Lord Mistborn Bondbreaker he/him Posted January 9, 2018 Report Share Posted January 9, 2018 Who do you guys think should take the forefront/backstory in book four of the Stormlight Archive? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DracostarA Posted January 9, 2018 Report Share Posted January 9, 2018 I believe it's confirmed to be Eshonai. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RShara she/her Posted January 9, 2018 Report Share Posted January 9, 2018 It is confirmed to be Eshonai. Szeth will be Book 5. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MistbornAlpaca he/him Posted January 9, 2018 Report Share Posted January 9, 2018 4 minutes ago, RShara said: It is confirmed to be Eshonai. Szeth will be Book 5. Is this a recent confirmation? Because Eshonai is really and truly dead, and personally, I would rather see Venli as the flashback character for book 4 than Eshonai (although Szeth would obviously be my first pick, but he's confirmed for book 5, so we'll have to wait a little longer) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Sovereign he/him Posted January 9, 2018 Report Share Posted January 9, 2018 Just now, MasterJack said: Is this a recent confirmation? Because Eshonai is really and truly dead, and personally, I would rather see Venli as the flashback character for book 4 than Eshonai (although Szeth would obviously be my first pick, but he's confirmed for book 5, so we'll have to wait a little longer) Eshonai was always intended to be book 4, (3 and 5 got flipped). As for Eshonai being dead, yes, she is. Brandon has said for years that it was possible for a Flashback character to be dead during their book. I suspect the present story will focus on Venli while the flashbacks will all be Eshonai. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RShara she/her Posted January 9, 2018 Report Share Posted January 9, 2018 Just now, MasterJack said: Is this a recent confirmation? Because Eshonai is really and truly dead, and personally, I would rather see Venli as the flashback character for book 4 than Eshonai (although Szeth would obviously be my first pick, but he's confirmed for book 5, so we'll have to wait a little longer) It's been confirmed for a while. Also, Brandon's said that he's fine with having a flashback character that's dead. My guess is that the PoV will be Venli, with the flashbacks being Eshonai. https://wob.coppermind.net/events/116-general-reddit-2017/#e4007 Quote Mrrobot112 Now when Oathbringer is finished have you already chose a flashback character for Stormlight 4? Brandon Sanderson Yes. It's Eshonai. https://wob.coppermind.net/events/116-general-reddit-2017/#e8854 Quote Windrunner /u/Mistborn (Brandon) said that Eshonai will be the flashback character in Book 4. (source), which would indicate that she's probably still alive in some form. But we'll see. He could've changed it or that could've been a diversion from Venli being the actual flashback character. Brandon Sanderson Eshonai is the flashback character--but she is dead in the present. I've warned people multiple times that we WILL have flashbacks to the viewpoints of characters who have died. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MistbornAlpaca he/him Posted January 9, 2018 Report Share Posted January 9, 2018 2 minutes ago, The Sovereign said: Eshonai was always intended to be book 4, (3 and 5 got flipped). As for Eshonai being dead, yes, she is. Brandon has said for years that it was possible for a Flashback character to be dead during their book. I suspect the present story will focus on Venli while the flashbacks will all be Eshonai. Gotcha. I always expected it would be one of the back 5 characters that were dead before their book. I assumed after OB that Venli would become the flashback character, but I have been proven wrong. Yes, I agree that that's what will probably happen... Thanks for the WOB's @RShara! ... I literally just thought of this, and I don't have anything to back it up, and it'll probably be proved false in about a minute, but what if Timbre is Eshonai? Yeah, that theory's not going to last long. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RShara she/her Posted January 9, 2018 Report Share Posted January 9, 2018 3 minutes ago, MasterJack said: @RShara I literally just thought of this, and I don't have anything to back it up, and it'll probably be proved false in about a minute, but what if Timbre is Eshonai? Yeah, that theory's not going to last long. No. Timbre talks about how her grandfather died in the Recreance. Eshonai is dead and gone. Brandon is not allowed to bring her back on pain of stern looks and lectures. Eshonai being a Cognitive Shadow wouldn't give Venli access to surges. Eshonai would need an extra infusion of investiture to become a Cognitive Shadow. None of the current Shards would be likely to do that. (Sorry, I just hate that theory with a vengeance. Nothing personal.) 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bort he/him Posted January 9, 2018 Report Share Posted January 9, 2018 (edited) I don't think we've had WoB on it yet, but I'm pretty sure Timbre isn't Eshonai. Timbre is, most likely, a Lightspren. Oh, and her dead Granddad might be the deadeye locked up on the ship in Shadesmar. That is pure speculation though. Edited January 9, 2018 by Bort Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MistbornAlpaca he/him Posted January 9, 2018 Report Share Posted January 9, 2018 1 minute ago, RShara said: No. Timbre talks about how her grandfather died in the Recreance. Eshonai is dead and gone. Brandon is not allowed to bring her back on pain of stern looks and lectures. Eshonai being a Cognitive Shadow wouldn't give Venli access to surges. Eshonai would need an extra infusion of investiture to become a Cognitive Shadow. None of the current Shards would be likely to do that. (Sorry, I just hate that theory with a vengeance. Nothing personal.) Thanks! I didn't like it either, and I didn't expect it to live very long. Thanks for killing it, good riddance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Mistborn Bondbreaker he/him Posted January 9, 2018 Author Report Share Posted January 9, 2018 Ok, I meant this as a who do you WANT book four to be about, not “it’s about Eshonia”. