Oathbringer Update Five

[Oversleep]

https://www.reddit.com/r/Stormlight_Archive/comments/5dpic4/oathbringer_spoilers_stormlight_three_update_5/

We're at 93% now.

Edited November 27, 2016 by Ookla the Sunrise Watcher
it's 95% now

[WeiryWriter he/him]

I'm moving this to the Stormlight forum, as it's more relevant there. Thanks for posting this though.

[Oversleep]

1 minute ago, WeiryWriter said:

I'm moving this to the Stormlight forum, as it's more relevant there. Thanks for posting this though.

To be honest, I wasn't sure where to put this

[maxal she/her]

I have just read it. For me, this one is a deal breaker. I knew not to expect too much when it came to Adolin, but this is like a slap in the face. Seriously, I couldn't be anymore disappointed than I am now.

I apologize if others find this post vexing, but to me this is a severe disappointment. Book 3 might be great, but quite frankly if it doesn't have Adolin in it as a strong viewpoint, then it loses most of its interest. Sorry again if others find this offensive. I am merely partaking my massive sadness at seeing this.

[Shlee]

Why do you think that says that Adolin doesn't have a strong viewpoint?  Consider that in TWoK, he's only a "viewpoint" character in 3 of the 5 books, and actually only a "viewpoint" character in 2 of the 5 books in WoR, despite us actually having more page time with him in the second book than the first. Not trying to invalidate your reaction, just curious if you're seeing something I'm not that's going to automatically mean way less Adolin time.

[Spoolofwhool]

16 minutes ago, maxal said:

I have just read it. For me, this one is a deal breaker. I knew not to expect too much when it came to Adolin, but this is like a slap in the face. Seriously, I couldn't be anymore disappointed than I am now.

I apologize if others find this post vexing, but to me this is a severe disappointment. Book 3 might be great, but quite frankly if it doesn't have Adolin in it as a strong viewpoint, then it loses most of its interest. Sorry again if others find this offensive. I am merely partaking my massive sadness at seeing this.

That's unfortunate. What part of the update indicated that Adolin's viewpoints are going to be reduced? 

[Young Bard he/him]

1 hour ago, Spoolofwhool said:

That's unfortunate. What part of the update indicated that Adolin's viewpoints are going to be reduced? 

Well, Assuming the "Main Character" is Dalinar, and the "Secondary Characters" are Kaladin and Shallan, then that leaves Adolin as a tertiary character, who only has viewpoints in one part of the story, maybe briefly in part 5.

That said, I expect he'll appear a lot in the Dalinar viewpoints, so it's not as though he's being cut out entirely. In fact, plot device wise, Adolin provided the love-interest to Shallan, and the questioning of whether Dalinar was or wasn't insane in WoK. Now that we know that Dalinar's not insane so we don't need to question that, and that Shallan can VP for the Shadolin scenes, and now that Renarin is also more important to the storyline as a Radiant, it means that Adolin is kind of less integral to the story as a VP character. He can just as easily be Adolin throughout Dalinar's, Shallan's, Renarin's, Kaladin's and probably a couple other people's viewpoints as well, so that, essentially, is what Adolin's purpose is now. He acts as the glue that binds the whole SA together. He's the one that's tangentially involved in every plotline and character arc, and therefore doesn't actually need his own to appear a lot. So, I don't think the fact that he's not appearing much is reason for concern.

[maxal she/her]

2 hours ago, Shlee said:

Why do you think that says that Adolin doesn't have a strong viewpoint?  Consider that in TWoK, he's only a "viewpoint" character in 3 of the 5 books, and actually only a "viewpoint" character in 2 of the 5 books in WoR, despite us actually having more page time with him in the second book than the first. Not trying to invalidate your reaction, just curious if you're seeing something I'm not that's going to automatically mean way less Adolin time.

Have you seen the planning? No tertiary character has viewpoints in more than one part which means Adolin has a role into one part only in the story. it is a massive step down from WoR. Part 4 has only 80K words which are split into 5 characters which means Adolin's entire story can't be much more than 10K words which is a third of what it was in WoR.

