Meet Kote: mild-mannered innkeeper in a nothing town. But...wait up now...he's got a weird sword. And he seems to be the only one who (secretly) knows how to deal with the giant made-of-rock demon spiders that invade the area. And, wildest of all, he's got (dun-dun-duuuunnnnn) red hair. I'm sure that Gary's as excited as I am that I'm finally done with this book as now he no longer has to listen to my constant stream of "And get this" commentary.
Kote's actually Kvothe, subject of bar stories. He's famous for being super amazing in every situation. When Chronicler (a dude who, you know, chronicles stuff) comes asking for his story, Kvothe decides that, sure, he'll tell it. And then Rothfuss neatly deals with any continuity criticisms or poor storytelling by having Kvothe demand that Chronicler not change a dadgummed WORD, not even to clean up the narrative because this is Kvothe's story, dangit!
Kvothe is super smart. He's super talented. I get wish fulfillment...but to have a character whose only flaw seems to be that he is smarter than everyone else is beyond ridiculous. I couldn't have cared less about this arrogant ass -- and even if I HAD cared about him, I was never even tempted to worry about if he'd survive/get out of a situation because 1) he's the greatest mind in the entire world ever and 2) he's fine. He's sitting in his bar telling the story right now.
Super long and super full of itself without earning my time/attention by coming up with an interesting world or characters. If this hadn't been a book club choice, I would've quit reading within the first dozen pages.
D+
