The Lords and Ladies Book Review

Get ready for weird...

Background about the Author and Story:

Before I even begin, I think it's important to point out that this is my first book in the Discworld series.  There are currently 40 Discworld books, and I jumped in at book 14, so this review will be coming from the perspective of someone unfamiliar with the series.  That being said however, this is my second book I've read by Terry Pratchett.  For those of you who haven't heard of Terry, he primarily writes comical and satirical fantasy novels.  His books are very funny, and often have some kind of underlying theme that ties all the elements of the story together. (This just in - Turns out all books actually have underlying themes - who knew?)

So what is Discworld? Basically it is a flat disc balanced on the backs of four elephants which stand on the back of a giant turtle.  Again, comical fantasy.  The key take away from all of this is that you are reading about a very strange fantasy world. 

The Review!

Our Protagonists

So how is it?!  The answer is it's pretty good!  The book stars three witches who are trying to keep out an invasion of elves.  As the multiverses converge (there's multiverses in this book too), the potential for the parasite elvish universe to invade the human universe is all but certain.  This is bad because elves use their glamour to deceive humans' view of them, and then take over the world. (Guess what the theme is...)

Elves are bad, mkay?

Sadly, the conflict is not this book's strong suit.  Again this is my first novel, but in this book the motivation for the elves' take over isn't really dived into at all.  In addition to this, most of the townspeople don't even know that the elves exist.  This leads to you not really caring much for what happens in the story.

Fortunately, the humor picks up a lot of the slack.  The whole book is full of little jabs at society, and it has lots of little jokes that keep you laughing the whole way through.  An example of this comes from page 123: 

"Also, the cook couldn't get the hang of vegetarianism.  The traditional palace cuisine was heavy in artery-clogging dishes so full of saturated fats that they oozed out in great wobbly gobules.  Vegetables existed as things to soak up spare gravy, and were generally boiled to a uniform shade of yellow in any case."

The characters are a riot!

The Lords and Ladies also excelled with its entertaining characters.  A few of the funnier characters include Giamo Casanunda whose business card includes 'World's Second Greatest Lover - We never sleep' with 'outrageous liar' listed below as one of his skills.  The story also followed a Librarian-turned-monkey who can only say 'ook', but would engage in conversations with other (slightly mad) wizards.  The witches themselves really made the book, as each of them have a plethora of funny personality traits.  One of the witches would leave a sign "I AINT DEAD" while she slept, and another would cause nearby townspeople to run for cover when she bathed (due to her horrendous singing).  The third witch fell into the role of soon-to-be-Queen, and embodied the exact opposite of usual Queen-like behaviors.  The amusing character interactions were really what made this book such a fun read.

The theme!

As I hinted at earlier, the book has the theme that glamour can be misleading and destructive in the end.  The theme is fairly well delved into, although the frivolous plot takes away its strength.  By the end of the book you are exposed to a few meaningful insights, but there's nothing that will really change your life.

The Verdict:

The Lords and Ladies is a fun read, and despite its mediocre plot, it will leave you wanting more of Discworld.

Enjoy!
Chris

New Blogs Are Up!

Hey good people!

If you look at this blog, you'll probably notice pretty quickly that there is a wide range in the types of posts I put on here.  While it is definitely fun to have this variety, it can take away from the customization I can use for each type of post.  In an attempt to streamline my content a little more, I created a blog dedicated solely to Book Reviews and content about books.

For those of you who are interested in checking this out, you can go here:

Book Reviews Are Boring

The goal of the blog is to try to create a site where I can generate fun and engaging content about books!  Thanks to the blog being focused solely on books, I've been able to create provide ways to find the book reviews you're looking for.

CHECK IT OUT!

ALSO

I have been playing around with another blog called Weebly.  Weebly allows a huge amount of variety content editing, and I've been playing around with Weebly with a blog I titled: Fueling the Dream.  The goal of that blog is to provide primarily inspirational videos about people getting out into the world and pursuing their passions in the outdoors.  If you're interested in checking that out, you can go here!

