equinox

Oh... Right! Thank you so much!

Book 5 needs to be KoW! Ahhh... OB doesn't fit. Which letter was it again, that doesn't ruin symmetries in Vorin names? I guess we can't do anything about it...

Also, I think the nationality (whether or not a nation fights the Desolation) or religious affiliation do not matter to Spren in their "Radiant selection process". We know many Radiants from Vorin Kingdoms as the story started there. But we've seen others (mainly in the interludes). Unfortunately, not all of them survived Name. I think we will see more of Roshar in the next books an meet new non-Vorin Radiants.

We'll get a max of three Bondsmiths. I really can get behind the idea of a Singers'/Listeners' Bondsmith. Rlain is not a Voidbringer (I get what you mean, he is in the eyes of many humans). It won't be enough to unite the human kingdoms/countries. At least some of the Parsh will want to fight Odium. It would help if they had a Bondsmith. As much as I grew to like Navani, I don't want her to bond the Sibling. Although it is quite fitting, I am in camp "Please no Bondsmith Kholin Powerhouse".

There's this WoB that kinda.. um.. explains this a bit.. um.. Shadesmar, so the Cognitive Realm, it's kind of a plane on which all the different planets exist and the space between them.. um.. is basically nonexistent or shrunken to a tiny distance? Mhm.. I'll better copy the WoB

I absolutely trust Brandon Sanderson to write a satisfying story. And I trust him to write Dalinar's story in the best way there is. I am sure Brandon Sanderson will not just kill of a character without telling his whole story - at least not one of the POV characters. I didn't like Eshonai's death and I disliked Venli taking over Timbre. But they grew on me during Oathbringer. I disliked other deaths in other Cosmere stories. But there is no character that was - imo - wasted by Brandon. Yes, I wish Amaram's story had a bit more depth. Yes, I so much wish Tien would still be alive. And I mourned Elhokar's death. But all those characters had reasons to die. We do not know where Dalinar's story is heading. And I think it's not a good idea to be disappointed by what we think Brandon will write without actual knowledge about characters' future. Even if those (corrupted?) Truthwatchers among you dare to foretell the future, be aware, you might err...

There is a ton of WoBs out there. He usually does not give a specific answer to this question. But Dalinar shows up sometimes. As @Winds Alight already said, he (together with Hold) is around the longest in Brandon Sanderson's head (since Brandon was 15 years old).

I disagree. We had enough build-up in the first two books to know Amaram is not a good guy. No need for POVs there. A short POV in Oathbringer, however, might have explained his turn better than just the outside perspective. Yes, he somehow lost faith, but what was his personal turning point? I would love to have known that. Being in his head (as we were for very short POVs in Sadeas' head) would not have given away too much. Just think about Jasnah. We had some POVs, but basically know nothing specific from her past.

Oh. I am looking forward to Gavilar's prologue in book 5. Do we know the next prologue POV? Navani?

I so much agree with what you say here. Only I very much enjoyed reading Bridge 4's POVs. They provide a different perspective on what's happening, broadening the scope. I wouldn't mind spending a bit less time in Shallan's (or more precisely Veil's) head though.

I fully agree that Amaram's turn could have been foreshadowed/explained better. Moash, on the other hand, just wanted to run away at first. He knew that he through away what he had with Kaladin and Bridge 4. He ponders that in his previous POV. While pulling the sledge toward Kholinar, he tries to convince himself that he did nothing wrong, that circumstances or society have to be blamed. True, what drove him to help the Parshmen crew is not fully clear to me. I guess his senses weren't dulled completely yet and he still could empathize. In his next chapter, he realized nothing has changed for him: He befriends the Parsh, but at the same time he knows from experience that he will fail again. And then: He was in a very bad state when he left the warcamps. He was worse in Revolution. Then he starts to shove his feelings away, blame other, tries to forget. How could he not accept Odium's offer? His lust for vengeance is the only thing that keeps him going. Lady Leshwi stroked that fire in him. Killing Elhokar was the final point of no return. Then, and only then, he gave in completely. Set aside all feelings of remorse that before that still came up sometimes.

Oh, you haven't read Secret History yet? Were you able to avoid spoilers? I tried to come up with another minor disappointment to add to the topic. Looks like for me there is none that hasn't already be mentioned

Oh. How could I forgot? Tien! Every time he made Kaladin lighten up, I had to smile as well. Love the little one very much and am still sad he couldn’t stay...

Also Venli if you count her (in my opinion, she is no more a special case than Renarin). Other non-Vorin Radiants were killed off by Nale.

