I didn't like "Name of the Wind," but I liked the concept behind it. So I decided to give "First Binding" a try and was very disappointed. While it's true that the name "Name of the Wind" was borrowed from others, it didn't copy the entire story of the book. "First Binding" had a good start, but then I noticed some familiar lines—Virdi straight up stole them. He took a lot of important stuff and barely made any changes to it. There are some scenes that are his own, and that shows he isn't a terrible writer at all. That's why I hope he deviates in the sequel. However, the title "Doors of Midnight" gives me pause.
I found Ari to be more realistic than Kvothe. It's very clear that he's moderately talented and has great PR. Compared to him, Kvothe was overly talented, almost like a Gary Stu. However, I feel like Ari is too much of a "neckbeard muh lady" type of guy. He literally mimicked a horse in front of a woman. If I were a woman, I would have ditched his ridiculous ass right then and there. Kvothe's childhood was interesting, but Ari's hit differently. There was a scene where the author literally made him similar to Locke. He even made him do the vomit trick that Locke did in the prologue of the first book. I found adult Ari to be ridiculous. The way he reacted to Eloine gave me second-hand embarrassment.
Like, dude, what are you, 13? Now, Eloine is not charming. Her humor reminded me of a 14-year-old edge lord, and it seems like the author thinks she's funny, which makes it worse. I didn't understand how Ari was even attracted to her and how easily he told her his story, considering he's on the run from people. She never felt charming; she was just very annoying and lacked personal boundaries. Also, Virdi literally described her like Esmeralda, and the only difference is that Eloine has lighter skin and her personality sucks. But I do like the fact that she calls Ari out on his Incel BS.
The world-building is great, but what I hated was that it didn't feel South Asian at all. Slapping on Indian-sounding names doesn't make it Indian. I didn't get the vibe at all, and this is coming from someone who lived there and grew up listening to Hindu myths. Virdi, if he had done any research, could have found numerous things that he could have incorporated into the story instead of shamelessly taking them from "Name of the Wind." Also, the way he described fat characters and that one darker-skinned character is a bit odd. Maybe I'm looking too much into this, but this is something I've seen common among old fantasy writers. The prose was okay, but occasionally it felt too purple. He used it a lot in situations where it wasn't necessary.
Overall, I would rate it 2 out of 5.
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