Fueling the Dream

AND!!!
Possibly the biggest change of all is that I'm planning to take My Adventures and Tales to a different site.  Why??? You might be wondering.  Simply put, it comes down to being able to provide higher quality content.

This being said, the BIG SWITCH is still just in the hypothesis stage.  If I do end up switching blogs, I'll be sure to post a link so people can continue to enjoy my content!

Hope you guys have an awesome day!

Chris

(And sneakpeak, if you're curious, Weebly is probably where I'll be going.)

Under the Banner of Heaven Book Review

Before I even begin, this book has a very controversial theme.  I'm not going to be saying whether or not the theme is correct, rather I'm just going to talk about how effective the book is in delivering that theme. Also, you may notice the cover says "A story of VIOLENT faith" - this book has a lot of violence, and naturally the review will have some as well.

And without further ado, let's begin!

As you may have read on the cover, this book takes a look at the motivation that led the Lafferty Brothers to kill an innocent woman and her child.  The book has a thrilling start, describing Allen Lafferty coming home to find his wife and daughter lying in pools of their own blood.  It then begins to take a look at who did this atrocious act, and what inspired them to do so.

Our Villains, the Lafferty Brothers

What motivated them to do so (in a very loose nutshell) was their religion: Fundamentalist Mormonism. Krakauer provides a fascinating history of Mormonism by looking at modern events, and then looking back at Mormon history to see what caused those events.  This technique primarily uses the Lafferty brothers’ history, but it includes a host of other characters as well.  In the process of unwrapping modern events, a fairly thorough history of Mormonism is unveiled.  This history begins with Joseph Smith’s upbringing and leads all the way up until the modern day Later-Day Saints Church.

The history of Mormonism makes The Movie 300 seem a little less violent...

The title, Under the Banner of Heaven, relates to a quote by John Taylor "God is greater than the United States, and when the Government conflicts with heaven we will be ranged under the banner of heaven and against the Government. (loc 4130)" The idea behind this quote is that any action the Mormons took would be justified if the intentions were to help the Mormon Church.  This idea was the impetus for a great deal of violence and controversial ideas that were prevalent in the early days of Mormonism.  An important example of this revolves around Joseph Smith introducing the idea of polygamy into the Mormon Church.  This idea led to the Prophet's assassination, which then led to even more violence climaxing at the Mountain Meadows Massacre. It was the extreme nature of this religion that led the United States Government to try to bankrupt the Church, and led the Church to give up the tenet of plural marriage.  

Marry ALL the Women!

(and have ALL the babies!!!)

John Krakaeur describes how the Church's relinquishment of a key ritual for the sake of the government fueled a few Mormons to found the Fundamentalist Church.  This fundamentalist church  continued to follow a few of Mormonism's more extreme ideas including polygamy, and holding the belief that blacks were agents of Satan.  This extreme environment drew in the Lafferty brothers because of their complete devotion to the Church, but unfortunately it also created an environment that fostered extremist ideas.  The book describes how the Fundamentalist environment fostered the Lafferty brother's radicalism which, through a series of events, led to them to being convinced that Gold wanted them to kill a host of people in His Name. 

Under the Banner of Heaven doesn't support any of these

This whole story sets the stage for the theme of the book, which is that religion is bad (mkay?).  Krakaeur writes "All religious belief is a function of nonrational faith.  And faith, by its very definition tends to be impervious to intellectual argument or academic criticism (loc 1301)." In other words, this irrationality allowed the Lafferty brothers to believe that what they were doing was justified.  This idea is taken a step further to suggest that all religion, because of this blind faith, has the potential to breed violence and therefore can be a negative force in the world.  Krakaeur, through ex-Mormon DeLoy, admits that its benefits include 'providing all the answers and making life simpler', but DeLoy goes on to say that "some things in life are more important than being happy.  Like being free to think for yourself (loc 5470)." 

