Introducing myself

[reyzen]

Hi, new here!

I've been a part of the cosmere related reddit communities for a few years now, and realized I needed more platforms on which to theorize with this wonderful community. The only Cosmere books I haven't read are Elantris and White Sand, but I have a feeling I won't leave that hole open for too long.

 

I am currently doing my fifth reread of the Stormlight Archive, and am at the end of Oathbringer. This time around, I feel like when I feel the books are at their best is when Kaladin is doing Bridge 4 stuff in WoK and WoR, and all Adolin/Dalinar parts of these two books. Idk, there's something about OB that just doesn't keep me interested in the same way, now that I know which way the story is going. 

I am going to end this with a question:

 

Is Hoid the most interesting fantasy character ever?

 

Here's to many years of sharing ideas!

[Karger he/him]

Welcome!

[NameIess]

Welcome to the Shard! I hope you enjoy your stay here.

4 minutes ago, reyzen said:

I am currently doing my fifth reread of the Stormlight Archive, and am at the end of Oathbringer. This time around, I feel like when I feel the books are at their best is when Kaladin is doing Bridge 4 stuff in WoK and WoR, and all Adolin/Dalinar parts of these two books. Idk, there's something about OB that just doesn't keep me interested in the same way, now that I know which way the story is going. 

Only your fifth reread? I've read through all of them more times than I can count I agree. I would rate WoK 9.9/10, OB 9.7/10, and WoR 10/10 100/100 and 1,000/1,000.

6 minutes ago, reyzen said:

Is Hoid the most interesting fantasy character ever?

Nope. Kaladin is. Although Hoid does have a shot at most mysterious.

[reyzen]

16 minutes ago, Nameless said:

Nope. Kaladin is. Although Hoid does have a shot at most mysterious.

Idk, I feel like every time Hoid interacts with one of the main cast, the most interesting part of the book follows. The story of Fleet with Kal and The Girl Who Looked Up with Shallan are absolutely epic. Literal shivers down my spine reading those. The Shallan and Wit segments are the best part of OB.

[NameIess]

1 minute ago, reyzen said:

Idk, I feel like every time Hoid interacts with one of the main cast, the most interesting part of the book follows. The story of Fleet with Kal and The Girl Who Looked Up with Shallan are absolutely epic. Literal shivers down my spine reading those. The Shallan and Wit segments are the best part of OB.

I like Hoid, but a large part of what makes him interesting is his air of mystery, and the fact that we never see as much of him as the other characters. 

[reyzen]

13 minutes ago, Nameless said:

I like Hoid, but a large part of what makes him interesting is his air of mystery, and the fact that we never see as much of him as the other characters. 

I do not agree with you, but I am unsure if this is a discussion that is allowed to happen on the Introductions subforum as opposed to having it's own thread. Do you, as a more experienced user of this forum believe that it's a discussion that is not deemed off-topic?

 

In the event that this is a discussion that IS allowed on this subforum I'd say that to say that Hoid is only interesting because we know little of him is being dishonest. Yes, we don't know exactly everything about him, but I believe that he's been featured enough in the Cosmere, and in SA in particular, that we can make a reasonable assumption on his motivations and his character. 

 

He's a person who has a greater goal, and generally tries to stay out of local events, but who, at his core, cares deeply about the people that he meets and forms connections to. The fact that he goes to such lengths to aid both Kaladin and Shallan when they are at their lowest show that this is a person who, despite having lived for millennia, still has feelings and still feels empathy towards others. He even lets Dalinar know that his own goals are not specifically aligned with the Rosharans, saying that he'd happily let Roshar burn than chance Odium's escape from the planet. Essentially letting Dalinar know not to place to much hope in Wit, but to fight his own fight. 

 

He's the enigma that connects the Cosmere, and every time he gets screen time we learn more of him and learning more of him means learning more of the deep politics behind the Cosmere. 

[NameIess]

1 minute ago, reyzen said:

I do not agree with you, but I am unsure if this is a discussion that is allowed to happen on the Introductions subforum as opposed to having it's own thread. Do you, as a more experienced user of this forum believe that it's a discussion that is not deemed off-topic?

