A magician, a thief, an assassin, and a musician. Kvothe, the main character of The Name of the Wind, the first book of The Kingkiller Chronicles by Patrick Rothfuss has many titles, but as admirers of this elegant, yet action-filled tale can attest, he is best known as a legend. “The flavor of [The Name of the Wind] was very good…even after re-reading it like, twenty-five times I never got bored,” sophomore Elliott Tong said. “It’s because I have [a strong] connection with the main character.” The Name of the Wind tells the story of how Kvothe, originally a part of a troupe of traveling players, managed to become the most infamous magician the world has ever seen–but not before he encounters his share of tragedies and triumphs, becoming an orphan and entering a legendary school of magic along the way. Besides the appeal a multi-dimensional, nuanced character provides, this novel also has an exhilarating storyline as readers experience Kvothe’s many adventures through his eyes, over the course of 722 pages. Tong enjoys the long nature of this book, as he believes that “longer books have to prove themselves, they have to prove its worth my time to read them…[but the author]can build on it [the plot] more, longer books are more thoughtful,” Tong said. “When you read shorter books, sometimes it feels like the plot is rushed. A lot goes unsaid.” Out of five stars, Tong would give this masterpiece a 7.

Elliott’s Recommended (Long) Novels:

1. The Eye of the World, The Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan— “You don’t really know what’s going to happen next, even with the foreshadowing, because the author makes it really ridiculous.[The plot] generally isn’t what you expect,” Tong said.
2. The Way of Kings, The Stormlight Archive series Brandon Sanderson—“It’s a soldier’s tale. It’s kind of political but with  fantasy and magic [added in]. The book doesn’t stick to one viewpoint [which] sometimes it doesn’t work, for books. This time it worked. It [seemed] realistic, in a fictional way,” Tong said.