Wait... But what about these peaceful Mormons?...

The one major pitfall of the book is that it is very one-sided, and tends to focus solely on the negative elements of religion.  The book goes from one violent event to the next, and mostly ignores the positive contributions of Mormons and pious individuals.  Despite the hard-working and good-hearted attitude of its practitioners, Krakaeur focuses solely on its bizarre beliefs and violent followers.  There are many instances of people (including Fundamentalist Mormons) feeling shocked and appalled by the actions of the brothers, and almost every Mormon involved in this story tried to stop these horrendous acts from occurring.  This book focuses on religion at its worst, and paints an unfair picture of its practitioners.

Despite its narrow perspective, Under the Banner of Heaven is a thrilling and fascinating read and  should be read by anyone who is curious about Mormonism.

ALSO, despite doing my best to fact check everything Krakaeur wrote in the book, there is a possibility that I've misrepresented Mormonism in some way.  Again, it is not my objective to portray religion in a negative light, rather this review is simply meant to convey the message of the book.

ENJOY!

Chris

(PS the 'loc' citation is from my iPhone, as my iPhone didn't provide page numbers)

God Bless You Mr. Rosewater Book Review

(written in 1965)

God Bless You Mr. Rosewater is a hilarious, dark humor that uses satire to help show the issues with America’s capitalism-driven society.

(What this book is really about)

The book stars a powerfully rich family known as the Rosewaters, who have created a Foundation in order to evade taxes.  All was fine and well with the foundation until a lawyer, known as Mushari, tried to steal the money through the corrupt court system.  His plan was to try to prove the heir, Eliot Rosewater, had gone insane and transfer the money to a distant relative, thus earning himself a huge commission.

Our Protagonist (aka someone who is a little off their rocker)

Eliot Rosewater’s best case for insanity involves an incident in World War 2 where he accidentally stabs an innocent 14-year-old boy.  When Eliot returns home, he isn't quite the same, and ends up spending all his time and money trying to help the ‘good for nothing poor’.  Despite having 3 million dollars to his name, he spends his entire day living in a small apartment, drinking and answering distressed phone calls from the poverty-stricken-people of Rosewater, Indiana. 

Vonnegut's Message

God Bless You Mr. Rosewater delivers its powerful themes through dark humor and satire.  The two main themes involve the issues with Capitalism, and the growing divide in the class system.

The Class Struggle

The class divide is greatly exaggerated in this novel.  It shows Noah Rosewater (Eliot's ancestor) taking advantage of the poor in order to gain a considerable sum of money.  The money is then passed from generation-to-generation, and its members proceed to do virtually nothing but hoard their considerable sum of money.  The working class, on the other hand, works an honest living and lives in poverty and depression.  

The divide in the classes sets the stage for the tremendous problem of how to get people on the same page.  The book thrives in this element, using dark humor and satire to point out that the only real people are the rich, and that there isn't really a problem with the way things are at all.  The theme is a powerful one, but falls short of its potential due Vonnegut only showing the socialist side in a positive light. 

Socialism Vs. Capitalism

It is in this dystopian setting that Eliot attempts to right the growing issue by distributing his considerable wealth to the poor.  The fantasy element of the book comes into play here, as Richard the Lionhearted soul is actually residing within Eliot.  Again, the dark humor thrives here as people accuse Eliot of being insane. 

The Message

The main argument made by Vonnegut is that a society based completely on capitalism is bound to run into major class divides and strife.  The idea is that the issue can be fixed by adding a touch of morality and socialism, in order to ensure the classes don’t spread too far apart.  

ALL IN ALL

God Bless You Mr. Rosewater is a wonderfully entertaining book with powerful themes, and is limited only by its narrow perspective.

ENJOY!

CHRIS

PS – I tried to make this more of a quick and dirty review of the themes and story, rather than analyzing the entire thing.  There is quite a bit more that happens in this book, but many of the smaller story lines are just little jabs of satire and humor that don’t end up tying back up to the main story line.

