[2] The series centers on a man named Kvothe, an infamous adventurer and musician telling his life story to a scribe.

The main plot, making up the majority of the books and concerning the actual details of Kvothe's life, is told in the first person.

The series is framed as the transcription of his three-day-long oral autobiography, where he "trouped, traveled, loved, lost, trusted and was betrayed".

[8] This eventually led him to meeting his agent, who helped Rothfuss revise the first third of the story—now entitled The Name of the Wind—and sold it to DAW,[9] which published the book in March 2007.

[19] In 2020, Rothfuss's publisher and editor Elizabeth Wollheim expressed frustration with the delay, stating she had not read "a word" of the book nine years on.

[20] In 2021, Rothfuss apologized for the long delay in releasing The Doors of Stone, citing issues in his personal life and his mental health as reasons.

[32][33][34][35] Showtime began developing the series as of October 2017 but ended their involvement two years later in September, causing the rights to return to Lionsgate TV, which is shopping it around.

[36][37] Lindsey Beer was hired to write the screenplay for the film in 2016,[38] while Sam Raimi was announced as the director in 2018,[39] one of several who reportedly sought the role.

[45] Authors such as Brandon Sanderson,[46] Ursula K. Le Guin, Robin Hobb, Tad Williams, Anne McCaffrey,[47] and Michael Chabon[48] have expressed their admiration for the series.

Lin-Manuel Miranda credited the books for inspiring a song in his show Hamilton, as well as a story beat in the Walt Disney film Moana.