I've seen this criticism heaped upon the book loads of time, and thought it would be interesting to see what people think. Is Kvothe a Gary Stu figure?

He's supposedly a brilliant musician, a brilliant student, a brilliant storyteller (or so the author would have us believe), etc.

And, of course, that ridiculous cover did not help.

For myself, I took the Gary Stu moments to be caused by narrative bias. It only makes sense that a legend chronicling his rise to power will be unlikely to mention major weaknesses and mishaps in his early life.

Added to this, the fact that there is an ulterior motive to Kvothe's story telling, it may well be that he has a purpose in not revealing all about his early days. I'd not be surprised if significant connections exist between the second trilogy's events and the issues dealt with in the first few books.