I want to take a moment to ask for some honest reader feedback, specifically about Max’s storyline and his role in the overall plot of the story.

  Lately, I’ve been doing a lot of soul-searching about the structure of the story as a whole. In particular, I’m becoming less and less convinced that having two main characters is the right choice. Because of that, I want to hear your thoughts on Max’s half of the story, his character arc, and how important you feel his perspective is to the larger narrative.

  As it stands, Max serves a very specific, and in my opinion, important purpose. Through his point of view, we get exposure to the world outside the North Wilds, including the human kingdoms, the Adventurer’s Guild, and the larger plot involving the Harvest Death Cult and the shadowy figure behind it. Without Max’s POV, the story would remain focused on Gideon, or Grub, as he acclimates to the new world and focuses on survival and building up the Ironfang. Grub does eventually come into contact with the Harvest, but he is not aware of their true nature, and their actions do not meaningfully affect him for quite a while. This means that without Max, the broader plot would have to unfold much more slowly.

  At the same time, I’m very aware that two main characters can be a turn-off for some readers. I’ve received feedback from people who don’t enjoy the human-focused sections in what they expected to be a goblin-centric story, or who simply find Max’s storyline less interesting and skip those chapters. I also recognize that my initial handling of Max’s chapters was not great. The early sections dragged on far too long, and that is one of the major issues I’m already addressing in the rewrite.

  Right now, I see three realistic paths forward, and I’d really like your thoughts on each of them.

  Option 1: Remove Max’s POV Entirely

  Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

  If I remove Max’s perspective completely, the story would then focus almost entirely on Grub. This would turn the overall story into more of a slow-burn, with a heavy emphasis on Grub building up the Ironfang, growing stronger, and surviving in the North Wilds before eventually interacting with the human kingdoms. This would also mean significantly less worldbuilding outside the North Wilds early on.

  Questions:

  1. Would a slower, Grub-focused story like this still be interesting to you?

  2. Would you be okay with the larger plot progressing more slowly at first?

  3. Does the reduced early exposure to the wider world feel like a downside to you, or something you would not mind?

  Option 2: Significantly Reduce Max’s Presence

  Another option is to keep Max, but greatly reduce how often we see his POV. This would mean only occasional check-ins with Max, rather than full arcs focused on him. The challenge here is that it becomes much harder to tell a continuous story involving the Harvest and the human kingdoms.

  Questions:

  1. Do you think occasional, more isolated snippets of Max’s story would still be interesting?

  2. Would disconnected or self-contained segments of his POV still carry enough weight?

  3. Do you have any suggestions for how the human-side plot could be handled with much less screen time?

  Option 3: Keep Max as a Main Character, But Restructure

  The final option is basically the plan as it stands right now, to keep Max as a full main character, but handle the dual POV structure much better. Long stretches of ten or more chapters focused on one character clearly did not work well, and I do not want to repeat that mistake.

  Questions:

  1. What kind of structure would you prefer if both POVs remain?

  2. Would alternating chapters (one Grub, one Max) work for you, or would that feel too jarring?

  3. Would shorter blocks, such as three or five chapters at a time, feel better than long uninterrupted stretches?

  I’m clearly still wrestling with this, which is why I’m asking now. I’m early enough in the rewrite that all of these options are still on the table, and I’d rather make a thoughtful decision now than force something that doesn’t work later.

  I’m very interested to hear your perspectives. Any thoughts, preferences, or suggestions are welcome.

  Thanks in advance for the feedback.

  Which option do you feel is the best direction for me to take?