The Name of the Wind: The Kingkiller Chronicle: Day One (review)

The Name of the Wind: The Kingkiller Chronicle: Day One by Patrick Rothfuss is the story of the legendary Kvothe told in his own words.

The story opens up in a small hotel located in some out of the way village.  The town's men seem to frequent the hotel to drink and tell stories. As the story progresses, we soon learn that there is more to the man who runs the hotel than meets the eye.  Our suspicions are confirmed when a scribe arrives in town claiming to know who this hotel owner really is and wanting to hear his story. Though  reluctant at first, the hotel owner eventually opens up and tells his tale.

This is where the story gets kind of awesome.  the voice of the hero looking back on this life telling of his triumphs, tragedies, fears, etc. made for a very interesting and believable character and life.  it also helps that the author is a master with words, and the story flowed quite well.  if I had any criticism it would be some of the scenes seemed to either be tacked on or maybe drug just a little.  That being said I highly recommend this book to fans of fantasy.
 I even think people who are not big into the fantasy genre would like it.  (the second book in this trilogy is out, but I have not read it yet.

I give this book a solid 4 stars. 

read it

Darkness Comes This Way (review)

Darkness Comes This Way is the soon to be released debut novel by Pixie Lynn Whitfield. For full disclosure I will mention I know Mrs Whitfield, and she is a friend. This fact will not influence my review in any way. My review is of an ARC. I normally mention my criticisms first, but I am saving them for last this time To me this vampire story is both familiar and fresh on the surface there are no new ideas here, but the story presents them in some pretty original ways with some creative world building that made the suspension of belief easy. I cant give anything away, but I found the overall plot to be strong with good pacing and unpredictable but fair turns. Another thing I personally liked about the story is how it mixed elements of action and mystery. The characters are pretty strong too. They are well rounded, and I found them to be quite believable. Before the critiques I have a sort of in between area I liked and disliked, the descriptions. They were well done, but I felt a bit overboard at times. My critiques are on what I call a micro level, in the scenes. The first is I thought some of the verb usage was a little weak using passive voice at the wrong times and relying too much on ly adverbs. My other critique was the strategy in the writing of a few of the scenes. A few times I was told how the character felt during the scene after it was over instead of being shown during the "action." While the second critique did break me from the story a few times it was

always easy to get back in. I recommend this book for anyone who likes vampire books and/or a good urban type adventure/mystery/fantasy. I give *** three stars