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The Name of the Wind
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Read The Name of the Wind
Kingkiller Chronicles: Book 1

The Name of the Wind (2007) (edit title/settings)

by Patrick Rothfuss (Author) (edit contributors)

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Description edit see section history

Told in Kvothe's own voice, this is the tale of the magically gifted young man who grows to be the most notorious wizard his world has ever seen.The intimate narrative of his childhood in a troupe of traveling players, his years spent as a near-feral orphan in a crime-ridden city, his daringly... read more

Summary edit see section history

My name is Kvothe, pronounced nearly the same as 'quothe.' Names are important as they tell you a great deal about a person. I've had more names than anyone has a right to.

The Adem call me Maedre. Which, depending on how it's spoken, can mean The Flame, The Thunder, or The Broken... read more (warning: may contain spoilers)

My name is Kvothe, pronounced nearly the same as 'quothe.' Names are important as they tell you a great deal about a person. I've had more names than anyone has a right to.

The Adem call me Maedre. Which, depending on how it's spoken, can mean The Flame, The Thunder, or The Broken Tree.

'The Flame' is obvious if you've ever seen me. I have red hair, bright. If I had been born a couple of hundred years ago I would probably been burned as a demon. I keep it short but it's unruly. When left to its own devices, it sticks up and makes me look as if I've been set afire.

'The Thunder' I attribute to a strong baritone and a great deal of stage training at an early age.

I've never thought of 'The Broken Tree' as very significant. Although in retrospect, I suppose it could be considered at least partially prophetic.
My first mentor called me E'lir because I was clever and I knew it. My first real lover called me Dulator because she liked the sound of it. I have been called Shadicar, Lightfinger, and Six-String. I have been called Kvothe the Bloodless, Kvothe the Arcane, and Kvothe Kingkiller. I have earned those names. Bought and paid for them.

But I was brought up as Kvothe. My father once told me it meant "to know."

I have, of course, been called many other things. Most of them uncouth, although very few were unearned.

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 the day. I have talked to Gods, loved women, and written songs that make the minstrels weep.

You may have heard of me.

So begins the tale of Kvothe - from his childhood in a troupe of traveling players to 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 as a notorious magician, an accomplished thief, a masterful musician, and an infamous assassin. But THE NAME OF THE WIND is so much more - for the story it tells reveals the truth behind Kvothe's legend.

Characters edit see section history

  • Kvothe Kingkiller: The protagonist. A legend of a man who's adventured enough to fill the lives of fifty ordinary men and has build his own fame little by little, part of it on purpose part of it by chance.
  • Devan Carverson: Mostly a scribe and recorder of stories, commonly reffered to as "Chronicler".
  • Bastas: aka Bast. Kote's pupil and best friend, lives in The Waystone Inn with his tutor and takes cares of daily chores with him. Apparently a promising student but mostly an enthusiastic lover.
  • Denna: Kvothe's love interest. A young woman who's past is unknown, she is dealing with the same hardships as the protagonist, but always in her own way. A favorite among most men in the book.
  • Ambrose Jakis: A wealthy older student at the University, and Kvothe's nemesis.
  • Simmon: A friend of Kvothe at the University. He is also known as Sim. Kvothe describes him as a good and honest person.
  • Kote: innkeeper, aftermath of Kvothe. Often lost in his own thoughts
  • Haliax: One of the Chandrian who attacked Kvothe's family.
  • Manet: Kvothe's mentor and friend. Attends the University
  • Deoch: Proprietor of the Eolian.
  • Lord Tehlu: Deity
  • Master Kilvin: Master Artificer at the University.
  • Abenthy: Kvothe's teacher while on the road with the troupe, an arcanist.
  • Wilem: A Cealdish friend of Kvothe at the University. Works in the Archives at the University.
  • Anker: Innkeeper, Kvothe's employer while at the University.
  • Auri: Timid girl who lives beneath the university, in what is known as the Underthing.
  • Devi: Money and book lender.
  • Graham: Patron of the Waystone Inn.
  • Skarpi: Storyteller
  • Master Rhetorician Hemme: Master Hemme is one of the "professors" at the University.
  • Master Elodin: Master Namer at the University. Some consider him mad.
  • Selitos: Wise man of legend.
  • Fenton: Vintish boy, Kvothe's classmate at the University
  • Sovoy: A friend of Kvothe at the University.
  • Jacob Walker: A patron of the Waystone Inn.
  • Carter: A patron of the Waystone Inn.
  • Master Lorren: Master Archivist.
  • Pike: Homeless boy in Tarbean
  • Master Arwyl: Master Arwyl is Master of Medicine at the University
  • Count Threpe: A wealthy music lover known for his enthusiastic support towards talented musicians. Greatly appreciates Kvothe as a lute player.
  • Encanis: Lord of Demons - wears a black mask. Shadows continually hide his face - poisons wells and steals children.
  • Tanee: Sick baby boy in the Trapis basement
  • Shandi: Dancer in Kvothe's troupe
  • Dianne: One of Denna's aliases
  • Teren: Member of Kvothe's parents' troupe
  • Nathan: Poor boy at Trapis' basement
  • Savien Traliard: Gallant character in songs
  • Reta: Roent the wagoneer's wife.
  • Trapis: Man who cares for sick children in Tarbean
  • Old Cob: Patron of the Waystone Inn, storyteller.
  • Arliden: Kvothe's father
  • Elxa Dal: Master of Sympathy at the University
  • Fela: A beautiful young woman at the University. She works as a scriv in the Archives.
Show all 43 characters
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Quotes edit see section history