Disappointment is a mild word to describe how I feel about it. I'd say it is worst than my worst expectations and I thought I was being pessimistic when I thought the worst would happen. I guess I was optimistic the whole time.

2 hours ago, Spoolofwhool said:

That's unfortunate. What part of the update indicated that Adolin's viewpoints are going to be reduced? 

The little planning graphic he published with the update... Click on it. Adolin is one of the tertiary character: none of them has viewpoints in more than one part. Previously, tertiary character 1 had viewpoints in 3 parts out of five (if you count the tiny part 5), now the same character doesn't have viewpoints in part 2 anymore and part 4 is horribly short.

27 minutes ago, The Young Bard said:

Well, Assuming the "Main Character" is Dalinar, and the "Secondary Characters" are Kaladin and Shallan, then that leaves Adolin as a tertiary character, who only has viewpoints in one part of the story, maybe briefly in part 5.

That said, I expect he'll appear a lot in the Dalinar viewpoints, so it's not as though he's being cut out entirely. In fact, plot device wise, Adolin provided the love-interest to Shallan, and the questioning of whether Dalinar was or wasn't insane in WoK. Now that we know that Dalinar's not insane so we don't need to question that, and that Shallan can VP for the Shadolin scenes, and now that Renarin is also more important to the storyline as a Radiant, it means that Adolin is kind of less integral to the story as a VP character. He can just as easily be Adolin throughout Dalinar's, Shallan's, Renarin's, Kaladin's and probably a couple other people's viewpoints as well, so that, essentially, is what Adolin's purpose is now. He acts as the glue that binds the whole SA together. He's the one that's tangentially involved in every plotline and character arc, and therefore doesn't actually need his own to appear a lot. So, I don't think the fact that he's not appearing much is reason for concern.

For us readers who wanted to read Adolin, as a character, him, then it is a massive let down. Reading a character appearing into someone else's POv is just not the same. I wanted to read his internal dilemma over murdering Sadeas, I wanted to know how HE would deal with it not how Dalinar is thinking he is dealing with it. 

I wanted Adolin to have a bigger role because I sincerely believe the character had the potential to have a great enthralling story arc and, more importantly it was one I wanted to read above all others. I wanted Adolin's voice to matter and to stop having to look for glimpse of him throughout someone else's POV. I wanted Adolin to have a greater purpose into the story than being just this guy who is around because I truly believe his character works and would be more interesting to read than others. 

I have also spent three years crafting theories and playing, in my head, how his story might go down. For once, I had hope some of it would come to life, for real, but it won't happen. Adolin is just one massive disappointment because many of us expected/wanted him to take up a larger role, not a smaller one. It is a reason of concern, for me, as a reader because I sincerely do not know if I'll be capable of enjoying book 3 knowing it has so little of Adolin in it. I had hope the long waiting time would be paid off in greatness, but I do know the book won't explore the character I wanted it to explore. I knew it wouldn't be as great as "mighty Kaladin", but I had hope it would be better and... more.

[DSC01 he/him]

I think that you should wait and see what the book brings before you get despondent, @maxal. First of all, you've known for a very long time that, despite your preferences, Adolin is not one of the main characters, so you at least were already prepared that Adolin just isn't going to get the kind of page time you would like. Secondly, regardless of what the visual outline seems to indicate, Brandon himself implies in the update that he did not eliminate the POV; he just moved it. Sure, some things will probably get cut, just to make the chronology work, but it sounds to me like he's still getting just as much (or at least almost as much) POV time.

Furthermore, like you, I suspect that Adolin is Tertiary character number 1. If so, the outline suggests that his POV chapters are being set up to have a really big payoff. You have to admit that, already knowing that your favorite character isn't going to get the attention you would like, the best case scenario is for what he does get to have maximum impact. Adolin is going to be in Dalinar's POVs. He is going to be in Shallan's POVs. He's probably going to be in Kaladin's POVs. Chances are good that if there are any Jasnah POVs, he's going to show up there, too. All that time, we're going to have the knowledge of what happened with Sadeas coloring our interpretation of his actions, but the other characters probably won't know a thing. It's going to really build up the anticipation surrounding his character's arc. The payoff when we do finally get to see inside his head is going to be really big, that way. 