Once A Runner Book Review

Once a Runner is an incredible book.  On the surface it is simply an entertaining book with a running protagonist.  If you take a deeper look though, you will notice that the book is paced almost exactly like a run.  There’s also a lot of on-the-surface motivation for the great and grueling aspects of running. 

The book stars a certain Quentin Cassidy, a 1-Mile track star at a fictional Southeastern University.  For many up and coming milers, running a mile in under 4:00 is an intimidating and frequently sought after goal.  Cass is no exception, and with a 4:00.3 Personal Record, the spotlight is on, and people want to see how fast he can go.

The book begins with Cass as Captain of the track team, surrounded by good friends, and wonderful mentors.  He plays a few tricks on the freshman, and is blowing the competition out of the water.  In short, life is good for Quentin, and he’s living it up.  This part of the book is the first example of the pacing being similar to a run.  The beginning of a run feels wonderful, just like Quentin Cassidy’s wonderful life at this stage. 

[this quote isn't from the book]

The book also takes advantage of this period as well by commenting on some of the idealistic aspects of running.   “The distance runners were serene messengers.  Gliding along wooded trails and mountain paths, their spiritual ancestors kept their own solitary counsel for long hours while carrying some message the import of which was only one corner of their considerable speculation.  They lived within themselves; long ago they did so, and they do today (p.17).” These inspirational elements of the novel were really what made the book so remarkable.  It provided relevant and meaningful motivation at exactly the right stages of the book.

Like a run, the book begins to pick up near the middle.  The pranks get bigger, Cass gets himself a girl, and the workouts get more serious.  It is in this section, when things are beginning to get a little more intense, that the inspiration in the novel becomes more intense as well.  One of my favorite quotes from this section is:

 “From the crucible of such inner turmoil come the various metals, soft or brittle, flawed or pure, precious or common, that determine the good runners, the great runners, and perhaps the former runners.  For those who cannot deal with (or evade the consequences of their singular objective will simply fade away from it all and go on to less arduous pursuits.  There has probably never been one yet who has done so, however, without leaving a part of himself there in the quiet tiled solace of the early afternoon locker room, knotting his loathsome-smelling laces for yet another, Jesus God, ten miler with the boys.  Once a Runner… (p121). “

 PLOT TWIST!

And it wouldn't be a great novel without a big plot twist.  Like the third quarter of a run, things become brutally difficult, and the reader begins to wonder if Cassidy will be able to make it through.  I’ll spare the exact details, so as not to spoil anything, but again, there are a few really wonderful quotes I liked in this section:

“Though the toil was arduous, they rarely spoke of the discomfort of training or racing in terms of pain; they knew that what gave pain its truly fearful dimension was a certain lack of familiarity.  And these were sensations that they knew very well. (p. 158)”

 “Hell, forget about all that. GO for it Quenton, is what I’m telling you, go for the big time, right now, at this precise point of your life, make up your mind and do and do it.  TAKE YOUR SHOT. (p. 167)”

What could that be?

And then there’s the epic ending.  Again, don’t want to spoil anything, but suffice to say it’s wonderful!  The very end is a little anticlimactic, but I really didn't mind.  The book was an exciting and inspirational read, and I expect I’ll come back and read it a few more times in the future.

The big thing about this book, more than the plot, is the inspiration for the person reading the book.  When you put the book down you've taken away more than just a story.  You take away inspiration to keep pushing through the hard times.  This applies to running and life in general, as the underlying theme is to take your shot in life. The message is that there are no secrets or shortcuts to life; there is only hard work.  If you want to live a dream, you've got to put in the sweat and tears to make it happen.  The message to live fully is the truly remarkable lesson of the novel, and is why you should go grab yourself a copy! 

Once a Runner is an entertaining and well-written novel that manages to capture both the trials and the triumphs of running.

