History YMMV / TheKingkillerChronicle

* TheWoobie: Auri, due to her homelessness and implied DarkAndTroubledPast. Kvothe after his parents' death manages to surpass Auri; the Tarbean chapters are downright painful to read. In ''The Wise Man's Fear," the two girls enslaved by the [[spoiler: fake Edema Ruh]].

* PlotTumor: The interminable interlude of faerie sex. Granted, 60 pages in a book with almost a thousand pages is only 6% of the book, and it sets up some of the most important plot points moving forward, including the [[spoiler:Cthaeh]].

** Book 1 was published in 2007. The second book was published in 2011, which isn't so bad. A couple short stories and a novella were again published a few years later, in 2013/2014. As of 2023, however, it's been almost a decade since those were released and there's still no word on when ''The Doors of Stone'' will come out, which is especially frustrating for some readers considering that it'll contain all the payoff for the first two books' set-up.

%%* Crazy Awesome: Elodin, possibly even in-universe.
%%* EnsembleDarkhorse: Auri, Devi, and Elodin.

-->'''Bast:''' [angrily waving a note Kvothe left him] What am I, some dockside whore?

** Kvothe. While he does acknowledge having committed mistakes through his life and considers his past self a bit of a cocky prick, it's also noticeable that he has also done (and still does) a lot of questionable things that his present self does not condemn at all, neither explicitly nor implicitly. His enmity with Ambrose, for instance, is surprisingly one-sided and he has no trouble painting it as such, even claiming it's Ambrose's fault for getting on his way. He makes a lot of idiotic decisions, like trying to use improperly the University's goods, annoying masters by hardheadness or pedantry, and even literally assaulting underworld figures with little premeditation, yet his narration usually [[NeverMyFault puts the fault on circumstances or everybody except him]]. He indulges in petty thievery, bribery and even literal embezzlement, some of them against people and institutions that had previously been nice to him, all while critizing Ambrose and other wealthy characters for doing similar things. He also falls in violent vigilantism once he becomes a martial artist, even although he supposedly abhors whenever someone abuses his authority or power. Finally, he even threatens a chronicler for trying to do his job of writing down the objective truth and not the way the story's protagonist wants it! While the story might be making the point that you cannot get away with so many things and that you will pay for them sooner or later, it's hard to take it when the character that is supposed to be TheAtoner is overlooking most of his past misdoings.

** Book 1 was published in 2007. The second book was published in 2011, which isn't so bad. A couple short stories and a novella were again published a few years later, in 2013/2014. As of 2021, however, it's been a decade since ''The Wise Man's Fear'' was released and there's still no word on when ''The Doors of Stone'' will come out, which is especially frustrating for some readers considering that it'll contain all the payoff for the first two books' set-up.

* BaseBreakingCharacter: Denna comes off as TheScrappy to many, who often find her annoying and unsympathetic for what they perceive as knowingly toying with Kvothe only to spend her free time while she is not luring rich guys to make a living. Conversely, many people like her for being a rare three-dimensional LoveInterest who provides both conflict and respite (alternatively) to the story thanks to how much she matters to Kvothe.

** The announcement that Rothfuss would be releasing a novella centered on minor character Auri, ''Literature/TheSlowRegardOfSilentThings'', had fans either excited to see a new perspective of the Kingkiller world, especially that of an enigmatic character, or disappointed that he wasn't devoting his attention to the much-anticipated third book. Upon release there was further split, as some found it an uninteresting and irrelevant story (instead of something giving background to Auri, as many expected the novella would be about) and criticized Rothfuss for disappointing them and wasting their time, while others praised the unconventional story and its exploration of Auri's character. The controversial note by Rothfuss and Vi Hart at the end of the book only worsens things.

* StrawmanHasAPoint: For all that Ambrose is exceedingly prejudiced against the Edema Ruh and abusing his influence to attack him, by the end of the first book Kvothe has in fact robbed him and committed an act of extreme malfeasance against him.

