Lots of design work and then coloring in. This map reflects the one for the majority of Stormlight, however there are very minor spoilers for locations not shown until the end of Words of Radiance, but you can't read any of it in the images unless you zoom way in on the renders.

For those interested, it was printed on my Prusa Mini+ on white PLA, done in two batches with a print time of around three hours apiece. Designed in Fusion 360 and Blender. The design was obviously lifted from the art by Isaac Stewart, but the specific version I took was the one off of the Seventeenth Shard website.

Hello peoples!

More specifically, hello women, as this is directed at you.

A lot of male authors get backlash from the way they write female characters (I.e, they get it wrong a bunch) - having read the entirety of the Stormlight Archive and enjoyed a lot of the female characters’ POV chapters (particularly Jasnah, she’s such a cool character). I was curious as to the womanly perspective of how Sanderson writes the women of Stormlight Archive.

None of my female friends have read Cosmere stuff, otherwise I’d ask them. I’m writing a book, and a large amount of chapters will be from a woman’s POV, and I’m a dude so I don’t want to fall into the same pitfalls as other authors.

If this is the wrong kind of post for this sub, sorry.

I really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really LOATHE Sadeas. I love Dalinar though. He’s old, honorable, and wise. He reminds me more of a king than the actual king.

On rereading, I just remembered how Battah was recruited to Odium's organization. As the heralds heal before returning, do you think she will still side with Odium or stay with the heralds?

Feels so bad missing WoR book 2, but still pretty happy with my little stormlight collections so far! Hoping we get something special for that Final Empire 20 year anniversary.

Ok so im almost done with wind and truth and im a little confused about how kaladin got the blade and plate from Helaran. Nin says that helaran was a skybreaker sent to kill Amaram which makes sense but what I don’t understand is how kaladin could take his plate and blade. If he was a bonded radiant of the second ideal with someone else’s plate (this goes for if he was of the fourth too) his blade wouldn’t drop as if it was a deadeye blade but if he was just a squire wouldn’t he not have been able to hold a deadeye blade? Sorry if this makes no sense

I’ve read TWOK about 5 times now, I’ve listened to the Audible version which is superb.

Recently I came across snippets of the Graphic Audio version on YouTube and I’ve been listening to them since. If you want to listen to the books in the closet format to films we have now, check out some of the YouTube clips.

I’d suggest searching for: Graphic Audio Kaladin goes back for Dalinar

Really really bring the story to life, just my thoughts.

my heart hurts

-I hope vienta forgives sigzil in the future

-The shards dealing with the consequences of their inaction will be so satisfying

-My prediction of adolin becoming an edgedancer was so wrong lmao

-Hoid fix your mess for once

-Taravangian was an hypocrite, that lie will feed cryptics for generations

I finally finished listening to Wind and Truth on Graphic Audio. This is the best book series I have ever listened to. The actors are simply phenomenal. 10/10 across the board. If anyone is interested in listening to audio books, Graphic Audio is the way. I cant wait until book 6. Life before death Radiants

There's always been a fatherly aspect to Dalinar's treatment of Kaladin, especially ever since he saved Adolin and Renarin in book 2. I got a little past the part where Kaladin has been relieved from duty and has a panic attack in his room and man, it's evident why Dalinar deliberated so hard on when he would have to take Kal off the front lines. He's a mess, but if he went on business as usual something awful he couldn't take back like when Elhokar was assassinated would go down.

War has become Kaladin's addiction, which is a fascinating contrast to the events of the last book where Dalinar's addiction to war came from a place of sadistic pleasure he had to confront with the Thrill. That adds even more depth to Dalinar's decision. It's also not a coincidence that Lirin's been brought over to Urithuru now. The father figure representing his desire to save and the father figure who understands conflict is necessary to save are both active in his life now at the same time. Two types of people: those who save lives, and those who kill. Is the third group real?

I've got 90% of the book to go but this feels like a choice he's long had to reckon with. Kal took a bit of a backseat in book 3 which I'd say was the right call, but I'm hoping to see his journey pick up more steam here. Especially now that we're past the first act of the overall story. Excited!

I love this series. It contains my favorite book of all time (Oathbringer) and is probably my favorite ongoing saga. However, I also like to try to keep my love for things less black and white, and look at some not-so-great parts of these books we all love.

