By Patrick Rothfuss
Read by Nick Podehl/ Rupert Degas
Reviewed by Tyler
Get the Rupert Degas version on Audible here.
Get the Nick Podehl version on Audio CD here.
The Name of the Wind Overview:
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 innkeeper – from his childhood in a troupe of travelling 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 Audiobook Review:
STORY
The Good:
The name of the wind is a classic epic fantasy tale with a strong protagonist and hero named Kvothe and is the first book in the King Killer Chronicles by Patrick Rothfus. Don’t try to pronounce his name now, but after listening for a while and saying it over and over you will get it, it almost sounds like ‘Kwoathe’. Any how, this novel is definitely epic, and takes you on a life time journey of the protagonist Kvothe, it is filled with magic, dragons, love, music, darkness, light, and an evil ominous enemy called the Chandrian to boot! While we do not learn a whole lot about the Chandrian in this installment, i suspect we will in the second.
The story is told in chronological order, and is a first person tale in Kvothe’s point of view. Although we are told the story as if it was being narrated by Kvothe at a future period, and we jump back into this future period on interludes from time to time which add an extra dimension to the story, this is done in such a seamless way that just adds further relevance to the time of Kvothes narration which is where we began. I hope this is where the story will eventually pick up from.
If you are specifically interested in the magic side, the magic used in the first book of the King Killer Chronicles, is mainly centered around what is called ‘Sympathy’ – check out this Wiki article for a brief explanation.
The Bad:
The only negative issue I have is that the story takes a little while to get started. The story of Kvothe, as retold by him evolves in his present day after all of Kvothe’s adventures have taken place when ‘Chronicler’, a writer come’s to the town where Kvothe (for some unknown reason) lives. For several hours, this sub plot continues before Kvothe finally begins retelling his adventures to Chronicler, this is the juicy stuff, where we finally learn about the magic, etc. This initial plot, which you soon realise is not the main story for me was a little long, however I am now after finishing the novel of the opinion that the sub plot will soon become the big picture in the second and third instalments of this epic fantasy series.
UPDATE (it doesn’t)
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CHARACTERS
The Good:
The Characters in this story are rich and complex and it’s wonderful. A few characters of note (apart from the protagonist, which is in naughty section).
Bast – Bast is Kvothe’s student, apprentice, and assistant who lives with him at the Waystone Inn. He is a main character in the frame story. Bast was an interesting character because he seems to be some kind of companion/friend/student of Kvothe’s, which is in stark contrast to the tale Kvothe is spinning. Bast’s character adds a little suggestion as to the interesting things we are to discover about Kvothe’s journey.
Chronicler – The Chronicler is an accomplished scrivener, having devised his own shorthand to write as quickly as a man can speak. He travels The Four Corners of Civilization collecting stories and working as a scribe.
Ambrose Jakis – is the firstborn son of a powerful and wealthy nobleman from Vintas, the Baron Jakis. He plays the part of a major antagonist and rival of Kvothe throughout his time at The University. Although Ambrose is a fairly underdeveloped character, he’s nasty enough that we love to hate him. I think part of the reason I like him as a character is that he actually brings Kvothe down a bit and puts him in his place. Admittedly he acts like a jerk and has no respect for anyone, but I think it’s good for Kvothe to deal with him.
The Bad:
Kvothe: Kvothe, where do i begin. You will love, hate or maybe even envy Kvothe. Kvothe is a character to love for those who were terrible at everything in high school and need to vicariously live through this guy to feel better. Over all, I don’t mind Kvothe, however he is far too perfect. From his epic lute playing making him the talk of the town, to his perfection in every class at the university it looks like Kvothe can barely put a foot wrong. Everything Kvothe does he is the best at, he soon becomes master of any new skills he learns and it gets pretty tiresome. Although listeners love to have their characters strike a bit of good fortune or be talented at something, it becomes difficult to relate to them or even like them when the character acts like God himself.
Kvothe is also far too over confident, he actively believes he is the best through out the story, some times you are sitting there thinking – come on Kvothe, be a little modest will yah!
Denna – also known as Dianne, Dinnah, Dyanae, Dinael, Dinay, Dianah, Donna, Dyane and Alora is the primary female figure in The Name of the Wind. She is arguably the main romantic interest of Kvothe, who holds an irresistible fascination with her. Kvothe is far too obsessed with Denna and for no good reason. She’s flighty, their conversations are pretty bland and she clearly has a lot of baggage. The only reason Kvothe likes her is because she’s so beautiful. I hate to say it but Rothfuss has failed to give me any other reasons as to why Kvothe likes her so much. Whenever Kvothe sees her he always describes in great detail how she looks. I think it’s a bit sad how shallow their relationship truly is.
NARRATOR
The Good:
I listened to the Nick Podehl version of the Name of The Wind, and honestly had no problems with it. Nick Podehl is a professional voice actor and has narrated many fantasy titles. He did very well with this series, this was a very clear narration with high distinction between characters. There was a little dramatisation which was good, while not too much over the top exaggeration – very balanced. Highly recommend Podehl for all the best fantasy audiobooks he narrates!
Rupert Degas, who narrates the current audible version is also very talented. The main distinction will be whether you want an american (Nick), or English (Rupert) style narration.
Rupert Joel Degas is an English actor. You can see a bit of a trend here with the sheer amount of UK born narrators. Degas has narrated many great sci-fi and fantasy series including; the Time Keeper Trilogy, and the Name of the Wind Series, which are in my mind, instant classics in this space.
Degas, like many in this list has great range, his characters voices are well developed are very clear – you definitely know the perspective. Further to this he does a great female voice, which is a positive, it isn’t extremely forced, so you don’t tend to focus on it – you can just enjoy the story.
His skills subtly extend into dramatisation, however for the most part Degas is of the reader type. Degas has quite an impressive narrators voice, out of character dialogue. His tone, inflection and pronunciation are so crisp.
Check out my narrator page for an extract of both narrators if you are unsure, there is an extract for this book for both narrators.
The Bad:
I had nothing bad to note about Podehl’s version, it was very well rounded.
I hope you enjoyed our ‘The Name of the Wind’ Audiobook Review, come back soon!