R.R. Virdi

A wizard's sins follow him to the ends of the earth in The First Binding, the first novel of this new epic fantasy series from R.R. Virdi. All legends are borne of truths. And just as much lies. These are mine. Judge me for what you will. But you will hear my story first. I buried the village of Ampur under a mountain of ice and snow. Then I killed their god. I've stolen old magics and been cursed for it. I started a war with those that walked before mankind and lost the princess I loved, and wanted to save. I've called lightning and bound fire. I am legend. And I am a monster. My name is Ari. And this is the story of how I let loose the first evil. Thus begins the tale of a storyteller and a singer on the run and hoping to find obscurity in a tavern bar. But the sins of their past aren't forgotten, and neither are their enemies. Their old lives are catching up swiftly and it could cost them the entire world. No one can escape their pasts and all stories must have an ending.

Tales of Tremaine #1

The First Binding

I really don't understand how this book was okayed. I've got problems with pace and length and occasionally prose, but the main issue is this: it is entirely a carbon copy of The Name of the Wind. Like, EXACT copy, it's not even funny. 

Alex T Hughes

Clearly heavily inspired by The King killer chronicles, this is an excellent telling of the story of a living legend as told by the legend themselves. Stories told by a character in the book as the narrative method is quickly becoming a favorite of mine.

Jacob Henry

 was one of my most hesitantly anticipated books of the year. Let me explain. 

 loved this book so much, and shared a lot of passages from it as he read, and it sounded like it would scratch my 

 itch. And it did, almost too well. Despite the excessive amount of time between publications and the fact that we might never get the rest of Kvothe’s story, 

 has been my favorite book for over a decade. I’ve tried to shift favorites, to align myself more with other books or authors I respect immensely, but something about 

 captured a piece of my heart and still refuses to return it. So you would think that I’d fall head-over-heels for a well-told story that is so obviously inspired by my favorite novel. And you would be right, but with some serious caveats.

This is the story of Ari, who now goes strictly by the title of The Storyteller. He’s on the run from his past while also capitalizing on the mythos surrounding that past, which I found a fascinating balancing act. Our framework story follows Ari’s Storyteller persona in the present day, and I was enraptured by his abilities as a storyteller and the magic that he wove into the telling of his tales. Within that framework we also get the story of Ari’s past, most specifically his childhood up through the first year or so of his education, the very beginnings of the fearsome and nigh on mythological reputation he built for himself.

I love a good framework story. Not only does it allow you to become invested in your narrator on multiple fronts, it give said narrator more believable freedom to insert humor and asides into their narration in ways that wouldn’t be nearly as palatable without that constant reminder that they are telling their own story.

 I thought that Virdi utilized this style of storytelling very well, reminding me again of 

and so many more fantasy novels that I have loved first and foremost purely because of this format. I find it the wittiest and most enchanting form of storytelling, so I was thrilled to experience another book that wielded it so well.

I also loved the philosophical pondering housed in 

. Virdi’s prose isn’t quite lyrical, but it is profound.

 I found myself highlighting and annotating often, sharing quotes with my husband and coming back to them days later because they were still on my mind. There’s little that I love more in my reading life than a book that makes me think. If a book manages to make me think and feel? That’s a new favorite. 

 didn’t quite speak to my heart, but it resonated strongly with my mind.

While I was interested in Ari’s story from start to finish, I found myself having a hard time picking the book up because the pacing was agonizingly slow. 

 is less of a book and more of a tome, a brick of a novel that demands much of your time. It’s difficult to commit that time to a story that meanders so unhurriedly toward its destination, especially when you have so many other stories calling to you from your shelves. Once Ari finally reached his school days, the pace improved, but then I was faces with another conundrum as the similarities between this story and 

. Perhaps too closely. This feels like more than inspiration.

 From the poetic view of silence at the beginning of the book, to reputation of the orphaned main character and how they’re running for their past; from the search for the truth behind their heritage and their quest to find information on a supposedly mythological entity that others scoff at while our main character knows beyond a shadow of a doubt that these beings exist, and are malicious, as said beings are responsible for the slaughter of our main character’s birth or adopted families; from buying their way into school to enduring some type of punishment in a way that builds their reputation; from their cleverness to every discipline’s interest in them, outside of the discipline they most want to learn, under the tutelage of a brilliant but probably mad master. Even the cursing is nearly identical. I find these similarities too much at attribute to inspiration. It’s not plagiarism, as the writing was still very my Virdi’s own and the stories weren’t quite an exact match, but it still feels almost like theft to me.

, and I have a feeling that I’ll enjoy rereading it even more. I honestly can’t wait to see what Virdi does with the rest of the series, especially as I believe it will separate itself more and more from 

, we’ll actually get Ari’s tale in its entirety before 

 celebrated this year. If that is truly the case, perhaps my loyalties will finally swap to someone new, and I just might end up being among Virdi’s biggest fans. Time will tell.

Celeste Richardson

The First Binding was one of my most hesitantly anticipated books of the year. Let me explain. Petrik loved this book so much, and shared a lot of passages from it as he read, and it sounded like it would scratch my The Name of the Wind itch. And it did, almost too well. Despite the excessive amount of time between publications and the fact that we might never get the rest of Kvothe’s story, The Name of the Wind has been my favorite book for over a decade. I’ve tried to shift favorites, to align myself more with other books or authors I respect immensely, but something about The Name of the Wind captured a piece of my heart and still refuses to return it. So you would think that I’d fall head-over-heels for a well-told story that is so obviously inspired by my favorite novel. And you would be right, but with some serious caveats. 