PS, you know you've got a star running book when it sneaks in more recommendations!  (these were all referenced in the book)

The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner – Sillitoe

The Four Minute Mile – Roger Bannister

No Bugles No Drums – Peter Snell

The Olympian - Brian Glanville

A Clean Pair of Heels – Murray Halberg

(Quentin read these books in Once a Runner. aka a very subtle way to keep us reading running books!)

ENJOY!

-Chris

Coming next:

Touching the Void!

WEEW!

PS, Other great quotes:

“But then his life was most certainly focused on the Task.  And hadn't he decided at one time that he would do whatever was necessary to become… whatever it was he could become? Perhaps.  But at this juncture, many a runner begins to reexamine some of the previously unexamined premises.  The question that plagues the runner undergoing breakdown training is: Why Am I Living Like This? The question eventually becomes: Is This Living? (p120).”

“Cassidy knew very well that he could take men, otherwise strong and brave men, to places they had never been before.  Places where life and death overlapped in surreal valleys of muscle gloom and heart despair, where one begins to realize once more that nothing really matters at all and that stopping (death?) is all; where all men finally get the slick skin of civilization off and see that soft pink glow inside that tells you – in both cunnilingus and bullet wounds – THAT THERE ARE NO SECRETS. (p136).”

“Because they were covering a good deal of ground at uniform, reasonably efficient traveling speeds on any given training run they might run into and out of rainstorms, into or out of cities or counties, and into one geographically unique area and out of an altogether different one.  To them the sensation was not unlike riding on some kind of very minimalist vehicle, one that traveled at a steady though unspectacular pace, and that would take them, they felt, just about anywhere they wanted to go.  It was that feeling, perhaps, that inspired numbers of certain subspecies of their breed to embark on cross-continent excursions, hundred mile trail runs, and other such madness (p158).”

Unbroken Book Review

The really great thing about this book is that it deals with a theme that almost everyone can relate to.  That theme is surviving and maintaining personal dignity throughout life.

Picture of Louie

The story is basically a full biography of Louie Zamperini.  Louie grew up as a bit of a trouble maker, but his skills in running away from trouble were eventually put to better use.  When he discovered running, his talent for fleeing quickly translated into athletic prowess, which enabled him to pursue a career as a mile-runner.  Things were looking pretty good for Louie when he qualified for the Olympics, but unfortunately around that time World War 2 began. 

The plane he flew in, the B-24

It is in this World War 2 setting that the theme of ‘Unbroken’ hits its stride.  Louie entered the US Air Force and served on B-24’s until he had an unfortunate accident on a search and rescue mission.  The accident left Louie in the middle of the Pacific Ocean with nothing more than a survival raft and two other survivors.  However, rather than simply accepting his doom, Louie and Phil (his co-survivor*) fought tooth and nail to stay alive. 

The odds weren't in his favor...

The really fascinating and inspiring element of this story was the attitude of the two survivors on the raft.  Rather than surrendering to despair and hopelessness, Louie and Phil were confident that their ingenuity and determination would ensure their survival.  This part of the book is particularly cool, as they use a lot of really clever techniques to survive in the Pacific Ocean.  They spent their time discussing philosophy, their personal lives, and their favorite foods in order to keep their minds active and prevent mental decay.  They did this while fending off the almost constant shark attacks, and even managed to survive an attack from a Japanese scout plane. 

And after 48 days on the Pacific, they finally floated to land! 

The Marshall Islands

Which, unfortunately, was occupied by the Japanese.  

The Japanese who captured Louie and Phil helped nurse them back to their health slightly, but were eventually forced to send them to a Japanese POW Camp.

Gonna have a bad time...

This is the part of the book where it becomes really difficult to keep reading, as Louie’s life becomes so brutally difficult.  Louie was already in poor health from his 48-day stretch in the Pacific, and is then forced to deal with two years of inhumane imprisonment.  Not surprisingly, his time in the camps is a hell on earth, and is made even worse by the fact that a particular Japanese military official took an interest in trying to break Louie.  He is forced to endure the Japanese attempts to eliminate his humanity via beatings, absurd rituals, and terrible living conditions. 

