Wednesday, May 25, 2016

Name of the Wind - Chapters 7 - 9

Chapter 7
Kote will only accept that his story be taken down verbatim, and wants to be able to check it himself, so he has Chronicler teach him his shorthand method. He is able to learn it in under an hour. He begins his tale by discussing all the names he has gone by.

The author slowly reveals bits of background without context, building curiosity about Kotes' background. And - yay - we learn how to pronounce his true name!

Chapter 8

Kote begins his tale of his childhood as a member of a wandering troupe of performers . He says they are Edema Ruh, which seems to be something like gypsies. His father is the head of the company and his mother is a former noblewoman. One night he sees and old man named Abenthy use real magic while his troupe was visiting a small town. Abenthy appears to be down on his luck, and Kote recruits him to join the group.

Sounds like the start of a coming-of-age origin story. I usually don't go in for the stuff -- it's been done so much in fantasy, but Kote seems to have an interesting origin with an air of mystery.  I wonder how his artistic past will figure into the later story.

Chapter 9
Kote begins to learn about the arcane from Abenthy. Abenthy is secretly preparing him for the university.


We learn a little more background on arcanists and how magic works. There is the whole naming thing, which seems to be the major method, and some other unique mechanics as well.

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