Hardcover, 863 pages
German language
Published Nov. 21, 2008 by Klett-Cotta.
In »Der Name des Windes« erzählt Patrick Rothfuss die Geschichte von Kvothe, dem berühmtesten Zauberer seiner Zeit. Damit ist ihm ein Roman von so viel Einfallsreichtum und solch sprachlicher Kraft und Authentizität gelungen, dass er die gesamte Fantasyszene aufhorchen lässt.
»Vielleicht habt ihr von mir gehört« ... von Kvothe, dem für die Magie begabten Sohn fahrender Spielleute. Das Lager seiner Truppe findet er verwüstet, die Mutter und den Vater tot - »sie haben einfach die falschen Lieder gesungen«. Wer aber sind diese Chandrian, die weißglänzenden, schleichenden Mörder seiner Familie? Um ihnen auf die Spur zu kommen, riskiert Kvothe alles. Er lebt als Straßenjunge in der Hafenstadt Tarbean, bis er auf das Arkanum, die Universität für hohe Magie aufgenommen wird. Vom Namenszauber, der ihn als Kind fast das Leben gekostet hätte, erhofft sich Kvothe die Macht, das Geheimnis der sagenumwobenen Dämonen aufzudecken.
Im Mittelpunkt dieses Leseabenteuers steht ein großer Magier und …
In »Der Name des Windes« erzählt Patrick Rothfuss die Geschichte von Kvothe, dem berühmtesten Zauberer seiner Zeit. Damit ist ihm ein Roman von so viel Einfallsreichtum und solch sprachlicher Kraft und Authentizität gelungen, dass er die gesamte Fantasyszene aufhorchen lässt.
»Vielleicht habt ihr von mir gehört« ... von Kvothe, dem für die Magie begabten Sohn fahrender Spielleute. Das Lager seiner Truppe findet er verwüstet, die Mutter und den Vater tot - »sie haben einfach die falschen Lieder gesungen«. Wer aber sind diese Chandrian, die weißglänzenden, schleichenden Mörder seiner Familie? Um ihnen auf die Spur zu kommen, riskiert Kvothe alles. Er lebt als Straßenjunge in der Hafenstadt Tarbean, bis er auf das Arkanum, die Universität für hohe Magie aufgenommen wird. Vom Namenszauber, der ihn als Kind fast das Leben gekostet hätte, erhofft sich Kvothe die Macht, das Geheimnis der sagenumwobenen Dämonen aufzudecken.
Im Mittelpunkt dieses Leseabenteuers steht ein großer Magier und leidenschaftlicher Wissenschaftler, ein Musiker, dessen Lieder die Sänger zum Weinen bringen ... und ein schüchterner Liebhaber.
Mit Der Name des Windes legt Patrick Rothfuss den ersten Teil der Königsmörder-Chronik-Trilogie vor, der in den USA bei Kritikern und Fantasylesern begeistert aufgenommen wurde und schon bald einen der vorderen Plätze in der New York Times Bestsellerliste belegte. Der Bestseller-Autor Terry Brooks schreibt: »Der Name des Windes stellt das Debüt eines Autors dar, den wir lieber im Auge behalten sollten.« Das Magazin »The Onion« gibt den Lesern folgenden Rat: »Stellen Sie Der Name des Windes neben "Der Herr der Ringe" ins Regal und erwarten Sie den Tag, an dem beide in einem Atemzug genannt werden, vielleicht als Erste unter Gleichen.«
Source: www.klett-cotta.de/buch/Patrick_Rothfuss/Der_Name_des_Windes/5681
I really like Kvothe's story and look forward to reading the next book. The usage of different timelines in the context of retelling in the book's present time was especially effective storytelling.
Well written, funny sometimes, like someone telling a story at a fireplace. Felt cozy to me.
Contains a few not-so-constructive patterns (like "I need to make my heart of stone to control emotions"), but for me it was Ok, definitely better than in "Consider Phlebas".
Tämä olikin vetävämpi lukea kuin osasin odottaa. Toisaalta en myöskään osannut odottaa sitä, ettei tämä ollut missään suhteessa itsenäinen, kokonaisen tarinankaaren sisältävä kirja. Jopa trilogian avausosaksi tarina jäi häiritsevän kesken.