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Furry-And-Lovable-Grover he/him Posted January 9, 2018 Report Share Posted January 9, 2018 I'll jump in and say that I feel like I'd really like to see Szeth's POV for book four, because I feel like where things went at the end of OB, focusing on Szeth's arc would be a very natural segue for the next book. As much as I expect the Eshonai's POV to really provide some depth on Listener culture and uncover some really interesting Rosharan history, I do find Szeth to be the more compelling of the two POVs at the moment. I haven't been disappointed by a Brandon book yet though, so I'll withhold judgement until I've got the book in hand. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toaster Retribution he/him Posted January 9, 2018 Report Share Posted January 9, 2018 I am very fond of Szeth and pretty meh on the Listeners, so I'd go with him. That said, I hope to gain some interest in the Listeners after book 4, which I guess will focus pretty heavily on them. But I'm more excited for Szeth than Eshonai. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MistbornAlpaca he/him Posted January 9, 2018 Report Share Posted January 9, 2018 1 hour ago, Herald Of Justice said: Ok, I meant this as a who do you WANT book four to be about, not “it’s about Eshonia”. Sorry, I derailed this thread ... it looks like it's back on track though, so that's good Anyway, I'm with everyone else on this. If I could choose, I would go with Szeth, just because I want more Szeth, RIGHT NOW!!!!! But I do feel like Szeth could really grow in Book 4 in a way that colors his flashbacks differently when we finally get them, so I'm okay waiting for Book 5. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Sovereign he/him Posted January 9, 2018 Report Share Posted January 9, 2018 2 hours ago, Herald Of Justice said: Ok, I meant this as a who do you WANT book four to be about, not “it’s about Eshonia”. Fair enough, how about "It's about Eshonai/Venli and I WANT it to be about Eshonai/Venli". Why you may ask? Because a main POV Listener means we will likely have way more Odium screen time. I don't want more Odium screen time, I NEED more Odium screen time. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bort he/him Posted January 9, 2018 Report Share Posted January 9, 2018 I'm with @The Sovereign although for different reasons. I want to know more about the Parshmen and their background and history. With the big reveal about how humans on Roshar started in Shinover, I think finding out a bit more about how that came to be, and what happened next, will fill in some gaps before we visit there with Szeth in book 5. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subvisual Haze Posted January 9, 2018 Report Share Posted January 9, 2018 I think Szeth is still a crazy person, but the kind of crazy person I'd love to read more about. Both him and Shin culture in general has been extremely opaque so far, so I suspect we would learn a lot from his flashbacks. What did he see and say that caused him to be condemned by his people? Was pre-Truthless Szeth a kind and well balanced person? How close was he to bonding a spren before everything went wrong? Eshonai...I actually don't have a lot of desire to read more about. The shift of her story to Venli was certainly surprising, but I'm just not feeling much interest in either of their pasts at this point. I'm sure Brandon can surprise me with something amazing, but Eshonai/Venli are on the lower end of my internal list of characters I want to know more about right now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Song she/her Posted January 9, 2018 Report Share Posted January 9, 2018 I think there is much more mystery surrounding the Shin than the listeners. So while I think Eshonai's story will be facinating I am particularly excited about Szeth's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WhiteLeeopard she/her Posted January 9, 2018 Report Share Posted January 9, 2018 I wish book 4 were Szeth, but its 90% sure going to be Eshonai. Brandon could always change his mind on what flashbacks fit best, but its unlikely. While Listeners are interesting, Szeth and the Shin are on the top 5 of mysterious Rosharan things I want to know more about. Maybe even top 3 after Heralds and the 3 Shards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Llarimar he/him Posted January 10, 2018 Report Share Posted January 10, 2018 (edited) I would rather the next book focus on Eshonai/Venli. I came away from OB wanting to learn more about Venli than Szeth, mainly because Szeth at the very end seemed to assimilate in with the other Radiants - he is part of the Dalinar-Kaladin-Shallan group now, instead of a different and mysterious entity like he's always been. Venli, however, has a very unique position in the story at the moment, as separated from the other main characters and part of Odium's entourage, and I feel like we will learn much more from her point of view about Roshar and Odium and the Desolations than we would from Szeth. Szeth's mission to purge Shinovar would be a very interesting plot thread to follow, but I think at the moment that Venli is more central to the momentum of the story - it makes mores sense from a storyline perspective to focus on her character than it does to focus on Szeth. And I also want to learn more about the Listeners and the Dawnshards and the Heralds and the Unmade and the Odium-Fused Honor-Radiants situation - my main questions about the series at this point all center on the ancient history of Roshar, and those would be addressed much more in a Venli storyline than one about Szeth. Edited January 10, 2018 by Llarimar 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nymeros Posted January 10, 2018 Report Share Posted January 10, 2018 Nah, Venli/Eshonai feels more natural and we really need to see more of the Singers. Also, I already give a crap about Szeth...I want more interesting characters added not just greater focus on the current crew. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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