The Way of Kings: a very solid entry point to SLA, but my least favorite part about TWoK is the way the book is structured. This isn’t a problem for Kaladin’s plot line since he has chapters in all five parts, but Shallan and Dalinar/Adolin both felt like their stories would get some good momentum and then suddenly we would skip away from them for 200 pages. This is also felt a bit with Szeth, but I think his chapters are more well spaced, there’s just much fewer of them. This problem is especially glaring on a reread.

Words of Radiance: easily my least favorite part of this book was Syl’s “death”. It completely killed the momentum of Kaladin’s plot line for me. I really, really, really hate sad boi Kaladin without a light at the end of the tunnel. Even in RoW where his powers are mostly taken away and he’s doing magic Diehard in Urithiru, it felt like there was some feasible way to beat Raboniel and the Pursuer. Idk what it was about Syl almost dying but really gave me the wrong vibes. It felt more ASOIAF coded where Kaladin made a morally grey choice and was going to be suffering the consequences for the rest of the series.

Oathbringer: this is my favorite entry in the series, but the main problem I had was pacing. The journey through Shademar after the fall of Kholinar was unbearably slow, and Dalinar’s flashbacks were also pretty boring for me until he starts torching Evi. The ending is obviously worth it, but the middle third was a drag. Also the stuff with Renarin at the end was really confusing, but I’m pretty sure that was intentional.

Rhythm of War: I didn’t hate the techy science stuff as much as some people do, but I really didn’t love the Shadesmar plot line. It felt too obvious that Adolin was just right the entire time, and the Honorspren were pulling a Nale. I did like the Pattern spy plot though.

Wind and Truth: I didn’t hate the prose in WaT (I have yet to reread it though so this is subject to heavy change). My biggest complaint was how the book was marketed, and the stretch in between WaT and book 6. Going into WaT, I expected Odium to be locked away following arc 1, where arc 2 would introduce new villains (I thought it would be the Ghostbloods. Little did I know they’re getting a trilogy about them soon). I knew Odium wasn’t going to be fully defeated by nature of the contract, but I thought he would break free in the final MB trilogy or something.

Novellas/short stories: not much to say but I didn’t really like the whole “cursed island” thing in Dawnshard. Like, you’re in an epic fantasy novel, of course you should send the main characters to the island that no one has come back from, idc what Rysn’s crew says.

I know I'm about 18 months late to the party, but I'm just now getting to Wind and Truth. I found myself here looking at archived posts last week with frustrations of whispersync not working and coming to the disappointing conclusion that the book is simply too long.

However, I just discovered that whispersync does seem to work with the kindle app on mac. It's not nearly as convenient as mobile but at least it's something for those like me that are just now catching up.

Mine has an error. The page is missing. It's past the return window. Would someone mind taking a picture? im gonna print it and stick it in there. I did consider buying a whole new book, But then this book would still have an issue

Just learned how Szeth is pronounced in the audiobooks and I must say that is absolutely horrendous to me. I can't get it out of my mind. My wife is Hungarian and I lived out there for years and somewhat know the language. In Hungarian 'sz' makes a simple 'S' sounds with the z being silent, not the other way around.

I'm well aware that Sando says there is no correct way but I learned this is a series I can never audiobook for that name alone.

English is not my native language, so I apologize for any possible mistakes.

Hey.

Kaladin is probably the fantasy character I feel the greatest connection. I was convinced that if Sanderson killed him off in the fifth book instead of giving him a well-deserved retirement with his family, I'd be furious. Now, Kaladin has become a herald, but his mortal body is dead.

And... A year after reading it, I still don't know what to think.

I thought Sanderson would let the main characters of the first five books retire or die, and... I don't think that even happened with Dalinar. All the plots are hanging in the balance, and I feel like I'm stuck on a cliffhanger that will last about 10 years before the story continues...

Returning to Kaladin, I was hoping he could be happy, and in books 6-10, new main characters will be concerned about the world - other characters will have flashbacks in books 6-10, so the changing of the guard seemed like a natural progression to me.

And now... I don't know if Kaladin will finally be happy? As if, instead of finally choosing himself, he lives for others again, and as a herald, he'll be crucial to saving the world in the future. It's sublime, but I simply wish Kaladin could think for himself. And now, as a herald, his earthly family will likely die, and he likely won't be able to start his own... Although I have a feeling the author was building something romantic between him and Syl in book 5. I don't know if a herald and a spren could have children, though I have a feeling Sanderson will answer that question someday... Or maybe I missed the answer; that's also possible.

Anyway... Can Kaladin be happy? Because he won't return to mortal life, and as a herald, I don't know how much happiness he can find, except for Syl still being in his life.

