{"id":2764,"date":"2022-10-27T13:51:43","date_gmt":"2022-10-27T17:51:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/riverhillcurrent.com\/?p=2764"},"modified":"2022-10-27T13:51:44","modified_gmt":"2022-10-27T17:51:44","slug":"tolkiens-heir-the-name-of-the-wind","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/riverhillcurrent.com\/tolkiens-heir-the-name-of-the-wind\/","title":{"rendered":"Tolkien\u2019s Heir: The Name of the Wind"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Benjamin Hong, Staff Writer<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Three silences. A shell of an innkeeper. An astonishing life story. Patrick Rothfuss\u2019s 2007 novel (otherwise known as The Kingkiller Chronicle: Day One<\/em>) takes place in a fictional world called Temerant and follows the life story of a legendary musician, swordsman, and wizard named Kvothe (pronounced nearly identically to \u201cquothe\u201d). High fantasy elements and coming-of-age themes intertwine with intricate lore and poetic descriptions to create the immersive world of The Name of the Wind<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rothfuss\u2019s narrative opens at the Waystone Inn, an unremarkable establishment in the small farming town of Newarre. The owner of the inn, a man called Kote (who is revealed to be Kvothe, hiding in this nondescript corner of the world for an unclear reason), is sought out by a renowned historian known as the Chronicler, who persuades Kvothe to tell his life story for the first time ever. Kvothe proceeds to deliver a riveting account of his adolescent years, spanning the length of the book, chronicling his experiences growing up in his parents\u2019 traveling troupe, living in abject poverty after being orphaned, and arriving, years younger than most students, at an illustrious University to study the arcane. Along the way, he makes both friends (good-natured Simmon, ethereal Denna, and stoic Wilem) and foes (storied Chandrian, privileged Ambrose, and Master Rhetorician Hemme) while building an impressive r\u00e9sum\u00e9 of exploits that contribute to his mythical image in the present-day. Infrequently throughout the telling, the focus shifts back to the frame story, with Kvothe\u2019s interactions with his otherworldly assistant Bast, the people of Newarre, and the Chronicler featuring prominently.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you finish The Name of the Wind<\/em> and want to continue exploring Kvothe\u2019s world, there is a sequel out now, called A Wise Man\u2019s Fear <\/em>(alternatively The Kingkiller Chronicle: Day Two<\/em>), chronicling the second day of Kvothe\u2019s oration. The third (and final) book in the series, as well as a possible media interpretation, are in the works; however, there is currently no announced release date for either.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rothfuss\u2019s high fantasy novel is reminiscent of N. K. Jemisin\u2019s Fifth Season<\/em> in its scientific approach to the fanciful and Ursula K. Le Guin\u2019s The Wizard of Earthsea <\/em>in its approach to character. However, it is fundamentally most similar to J. R. R. Tolkien\u2019s The Lord of the Rings<\/em>. Whether it be in its impressively layered world-building or the strength of its prose, Rothfuss\u2019s story carries an incredibly strong resemblance to Tolkien\u2019s masterpiece. Yet it also holds its own as a masterpiece in its own right. As a reviewer from The London Times<\/em> wrote, \u201cthe reader is reminded of Ursula LeGuin, George R.R. Martin, and J. R. R. Tolkien, but never feels that Rothfuss is imitating anyone.\u201dThe comfortable pacing and the immersive backstory of the story Rothfuss spins brings a level of quality rarely matched in literature. However, there is also something to be said for some of the more superficial elements, which serve to connect this high fantasy world to the tile hallways of River Hill High School. Eric Wall, a history teacher at River Hill, remarked that Rothfuss\u2019s depiction of \u201cthe dynamics students have to balance when they\u2019re in high school, with schoolwork but also dealing with teachers and other students,\u201d as well as it being more broadly \u201cin a similar line to Harry Potter, but with a few more adult themes,\u201d made The Name of the Wind<\/em> a great addition to any student\u2019s reading list.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Benjamin Hong, Staff Writer Three silences. A shell of an innkeeper. An astonishing life story. Patrick Rothfuss\u2019s 2007 novel (otherwise known as The Kingkiller Chronicle: Day One) takes place in a fictional world called Temerant and follows the life story of a legendary musician, swordsman, and wizard named Kvothe (pronounced nearly identically to \u201cquothe\u201d)….<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":2765,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2764","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opinion"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"http:\/\/riverhillcurrent.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/10\/Screenshot-2022-10-27-1.51.22-PM.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/riverhillcurrent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2764","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/riverhillcurrent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/riverhillcurrent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/riverhillcurrent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/riverhillcurrent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2764"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/riverhillcurrent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2764\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2766,"href":"http:\/\/riverhillcurrent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2764\/revisions\/2766"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/riverhillcurrent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2765"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/riverhillcurrent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2764"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/riverhillcurrent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2764"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/riverhillcurrent.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2764"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}