I have to say, one of the great constants of the Shard is that, no matter how long I've been away, I know I'm going to come back to find you being sad about Adolin. I'm not trying to talk you out of your feelings, but I feel bad that you're so unhappy about the situation. Just imagine how bad it would be if you were reading any other series, and your favorite character was a tertiary one. Stormlight really is the best series for a reader who prefers a tertiary character to any primary or secondary ones, and Adolin is the very best character for it to happen with. Adolin got 22,634 words in TWoK and 28,895 in WoR. 51,529 words of dedicated POV, for a character who also appears in a lot of other POVs, is really not too bad. No other tertiary character comes close. If the primary characters get a lot less page time in Part 4 (which makes a ton of sense, if I'm right about Adolin's POV being saved for a really big payoff), then we may still be looking at 20,000 words for him. And I would put money on that little bit at the end being a major bombshell.

[Spoolofwhool]

I see. Understandable. I'll admit, Adolin is an exciting character, and very interesting to read. However, I'm not surprised this is happening since he isn't one of the main characters. I was actually surprised he got as much viewpoint as he did in WoR. As I said before, I think it's unfortunate that the number of Adolin's viewpoints would make or break your desire to read the book, since I think many of the characters are equally strong and interesting. 

[Yata he/him]

I am an awful person and I thanks to this update I have the chance to ask something to brandon. I don't know if I can post all the WoB here, because some of them are not related to Stormlight Archive (and with the actual debated politicy about WoB I don't know exactly where to post it).

Anyway...The end of the first draft is always more near. 

[goody153]

5 hours ago, Spoolofwhool said:

I see. Understandable. I'll admit, Adolin is an exciting character, and very interesting to read. However, I'm not surprised this is happening since he isn't one of the main characters. I was actually surprised he got as much viewpoint as he did in WoR. As I said before, I think it's unfortunate that the number of Adolin's viewpoints would make or break your desire to read the book, since I think many of the characters are equally strong and interesting. 

Yeah no matter how exciting Adolin is, the story doesn't revolve around him.

Though i can understand that Adolin not having much POV or involvement is disappointing but saying that book 3(or further) is impossible to enjoy without his major involvement is like saying that Mistborn trilogy is dumpster tier after Kelsier was gone and i liked Kelsier alot but i don't he's the major contributing factor why Mistborn is great. Same for Adolin reading his involvement and his POV sure was fun but wasn't why i liked Stormlight the most.

[maxal she/her]

9 hours ago, DSC01 said:

I think that you should wait and see what the book brings before you get despondent, @maxal. First of all, you've known for a very long time that, despite your preferences, Adolin is not one of the main characters, so you at least were already prepared that Adolin just isn't going to get the kind of page time you would like. Secondly, regardless of what the visual outline seems to indicate, Brandon himself implies in the update that he did not eliminate the POV; he just moved it. Sure, some things will probably get cut, just to make the chronology work, but it sounds to me like he's still getting just as much (or at least almost as much) POV time.

Furthermore, like you, I suspect that Adolin is Tertiary character number 1. If so, the outline suggests that his POV chapters are being set up to have a really big payoff. You have to admit that, already knowing that your favorite character isn't going to get the attention you would like, the best case scenario is for what he does get to have maximum impact. Adolin is going to be in Dalinar's POVs. He is going to be in Shallan's POVs. He's probably going to be in Kaladin's POVs. Chances are good that if there are any Jasnah POVs, he's going to show up there, too. All that time, we're going to have the knowledge of what happened with Sadeas coloring our interpretation of his actions, but the other characters probably won't know a thing. It's going to really build up the anticipation surrounding his character's arc. The payoff when we do finally get to see inside his head is going to be really big, that way. 

I have to say, one of the great constants of the Shard is that, no matter how long I've been away, I know I'm going to come back to find you being sad about Adolin. I'm not trying to talk you out of your feelings, but I feel bad that you're so unhappy about the situation. Just imagine how bad it would be if you were reading any other series, and your favorite character was a tertiary one. Stormlight really is the best series for a reader who prefers a tertiary character to any primary or secondary ones, and Adolin is the very best character for it to happen with. Adolin got 22,634 words in TWoK and 28,895 in WoR. 51,529 words of dedicated POV, for a character who also appears in a lot of other POVs, is really not too bad. No other tertiary character comes close. If the primary characters get a lot less page time in Part 4 (which makes a ton of sense, if I'm right about Adolin's POV being saved for a really big payoff), then we may still be looking at 20,000 words for him. And I would put money on that little bit at the end being a major bombshell.