The really impressive thing about this section of the book was how determined the Allied POW’s were to maintain their dignity.  They took care of each other to the best of their ability, and created quite a few clever systems to hurt the Japanese war effort in whatever way they could.  They would do things like making equipment safe enough to pass inspection, but have a hidden fatal flaw that would lead to its failure.  They also stole whenever they could, and actually had a supply of rice that they would use for anyone that become (even more) dangerously malnourished. 

Turning Point in the War

Eventually, the war was finally ended thanks to the devastating power of the Atomic Bomb.  This led to the POW’s release, and transport back home to the United States.  Sadly though, this also led to the most depressing part of the book, which describes the PTSD that many of the soldiers faced after the war.  Louie was no exception to the soldiers scarred by the war, and sunk into a destructive period of alcoholism.

Drinking the worries away

Fortunately though, Louie had a happy ending to the story.  I’m going to leave this part as a bit of a surprise, but rest assured it is worth reading through the hard parts.

Overall, the book excelled in the survival sections, and remained interesting and powerfully thematic even in the depressing sections.  The book offers a fresh perspective on how precious life is, and the extent to which humans can fight to survive even the most impossible conditions.

It is an interesting read, and a fascinating historical insight into the lives of people who endured unbelievable hardships.

ENJOY

Chris

The Wise Man's Fear Book Review

Such a wonderful book

The Name of the Wind might be my favorite book ever.  For that reason, I came into this book with pretty high expectations.  That being said, I read this book in 9 days.  It. IS. AWESOME!

The Name of the Wind was a coming of age tale for Kvothe (the protagonist).  The Wise Man’s Fear is a story of how a young man makes a name for himself.

The Protagonist

The story starts off right where the last story left off.  Kote (the guy telling the inner story) cleans up a bit in his inn, then jumps right back into where the previous story left off.  In the last book Kvothe made a name for himself.  He’s not just some crazy prodigy anymore, he’s a 16 year old who has commanded respect and shown himself to be quite remarkable. 

The story starts off with Kvothe continuing with the momentum where the last book left off.  The first 200 pages of the book feature Kvothe doing pretty well for himself.  Learning more advanced magic, being fairly successful with the ladies, and having some good friends nearby.  After the dark beginning of Name of the Wind, it’s quite pleasant to read about Kvothe actually living a pleasant and fun life.

One of the Chandrain

But of course, things don’t stay peachy forever.  The events of the last book catch up to Kvothe, and he ends up being forced to leave the school for a bit.  The University sections are phenomenal, and it kind of sucks seeing him leave, but the events that follow are quite interesting as well.

Kvothe goes out seeking a patron (sponsor) for his music, and ends up finding some pretty different things.  He deals with deception, the complexity of the nobility, romance, and quite a bit of violence.  It’s this violence that actually is quite unique in the literature I’ve read.  Most stories like this feature a hero who follows a strong moral code and always does the right thing

Like this guy! (Harry Potter)

Our protagonist is no harry potter though.   Kvothe gets the job done.  Sometimes this leads him doing some things that sound like a normal villain.  Dark magic, disturbing the dead, putting himself in seriously bad situations, but in the attempt to serve the greater good. 

Decisions, decisions...

This book portrays the real struggle of the world.  Sometimes in order to do the right thing you have to do some questionable things.  Some of us have the nerve and guts to get the job done, and some of us don’t.   Things like Guantanamo bay come to mind.  Is violating human rights acceptable if it allows innocents to be better protected?  I don’t have an answer to that question, but the Wise Man’s Fear gets you asking questions like that.

The book also has a section near the end with certain mystical characters that really cranks up the fantasy element of this book.  Those sections are absolutely phenomenal, and are incredibly thematic.  They put Kvothe straight into a bed time story, and he rises to the occasion in a remarkable way.  (I don’t want to spoil anything else, but it’s wonderful.  Truly wonderful).