I don't usually read much fantasy, but I enjoyed this. The analog to Harry Potter comes from the first book focusing on the main character studies in magic.
"'Ye Gods,' Elodin sighed, disgusted. 'A bootlicker too. You lack the requisite spine and testicular fortitude to study under me.'"
Many people, including Michael (my infallible source of amazing epic choices of books) have been telling me that this is a very good book. Circumstances conspired to make me wait, and with the hype dampened, I felt it an appropriate time to pick this up. I'm glad I decided eventually to read it, because it's turned out to be everything everyone promised.
"'If a girl as fair as that looked at me with one eye the way she looked at you with two . . . We'd have a room by now, to say it carefully.'"
I started the book and was a little surprised not to be fully engrossed. The Scrale caught my interest, and there was evidently more to our illustrious many-named innkeeper than met the eye, but …
"'Ye Gods,' Elodin sighed, disgusted. 'A bootlicker too. You lack the requisite spine and testicular fortitude to study under me.'"
Many people, including Michael (my infallible source of amazing epic choices of books) have been telling me that this is a very good book. Circumstances conspired to make me wait, and with the hype dampened, I felt it an appropriate time to pick this up. I'm glad I decided eventually to read it, because it's turned out to be everything everyone promised.
"'If a girl as fair as that looked at me with one eye the way she looked at you with two . . . We'd have a room by now, to say it carefully.'"
I started the book and was a little surprised not to be fully engrossed. The Scrale caught my interest, and there was evidently more to our illustrious many-named innkeeper than met the eye, but other than that, things seemed slow and fairly pedestrian. It was at the start of chapter 8, of course - the real start of Kvothe's story - that I really began to get into this book.
"Her expression brightened, as if someone had lit a candle inside her and she was glowing from its light."
I'll be the first to admit that there's a lot I didn't like about this book. Some of the chapters were insanely short - hardly worth the pagebreaks, I thought once. The jerks between telling the story at the Waystone and being swept up in the narrative were often jarring, and though this is perhaps intentional, it unsettled me so much that I would use them as places to put down the book and go and make a cup of tea. Thirdly, there's lots of things you can't, or won't, or don't understand, according to Rothfuss. The size of a large city which you "cannot understand if you haven't seen it", that you don't "really understand the ocean", you can't "really understand how embarrassing it is " to be poor. You "may understand how my mind felt", you "won't understand why this was so easy" - the list goes on. It goes on so much that, I found myself stopping and thinking 'Well aren't you telling the damn story? It's your job to make us understand, isnt it?'
"I wish I were as brave and young as you."
Still, for all that, something compelled me to read on. The story itself isn't overtly impressive, though Kvothe is a raconteur of the highest order and very easy to like. I've seen this book compared with works of [a:J. K. Rowling|4918045|Rowling J K|http://www.goodreads.com/images/nophoto/nophoto-U-50x66.jpg] and [a:Robin Hobb|25307|Robin Hobb|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1205023525p2/25307.jpg], both of whom I've read and greatly enjoyed. There are many elements of the Bildungsroman in Kvothe's story, too, which increases its accessibility.
"I slung the travelsack over my shoulder and cinched it tight across my back. Then I thumbed on my sympathy lamp, picked up the hatchet, and began to run.
I had a dragon to kill."
I said not overtly impressive, and the t therein was placed intentionally. I think the appeal of this epic, for me, is in the subliminal. I say this because though the story is OK and the characters are INTERESTING and the magic is CURIOUS and the history PROVOKING, by themselves they're just parts of a story. The thing that ties them all up together is the language. And, of course, lacking Rothfuss' skill, I can't impart much more than that. There's... a poetry. a meter to things. A cadence, if you will - the words, the very sentences at times seem to flow like water, and when you read the next, you sort of feel that it was inevitable that it be what it was because nothing else makes sense, because nothing else would simply fall into place. Imagery, I suppose you can call it. Sir Savien, The Depiction of Kvothe's opus at the Eolian is one such place that sticks in my mind, as I flip back through the book. I read it in a noisy environment without the time and dedication a good book deserves and yet I came away moved. Similarly, the few pages with the horse Keth-Selhan jumped at me as holding a great milieu.
So I suppose it's fair to say that despite my reservations, I still had places where I couldn't put this book down. It was truly excellent, in places, and I'll be looking forward to the next one - though not straight away. Some time to digest is certainly on the cards.
