At the BYOB Party in May, there were two fantasy novels that took center stage.

One was a book Siddharth read called The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss; this was the first book in a series called The Kingkiller Chronicle. The book deals with the near perfect character and how his own talents  nearly destroy him. Since the first book has come out, the second book has been released and now fans impatiently await the third.

The story is about a young man who becomes the most notorious magician the world has ever seen. The story chronicles his childhood spent in a crime-ridden city and his bid to enter a legendary school. The book seems to have won many hearts and one I look forward to reading it some time.

Anish Bhargav was unfamiliar with the fantasy genre until he started reading Lord Of The Rings and Hobbit.  “It’s a book that changed my life,” Anish said. While many of his friends found Tolkien’s style rather slow moving, he found Tolkien’s pace admirable. This epic fantasy novel  takes us through the War of the Ring, with villains such as Dark Lord Sauron, hobbits, dwarves and wizards.

Spoiler Alert! He also talked about how the book reminded of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Tolkien was influenced by his experience in the war and his characters reflect war weariness. After all his adventures, Frodo Baggins, the protagonist of the story, fades out of existence in Middle Earth. He never heals as it is with battle stricken warriors. Anish vouched for the movies as well, “The movies are very different from the book- far more adventurous, but fun to watch. The books are philosophical and these two perspectives worked very well for me.” He watched the movies only after reading the book.

More news about the BYOB Party in Part 5.