  • “A poet is a musician who can’t sing. Words have to find a man’s mind before they can touch his heart, and some men’s minds are woeful small targets. Music touches their hearts directly no matter how small or stubborn the mind of the man who listens.”
  • “There are three things all wise men fear: the sea in storm, a night with no moon, and the anger of a gentle man.”
  • “Perhaps the greatest faculty our minds possess is the ability to cope with pain. First is the door of sleep. Second is the door of forgetting. Third is the door of madness. While this may not seem beneficial, it is. There are times when reality is nothing but pain, and to escape that pain the mind must leave reality behind. Last is the door of death. The final resort. Nothing can hurt us after we are dead, or so we have been told.”
    Kvothe (paraphrased)
  • “You meet a girl; shy, unassuming. If you tell her she's beautiful, she'll think you're sweet, but she won't believe you. She knows that beauty lies in your beholding."... "But there's a better way. You SHOW her she is beautiful. You make mirrors of your eyes, prayers of your hands against her body. It is hard, very hard, but when she truly believes you... Suddenly the story she tells herself in her own head changes. She transforms. She isn't SEEN AS BEAUTIFUL. She is BEAUTIFUL, SEEN.”
    Bast (slightly paraphrased)
  • “The tree boys, one dark, one light, and one - for lack of a better word - fiery, do not notice the night. Perhaps some part of them does, but they are young, and drunk, and busy knowing deep in their hearts that they will never grow old or die. They also know that they are friends, and they share a certain love that will never leave them. The boys know many other things, but none of them seem as important as this. Perhaps they are right.”
  • “Small deeds for small men," I always say. I imagine the trouble is in finding the job small enough for men such as yourselves. But you are resourceful.”
  • “Call a jack a jack. Call a spade a spade. But always call a whore a lady. Their lives are hard enough, and it never hurts to be polite.”
    Kvothe
  • “By your logic I should also be in charge of Solinade dances, needlework, and horse thieving.”
  • “Once I knew what was bothering me, the greater part of my uneasiness left. Fear tends to come from ignorance. Once I knew what the problem was, it was just a problem, nothing to fear.”
    Kvothe
  • Popular Highlights from Kindle Customers
  • The day we fret about the future is the day we leave our childhood behind.
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  • “Call a jack a jack. Call a spade a spade. But always call a whore a lady. Their lives are hard enough, and it never hurts to be polite.”
    Highlighted by 657 Kindle customers
  • “It’s like everyone tells a story about themselves inside their own head. Always. All the time. That story makes you what you are. We build ourselves out of that story.”
    Highlighted by 601 Kindle customers
  • Fear tends to come from ignorance. Once I knew what the problem was, it was just a problem, nothing to fear.
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  • That’s why stories appeal to us. They give us the clarity and simplicity our real lives lack.”
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  • “There are two sure ways to lose a friend, one is to borrow, the other to lend.”
    Highlighted by 427 Kindle customers
  • A poet is a musician who can’t sing. Words have to find a man’s mind before they can touch his heart, and some men’s minds are woeful small targets. Music touches their hearts directly no matter how small or stubborn the mind of the man who listens.”
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  • Besides, anger can keep you warm at night, and wounded pride can spur a man to wondrous things.
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  • There are three things all wise men fear: the sea in storm, a night with no moon, and the anger of a gentle man.
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  • “Beer dulls a memory, brand sets it burning, but wine is the best for a sore heart’s yearning.”
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Show all 19 quotes from this book

Setting & Locations edit see section history

  • Trebon: Town 60-70 miles upriver from the University.
  • Waystone Inn: Kote's tavern.
  • Medica: The hospital within the university.
  • Imre: the village near the University
  • Tarbean: a city where he spends some time

First Sentence edit see section history

It was night again. The Waystone Inn lay in silence, and it was a silence of three parts.

