More books! Part XII

I realized recently that I'd forgotten to write about the last book I finished, and I've finished another one since then. Let's catch up.

First, I read Forward the Foundation, by Isaac Asimov. It's the second sequel to the original Foundation, and the last book he wrote in the series. As usual, the dialogue in these books is pretty lousy, but the stories are good, and I like the world(s) he created. I think I have three more Foundation books to read before I've finished them all.

Then I read The Name of the Wind, by Patrick Rothfuss. This is the first in yet another multi-volume epic fantasy saga, but it's a little different. For one thing, the story is only going to take three books to tell. Rothfuss originally wrote this giant book when he was in college, and no publishers wanted to touch it. So he split it into three books and has published the first one (the second comes out in April or something). As a result, the book has an incomplete feel to it--it's not a discrete, complete story with a beginning, middle, and end; it's the first chapter of a longer story.

But, that said, I really enjoyed it. It's the story of a man named Kvothe, who we still don't know a whole lot about, but we do know that he is a legend in his world. He's a hero, and everyone knows of him, though we don't really know why yet. The book is mostly told in flashback, as Kvothe is telling his life story to a man called Chronicler.

While Kvothe is still a child, his parents are murdered by a group of people, or demons, or monsters--nobody really even believes they exist--called the Chandrian, and he is left homeless and destitute. Eventually he manages to make his way to the University, and is admitted to study magic ("sympathy" in the book's lingo). (Hey, where have I heard this story before?)

So far, there are no epic quests, no dark lords; very few of the usual contemporary fantasy cliches. And the book is pretty light on plot...but it's good! Kvothe is telling his story in his own words, and Rothfuss keeps things light and moving. It feels a lot like George R.R. Martin, where the author is setting things in motion that you know won't pay off until later, but it's nowhere near as unwieldy and bulky as that series has become. Check it out!