The Name of the Wind

Executive Summary: Get your ingredients for smores, and gather around a campfire and hunker down for a story. Several stories in fact. Mr. Rothfuss's debut novel is an excellent read and nests stories within one another to make for a quite enjoyable read.Full ReviewThis book has long been on my to read list. I was determined to wait until the series was complete/nearing completion before finally reading it.So much for that.A small group of friends decided to read this book, so I finally caved and joined them to have some people to discuss it with.This book has been more hyped than just about anything I can think of in the last 10 years or so. It really raises your expectations almost to the point of being impossible to live up to. It came close.I try not to overuse 5 stars, and reserve it for books I love start to finish. It's obvious to me when a book is 5 stars for me. This book is one I really enjoyed start to finish, but it's just not there for some reason.I can't put my finger on it. Maybe it's the main character whose actions pushed me to the point of screaming at times. How can someone so smart, do so many stupid things? This book certainly highlights the difference between knowledge and wisdom.The writing is excellent, and the nesting of stories is quite enjoyable. This is the first day of a 3 day story of the main character's life. Kvothe was a traveling performer (amongst many things) and stories were an integral part of his life.Part of his re-telling includes telling stories he came across in his travels. But are they just stories? Legends vary from place to place based on the history and culture of the story tellers, but what about a legend that seems to contain many of the same elements no matter where you go?Is it really just a children's story, or something more?This book poses a lot more questions than it answers, which is to be expected as the first book of a trilogy. It's a very high 4 for me, and I'm looking forward to reading the second installment [b:The Wise Man's Fear 1215032 The Wise Man's Fear (The Kingkiller Chronicle, #2) Patrick Rothfuss http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1297311431s/1215032.jpg 2502882] in the next few months. Then I'll be stuck waiting for [b:The Doors of Stone 2495565 The Doors of Stone (The Kingkiller Chronicle, #3) Patrick Rothfuss /assets/nocover/60x80.png 2502884] like everyone else.