Table of Contents edit see section history

Prologue: A Silence of Three Parts
1. A Place for Demons
2. A Beautiful Day
3. Wood and Word
4. Halfway to Newarre
5. Notes
6. The Price of Remembering
7. Of Beginnings and the Names of Things
8. Thieves, Heretics, and Whores
9. Riding in the Wagon with Ben
10. Alar and Several Stones
11. The Binding of Iron
12. Puzzle Pieces Fitting
13. Interlude - Flesh with Blood Beneath
14. The Name of the Wind
15. Distractions and Farewells
16. Hope
17. Interlude - Autumn
18. Roads to Safe Places
19. Fingers and Strings
20. Bloody Hands Into Bloody Fists
21. Basements, Bread and Bucket
22. A Time for Demons
23. The Burning Weel
24. Shadows Themselves
25. Interlude - Eager for Reasons
26. Lanre Turned
27. His Eyes Unveiled
28. Tehlu's Watchful Eye
29. The Doors of My Mind
30. The Broken Binding
31. The Nature of Nobility
32. Coppers, Cobblers and Crowds
33. A Sea of Stars
34. Yet to Learn
35. A Parting of Ways
36. Less Talents
37. Bright-Eyed
38. Sympathy in the Mains
39. Enough Rope
40. On the Horns
41. Friend's Blood
42. Bloodless
43. The Flickering Way
44. The Burning Glass
45. Interlude - Some Tavern Tale
46. The Ever-Changing Wind
47. Barbs
48. Interlude - A Silence of a Different Kind
49. The Nature of Wild Things
50. Negotiations
51. Tar and Tin
52. Burning
53. Slow Circles
54. A Place to Burn
55. Flame and Thunder
56. Patrons, Maids and Metheglin
57. Interlude - The Parts that Form Us
58. Names for Beginning
59. All This Knowing
60. Fortune
61. Jackass, Jackass
62. Leaves
63. Walking and Talking
64. Nine in the Fire
65. Spark
66. Volatile
67. A Matter of Hands
68. The Ever-Changing Wind
69. Wind or Women's Fancy
70. Signs
71. Strange Attraction
72. Borrorill
73. Pegs
74. Waystone
75. Interlude - Obedience
76. The Mating Habits of the Common Draccus
77. Bluffs
78. Poison
79. Sweet Talk
80. Touching Iron
81. Pride
82. Ash and Elm...
83. Return
84. A Sudden Storm
85. Hands Against Me
86. The Fire Itself
87. Winter
88. Interlude - Looking
89. A Pleasant Afternoon
90. Half-Built Houses
91. Worthy of Pursuit
92. The Music That Plays
Epilogue: A Silence of Three Parts

Glossary edit see section history

  • span: A period of 11 days
  • Sygaldry: The study of runes, and how they can be used to channel forces.
  • Mourning Day: A named day of the span, probably for mourning the death of Tehlu.
  • sympathy: A type of magic based on the similarities between objects. Objects that have been bound using sympathy can be used to influence each other.

Series & Lists edit see section history

This is book 1 of 3 in Kingkiller Chronicles. (standard series)

Followed by The Wise Man's Fear.

This is book 18 of 99 in National Public Radio's Top 100 Science Fiction and Fantasy. (authoritative list)
This book is in Random Synapses: 100 Book Reading Challenge (2011). (community list)
This is book 46 of 159 in Fantasy Book Review Top 100 fantasy books of all time. (community list)

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

  1. Patrick Rothfuss (Author)

Other Contributors:

  1. Juhan Habicht (Translator)
  2. Peep Ilmet (Translator) - Poetry translator
  3. Evi Laido (Cover Artist)

First Edition edit see section history

Original Language: English
Publisher: Daw
Country: USA
Publication Date: 2007
ISBN: 075640407X
Page Count: 662

Awards edit see section history

Classification edit see section history

  • Library of Congress: PS3618.O8685 N36 2007
  • Dewey: 813.6

Notes for Parents edit see section history

Reading Level: Adults

Contains frequent adult language. References to sex.

More Books Like This edit see section history

   
  • The Warded Man
  • The Book Without Words
  • The King of Blades

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