Throughout this book Kvothe also happens to start practicing a fighting practice forbidden to ‘Barbarians’.  In an attempt to help the friend who taught him, Kvothe also goes to a school of the martial arts.  This book is a fascinating change of pace, and it is an opportunity for the theme of the ‘right path’ or Lethani to be discussed.  Here the theme of the ends justifying the means is examined further.  Kvothe is put in many situations where he is forced to find hard answers to hard questions.

And then Kvothe is finally permitted to wrap up unfinished business.  I don’t want to give away the ending, but the book hints that the end of book 2 is the calm before the storm, which is the finale of this three book series.

The Wise Man’s Fear continues to entertain the reader in a thrilling fantasy series while simultaneously delivering a powerful thematic message

And unfortunately, now we all have to wait, as book 3 is still in the works.

Enjoy!

Chris

Name of the Wind Book Review

PATRICK ROTHFUSS IS AWESOME

This book is really quite special.  It reads like a thriller, but it has powerful themes distributed throughout the book.  It has all the elements of a great story, but it manages to feel very real at the same time.  And on top of all this, it uses a story within a story structure.  It’s like Arabian Nights, Lord of the Rings, and Harry Potter all mixed into one book.

In case you haven’t figured out already, I LOVED this book.

To go into a little more detail, the outer story begins with an old innkeeper named Kote.  He has got a bit of a history that he’s tried to run away from, but he is convinced to share the true account of his story by a traveling writer. 

Kvothe's humble beginnings (traveling troupe)

About 100 pages in, the inner story begins with the innkeeper telling the writer about his days as a child.  As it happens, the innkeeper was something of a prodigy child who grew up in a traveling trouper family.   His real name is Kvothe, and Kvothe had quite an unfortunate series of events happen to him in his youth.  I won’t go into any details, but one thing leads to the next and he ends up at a school of magic. 

It’s at the school for magic that the book really comes into its element.  The ‘magic’ is also wonderfully cool.  It ranges from things as simple as chemistry and math, to knowing the Name of Fire, which allows people to summon fire, stick their hand it, and do anything else they can imagine with it.    Even the admissions process is a thrill, as Kvothe’s unique situation means that he has to do some extraordinary things to get admitted. 

He got in!
(and yes, I know this is a she)

From this point forward, Kvothe’s showmanship and strong personality enable him to make him a few valuable friends, and a few troublesome enemies.  Like most great books, the characters make the book truly spectacular.  The friends are interesting and unique, and the enemies use a variety of clever strategies to make Kvothe’s life a living hell.  The actions of the characters are very complex, making the book both seems very real, and provide valuable life lessons for the reader. 

Rothfuss is a master at creating fictional characters, and uses them to illustrate a plethora of themes.  The main theme behind this book is very powerful.  At this school of magic, advanced students are encouraged to go out into the world to seek the ‘Name of the Wind’.  In the book, the Name of the Wind is something real, but to capture it you need to change the way you see the world.  You need to learn to listen to something that is ever changing, and often times doing that requires changing yourself in a pretty significant way.  You need to let your mind grow quiet and calm in the face of wild and turbulent situations.

Listening to the wind

In many ways, seeking the Name of the Wind is like our desire to answer the great questions in our world.  What are we doing here? Who am I? What is my calling?  These are the types of questions that we all have asked ourselves at some point, and some of us have better answers to those questions than others.  The fact is though, that going out into the world and putting yourself in new and uncomfortable situations is a great way to uncover new questions.  New questions lead us to new answers, and new answers help to shape how we live our lives.

This theme strikes particularly close to home for me.  I am taking a break from school to look for some of those answers myself.  For this reason, this book seemed extremely relevant, and due to the thrilling nature of it, I finished it in next to no time.

This book combines the best elements of fantasy, thrillers, and romance to make it a meaningful and delightful experience.

In short, go read this book.

Enjoy!
Chris