Chance's Take on Books

2.5 stars, and yes, I rounded my rating to 3 but I can't say I really enjoyed the story. Kvothe and I lacked chemistry--in fact he annoyed me, much like that uninteresting bore at a party one night who told tales that were believable by half, and I just wanted to get away before the entire evening was wasted on someone I'll never want to see again. The young Kvothe was supposed to be a mature youth, which is possible, yet he seemed to be either way too mature or way too young depending on the needs of the story. His speech and cunning varied to an extent that I felt a lack of internal consistency. His courtship of Denna never rang true, and their dialogue hit one bad cord after another.

Some of the ideas in the novel were intriguing, which is why I rounded the rating to 3 stars. I enjoyed the looney, brilliant and mysterious Elodin, and would like to know more about the Chandrians and meth-eating dragons. The story was strongest in the beginning, up to Kvothe starting at the wizard's university, which I suspect was part of the same school system as the one Harry Potter attended, but less fleshy and whimsical.

The writing was middling, competent, and well edited, but nothing to inspire awe, but there's nothing wrong with that if the story is compelling. I'm certain not to go further with the series, but what do I know? The series has fans, and I would have loved to have been one of them.