As I said with “Name of the Wind” you have to treat this book, that clocks in at over 42 hours as separate books combined into one. In this case, it’s three distinct stories that could have been three separate books. Keep that in mind. 

My best analogy for the protagonist, Kvothe, is this: the timing of Forrest Gump, the wisdom of Ender, and the wit of Bean. This time the setting is at first the Hogwarts-esque school but soon ventures far afield. And now Kvothe adds to his skills by becoming the fantasy equivalent of Jason Bourne. 

And I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the elf sex scenes. There’s always that as an incentive to read this three-books-combined-into-one fantasy novel. 

I love this series so much I don’t even know where to begin. Let’s get one thing out of the way, the books are very long. This one clocks in at over 27 hours, however, it’s more like two distinct books than just one. 

But let’s talk about Kvothe, the protagonist. Take the best aspects of Ender (a child far smarter than his age), add in the orphan story of Bean (see Ender’s Shadow), then mix in the luck of Forrest Gump (always in the right place at the right time—or wrong place at the wrong time) but obviously with wit of Ender or Bean, then add in the wizarding school aspects of Harry Potter (including the rivalries) and that’s book one. In a fantasy world, of course. And that doesn’t really do it justice. 

This series will be the best fantasy series you’ve read in a long time.