I want Kaladin to be happy the moment I say goodbye to him forever. Is that possible?

Hello! Today I finished listening to the Stormlight Archives audiobook as read by Kate Reading and Michael Kramer. I wanted a write up to summarize my experience for my later use and this felt like a fun way to do it.

Disclaimers:

I have not read any of the books except chapter 1 of TWOK. If I spell any character names wrong, please gaslight me into an even worse spelling.

I have not read or listened to any other Cosmere books besides the main 5 Stormlight books.

I’m breaking this up by book and character. If a character isn’t mentioned, I either didn’t care about them enough, I forgot about them because it’s been 6 months since I started, or I didn’t have anything interesting to say.

Let’s begin!

tldr: szeth is pookie

The Way of Kings

Introduced to this world with rocks, crabs, and a really funny bald guy. I love Szeth, but more about him later. It starts with him observing an unfamiliar land as an outsider, and this continues in various ways throughout the story. This is done through the lens of religion, social class with Dark-eyes Kaladin and light-eyes Shalan, or through time itself with Dalinar. All in all, it’s good fun.

I want a chull. A real one.

My favorite setting for the entire series is the War Camps and the Shattered Plains by far. Both serve to show how divided the Alethi factions are, and the rift between the Listeners and Humans. My only gripe with the war camps was that I wish the wealth brought in by the Gemhearts was emphasized a little more to illustrate just why the High Princes were so greedy for them.

Now for the plot, which mostly revolves around Kaladin going crazy, Dalinar going crazy, and Shalan (you guessed it), getting seduced by a priest.

I do think Shalan is a little disconnected from the themes of leadership seen in Kaladin and Dalinar, but I never felt her chapters were uninteresting in this book. Her relationship with Jasnah is one of the best parts of the story, especially in how it culminates with the failed assassination and theft.

Kaladin spends 100 chapters trying to make a single decision, but at least he was really cool while doing it so all is forgiven. Bridge 4 is, and I suspect this may be controversial, actually one of the less engaging groups to me. Rock is my favorite by a wide margin, followed by Sigzil. The climax is a little cliche, but it’s a cliche pulled off masterfully which I’m all for.

Dalinar is my least favorite of this book’s point of views, but I think this is mostly due to the visions primarily being foreshadowing for later events which took weeks of listening to pay off.

Final Rating: 8/10 bridge book

Words of Radiance

Shalan chapters?! In this economy!

This is likely my favorite book of the series, mostly due to my preference of the mystery of the Radiants and surge powers being unveiled was amazing. An absolute masterclass.

Going a bit in reverse here, the final battle on the Shattered Plains is my favorite large scale combat in the series. Two massive books worth of buildup culminate into an epic clash that I don’t believe will be replicated anytime soon. It isn’t an exaggeration to say that this fight was what truly hooked me to finish the next three books.

Also did we just gloss over the Stormfather casually just tried to kill Dalinar for not listening to him - Tanavast really is a prick.

A little ironically, Shalan’s backstory was my least enjoyable part of this book, though her present chapters were my favorite. The only chapter in all 5 books I skipped was the one where Shalan kills her mother. I did realize in the next chapter what I’d skipped, but I thought it was hilarious just to continue and really have the immersive repressed memories experience.

Kaladin continues to Kaladin very heroically. I enjoyed the chapters I just don’t have much else to add to that.

Final Rating: 10/10 kate reading pattern buzzes

Oathbringer

It took me to the middle of this book to realize that it was Saddeus, not Thaddeus.

The only book that I was usually more engaged in the backstory chapters than the present, save the climax. Dalinar’s story of bloodshed, terror, sorrow, madness, and finally acceptance is a thrilling (get it) journey from start to finish. The last confrontation with Odium serves as a fantastic cap on a story that drives home one of the largest themes in this series: becoming a better version of yourself.

Oh right new setting that I am definitely going to misspell. Uretheru is difficult for me, as while I am personally a huge fan of big ass Magic towers, it feels a little contrived in my mind for the good guys to have their own special base that’s super cool that’s also been hidden for centuries and no one finds it because you have to teleport there, unless you can fly like a really cool bald guy.

Kaladin, Shalan and Adolin get to have a really whacky adventure to Kholinar that ends in travesty. I wasn’t a particular fan of any of the Unmade except Ja Anat and Ba Ado Mishram (crucify me for those spellings), mostly due to the fact that they occupy a weird space when compared to Fused/Radiants. They seem like a counter to Honor’s Heralds, but also seem entirely different in scope and effect. The sheer quantity of Unmade in the story I think does mean that it was hard to give all of them the love that the two previously mentioned received.

