Kvothe—the infamous, legendary Kvothe—has been living under an assumed name when the Chronicler tracks him down and asks him for his life story. Kvothe relates the story of his early years: his precocious talents for music and arcanism (magic); the happy childhood that ends when his parents and their troupe are murdered by an ancient evil; his years as a feral street child; and his early entrance into the University to study the Arcanum, where his brilliance makes him a star and his reck­less­ness brings him much grief.

Discursive and en­ter­tain­ing. Despite the su­per­fi­cial sim­i­lar­i­ties to Harry Potter, this is an adult tale, full of depth and complexity.