Kvothe is a Mary Sue, absolutely, and I think the book would be a lot better if he weren't in it. The worldbuilding suffices, and I find some of the characters nice.
What made me angry is the portrayal of women. I didn't notice it in "Name of the Wind", but it was obvious in the sequel.
-Felurian: Allegedly a mysterious fairy of immeasurable power. And then, Kvothe, a 16 year old, manages to get hold of her true name, or whatever he was that made him think he could destroy her. Okay. Had he killed her that way, it would have been bad, but nothing worse than his Mary Sue-ness before.
But no! She sets him free because she can't live without his admiration! That's just so damn stupid. She's so damn stupid. He's a boy who had sex for the first time, and it was good, and she buys that he isn't overwhelmed because he hadn't enough sex with other women? How stupid is that?
Even taking into account that she's a fairy and all that - she's bound to know something about men if her whole life consists of seducing and killing them. (That's stupid, too - I hope we get an explanation for that in the third book ... then again, I hope not, as I fear it will be worse)
Later, we learn that women are instruments for Kvothe to play. Nothing more. And not only does he tell us that, he even defends himself by stating that it's okay because objectifying women is okay as long as you love the object enough. Sadly, the author's blog proves that this is not just Kvothe being a sexist teen boy, it's the author being sexist.
-the Adem: They could be interesting. But instead of actually showing their culture, Rothfuss concentrates on the fact that they have a lot of sex.
And all of them are beautiful. And heterosexual. Or at least those who are important. Carceret might be a lesbian.
I am not impressed by the "men are not important" talky-talky. This is not a matriarchy.It's a matrilineal society, yes, but that is not the same thing. Men are shown to do everything women do - especially and most important, fighting. Men can be breadwinners in this society. Women are considered to be superior fighters, yes, but this is never shown to have any real consequences. The first Adem we meet is a man!
And, most important, Adem women don't seem to hold the opinion (as they would if they lived in a matriarchy) that their looks don't matter. Those who are too ugly for Kvothe don't approach him, so apparently, they're ashamed of their uglyness.
Also, there are no homosexual men who want him, even though one would expect that, if sex is considered to be as intimate as a handshake, almost everyone would be bisexual.
Oh, and then their stupid ideas about human reproduction. Even if most people are bisexual, there would, probably, be some lesbians, or at least asexuals. Who would notice that, whatever they try, they can't become pregnant.
All the women in this book are just there to serve Kvothe. Either to have sex with him or to illustrate just how much he respects women. This is a problem because I got the impression he doesn't respect women as people, he respects them as one would "respect" a beautiful object, a great work of art.
One could argue that men (who aren't Kvothe) aren't treated much better, but that doesn't make it okay. It's still bad writing.
Regarding Denna, I don't get why people hate her so much. Okay, she's objectified, but so is every other woman in the book. Since I don't identify with Kvohte, it doesn't bother me in the least that she runs away from him.
She seems to be in love with him, but I can forgive that; sometimes, love just happens.