[3.5 rounded up to 4 stars]

There were enough things that frustrated me in this book to prevent a higher rating. The dialog and narration are occasionally awkward, some patterns (such as nearly every chapter ending with something along the lines of "little did I know how wrong I was about to be proven") are irritating, and while chasing after the careless girl when there's no shortage of superior options is romantic (if not idiotic) ...it does make me feel less sympathy for the protagonist when it gets him into trouble.

That said, the book was a lot of fun. Yes, it slowed down a good deal around the halfway mark, and I got the feeling that a lot of people, places, and stories were introduced that are not important and will not be resolved in the next book (and reviews of the next book seem to agree). But for some reason I didn't mind too much. Reading THE NAME OF THE WIND felt a lot like reading a [a:Jay Lake|234088|Jay Lake|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1245101039p2/234088.jpg] book; the world-building is impressive and the settings stick in your head, but the plot itself meanders and sidesteps and cheats you with too much Deus Ex Machina.

I'll definitely read [b:The Wise Man's Fear|1215032|The Wise Man's Fear (The Kingkiller Chronicle, #2)|Patrick Rothfuss|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1297311431s/1215032.jpg|2502882], and even if I like it less than THE NAME OF THE WIND, I'll read the next book too. Despite my complaints, I really like the world Rothfuss has created here, and I'm anxious to go back.