The Name of the Wind – Patrick Rothfuss

The American Library Association gives the Alex Award to ten books published for adults that have special appeal for young adults ages 12 to 18. I unknowingly read this 2008 winner a few months ago and blogged about it on our “For your Consideration @ Duluth” blog.

Meet Kvothe, a seemingly benign tavern owner who says it will take him three days to tell the story of his life properly. The tale rapidly moves from his time being trained in magic on the road with his family’s group of traveling players, to his three rough years living on the streets of Tarbean. Once he drags himself out of despair, he needs both his vast intelligence and his street smarts to quickly move up the ranks in the magical University so he can have full access to the Archives. Kvothe is still a teenager in the University when the book ends, but the author has dropped tantalizing nuggets as to what will come.

There is magic and bullies, music and plays, and danger is coming. The Name of the Wind: Kingkiller chronicle, day 1 by Patrick Rothfuss is a thick book at 661 pages, so if you want to really get into a novel, pick up this one. I am waiting for day 2.