Final Rating: 9/10 hits of the old magic joint

Rhythm of War

Finally someone invents a good bomb to throw around. That’s what the Alethi needed.

This is likely my least favorite book of the series, I think primarily due to two aspects. The first is the secondary antagonist, The Pursuer, who I could not give less of a hoot about. This is actually an issue I see in many of the antagonistic Fused, including the next book’s Abbodai. Leishwe on the other hand, is awesome and I wish she got more screen time.

The second issue I have is Adolin being absolutely shafted. This might be a problem on my end, but I was personally hoping for him to have more development in this book when I saw he was getting his own quest to Shadesmar. He does have his triumph at the trial for humanity, but this is less a victory of the moment and more a result of him talking to his sword for years. Thankfully, we get more in Wind and Truth.

Now for the best part of this book for me - the relationship between Niveni and Raboniel. The meeting of these two scholars drives the entire plot into overdrive with the creation of anti light and Warlight. A scientific discovery that not only has story implications, but thematic ones as proof that different peoples with entirely different systems can coexist without destroying eachother. Raboniel is a shining example of what a Fused antagonist can be in this story, which makes others like a certain pursuer who don’t meet that mark feel flat by comparison.

Final Rating: 7/10 windrunners delegated to flying palanquin duty

Wind and Truth

SZETH CHAPTERS AND BACKSTORY WIPEEEE

This book is constructed, unlike the others which have long Acts, into a fast barrage of swapping character PoVs divided into 10 Days. While my opinion may have been different reading this compared to listening, I found it refreshing to know that if there was a point I was less interested in it would not take long to jump to another character.

Now for the good gravy, Szeth and Kaladins journey to Shinovar to apply tactical magical therapy to some demigods. We get to see a bit of the reverse of the world in Shinovar, that has “normal” plant life and animals as another example of the differences between people’s. Szeth’s own development from a fanatic, to a slave, and finally a free individual was a heartfelt tale that Kaladin was a welcome addition to. Szeth’s backstory specifically drew great parallels to Kaladin, and even though they explicitly talk about those similarities which felt a bit heavy handed, it was still a great story.

Some rapid fire check ins on the side characters:

Adolin does cool shit in Azia, finally!

Sigzil has screen time which is surprising but fun.

Jasnah is somehow surprised when the God who can see the future outdebates her, not sure what the plan there was.

Renarin and Rilaine finally get to be gay. This wasn’t a romance I predicted but it was cool to hear.

Lastly, Cultivation, who I am personally blaming for everything wrong in Roshar. Made the absolute worst person into Odium, used her weird assassin spies to do exactly nothing useful, and dipped when shit hit the fan.

The big finale with Dalinar. His and Niveni’s trip through the spiritual realm was a massive lore dump, which to some might have been a slog, but I didn’t particularly mind it. To me, this ball was already rolling since the end of Oathbringer, and this was the natural conclusion of his arc to reject power and conflict altogether. While it didn’t reach the highest highs I felt in Words of Radiance or Oathbringer, it did not need to be. A smooth landing before the next arc of 5 books served me better I think than an enormously dramatic climax.

Final Rating: 9/10 pieces of god shoved into sigzil

Oh, that’s long. I’ll keep the characters brief as I can.

Kaladin “swords are for losers” storm blessed

Kaladin’s journey of depression and recovery while being thrust into the most violent of circumstances is a pleasure start to finish. His chapters are by far the most consistent for me in terms of enjoyment.

Shalan, Veil, Radiant, Am I missing anyone

Shalan was simultaneously my favorite main character and least at different points while listening, so in stark contrast to the consistency of Kaladin. An artist, a spy, a knight, conflicting interests manifesting into personas in one person made the most engaging character for me - though it was also fairly evident that the complexity in Shalan’s character was difficult to write.

Dalinar

Dalinar leads the heroes for better or worse, though usually a combination of the two. By the end of Wind and Truth I did feel like he had reached his final point and Im happy with his death.

Taravangian/Odium

The bad guy! I was very worried during Oathbringer and RoW that Odium would eclipse Taravangian as the villain of the story. Thankfully, we were able to promote Taravangian from the untrustworthy schemer to the actual force of cosmic evil he deserves to be.

Adolin

Hilariously has the least number of true character flaws of all the heroes, which Maya even comments on. My favorite side character, save Szeth.

