My name is Kvothe.
 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 day. I have talked to Gods, loved women, and written songs that make the minstrels weep.
 You may have heard of me.

 Who can resist a beginning like that? Not me, that is for sure! Welcome to the Kingkiller Chronicles, you will not be disappointed!

Kvothe is a young man of the Edema Ruh, a much maligned gypsy class of story tellers and entertainers. In his early teens his parents and their troupe were murdered by men with significant powers and strange markings on their hands.  Kvothe manages to escape the attack and once he has recovered sufficiently decides that his life mission is to avenge the death of his parents. Realizing that he is at a serious disadvantage since he knows nothing about the men who attacked his parents or the source and breadth of their powers, he decides that he must first learn all he can about them and sets off to go to the University. But Kvothe is more special than he knows, can get into more trouble than any young man should, and quickly finds himself an unlikely hero in many stories and songs that quickly spread throughout the land.

And that is what is unique about these books, because Rothfuss  deliberately places us in a small little inn in a small quiet corner of nowhere with a quiet unassuming innkeeper, who we slowly begin to realize is Kvothe himself and the Chronicler, who has come to write down down the back stories, the-behind-the-scenes-what-really-happened stories to the legends of Kvothe. This makes for such an interesting dynamic, because real stories are always more interesting than legend and an anti-hero is always more complex than a hero. As Kvothe, now a man in midlife, wearily recounts his adventures and his narrow escapes from death, or bodily harm by using his quick wit or limited powers we begin to wonder what has happened to his goal of avenging his parents and why he is holed up in this small village in the middle of nowhere seemingly content to being just an innkeeper? And it is that uncertainty and mystery that keep drawing us in, for we keep hearing these wonderful stories of Kvothe being so alive and vibrant and yet the person who is telling the stories about himself is just a shadow of what he once was.

Rothfuss is masterful at creating this alternate world where magic is still present but its power has lessened. Now only a few can call the wind or fire or anything else for that matter and their power is incomplete and their mastery erratic. His portrayal of Kvothe as a young man, irascible, supremely confident and fearless is all the more telling when juxtaposed to Kvothe as an older man who is cautious, unassuming and embraces the quiet routines of running the inn. Unexpected, well written and compelling these books (with at least one more promised!) are truly a unique window into the world of a reluctant but engaging anti-hero.

Brenda’s Rating: ****(4 out of 5 Stars)

Recommend this book to: Marian and Lauren

Book Study Worthy? Yes

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