The Name of the Wind, by Patrick Rothfuss
pros: well-written; interesting characters; interesting world; Auri; Denna; Kvothe; Sim and Wil; Ben; the trials at the Arcanum are very realistic and characters are well-written
cons: a bit too wordy; not enough action; I would have preferred more information on what it’s really all about; the whole world seems to be against Kvothe; a little too deliberately mysterious
ISBN 075640407X; 896pp; pub. 2007
Tigana, by Guy Gavriel Kay
pros: well-written; some likable characters; well-developed world, familiar enough yet also obviously a fantasy world; many underlying themes
cons: I’m not sure what it was really about – fate? unity in the face of a common foe? redemption? futility?; I would have preferred one main character instead of the various characters, or at least just Devin and Dianora; more sex than was necessary; the edition I read from the library was a very low production quality with faded ink, many typos, and repeated pages. The one listed below looks like a different edition.
misc: music is a big part of story; Devin is a great singer; villains are juxtaposed, one might preferred over the other but is more powerful and driven by revenge and the other is more casually destructive and has the threat of total domination of a foreign power behind him; slightly Russian flair to names for Tigana and its folklore, rest of island culture seems like renaissance Italy
ISBN 0451457765; 688 pp; special ed., 1999
Swordspoint, by Ellen Kushner
pros: the prose; Richard and Alec’s romance/relationship is twisted but interesting; well-drawn decadence; excellent characterizations; swordsmen as professional duelists acting for nobility isn’t new, but point of view of swordsmen and their life is more detailed than usual; not so much an antihero as antiheroic
cons: homosexual romance, although beautifully written, was too much for my tastes and distracted from the story – it would have been enough to establish their particular preferences, that this world accepts same sex relationships as totally mundane, and that Richard does apparently care about someone; intrigue, drama, and violence are a major part of story; fascination with violence and blood presented as a sexually desirable trait; some predictability
ISBN 368pp; pub. 2003 (paperback edition)
The Knight, by Gene Wolfe
pros: Gylf; interesting characters and settings; some interesting dilemmas; good portrayal of a boy in a man’s body–consistent throughout; duology rather than long series
cons: meandering account with many detours; constant references to common knowledge reader doesn’t share; contrived situations; cliffhanger
Part One of the Wizard Knight series
ISBN 0765347016; 544 pp; 2005 (reprint)
The Hero and the Crown, by Robin McKinley
pros: good author; interesting heroine; premise; folkloric feel; Luthe; evil/mean cousins; growing up royal but as a misfit; effects of dragon remnants
cons: brutality; the ending was a little weak–it could have been more defined; two loves
ISBN 0441013058; 304 pages, pub. 2007 (orig. 1984?)
Tomoe Gozen, by Jessica Amanda Salmonson
pros: Japanese mythology/pantheon; plot and premise; women are powerful and not just decorative; reads a bit like a quest without being drawn out; some good fight scenes
cons: some stereotypical villians; maybe too self-consciously clever; Tomoe was annoying at times when she’s so self-absorbed
ISBN 0441816533; 274 pp; pub. 1984
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