That is so difficult to answer. On the one hand you could say it was Harry Potter for adults - orphan goes to univeristy to learn magic that will help him avenge the death of his parents - but that does it a grave disservice, because of the worldbuilding, the depth of the writing (IMHO, naturally), and the characterisation.
On the other hand, I'm struggling to think what would compare. I think it's one of those books that defines fantasy in a different way, for us, much like Peter Brett did in The Painted Man (The Warded man in the USA). Because the story is narrated to Chronicler, who arrives at the (fallen) hero's inn, it's mostly in the 1st person, so the action never strays from Kvothe. As he's looking back, he presages very well the fact that bad things have happened, and I can't remember reading a book that's done this in this way, and succeeded. Dracula?
Read it and see! The Name of The Wind - the first in the trilogy is in paperback, and by the time you've read it three or four times, so will Wise Man's Fears, be!