"'Ye Gods,' Elodin sighed, disgusted. 'A bootlicker too. You lack the requisite spine and testicular fortitude to study under me.'"
Many people, including Michael (my infallible source of amazing epic choices of books) have been telling me that this is a very good book. Circumstances conspired to make me wait, and with the hype dampened, I felt it an appropriate time to pick this up. I'm glad I decided eventually to read it, because it's turned out to be everything everyone promised.
"'If a girl as fair as that looked at me with one eye the way she looked at you with two . . . We'd have a room by now, to say it carefully.'"
I started the book and was a little surprised not to be fully engrossed. The Scrale caught my interest, and there was evidently more to our illustrious many-named innkeeper than met the eye, but …
"'Ye Gods,' Elodin sighed, disgusted. 'A bootlicker too. You lack the requisite spine and testicular fortitude to study under me.'"
Many people, including Michael (my infallible source of amazing epic choices of books) have been telling me that this is a very good book. Circumstances conspired to make me wait, and with the hype dampened, I felt it an appropriate time to pick this up. I'm glad I decided eventually to read it, because it's turned out to be everything everyone promised.
"'If a girl as fair as that looked at me with one eye the way she looked at you with two . . . We'd have a room by now, to say it carefully.'"
I started the book and was a little surprised not to be fully engrossed. The Scrale caught my interest, and there was evidently more to our illustrious many-named innkeeper than met the eye, but other than that, things seemed slow and fairly pedestrian. It was at the start of chapter 8, of course - the real start of Kvothe's story - that I really began to get into this book.
"Her expression brightened, as if someone had lit a candle inside her and she was glowing from its light."
I'll be the first to admit that there's a lot I didn't like about this book. Some of the chapters were insanely short - hardly worth the pagebreaks, I thought once. The jerks between telling the story at the Waystone and being swept up in the narrative were often jarring, and though this is perhaps intentional, it unsettled me so much that I would use them as places to put down the book and go and make a cup of tea. Thirdly, there's lots of things you can't, or won't, or don't understand, according to Rothfuss. The size of a large city which you "cannot understand if you haven't seen it", that you don't "really understand the ocean", you can't "really understand how embarrassing it is " to be poor. You "may understand how my mind felt", you "won't understand why this was so easy" - the list goes on. It goes on so much that, I found myself stopping and thinking 'Well aren't you telling the damn story? It's your job to make us understand, isnt it?'
"I wish I were as brave and young as you."
Still, for all that, something compelled me to read on. The story itself isn't overtly impressive, though Kvothe is a raconteur of the highest order and very easy to like. I've seen this book compared with works of [a:J. K. Rowling|4918045|Rowling J K|http://www.goodreads.com/images/nophoto/nophoto-U-50x66.jpg] and [a:Robin Hobb|25307|Robin Hobb|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1205023525p2/25307.jpg], both of whom I've read and greatly enjoyed. There are many elements of the Bildungsroman in Kvothe's story, too, which increases its accessibility.
"I slung the travelsack over my shoulder and cinched it tight across my back. Then I thumbed on my sympathy lamp, picked up the hatchet, and began to run.
I had a dragon to kill."
I said not overtly impressive, and the t therein was placed intentionally. I think the appeal of this epic, for me, is in the subliminal. I say this because though the story is OK and the characters are INTERESTING and the magic is CURIOUS and the history PROVOKING, by themselves they're just parts of a story. The thing that ties them all up together is the language. And, of course, lacking Rothfuss' skill, I can't impart much more than that. There's... a poetry. a meter to things. A cadence, if you will - the words, the very sentences at times seem to flow like water, and when you read the next, you sort of feel that it was inevitable that it be what it was because nothing else makes sense, because nothing else would simply fall into place. Imagery, I suppose you can call it. Sir Savien, The Depiction of Kvothe's opus at the Eolian is one such place that sticks in my mind, as I flip back through the book. I read it in a noisy environment without the time and dedication a good book deserves and yet I came away moved. Similarly, the few pages with the horse Keth-Selhan jumped at me as holding a great milieu.
So I suppose it's fair to say that despite my reservations, I still had places where I couldn't put this book down. It was truly excellent, in places, and I'll be looking forward to the next one - though not straight away. Some time to digest is certainly on the cards.
