Sara's reading log

I am a book hoarder and reader. My main genre is SF, but I also love magic realism, fantasy and general fiction. Favorite authors are Iain M. Banks, Ursula K. LeGuin, Haruki Murakami, José Saramago, Isaac Asimov, Ben Aaronovitch and more. My rating system is based on five stars. I rate books based on my expectations and what a books aims to be. This means that the brilliant 'Fahrenheit 451' gets five stars because I thought it would be good, people said it was good, and it was good, but 'A Closed and Common Orbit' also gets five stars because in its series, in its style, I really enjoyed it and was not disappointed.

The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss

  • Started on: 2011-04-26
  • Finished on: 2011-04-27
  • Read in: English
  • Rating: *****
  • Genre(s): Fantasy

(Nederlandse versie uit de bibliotheek gelezen)

I have to admit, I had never heard of this book or writer before the comic by Greg Dean last March, where he is incredibly excited for the sequel to The Name of the Wind, The Wise Man’s Fear. After that I noticed that a lot of people on LibraryThing also seemed to be very excited about the sequel, and figured, the first part must have been quite good.
And it was, oh yeah, the book was brilliant. It is the story of Kote the innkeeper, who tells his life story. His life as Kvothe, everyone’s hero, the one about who fantastic heroic tales are told. Once and for all, he will tell us the true story, which is different, but no less heroic. The world this is set in is a fantasy world, with beasts, demons, magic and history. But that is not the point of the tale. You are so focussed on Kvothe that whatever strange things go on, what it does to Kvothe is more important than what it is. Not that the fantasy element isn’t great, it is, and it is done real well.
All in all, the book is all good. The story is great, the world is great, the writing is great. The only fault I have is that this is part one of a trilogy. Part two just came out, and now I have to find it, and then wait for part three.

  • Started on: 2011-04-26
  • Finished on: 2011-04-27
  • Read in: English
  • Rating: *****
  • Genre(s): Fantasy

(Nederlandse versie uit de bibliotheek gelezen)

I have to admit, I had never heard of this book or writer before the comic by Greg Dean last March, where he is incredibly excited for the sequel to The Name of the Wind, The Wise Man’s Fear. After that I noticed that a lot of people on LibraryThing also seemed to be very excited about the sequel, and figured, the first part must have been quite good.
And it was, oh yeah, the book was brilliant. It is the story of Kote the innkeeper, who tells his life story. His life as Kvothe, everyone’s hero, the one about who fantastic heroic tales are told. Once and for all, he will tell us the true story, which is different, but no less heroic. The world this is set in is a fantasy world, with beasts, demons, magic and history. But that is not the point of the tale. You are so focussed on Kvothe that whatever strange things go on, what it does to Kvothe is more important than what it is. Not that the fantasy element isn’t great, it is, and it is done real well.
All in all, the book is all good. The story is great, the world is great, the writing is great. The only fault I have is that this is part one of a trilogy. Part two just came out, and now I have to find it, and then wait for part three.