It’s defintely not what I expected after seeing the hype. Nonetheless, I really like the story.
Although it takes ages to get somewhere (and to the point where we start to conclude and link things), I feel like this first book of the Kingkiller series lays a good foundation.
Still, the amount of time you need to read before the story ‘kicks off’ is quite big!
It’s not even the worldbuilding that takes up so many pages – since I think that the story would have benefitted from more concrete information on the world and how things are there – rather it felt a bit overloaded on ‘everyday life situations’.
Yet, they might be important for the long run of this trilogy, who knows. Sometimes, it was just a bit too tenacious.
BUT, and that’s a big but, I was still feeling very much part of that world whenever I read more of the story. Might have been due to the author’s ability to portray his characters, no matter how major or minor a role they played.
They were all well written and tangible for me as a reader.
I liked Kvothe, as he’s quite confident and self-assured. He knows how capable he is and is eager to learn.
He’s also selfish and struggles with authority but this all fits within the story and his character.
Denna, Dyanae, or whatever you want to call her is harder to read, which seems to have been the authors intention. Her fickleness and nervousness are just as much a part of her as her sharp mind and her knowing her own worth.
I also found Abenthy (Ben) and the masters of the school to be very intriguing and hope to get to know more of the masters and maybe even meet Ben again.
All in all I can say that I’m interested in seeing this story unfold, and I will recommend this book to anyone, who isn’t put off by a slow start and likes big stories that seem too tangled to really grasp.