The Wheel weaves as the Wheel will. Beware, very personal post below. I feel perhaps I owed a more personal explanation as to why it is so important to me... I'll put it in spoilers because it moves outside the scope of this thread but I feel it perhaps will help others perhaps understand better why I make such a big deal out of it.

Spoiler

 

Stories are important to me: they drag out my most passionate side as my mind whirls endless scenarios inspired by the stories I had read. Ever since I was a child, I had been doing it: crafting stories, in my head, based on movies I had saw, series I had watched, books I had read. Not being a writer nor a particularly creative individual myself, I have to rely on others to have ideas, to invent characters I would appreciate enough to want to spin stories onto them. It is thus, each time I go to bed, instead of worrying endlessly about everything and nothing, my brain goes into story mode and thus I sleep.

Once upon a time, the stories died. There were no more stories to be had, no more tales to be had. A great big nothing and as a result, each time I lay my head on the pillow, instead of going through the comforting motion of story making, I went into the endless loop of worrying. What if I didn't get a good enough grade in my upcoming test? what if despite all my studying they manage to ask the one question I wouldn't have an answer to? What would it mean if I were to fail? What would I be worth if suddenly I didn't succeed into the only sphere of life I felt I was actually being good at? 

And then sleep evaded me. What if I didn't sleep? Will I be able to do my work? Will I lose my job if I am so dead tired I can't concentrate? What if I never sleep again? How long can a human being live without a decent night of sleep (BTW, the answer is a very long time)?

As I started reading again (I had stop because University was too demanding), the stories, slowly came back and with them came... finally sleep. It took a while before I could find new stories engaging enough to put the story making gear back into motion and by "a while", I mean years: my entire young adult years to be more precise. 

The Stormlight Archive has provided me with an endless string of great stories much more so than any other book I might have read, no matter how I might have enjoyed it, more than any other fantastic movie I have seen, more than any engaging series I have watched., more than anything before in my entire life which isn't so young anymore. As a character, Adolin is the sole reason this is even possible because he is someone whom I can actually relate to, whom I can understand which means I do not have to drastically change him for the story making to make sense. Often, I had to change other characters I have enjoyed because, as they were, they didn't work nor transform well enough into story arcs I would personally find interesting.

This is why it is so important to me, this is why I have put such an insane amount of time into talking about a book character, because it helps me go to sleep at night. It helps me forget all that ails me, all that stresses me out, all that worries me just so I could have a good night of sleep and anyone who ever had chronic insomnia before would agree this is precious. They say only 20% of chronic insomniacs ever beat the disease: I intend to remain among them.

Thus with time I might have grown selfish in wanting, for once, something out of my own stories to come to life. Obviously, it would never be exactly as I hoped it would, but I had still hope it would be large enough to fuel even more story making. As it stands, I am highly likely to skim through book 3 looking out for the mere Adolin's appearances because they will too scarce to keep me engaged into the story.

 

What would I be feeling if I were reading another series and my favorite character ended being a tertiary one? Well you wouldn't be surprised to find out it has happened before. The answer to the question is, with other series, I never had any hope my favorite character would ever become more than he/she was which means I never entertained the expectations a greater story arc might happen. 

It is because Adolin has so much page time in WoR that I expected him to have even more in book 3. Had I been reading another series, I would have never expected it, hence I would have never been as disappointed. Unsatisfied? Yes. Disappointed? No.

9 hours ago, Spoolofwhool said:

I see. Understandable. I'll admit, Adolin is an exciting character, and very interesting to read. However, I'm not surprised this is happening since he isn't one of the main characters. I was actually surprised he got as much viewpoint as he did in WoR. As I said before, I think it's unfortunate that the number of Adolin's viewpoints would make or break your desire to read the book, since I think many of the characters are equally strong and interesting. 

