★★★☆☆ 3 / 5
Original review: I did not like this book. I feel like the author was too much in love with his protagonist. He really, really wants you to think Kvothe is really cool and badass, but he just comes off as pretentious and full of himself.
The writing style is similarly pretentious. Sentences are constructed to look fancy rather than getting the point across.
Anyway, I couldn’t actually finish the book because of the reasons stated above, but I did read through more than half of it, so I feel confident to give it such a rating.
EDIT 2022: Finally gave the book a second chance and read through to the end. It gets better past Tarbean. The literary style doesn’t bother me so much now. However, I still suspect a bit of Mary Sue syndrome on the author’s part. That, coupled with the fact that the book doesn’t have any kind of resolution at the end, makes it a three star.
Fact Sheet
- Author: Patrick Rothfuss
- Publisher: Penguin Group DAW
- ISBN: 9780756404079