Being on planes means I read a lot

[akashiver]

So, on the advice of a CW friend, I gave Rothfuss's The Name of the Wind another try, and... liked it.

This is unexpected, because TNOTW is very much a wish-fulfillment story about a Super-Talented, Awesome Character Whose Only Flaws Make Him Yet More Awesome. In short, it's the kind of thing I usually despise. But TNOTW works, in part because of the confidence of the storytelling, and in part because of the layered narration.
 
Kvothe is presented as a figure of mystery in the first two chapters, which means by the time he gets around to telling his story, I genuinely wanted to find out more about him. It's a clever narrative trick, and one I'll have to remember.

Comments

[drydem.livejournal.com]

I think what saves name of the wind from a super talented narrative is that the narrator obviously has a lot of contempt for his younger self.