A pretty good read, I would say. Any book that I can't put down before its finished ends up high on my list. Though I wouldn't say this book makes it to my top 5. The fact that the story is all about Kvothe does make it rather 'one-dimensional' and it does irk me a bit that the story is all about how smart, cool and powerful this man turns out to be. Good read, but calling it the best read ever is an overstatement.

I have nothing but great things to say about the book itself. The over-praise for it I find a bit surprising. I suppose every book has a certain number of diehard fans that find no wrong in an author's work. I believe NotW is placed so high in an attempt to promote it, rather than actually believing it to be better than the master himself. In which case, mission accomplished; I read this book based off the list's recommendation (thanks by the way).

I would certainly compare this series to Robin Hobb's Farseer Trilogy for reasons already listed by the site. What Rothfuss does - I daresay masterfully - is set up his hero and a cast of memorable characters in a believable world that's bound for future glory.

To say the side characters are underdeveloped is a discredit to Rothfuss's storytelling abilities. We ALL know a 'Simmons' or an 'Ambrose' in our lives for example. Rothfuss is able to slide them into their roles in the story with hardly any effort. He's working off of our pre-conceived notions of bullies and geeky friends. There�s nothing wrong with that. Simmons is the ever faithful friend, but he was noticeably hurt when Kvothe didn�t bother to tell him about his abrupt journey to Trebon. Sims thought he was dead, he was pissed, what sort of friend IS Kvothe anyways? The author doesn�t need to baby-step readers through every character�s grand set of emotions when they�re already prevalent in the characters� actions and dialogue, that would be over-writing, not to mention boring.

I�ve also heard people describe this as Harry Potter for an older audience and that also feels accurate. The Name of the Wind reads smoothly and pulls you in like a Harry Potter book, and like Harry, Kvothe is very likeable (though hardly as innocent).

As solid as this book is, the story is hardly reaching for the stars when compared to Martin or Erikson. There is one premiere character it focuses on. As cool and well-developed as Kvothe is, he's not nearly as complex as half of Erikson's or really any of Martin's.
Q:"Well that's not fair, he's only had one book to develop in!"
A:"Then the series is on this list prematurely."

What it boils down to is: excellent read, but hardly a #3 in a list of best of all time. This is a simple story (so far anyways) told exceedingly well. The same could be said of Lord of the Rings, except NotW lacks the excessive - and intriguing - detail of Middle Earth. One of the biggest expectations of a fantasy book is for it to take the reader into a whole other world. NotW does that, but it�s a world built from pieces of Tolkien and his contemporaries� imaginations.

8/10 (For me, that�s damn impressive)

Having spent a better part of my adult life searching for a book or series to equal my enjoyment of the LOTR, this comes close. Albeit this is his first offering and the second installment may be some time yet in coming, this is an engaging read. For some of the negative reviews I offer this; to begin any fantasy novel you must suspend your hold on this reality briefly while you immerse yourself in the one the author is trying to create. And he has created a world that is not so dissimilar from ours, one that I found myself wanting to be a part of. And is that not a key ingredient in any novel? This is a great story! I hope he can maintain this great beginning in the next installment.

No,MRK,you are not wrong.This book has a strange hype."The Name Of The Wind" is so far the only novel that should not be in this otherwise terrific list.No way...

Epic. Best fantasy book I have read since A tale of Fire and Ice. I can't wait for the second to come out!

...because I thought The Name of the Wind was awful. Everyone else is praising it to the high heavens but it really just grated on my nerves. Sorry, but a book all about how cool one character is and how it's up to him in all his greatness to save the ignorant, helpless masses is not that appealing to me. The setup is ridiculous. ("I know who you really are." "Drat! You've penetrated the brilliant and cunning disguise of removing two letters from my name!") The dialogue made me gag and the descriptions left me scratching my head. Kvothe pulls "warm, round loaves" of bread from the oven. Thank goodness the author clarified this or I would have thought the loaves were triangular. I could go on, but I won't. The book isn't worth the effort. A lot of people love it though, so maybe I'm missing something.

Hi Evan..which Dragonlance novel/s are you referring to? as there is over 50 series and 100's of books.

As a fan of inventive,graphic,complex,adult, philosophical,epic fantasy – this is not my cup of tea.
Its truly fastpacing and in some places inventive fantasy but also awkwardly written with unlogical chance meetings as if the book were forced without necessery editing.
As an admirer of Eriksson/Martin/Bakker im probably not the target for Mr.Rothfuss.

Depending on the next book... this may be my number 1 series. But I wouldn't read it until the next book comes out because having to wait for it is simply DREADFUL.

i thought this book was excellent and i haven't read fantasy since high school (i'm in my early 30s now). what stood out about this book was the open form it uses. fantasy so often has a predetermined starting and stopping point...it is very plot driven and once elements of the plot have been satisfied the story ends (usually it's a a prophesy or a war that needs to be won). in contrast, rothfuss is just telling us the story of kvothe's life. it can go anywhere and we don't know anything except he ends up as an innkeeper. sure it has a school of magic- although "magic" is one of many things taught. and, yes, there aren't a lot of well rounded characters aside from the main one; although kvothe's would-be girlfriend has potential. for those that couldn't make it through i suggest you go back to dragonlance since nearly everyone else (including me) had trouble putting it down (i read it in less than a week and i have a full time job and other commitments). my one gripe is with the fluctuating dates for release of the next book. it was aptil, then august...i even read a 2012 date somewhere. my wife is with the media and contacted penguin publishing for me to find out the date and they won't give her one. so i guess they don't even know and we'll just have to wait.

Great recommendation from this web site! I agree that this is one of the best, most engaging fantasy novels I have read to date. I was devastated to learn that I would have to wait for who-knows-how-long for the sequel, ala G. Martin. If you have not read this one yet, you might want to wait until the next book comes out so you can continue reading this great story.

Wow, I can't believe people praising this could have read the same thing I tried to. If this it the third best fantasy book, then there must be (at most) only two good ones out there. I don't need action, action, action but I need SOMETHING to latch onto and care about and there was nothing here. Some books are all about action, but there's virtually none of that. Some books are about the relationships between the characters, but Kvothe is the only character to be developed at all throughout the entire book. The rest are one-dimensional and you don't bother caring about them because none of the other characters carry through from section to section anyway. And my God does he need an editor! So much useless information in this book about a fictional character's life. I'd understand if I felt like all the description was to make this world seem more real but it doesn't seem real! It seems like a guy describing something he made up, in direct contrast to the great world George R.R. Martin just drops the reader into. Mr. Martin writes great fantasy. This one is bad.

Name of the Wind was downright amazing. This series may top GRRM for me and I read that series obsessively. By far the best book I've read in years. If you are capable of comprehending written prose, buy this book.

@Dawg
Rothfuss actually wrote the entire series in that ~14 year time span, not just the first book. That time, coupled with the final rounds of polishing with a professional editor, should ensure that the quality for the next two books is just as high as the first.

The only issue I have with this book is that the other books I've tried to read after this have felt mediocre in comparison