Shinovar and the Shin

[heridfel]

We finally got Szeth’s detailed flashbacks and his life story. I was looking forward to gaining some insight into the Shin, as Szeth is by all accounts atypical: a trained assassin from a culture which prizes peace. The only other Shin I recall from the previous books was a merchant who negotiated by pointing out all the things which were wrong with his own goods.

But when I sat down after finishing Wind and Truth, I felt like I didn’t know anything about Shinovar that I didn’t already know. Szeth goes from sheep herder to warrior monk in the blink of an eye, and both professions are extremely isolated so Szeth doesn’t seem to interact with many people. When Szeth and Kaladin return to Shinovar, it is almost empty and the Shin people who they encounter seem like nameless NPCs in RPGs.

Shinovar has villages and towns, though none are large. Some people intentionally break the stone and metal taboos so they can get jobs, or are less religiously observant than Szeth. Did I miss anything substantive about Shinovar and Shin culture which couldn’t be extrapolated from what we already knew?

[Inevitability]

Props for the shoutout to all the nameless NPC’s out there

[who_slew_aicirtap she/they]

Theres the significance they put on color, the fact that they are regularly raided by people from Steen, they have elected officials instead of a monarchy, funny names, and... yeah I can't really think of anything else. I hope we get more of Shinovar in the future.