This is the story of Ari, who now goes strictly by the title of The Storyteller. He’s on the run from his past while also capitalizing on the mythos surrounding that past, which I found a fascinating balancing act. Our framework story follows Ari’s Storyteller persona in the present day, and I was enraptured by his abilities as a storyteller and the magic that he wove into the telling of his tales. Within that framework we also get the story of Ari’s past, most specifically his childhood up through the first year or so of his education, the very beginnings of the fearsome and nigh on mythological reputation he built for himself.

I love a good framework story. Not only does it allow you to become invested in your narrator on multiple fronts, it give said narrator more believable freedom to insert humor and asides into their narration in ways that wouldn’t be nearly as palatable without that constant reminder that they are telling their own story. I thought that Virdi utilized this style of storytelling very well, reminding me again of The Name of the Wind as well as Blood Song and The Empire of the Vampireand so many more fantasy novels that I have loved first and foremost purely because of this format. I find it the wittiest and most enchanting form of storytelling, so I was thrilled to experience another book that wielded it so well.

I also loved the philosophical pondering housed in The First Binding. Virdi’s prose isn’t quite lyrical, but it is profound. I found myself highlighting and annotating often, sharing quotes with my husband and coming back to them days later because they were still on my mind. There’s little that I love more in my reading life than a book that makes me think. If a book manages to make me think and feel? That’s a new favorite. The First Binding didn’t quite speak to my heart, but it resonated strongly with my mind.

While I was interested in Ari’s story from start to finish, I found myself having a hard time picking the book up because the pacing was agonizingly slow. The First Binding is less of a book and more of a tome, a brick of a novel that demands much of your time. It’s difficult to commit that time to a story that meanders so unhurriedly toward its destination, especially when you have so many other stories calling to you from your shelves. Once Ari finally reached his school days, the pace improved, but then I was faces with another conundrum as the similarities between this story and The Name of the Wind became even more pronounced.

So much of this mirrors The Name of the Wind. Perhaps too closely. This feels like more than inspiration. From the poetic view of silence at the beginning of the book, to reputation of the orphaned main character and how they’re running for their past; from the search for the truth behind their heritage and their quest to find information on a supposedly mythological entity that others scoff at while our main character knows beyond a shadow of a doubt that these beings exist, and are malicious, as said beings are responsible for the slaughter of our main character’s birth or adopted families; from buying their way into school to enduring some type of punishment in a way that builds their reputation; from their cleverness to every discipline’s interest in them, outside of the discipline they most want to learn, under the tutelage of a brilliant but probably mad master. Even the cursing is nearly identical. I find these similarities too much at attribute to inspiration. It’s not plagiarism, as the writing was still very my Virdi’s own and the stories weren’t quite an exact match, but it still feels almost like theft to me.

Despite my qualms, I did enjoy The First Binding, and I have a feeling that I’ll enjoy rereading it even more. I honestly can’t wait to see what Virdi does with the rest of the series, especially as I believe it will separate itself more and more from The Name of the Wind as Ari’s story progresses. And I’m hoping that, unlike the Kingkiller Chronicles, we’ll actually get Ari’s tale in its entirety before The First Binding reaches its 15th anniversary, which The Name of the Wind celebrated this year. If that is truly the case, perhaps my loyalties will finally swap to someone new, and I just might end up being among Virdi’s biggest fans. Time will tell.

Stories and tales told by the fireside. Stories of gods and demons, of shadows and magic. Stories like these are magic in their own right.

🦉The First Binding is a storybook. One that deserves to live on a great ornate plinth. Or on the dusty shelves of a castle tower. With illuminated crackling pages and a scarred and pock mark cover. The plot itself developed quite slowly, up until about the last third. Then things took off spectacularly. The plot, especially in the beginning runs alongside stories. Stories told about the world and about himself.

✨This is a world of expansive cities, wild countrysides and snowcapped mountains. With beggar kings, merchant princes and wild mages.

🦉We follow the Storyteller, Ari, as he weaves shadows and fires for the taverns people. Where he tells old stories and adds his own. Drama, mystery and magic follows him like a shadow, even from his hard youth and his hard study of his skills. The magic system is at times kinda hard to follow but it’s very magical.

✨The best way I can describe this book is that it really is a storybook. It doesn’t read like most other fantasy books that I’ve read. It’s both slow and fast. The story’s go fast but the storytellers story goes slowly. It definitely helps to bookmark where some of these stories begins as they are great to refer back to.

I feel weird rating this one as it’s almost above rating, but purely rating my own enjoyment of it its a 3.5 star ⭐️

Alice Hyman

Stories and tales told by the fireside. Stories of gods and demons, of shadows and magic. Stories like these are magic in their own right.

🦉The First Binding is a storybook. One that deserves to live on a great ornate plinth. Or on the dusty shelves of a castle tower. With illuminated crackling pages and a scarred and pock mark cover. The plot itself developed quite slowly, up until about the last third. Then things took off spectacularly. The plot, especially in the beginning runs alongside stories. Stories told about the world and about himself.

✨This is a world of expansive cities, wild countrysides and snowcapped mountains. With beggar kings, merchant princes and wild mages.

🦉We follow the Storyteller, Ari, as he weaves shadows and fires for the taverns people. Where he tells old stories and adds his own. Drama, mystery and magic follows him like a shadow, even from his hard youth and his hard study of his skills. The magic system is at times kinda hard to follow but it’s very magical.

✨The best way I can describe this book is that it really is a storybook. It doesn’t read like most other fantasy books that I’ve read. It’s both slow and fast. The story’s go fast but the storytellers story goes slowly. It definitely helps to bookmark where some of these stories begins as they are great to refer back to.

I feel weird rating this one as it’s almost above rating, but purely rating my own enjoyment of it its a 3.5 star ⭐️

The First Binding Tales of Tremaine #1

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