Nathan Hunt answers “Why is Denna so shittily written? In fact...”

Susan asked this question about The Wise Man's Fear (The Kingkiller Chronicle, #2):

Why is Denna so shittily written? In fact why is this thing full of wish fulfillment cardboard-cutouts? Also, why do women only have a decorative function in it?

Nathan Hunt

This answer contains spoilers… (view spoiler)[I tend to agree with the people that support the ideas opposed to yours. The women aren't lame at all. And Denna has some strengths, too. She's a good musician and she helps Kvothe not be a shitty person and he tries to help her with the same. But that's excusable, I think, because in the world there are shitty people in a variety of ways, Denna's way included.
Auri is similar because she helps Kvothe in the same way and he tries to help her. And her being the way she is, that's also excusable because something obviously happened to her that made her kind of messed up in the head. I don't know what that is because I haven't read The Slow Regard of Silent Things and it might explain it in there, but I feel like, if we don't, then we'll get that answer in book three.
Fela is a pretty awesome woman, too. True, she did need saving in the fire, but she was in the middle of it. I think that is an excuse to freak out some. Kvothe, as I remember it, was on the sidelines and took himself off of the bench after he was able to think about it while not being in the middle of the problem. She then, does fall for Kvothe a bit, but not too hard to ruin in. She falls for Simmon and they're much better together. She didn't fall in love with Simmon for a dumb reason, either. She actually needed a reason, which she found in the Archives that one time, which I thought was kinda cute. Fela is pretty awesome, though. She's not just pretty, she's really smart. She calls on the name of stone, after all and when she's not doing that, she's being smart in other places around the University.
Mola's pretty smart and good at her medical stuff, which may be a cliché, but I think she has other redeemable characteristics. She's an El'the, for one.
Devi is just Devi. She's not weak at all, I would say. She serves quite an important function with helping Kvothe financially, then gets mad at him for a while, so she doesn't only serve as a "deus ex machina" sort of character to help him.
Vashet is probably the most badass. 'Cause she's an awesome warrior that would totally kick Kvothe's butt and she helps him not suck so much.
I could go on for quite a bit longer with Lyra, Laurian, and a few more. I think the reason that most of the characters that Kvothe is predominantly surrounded by are male is because he is a male. Teenage boys tend to be friends with their like, but that doesn't mean there are exceptions and there are plenty of awesome exceptions. In the beginning of TNotW, Kvothe doesn't really seem to have any friends, so he's only with his drunkard customers in the Waystone Inn as Kote or with his family as the young Kvothe. When he's in Turbean, he's, more or less, completely on his own, so there is really no one. I think the fact that the dude the helps all of the orphaned kids and such being male is a good thing. It separates the story a bit more from stereotypical gender roles. It's a good book and I think you're wrong or are a bit narrow-minded at the least. (hide spoiler)]

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The Wise Man's Fear

by Patrick Rothfuss (Goodreads Author)

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