-hunter, the lover, the thief and the infamous assassin.

The Name of the Wind is fantasy at its very best, and an astounding must-read title.

Publisher Review

"Patrick Rothfuss' debut is set in an unnamed but fully realised fantasy world, and his characters are detailed and convincing." * WATERSTONE'S BOOKS QUARTERLY * Shelve The Name of the Wind beside The Lord of the Rings...and look forward to the day when it's mentioned in the same breath, perhaps as first among equals * The A.V. Club * Reminiscent in scope of Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series ... this masterpiece of storytelling will appeal to lovers of fantasy on a grand scale * LIBRARY JOURNAL (starred) * This breathtakingly epic story is heartrending in its intimacy and masterful in its narrative essence * PUBLISHERS WEEKLY starred review * This fast-moving, vivid, and unpretentious debut roots its coming-of-age fantasy in convincing mythology * ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY * I was reminded of Ursula K. Le Guin, George R. R. Martin, and J. R. R. Tolkein, but never felt that Rothfuss was imitating anyone * THE TIMES * Hail Patrick Rothfuss! A new giant is striding the land -- Robert J. Sawyer, award-winning author of Wake [Makes] you think he's inventing the genre, instead of reinventing it -- Lev Grossman, New York Times-bestselling author of The Magicians Masterful ... There is a beauty to Pat's writing that defies description -- Brandon Sanderson, New York Times-bestselling author of Mistborn The characters are real and the magic is true -- robin Hobb, New York Times-bestselling author of Assassin's Apprentice It is a rare and great pleasure to find a fantasist writing ... with true music in the words -- Ursula K Le Guin As absorbing on a second reading as it is on the first, this is the type of assured, rich first novel most writers can only dream of producing * PUBLISHERS WEEKLY * The Name of the Wind has everything: magic and mysteries and ancient evil, but it's also humorous and terrifying and completely believable -- Tad Williams This is a magnificent book -- Anne McCaffrey Patrick Rothfuss has real talent, and his tale of Kvothe is deep and intricate and wondrous -- Terry Brooks Patrick Rothfuss' debut is set in an unnamed but fully realised fantasy world, and his characters are detailed and convincing. * WATERSTONES BOOKS QUARTERLY * The best epic fantasy I read last year...He's bloody good, this Rothfuss guy -- George R R Martin