The purpose of this thread is for newcomers to introduce and tell about themselves, and you telling us what and why you think about characters probably falls into this. (This is the first time I've been associated with the more experienced sharders though. It makes me feel strangely nervous.)

4 minutes ago, reyzen said:

In the event that this is a discussion that IS allowed on this subforum I'd say that to say that Hoid is only interesting because we know little of him is being dishonest. Yes, we don't know exactly everything about him, but I believe that he's been featured enough in the Cosmere, and in SA in particular, that we can make a reasonable assumption on his motivations and his character

I think I overstated my opinion. I do believe that Hoid is a great character, and when we eventually learn more about him,  I'm sure he will still remain to be so.

6 minutes ago, reyzen said:

He's a person who has a greater goal, and generally tries to stay out of local events, but who, at his core, cares deeply about the people that he meets and forms connections to. The fact that he goes to such lengths to aid both Kaladin and Shallan when they are at their lowest show that this is a person who, despite having lived for millennia, still has feelings and still feels empathy towards others. He even lets Dalinar know that his own goals are not specifically aligned with the Rosharans, saying that he'd happily let Roshar burn than chance Odium's escape from the planet. Essentially letting Dalinar know not to place to much hope in Wit, but to fight his own fight. 

I agree.

7 minutes ago, reyzen said:

He's the enigma that connects the Cosmere, and every time he gets screen time we learn more of him and learning more of him means learning more of the deep politics behind the Cosmere. 

Hoid is a very intriguing character, and learning more about him is always fun. I love to watch him interact with the other characters, and the way he (almost) always manages to be completely unsurprised by everything is infuriating in the best way possible, but the way he is now, a big reason that I personally enjoy his parts is that he knows so much more than everyone. When we finally get to his perspective, it will probably be one of the most satisfying books to read in the entire Cosmere, and I'm sure it will be great and make me love Hoid even more, but Kaladin is just more interesting to me. I can relate to him, feel his struggles to do good, and finally see him overcome them, like 

Words of Radiance spoilers:

Spoiler

When Kaladin realizes why killing Elhokar is wrong, and finally speaks the third ideal. His subsequent fight with Szeth is basically the definition of awesome fantasy battles in my book.

And I can also relate with how hard and insurmountable his struggles seem, like

Oathbringer spoilers:

Spoiler

When he saw Moash and the parshmen, and when he struggled to say the fourth ideal, and failed.

While Hoid is the guy who's smarter than almost anyone, and even if I do relate to him in that, it's only because I've read all the books, and I have a perspective that he doesn't have. if you want to continue this discussion, we probably shouldn't keep text walling your intro page, and there's already a dedicated thread to who your favorite (stormlight) character is, we can continue here:

[reyzen]

Quote

It makes me feel strangely nervous

Don't be, you're doing a great job in introducing me to this forum! I have to say, I am nervous myself coming into this new setting where I don't really know the rules and what the general consensus of different things are. 

 

Quote

 a big reason that I personally enjoy his parts is that he knows so much more than everyone

Hmm, I realise when reading this that you're completely true. Imagine the day when he's a completely fleshed out character with a full back story? He'd be the best character in the Cosmere by far. Like, I hold him in very high regards even now, but that day when he has his entire story, past-present-future, complete I will have a hard time finding anyone else in fantasy that I like more.

 

We can definitely continue the talk in that thread that you linked, is there a way of @'ing (I saw now when I wrote the @ that there IS a way of mentioning someone!) if you have a response to what I wrote, write it in that thread, otherwise, I'll get back to you in a while!

[NameIess]

19 minutes ago, reyzen said:

Don't be, you're doing a great job in introducing me to this forum! I have to say, I am nervous myself coming into this new setting where I don't really know the rules and what the general consensus of different things are. 

Thank you. If you want to know all the rules and policies, this thread should help you out:

 

 

[Honorless he/him]

Welcome to the Shard, @reyzen

[AonEne he/him]

4 hours ago, reyzen said:

Is Hoid the most interesting fantasy character ever? 

Welcome to the forums! And I do think he’s up there.