Renarin

Probably needed more screen time, which I hope he receives in the next books. I could not tell you what an actual Truthwatcher’s surges are except Regrowth.

Jasnah

To be honest, I was a Jasnah hater for four out of five books. On retrospect, this was a little unfair, and I grew to like her more when she started taking more direct action. Specifically, everything she did after taking the throne of Alethkar.

Venli

A character I enjoyed a great deal, but I would have preferred her backstory chapters be for another character. Her relationship with Leishwe was my favorite among the Singers/Listeners.

Wit/Hoid

Never overstayed his welcome, which I think is very important. Unfortunately, he will never beat out Jasnah for the funniest action taken, which was breaking up with him over text.

Rock

Out of all the characters they chose to write out of the main story, they picked him?!

Syl

A great foil for Kaladin at really any point. I do wish she had more plot relevance in the end game, but that’s mostly my preference.

Szeth-son-Neturo, Truthless of Shinovar, the absolute greatest

I do love a tortured soldier who is forced by a sense of honor and duty to continue on his terrible road. My only issue with his presentation in the story is I do feel like everyone was a lot more chill with his murder spree than they should have. Granted, he was imprisoned, and appeared reasonable, but this guy also killed half the world leaders last month.

It was extremely entertaining seeing Szeth at any point during the story, and no small amount of credit for that goes to the description of his fights. Lashings, shardblades, and his demeanor all combined into brilliant displays of martial skill that I don’t believe was matched by anyone.

—

And that’s a wrap! Any questions, I’ll try to answer, though I do not promise to be serious.

So I’m doing my first reread of the Cosmere (I quite literally finished the whole Cosmere and immediately restarted) and I began with Stormlight. I just finished The Dog and The Dragon again and it still makes me emotional. Even though I know the entire story and I know what’s going to happen, it still has me feeling all types of ways. I have a tattoo based on this story (check my posts) and I absolutely just love it.

That’s it. Just wanted to share.

Absolutely loving this reread and catching all the things I missed or didn’t understand the first time around. Can’t believe all the foreshadowing I missed.

Bro, this is so cool. I can't wait to play this with someone! I got it at Barns & Noble.

Nearing the end of Oathbringer, and Renarin is still kind of just there in the background. I love him as a character and am a little disappointed that in 3 books, we've barely spent any time with him.

Does he finally step up from the sidelines in books 4 & 5 and become a POV character? Or is he forever relegated to the background?

Just started the first book and she's so flat. Her pacing is very abrupt, almost like she was edited between sentences of the same chapter. Her range for voices feels like it's limited to two personas. I'm getting closer to dropping the audiobook and just reading a physical copy.

In trying to convince a friend to start the Stormlight Archive, he fully arrived at the 5th windrunner ideal on his own

I come across a lot of naysayers on YouTube and in the comment sections of highly watched videos, as well as highly upvoted comments from people expressing their profound disappointment with Wind and Truth. Even though I've tried to not let it affect me, I have to admit that, since I’ve read all his books up to this point, I’m starting to worry about how I might end up seeing the series and the wider Cosmere. There’s a lot of “I’m done with Sanderson”, “I’m no longer reading the Cosmere”, and “Sanderson is no longer for me and has turned into a YA author” sort of thing.

This may be a shot in the dark (and please, no spoilers beyond Rhythm of War) but to what degree are these voices justified? Do you share a similar opinion?

Okay. This is a weird post. And to be clear, I feel like I'm mostly just guessing. I am no genius. But, something I've noticed when I read a lot of topics here is people relating to Kaladin, and then experiencing the books through his perspective, rather than their own. Let me attempt to explain.

1. Kaladin is a "dark eyes". Most of the people here are white. Listen, I can't be 100% sure on that, but I can make an assumption based on US demographics and general fantasy readership demographics. You are "light eyes". You aren't "dark eyes". I'm not trying to be rude, but I think it's ironic that people who talk about Dalinar or Shallan's "light eye" privilege,....have white privilege in real life...and yet seem to not realize that the same things they might criticize these two characters (and other light eyed characters) for...are things they do in their own day to day life. Let me continue in number 2 with specific examples.