** Kvothe. While he does acknowledge having committed mistakes through his life and considers his past self a bit of a cocky prick, it's also noticeable that he has done lot of questionable things that his present self does not condemn at all, neither explicitly nor implicitly. His enmity with Ambrose, for instance, is surprisingly one-sided and he has no trouble painting it as such, even claiming it's Ambrose's fault for getting on his way. He makes a lot of idiotic decisions, like trying to use improperly the University's goods, annoying masters by hardheadness or pedantry, and even literally assaulting underworld figures whose power he doesn't know, yet his narration usually [[NeverMyFault puts the fault on circumstances or everybody except him]]. He indulges in petty thievery, bribery and even literal embezzlement, some of them against people and institutions that had previously been nice to him, all while critizing Ambrose and other wealthy characters for doing similar things. He also falls in violent vigilantism once he becomes a martial artist, even although he supposedly abhors whenever someone abuses his authority or power. Finally, he even threatens a chronicler for trying to do his job of writing down the objective truth and not the way the story's protagonist wants it! While the story might be making the point that you cannot get away with so many things and that you will pay for them sooner or later, it's hard to take it when the character that is supposed to be TheAtoner is overlooking most of his past misdoings.

** Denna too; the book desperately wants you to feel sorry for her because she has to live from the kindness of strangers, but since we don't know ''why'' Denna wanders around scamming random men, plus the fact that she greatly seems to enjoy toying with everyone around her, including Kvothe, it's hard to see her as anything but a self-righteous GoldDigger. What's more, she often acts condescending and snarky towards Kvothe, behaving as if she were morally superior to him only for having lived through a (slightly) harder life, despite many moments in the story showing her as being surprisingly conceited, petty, and not any slower to manipulate and cheat than Kvothe himself (and this extends also to Denna generally acting as if she is a genius, just because she somehow can always see through him when he's lying, when all she is during their adventure together is TheLoad, and not a very pleasant one). Kvothe also gives her endless CharacterShilling over how beautiful and amazing she is, but considering she's the only female character in the plot that gets any attention by him, it kind of comes of like Kvothe praises her because she's the girl he loves, not because she's special in any way. Bast even lampshades the last of this by pointing out she's not as beautiful and perfect as Kvothe thinks she is.

* HilariousInHindsight: Kote was a caravan guard [[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim until he took an arrow to the knee.]]

* HilariousInHindsight: Kote was a caravan guard [[VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim until he took an arrow to the knee.]] Some suspect the line is actually a deliberate ShoutOut to the meme.

* SpiritualAdaptation: The series is a good fantasy update of Mika Waltari's classic historical novel ''Literature/TheEgyptian'': a retired main character who is telling his life story, in which he was a boy who lost his parents early and in a dramatic way, met a sexy girl who lures men for a living, became a physician, travelled through several cultures and countries, clashed with his school's academia, gained wealth only to lose it several times, got involved in wars and courtly matters, met a supernatural being which supposedly brings death to those who see it, killed a king, and finally paid the consequences. Similarities between Sinuhe and Kvothe just increase with the hints that the latter [[spoiler:might be unknowingly related to royalty]] just like the former.

* WhatAnIdiot: In ''The Name of the Wind'', sure, Denna, why don't you just stick a random substance you find lying around an abandoned house in your mouth? WhatCouldPossiblyGoWrong Oh, except it's actually denner resin and therefore poisonous.

* AwesomenessWithdrawal: Book 1 was published in 2007. The second book was published in 2011, which isn't so bad. A couple short stories and a novella were again published a few years later, in 2013/2014. As of 2021, however, it's been a decade since ''The Wise Man's Fear'' was released and there's still no word on when ''The Doors of Stone'' will come out, which is especially frustrating for some readers considering that it'll contain all the payoff for the first two books' set-up.