It does because if Adolin's presence is too scarce into the book, I will merely skim to wherever he has a role to play and I'll ruin the story. Other characters just aren't as interesting, to me. Their story arc is likely to feel like time I have to spend to get to the tiny bit I have been waiting three years to read. 

I do not mind reading viewpoints or story arcs I enjoy less if I know the ones I love the most are going to be next, but going into book 3, I now know the one story arc I want to read has barely any page time. I cannot look out for it because it is barely there. So yes for me this is a deal breaker. This isn't to say I will not read the book, but I doubt I will enjoy it as much as the previous ones as it would have disappointed me too greatly. Adolin has been a less present, but steady, regular viewpoint character: to have him shrink down to a one part-only viewpoint character is not something I am fine with no matter how great the rest of the story might be: it won't have Adolin in it or if it does, it will be through someone else's eyes and it isn't what the ending of WoR led me to believe would happen.

4 hours ago, goody153 said:

Yeah no matter how exciting Adolin is, the story doesn't revolve around him.

Though i can understand that Adolin not having much POV or involvement is disappointing but saying that book 3(or further) is impossible to enjoy without his major involvement is like saying that Mistborn trilogy is dumpster tier after Kelsier was gone and i liked Kelsier alot but i don't he's the major contributing factor why Mistborn is great. Same for Adolin reading his involvement and his POV sure was fun but wasn't why i liked Stormlight the most.

I cannot say about Kelsier because quite frankly I wasn't drawn to his character, but I might have read other readers comment on how they didn't wish to read the other two books because they knew Kelsier was not in it. 

Adolin has had a regular viewpoint. I don't care what the "planning" says on paper, for me, as a reader, he was an important part of the story. I don't care if Brandon said he didn't want the story to revolve around Adolin, for me, as a reader, it did. Besides, removing a regular viewpoint character from a story, especially one as popular as Adolin, never is a good move by any author. See what happened to Jordan when he removed Mat from the story.

Others will be disappointed by it and while they might be less vocal than myself about it, I am quite sure it will come across into the negative critics of SA3. Where is Adolin? Why so little Adolin? 

[Rasarr she/her]

@maxal, I'll just drop this here:

Trust me, I understand your frustration. But this is somewhat heartening.

 

[Ammanas]

I have no problems with people expressing frustration but, in regards to people's disappointment about Adolin: you can't please everyone. I have full confidence it will be the best book in the series thus far; the groundwork in the series is already set and I am excited to see what happens. 

[maxal she/her]

4 minutes ago, Rasarr said:

@maxal, I'll just drop this here:

Trust me, I understand your frustration. But this is somewhat heartening.

 

Yeah well it doesn't change the fact Adolin's viewpoints are concentrated into a single part which means I won't be reading him most of the time. To have a steady viewpoint character shrink down to an occasional one can't be a good move. 

Brandon thinks Adolin's development is great and maybe it is, I haven't read the book, but nothing changes the fact he is absent from nearly all the book. I know this is the case for other characters, but book 3 basically was Adolin's only chance to get a decent spotlight. If he isn't getting it now, he isn't getting it, ever. If the events at the end of WoR aren't enough to give him a bigger role, then nothing ever will. 

This is beyond frustrating. Adolin deserved a stronger story arc than what he is presumably getting.

[Oversleep]

6 minutes ago, maxal said:

book 3 basically was Adolin's only chance to get a decent spotlight. If he isn't getting it now, he isn't getting it, ever. If the events at the end of WoR aren't enough to give him a bigger role, then nothing ever will. 

You speak of future plots that no one knows about Remember Spook.

 

[maxal she/her]

38 minutes ago, Oversleep said:

You speak of future plots that no one knows about Remember Spook.

 

Yeah well I am dead tired to keep on expecting Adolin would ever get a decent spotlight into the books. He isn't. Book 3 structure highlights it and I certainly will not go on keeping on expecting for more. It has only led me to disappointment which is likely to spoil the series for me. There is nothing worst, for a reader, to have strong expectations which are never coming true. I wish WoR had not led me expect for more: had I not expect it, I wouldn't be as disappointing. Unsatisfied perhaps, but not disappointed.

