Aha! I am glad to find another person who had the same problem with the rambling narrative in the LotR books. So it's not just me. ;)

The prose and world-building are fantastic, but omg I can't stand Kvothe. = ME. Hahaha. Somehow I like the prose and world-building ENOUGH that I've still managed to get through two whole huge books, but, yes. It was a lot harder in the second one b/c there is a big chunk of the book that's super boring, and there's even MORE of Kvothe being a douche, so, idk, you may be better off letting them lie! Heh.