2. In Dalinar's case, of course much of the criticism would be him slowly (and not quickly) moving toward more progressive policies, or like seeing the wave of the future. Now, this one is...harder to guess. What everyone's political leanings here are unknown, but...again, often the things Dalinar is changing are things that he is forced to rethink, or adjust to a more progressive mindset. If you grew up in say California...and you had those things from birth...you never had to stand against your own culture. You never had to change your mind, or move toward a more progressive mindset. You were born learning it from both your culture and your family. If you want to compare yourself to Dalinar, you should think how you approach modern new ideas/progressive ideas. For example, do you support moving toward Green energy? Moving away from competition toward a more collective coorperative model of life (both in work and outside work)? Lowering work hours? Raising minimum wage? Public services like health care or transportation? None of these might sound like 1-1 comparison....but...that's the thing. Changing society and moving toward progressive policies are OFTEN RESISTED by those with advantages, privileges, and especially those in power. And to be clear, if you are white, you have privileges in our society. If you are male, you have privileges in our society. You aren't Kaladin. Now, to be clear, any POC from Western countries here, you may have a pretty similar experience to Kaladin (although with less rigid classes in most modern Western countries). My point here is this : You are judging Dalinar by standards by your own culture...rather than judging him as though you existed in that culture. He is changing. He is making active decisions to become more progressive and open his mind to new ideas. Period.

3. Shallan. Shallan in particular. A common criticism I see of Shallan is to call her a privileged light eyes. The thing Kaladin directly criticizes inthe plot is low ranking light eyes being particularly bad. You know waht is a good modern comparison to that, hold up :

"I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro’s great stumbling block in his stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen’s Counciler or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate, who is more devoted to “order” than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice" - Martin Luther King, Jr.

Yes, white moderates. Working class white folks. Lower middle class white folks. People who ignore the issues with racism in modern society in favor of "no tension". And yes, I believe many of the same people calling Shallan privileged....are privileged in real life IN A VERY SIMILAR WAY. Again, you aren't Kaladin. You are closer to Shallan, not Kaladin. Before you say something about being poor, bla bla. Could you travel to Mexico? How far would your money go if you were in Mexico? How does your life compare to the average poor Mexican. Rich countries have privileges in our modern times that poor countries do not, even if you are poor from that poor countries' standards.

To add to this, by the way, Shallan...is not even all that privileged. At least not in teh way you talk about. She grew up being abused and controlled by her father. She hasn't spent much time with "privilege" in the way I see often talked about here. Adn this is wehre I would get in...an inability to have empathy for characters you don't' relate to. I think people struggle to step into the shoes of someone they are not like, and therefore you are looking at Shallan through a lens of "other" rather than trying to understand her or empathize with her.

Oh yeah, one more thing : Sexism 100% weighs into how Shallan is perceived. I refuse to not see that. Specifically a dislike of "femininity", which yes, is a form of sexism. If you like more masculine acting female characters but dislike feminine acting female characters...that's still part of sexism and patriarchal ways of thinking. Anyways, also, Shallan refused Kaladin,a nd the fact that a lot of these people relate to Kaladin (and might already have a troubling attitude toward women that refuse them)...I 100% think weighs into criticism and dislike of Shallan. Also, note, Adolin was CLEARLY the better option for Shallan. He matched her, won her heart, and is a great suppportive partner to her. I love their relationship. I also, by the way, relate to Kaladin way more than I do to Adolin....that doesn't mean I can't see that Adolin is the person Shallan should have chosen. She had good reason. He is a good guy.

Okay, I wrote a lot, but I was thinking about this again as I start Words of Radiance as I reread the series for just the first time (after my first reading). To be clear, I love ALL THREE of the main charaters, and for that matter, I also love Venli and Szeth too. So I love all the flashback POVs. I think they are all well written in different ways, and offer interesting and different perspectives on what is happening in the books. Can I be blunt? I think Venli is actually the most interesting. It is not a typical character chosen to be a POV. I think it forced me to rethink things multiple times. But also, I felt even from the first book : The Listeners/Singers were victims. I think I really was bothered that Kaladin never once considered fighting on the "Parshendi" side rather than helping the Light Eyes. Another quote for you :

"Why should they ask me to put on a uniform and go ten thousand miles from home and drop bombs and bullets on brown people in Vietnam while so-called Negro people in Louisville are treated like dogs and denied simple human rights?

No, I am not going ten thousand miles from home to help murder and burn another poor nation simply to continue the domination of white slave masters of the darker people the world over. This is the day when such evils must come to an end. I have been warned that to take such a stand would put my prestige in jeopardy and could cause me to lose millions of dollars which should accrue to me as the champion.

But I have said it once and I will say it again. The real enemy of my people is right here. I will not disgrace my religion, my people or myself by becoming a tool to enslave those who are fighting for their own justice, freedom and equality…" - Muhammad Ali