Edited November 19, 2016 by maxal

[goody153]

5 hours ago, maxal said:

I cannot say about Kelsier because quite frankly I wasn't drawn to his character, but I might have read other readers comment on how they didn't wish to read the other two books because they knew Kelsier was not in it. 

Adolin has had a regular viewpoint. I don't care what the "planning" says on paper, for me, as a reader, he was an important part of the story. I don't care if Brandon said he didn't want the story to revolve around Adolin, for me, as a reader, it did. Besides, removing a regular viewpoint character from a story, especially one as popular as Adolin, never is a good move by any author. See what happened to Jordan when he removed Mat from the story.

Others will be disappointed by it and while they might be less vocal than myself about it, I am quite sure it will come across into the negative critics of SA3. Where is Adolin? Why so little Adolin? 

You could just write a fanfiction of SA with him on if you are disappointed, you can't really change the mind of the author. He was a strong supporting character but the story was not really about about him nor does the main overarching plot seem to revolve around him so we can't do anything about it. 

Honestly he's a good character but not even one of the greatest characters i've read to warrant as much love as you do(it's a subjective so w/e). I bet there's a big chance he'd even die later(i feel like he's one of the characters that can be used to inflict sadness through the readers that isn't exactly expendable but seem important enough)

Some of the best stuff i've read like ASOIF as an example was a result of me not dropping just because the character that i liked the most didn't have a reappearance(aka died).

Another example would be Malazan. If would've dropped Malazan series after reading book 2(if you don't mind malazan spoilers ahead)  

Spoiler

Coltaine was storming amazing but he was like the an amazing highfist(sort of general), ruthless but would protect the innocent(refugees), very cunning and people respect him so much that the entire 7th army plus those wickan tribes would do anything he would say. They have that much faith on him.

but in the end of the book his entire army got destroyed and Coltaine was crucified before somebody sniped him with an arrow to spare him from the torture 

It was so painful to read, him and the army was so heroic while they saved the refugees they all died a brutal death . As heroic as he is it was pretty clear that he wasn't part of the overarching plot of the story 

then i wouldn't have read book 3 which i loved despite losing the character that i was drawn so much to.

I only find it that losing focus or a interesting character dying would be terrible if the story was character-driven or that was the actual protagonist and the whole point of the story. Not the other way around where there's a overarching plot and there's lots of characters which is the case of stormlight archives IMO. 

Edited November 19, 2016 by goody153

[maxal she/her]

1 hour ago, goody153 said:

...

We all have our reasons for being on the 17th Shard. If most are drawn by the complex magical system and the interesting world-building, others have been drawn in because a given character or another drew in their attention.

I wouldn't be here if it weren't for Adolin. I wouldn't have registered onto the 17th Shard if not for the desire to further talk about a character which has attracted my attention. In other words, I wouldn't be a member of this fandom if it weren't for him. Is he the greatest? Well no, of course not. Who is the greatest character is an entirely subjective question which would gather various responses. A character can be great for a reader and bad for another. If you were to make a list of the "greatest characters of all time", you would get numerous names and while some would gather more nominations than others, there would still be those readers who'd disagree with those popular picks. All in all, in comes up to who's voice do you enjoy reading above the other.

Also, readers such as myself do not consciously decide to latch onto a given character: it just happens. For reasons outside of our control, something about a given character speaks to us in a more personal way and we yearn to read more of him/her. When it doesn't happen because for reasons unknown to me this character never is the hero of the story, then this same reader is left with a feeling of unsatisfaction and/or disappointment depending on how hard they believed said character would grow into the story. As I said numerous times, I did think Adolin had a role to play into this story other than being a foil to Dalinar: WoR led me to believe he did. Had I never have those thoughts, we wouldn't be having this conversation right now.

You could say it is all my fault: had I not spend the last 3 years building up on it, I wouldn't be here now. This is true. It just happened and now I am at a point where I feel I might not be able to keep on enjoying this story anymore. I am highly likely to read the book and grow frustrated as "other characters" get "so much page time" while Adolin gets so little. These feelings are likely to ruin it all as I do not care so much about what happens to the world: I care about what happens to the characters within the world and right now, the one I care the most about has nothing but a very small and probably superficial presence into the book. Is it unfair of me? Of course it is, but I can't help how I feel about it: the last thing I want is to read the book while skimming hundreds of pages ahead just to get to read the few Adolin viewpoints. I had having to this while reading books, especially for one as big as SA, but it is highly probable to happen.

