I read The Name of the Wind, as well. I'm just wrapping up A Wise Man's Fear, too. I'd also highly recommend these books; they're probably the greatest literature I've ever read.

@ Ice2SeeYou: That's probably because the authour originally wrote the trilogy as one long story, and when he finally finished it, it was something like 1300 pages long -- too big for one book. He split it up into thirds, and you're right, I don't think it wraps things up very well in between the breaks in volumes. 4 years is a long time to put down a book for and then pick it back up and continue reading again! If I hadn't read A Wise Man's Fear immediately after The Name of the Wind, there'd probably be a lot of details that would have slipped out of my memory, as well.