The Kingkiller Chronicle: Day One: The Name of the Wind

by Patrick Rothfuss, 662 pages

Nestled in the middle of nowhere, the Waystone Inn generally hosts no more than a few local farmers and tradesmen and, times being what they are (i.e., not so good), the ever rarer traveler. Assisted by young Bast--reluctant student, willing apprentice, and enthusiastic skirt-chaser--capable owner Kote keeps a clean bar and a well-stocked larder. He also handily disposes of nearly half a dozen scrael, with their black armored bodies and excessively numerous razor-sharp legs, out behind the inn one night. But nobody's supposed to know about that last part. Dealing with "demons" is a little outside the scope of your average innkeeper's repertoire. Might start people talking.

Unfortunately for the studiously unassuming Kote, that is exactly what his newest guest--and accidental scrael-disposal witness--wants him to do. Chronicler is just what his name implies. And the story he most desires to record belongs to a legend, a hero, a traitor, and a dead man--a dead man standing on the other side of the Waystone's well-polished bar, carefully drying glasses and making small talk with the locals. After some hard bargaining (and a little shrewd employment of psychology), Chronicler gets his wish, but only if he plays by his client's rules. No editing. No embellishment. Three days. As the inn empties out, Chronicler picks up his pen, Bast perches excitedly on the edge of his seat, and Kote...Kvothe goes looking for a beginning.

"You may have heard of me."

As Kvothe's narrative of his eventful young life interweaves with the Wayside's comings and goings in the now, the reader finds herself immersed in a richly detailed and unique world sprung organically from the story itself. Unfamiliar terms and cultural references seamlessly clarify themselves through natural context and repeated exposure rather than intrusive exposition, as do the wealth of intriguing, engaging characters. Kvothe's colorful, nuanced voice reveals his theatrical roots and showman's ego without losing the living, breathing, feeling human being within. And the present-day, selectively omniscient narration gives the reader opportunity to observe Kvothe and the other characters without the filter of his own biased perspective, but without prematurely giving anything away, either. There are many, many secrets to be discovered and picked apart in the course of this tale's telling, but all in good time. For now, this reader is content to experience the goose bumps, belly laughs, tears, and enlightenment as, word by word, they breathe life into the legend...and into the scarred man at its heart.

Truly artful world-building, with a story and characters worthy of intellectual, emotional, and temporal (!) investment.

*sigh*