Also, if I had any talent in writing my own fiction, then I wouldn't be here either. I have to rely on others to do it for me as I lack this capacity. 

[goody153]

4 hours ago, maxal said:

We all have our reasons for being on the 17th Shard. If most are drawn by the complex magical system and the interesting world-building, others have been drawn in because a given character or another drew in their attention.

I wouldn't be here if it weren't for Adolin. I wouldn't have registered onto the 17th Shard if not for the desire to further talk about a character which has attracted my attention. In other words, I wouldn't be a member of this fandom if it weren't for him. Is he the greatest? Well no, of course not. Who is the greatest character is an entirely subjective question which would gather various responses. A character can be great for a reader and bad for another. If you were to make a list of the "greatest characters of all time", you would get numerous names and while some would gather more nominations than others, there would still be those readers who'd disagree with those popular picks. All in all, in comes up to who's voice do you enjoy reading above the other.

Also, readers such as myself do not consciously decide to latch onto a given character: it just happens. For reasons outside of our control, something about a given character speaks to us in a more personal way and we yearn to read more of him/her. When it doesn't happen because for reasons unknown to me this character never is the hero of the story, then this same reader is left with a feeling of unsatisfaction and/or disappointment depending on how hard they believed said character would grow into the story. As I said numerous times, I did think Adolin had a role to play into this story other than being a foil to Dalinar: WoR led me to believe he did. Had I never have those thoughts, we wouldn't be having this conversation right now.

You could say it is all my fault: had I not spend the last 3 years building up on it, I wouldn't be here now. This is true. It just happened and now I am at a point where I feel I might not be able to keep on enjoying this story anymore. I am highly likely to read the book and grow frustrated as "other characters" get "so much page time" while Adolin gets so little. These feelings are likely to ruin it all as I do not care so much about what happens to the world: I care about what happens to the characters within the world and right now, the one I care the most about has nothing but a very small and probably superficial presence into the book. Is it unfair of me? Of course it is, but I can't help how I feel about it: the last thing I want is to read the book while skimming hundreds of pages ahead just to get to read the few Adolin viewpoints. I had having to this while reading books, especially for one as big as SA, but it is highly probable to happen.

Also, if I had any talent in writing my own fiction, then I wouldn't be here either. I have to rely on others to do it for me as I lack this capacity. 

Well whatever that's your choice. I'm not really mocking you or anything don't get me wrong Maxal.

I'm just stating my advice since i've read book series like the two i've just mentioned (A Song of Ice and Fire aka Game of Thrones series and the Malazan Book of the Fallen Series) inwhich if i got attached to some characters since they contained some of the most fleshed out characters, i wouldn't have read continually and experience it's greatness. Which is what i'm trying to say to you.

Stormlight is pretty well done , it has lots of well-thought out events/content and it's complex . It would be a shame if you missed alot of it because you got hung up by 1 character. In my experience honestly the best book series i've read are those who aren't character driven but more story driven type who care little for pov consistency and more like jumps around all over different people painting a whole amazing picture of the world they live in.

You don't even have to write fanfic. I mean just imagine stuff like an example would be that i hated how Naruto(it's an anime) manga went at the last arc so in my mind i made up another version of naruto in my mind how things should've went. Of course if i talk to other people i talk about the canon version but it makes me feel better that i have another version in my mind. 

Edited November 20, 2016 by goody153

[maxal she/her]

1 minute ago, goody153 said:

Well whatever that's your choice. I'm not really mocking you or anything don't get me wrong Maxal.

I'm just stating my advice since i've read book series like the two i've just mentioned (A Song of Ice and Fire aka Game of Thrones series and the Malazan Book of the Fallen Series) inwhich if i got attached to some characters since they contained some of the most fleshed out characters, i wouldn't have read continually and experience it's greatness. Which is what i'm trying to say to you.

