Patrick Rothfuss - The Name of the Wind

The book has already become a classic of foreign science fiction, and for good reason.

Traditionally medieval world. But here we will not find witches and dense peasants burned at the stake. In general, the world is quite prosperous, friendly and subtly attractive. Yes, there is a place for meanness and evil intentions, but all this is at the everyday level.

We will meet magic here, but not in the traditional form. Here magic is more of a craft that obeys strict laws and requires both personal strength and knowledge of the laws of nature. Well, those who have reached heights in the craft are able to directly rule the world. More precisely, not to manage, but rather to “advise”. And if the world listens to you, you can do great things. “You just” need to know the name of, for example, fire - and you are able to control it. But if the initial levels are precisely a craft, then naming is difficult to explain and therefore it remains the lot of a few.

The main character is also very different from the traditional image. We can observe his fate from early childhood. Nature has generously endowed him with abilities, but at the same time, he works every day and hourly and develops what is given to him. Moreover, he gained abilities not only in magic, but also in acting. Which is not surprising, given that he was born into a troupe of traveling artichts.

There are also otherworldly forces in the world. Even if people don’t like magic, they don’t consider it evil. But it turns out that there are forces hostile to people. Moreover, even about their existence only vague rumors are known, which are transmitted among the people in songs and fairy tales. The hero also thought so, until those who were considered fairy-tale characters killed all his relatives. And then it’s a matter of life’s work to find out who they are, and most importantly, why they did this. But where can a teenage boy find out the truth about legendary characters that ordinary people consider fiction? Only in a place where knowledge is collected and people are taught magic. Only now he has no money, no acquaintances, the only thing he is lucky with is that on his travels his troupe met an old magician who noticed his potential and was able to teach him the basics of his craft. So the boy has to literally break through to his goal.

The first book of the trilogy is dedicated to the beginning of schooling. And yes, you shouldn’t look for throwing fireballs and summoning demons here. There are no clashes between thousands of armies and powerful archmages. There are people here who, bit by bit, comprehend the laws of their world and learn to use this knowledge.

Separately, it is worth highlighting the very high level of the language (special thanks must be given to the translators, because the book was originally written in English). Descriptions of nature, the life of artists, the difficult everyday life of students - almost every piece of the mosaic is worked out to the smallest detail and creates a holistic sense of the world.

A classic of English science fiction, one of the top 100 best English-language books in this genre

Non-standard concept of magic

A hero with considerable abilities who achieves everything himself

Mysteries that are just beginning to be revealed to the hero

Fans of epic battles of armies of many thousands can safely skip reading