Book 4 in Brandon Sanderson’s Stormlight Archive series is 50% done! The author posted the update himself on the series’ subreddit earlier this week, giving fans a preview of the book’s structure.
(Slight spoilers ahead for the Stormlight Archive series up to and including book 4, so click away if you’d rather not see them.)
First, some spoiler space.
Anyone remember Pingu?
Cutest little claymation penguin.
Noot noot!
Book 4, which is tentatively titled The Rhythm of War, begins with the group of characters from the end of Oathbringer, before splitting into three groups of viewpoint characters: group one, which has five characters, group two, which has two, and group three, which also has two. Having finished writing the adventures of group two, Sanderson said he now has groups one and three to write.
The author also shared a concern he had about writing the POVs of Parshendi sisters Venli and Eshonai. As you’ll recall, Eshonai was confirmed dead in Oathbringer, while Venli is slowly but surely embarking on a redemption arc.
One issue I’ve been having with the book is the flashbacks. I’m not 100% sure they’ll work the way I planned them to. In that case, it’s possible I will toss them and doing them from Venli’s viewpoint instead. I’m excited to write more Eshonai, but there’s a real chance that the viewpoints will feel like fluff, as Venli is the one who knew the secrets happening behind the scenes among the Listeners at the time.
[…]
I can’t say for certain, and my gut says that–in abstract–more people would enjoy reading about Eshonai as a character, but would find the chapters a little boring and out of place. Venli flashbacks would, instead, be filled with cosmere mysteries and answers that will be more interesting.
For more details on Sanderson’s thought process on the potential POV switch, tours, and hoped-for release windows, head on over to the update. In the meantime, you can watch Brandon read an excerpt from one of the Venli chapters in the forthcoming novel.