Ahh... Great. I completely misremembered. Then I did include a scene from WoR after all

Oh. I would have to reread in order to find all the scenes that felt great. If I just think of it quickly, some scenes come to my mind. Especially WoK had great moments: Bridge 4/Kaladin deciding to help the Kholin army, members of bridge 4 waiting for Kaladin to get back after he fell into the chasms, Navani painting the huge justice glyph. I also cried at Elhokar's dying scene in OB and I triumphed with Timbre when the following happened : Somehow, I can't come up with any particular scenes from WoR. Curious . Edit: @SLNC helped my memory, the chasm scene is actually from WoR!

Thanks @LerasiumMistborn for your reply. I also expect that not all characters will survive the first five books, but I'll wait for proof (WoB or in-book) until I count someone dead . @CrazyRioter I am thankful that all the love triangle resolution and Shadolin's wedding got rushed (I'm just not that into all the romance stuff, but would love to get more politics stuff). However, I really feel the same way as you do. I think while the endings of WoK and WoR were really great, OB ending was a huge epic battle and then... Well just not enough closure on many small aspects. Guess the book was too long already. But I'd rather have some Shallan inner monologue in Kholinar or a Kaladin eating stew with soldiers scene cut.

@LerasiumMistborn As I said above, I understand that different readers experience different characters differently and I also understand that some people wish for more viewpoints of certain characters (just thinking about all the Adolin lovers out there. My post was not meant to disencourage you to voice your opinion - I just wanted to add mine. However, I really would love to know where you get your information from that says things like "Dalinar skips entire books", "Book 4 (and 5 most likely) will be the same." (Brandon Sanderson explicitly said that Book 5 has him as a focus again), or "He's obviously not in the second half of the series". Regarding the last aspect, I honestly would like to have more Intel on that. Do we have WoB? Otherwise, Dalinar could live to be 100 years old and be there despite the time jumps between books. Edit: @Config2 Oh yeah. The listeners (including Rlain). I waited for them coming back the whole book. Definitely a minor disappointment for me. And coming back to the main topic of the OP, Amaram's turn was also a minor disappointment for me as I felt it wasn't foreshadowed enough (though some readers pointed out some scenes to me that may help me see it more clearly on my next reread).

There are a couple of WoBs that indicate Dalinar will have a smaller role in book 4, but I could not find anything that says how small his role will be. Also, he will have a large role in book 5. I can understand that people experience things differently, but I don't get the disappointment. Kaladin's part in OB was not as huge as in other books either and I am sure that Shallan will have to step back a little at some point as well.

And seeing the singers that fled through the chasms alive would also be great

Ah.. I think now I understand you better. You mean that due to the nine Heralds abandoning Taln, the False Desolation was actually a Desolation starting. Taln only held back the Fused, but not the Unmade? You mean the Unmade were banned from Roshar between desolations and only the weakening Oathpact enabled BAM to distribute voidlight? I haven't found any definite WoB to support or weaken your idea. Just a quite old WoB indicating that Taln's return suffices. Another WoB says that Thunderclasts can exist on Roshar outside of Desolations. But I found nothing on Unmade activities between Desolations (but I am usually not very good at WoB-hunting ). However, I found this interesting tidbit: This was obviously before OB. But with Jezrien being killed killed, does that mean the Oathpact is dead as well? Killing Heralds to return them to Braize won't do a thing then? Right?

The Alethi knew the Thrill (Nergaoul) for a long time. Long before the True Desolation broke out. We see it firsthand in Dalinar's flashback scenes in Oathbringer. At the time, Taln was still on Braize. However, one could argue that the weakening of the Oathpact also lets the Unmade roam freely around between Desolations. I do not know whether we have WoB that explains a possible linkage between the Oathpact and the Unmade.

The Unmade are connected to Odium, but I don't think they are directly connected to the desolations. We know for sure that the Thrill was active between desolations. Moelach was also doing his trick at least well before Talenel broke. I believe the other Unmade have been around as well. Edit: I always get my Unmade mixed up. An then the spelling ...

I guess we have to rafo. I agree with your logic, but we can't be sure until we see what happens. Jasnah could be right as well (oh. I just realize I disagree with Jasnah ). Maybe a Herald on Braize makes all the difference. Maybe not. But I also guess that the Heralds' madness isn't of much help either. I don't think they would hold up on Braize for long.

Is this confirmed (either in-book or per WoB) or is this speculation? I am not asking to argue, I just really would like to know. I was under the assumption that what you say is true, but I don't know anymore whether I read theories or something with more evidence to it...