* HypeBacklash:
** When ''The Name of the Wind'' was published in 2007, it got lots of positive hype for being a fresh take on the fantasy genre with a compelling protagonist, with even Creator/GeorgeRRMartin praising it for a healthy boost in popularity. However, by the late 2010's backlash had started to kick in for readers, not only due to the frustration over the increasingly long wait-time for the trilogy to be concluded, but also because the trilogy's started being reevaluated following the release of the second book, a ContestedSequel that arguably did little to advance the main story (and the same could further be said of the novellas). Kvothe himself, who had been previously praised as a main character, was increasingly seen as an UnintentionallyUnsympathetic protagonist whose actions became more and more questionable, while other characters like Denna and Auri either evoked similar views or felt underdeveloped for all their interest. Even if the series isn't usually considered bad, its flaws are much more visible and commented on now, with some readers reserving their final judgement for when the story is finished and/or fearing the third book will simply never be able to meet the lofty expectations regardless of quality.
** To show the extent of the backlash, the latter eventually [[https://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2020/jul/29/first-george-rr-martin-now-patrick-rothfuss-the-curse-of-sequel-hungry-fans reached]] Rothfuss' own editor Betsy Wollheim, who engaged in controversial Facebook rants about her belief that Rothfuss hadn't written anything in six years and her opinion he was screwing both his fans and his publishers with the delay. While she later added that she would be "instantly forgiving" if she ever saw a draft for the third book, the feeling was common to many fans, among which some even vowed openly to pirate the book when it finally comes out to avoid giving Rothfuss any money.

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: For some, the [[spoiler:Fake Edema Ruh]] arc late in the second book had shades of this. Kvothe runs into another troupe of Edema Ruh, the first he's encountered since his childhood. He spends the evening in their company, but a feeling of gradual unease begins to creep up on him as the night goes on, cemented by the appearance of two teenage girls the troupe had abducted and made into sex slaves. Kvothe is reasonably disturbed and appalled by this, and retires in order to plot what to do about it. [[spoiler:Faced with proof that corruption and atrocity are present in even the apparently flawless Edema Ruh, you'd think this would be a huge blow to Kvothe's romanticized bias toward his people; but of course, it turns out they were bandits merely impersonating the Ruh, which Kvothe had quickly twigged right from the start due to the various minor holes in their Ruh knowledge.]] While still given a [[RoaringRampageOfRevenge relatively satisfying conclusion]], TheReveal removed some of the emotional depth the text was [[RedHerring seemingly]] building up to and reinforced the Ruh's MarySueTopia characterization.

** Similarly, the time spent in Ademre. It's either a very interesting subplot that enriches the story by showing a different culture of ProudWarriorRaceGuys, with an interesting philosophy in the Lethani. Or they are a [[MarySuetopia country]] of [[CantArgueWithElves pretentious]], [[IRejectYourReality anti-intellectual]], [[WomenAreWiser sexist]], [[ArrogantKungfuGuy arrogant kung-fu guys]] who belittle everyone else for their perceived shortcomings while [[{{Hypocrite}} ignoring their own backward and strange taboos]], not to mention that the entire time there doesn't advance the MythArc barring a short conversation at the end.

* MarySueTopia
** The Edema Ruh are the greatest performers in the world. They treat each other like family, with no petty rivalries or distrust between groups. They're always kind and generous to fellow travelers. And they ''never'' commit crimes. It's not clear how much of this characterization is due to Kvothe being an UnreliableNarrator.
** The Adem, an entire society of warrior-philosophers. They're ruled by their elite mercenary schools whose martial arts secrets are several orders of magnitude greater than any other society's, to the point that their lowliest, stupidest members look like superheroes compared to other people. They seem to lack crime, corruption and poverty, while all of them have iron-clad composure, and their leaders are selected purely on merit. They have absolutely no sexual inhibitions, yet also no venereal diseases, which is somehow unrelated to having a medicinal skill that inexplicably rivals the greatest academic institutions. They live in great wealth and comfort, but without needless frills or vanity. Their language is far more subtle and elegant than any other and does not even need verbal action. Heck, even their food is delicious. While they do have a number of oddities, those are all justified for how perfect they are: their culture believes that women are inherently better than men, but they are a meritocracy, so their sexism is basically justified by the presumable evidence of this conclusion; and they also disapprove of music played in public, but only because they cherish it so much.

%%* CrazyAwesome: Elodin, possibly even in-universe.