Stormlight is pretty well done , it has lots of well-thought out events/content and it's complex . It would be a shame if you missed alot of it because you got hung up by 1 character. In my experience honestly the best book series i've read are those who aren't character driven but more story driven type who care little for pov consistency and more like jumps around all over different people painting a whole amazing picture of the world they live in.

Rest assure I never felt you were mocking me. I am fully aware my position is hard to understand for several.

I understood your previous post and I did listen to your suggestion of merely moving past my current disappointment and to keep on reading as the series might yet still hold great things for me. I understand, but what is killing me is the three years of building up I went through: without it my perception would have been different. I have currently put too much into Adolin's character to just let go as if the last three years never happened. 

I honestly do not know if it is even fair of me to even read this book. It isn't fair towards Brandon Sanderson whom managed to be both an amazing author and an amazing writer. It isn't fair towards the fandom who is made of great people. It just isn't fair I should read a book knowing it will probably not enjoy it because it doesn't quite goes down the way I expected it would.

It just isn't fair. Maybe I should just take a break from reading all together. There is obviously something wrong with me as a reader.

[goody153]

2 hours ago, maxal said:

Rest assure I never felt you were mocking me. I am fully aware my position is hard to understand for several.

I understood your previous post and I did listen to your suggestion of merely moving past my current disappointment and to keep on reading as the series might yet still hold great things for me. I understand, but what is killing me is the three years of building up I went through: without it my perception would have been different. I have currently put too much into Adolin's character to just let go as if the last three years never happened. 

I honestly do not know if it is even fair of me to even read this book. It isn't fair towards Brandon Sanderson whom managed to be both an amazing author and an amazing writer. It isn't fair towards the fandom who is made of great people. It just isn't fair I should read a book knowing it will probably not enjoy it because it doesn't quite goes down the way I expected it would.

It just isn't fair. Maybe I should just take a break from reading all together. There is obviously something wrong with me as a reader.

That's quite alright we all have our quirks to story mediums. 

I mean i once dropped a show that has a medieval setting when throughout the start it didn't show any magic then suddenly magic happened and i was so disappointed lol

[Toaster Retribution he/him]

15 hours ago, maxal said:

Rest assure I never felt you were mocking me. I am fully aware my position is hard to understand for several.

I understood your previous post and I did listen to your suggestion of merely moving past my current disappointment and to keep on reading as the series might yet still hold great things for me. I understand, but what is killing me is the three years of building up I went through: without it my perception would have been different. I have currently put too much into Adolin's character to just let go as if the last three years never happened. 

I honestly do not know if it is even fair of me to even read this book. It isn't fair towards Brandon Sanderson whom managed to be both an amazing author and an amazing writer. It isn't fair towards the fandom who is made of great people. It just isn't fair I should read a book knowing it will probably not enjoy it because it doesn't quite goes down the way I expected it would.

It just isn't fair. Maybe I should just take a break from reading all together. There is obviously something wrong with me as a reader.

Dont ever think it is anything wrong with you as a reader! People are different. Adolin is the most important thing for you in Stormlight, the thing that gets you hooked to the series. It is completely understandable that you feel disappointed. 

It is also nothing wrong with reading the book despite knowing you will be disappointed. Who knows, you might find it satisfactory. You are obviously free to decide what you want to read, but dont worry about it being unfair to us, or to Brandon. Because I dont think it is.

I dont know how comfortable you are with getting a big focus on yourself in this thread. If you dont like it, or find it annoying or something, we will obviously not force you to continue replying to us. I want to add, however, that I thank you for all your posts about Adolin. It has made me understand and appreciate the character more. I also want to say that at least I do not think that there is anything strange about feeling that less of a specific character can ruin the story. 

[Rhaegar'Elin he/him]

"In fact, forget Stormlight... and Adolin... and Blackjack!"

 

Sorry, I couldn't help myself from quoting Bender in this joke XD

Anyway, returning serious, I think "quality" is more important than "quantity" so Adolin could still flash out despite the fewer POVs and, maybe, have a major role in next books.

On a side note, It surprises me that Szeth's storyline isn't gonna have more space at this point (unless one of the novelettes is Nale or the Type IV, which I higly doubt).