So Roshar, the world this series takes place on, has a variety of different nations and cultures, but most of the core cast is from the land of Alethkar

We see the story through their eyes, so we get a really good sense of what kind of culture Alethkar has. After a few books it’s very familiar feeling

One of the other nations is a land called Shinovar

Only one of the core cast is from Shinovar

And he is exiled and refuses to talk about his home

So we don’t have a very good idea of what Shinovar is like

So in book 5, we finally get to see Shinovar in any kind of detail

And we get to see this character’s backstory

The Shin have a very strange culture, compared to the rest of the world

And the guy is very socially awkward and bad at reading people

(Probably mildly autistic)

So when we finally get to his backstory, he is struggling to understand The Rules and how everything works and what is Right or Wrong

Constantly making blunders

And because this is the first time we’ve really gotten a look at this alien culture

We, the reader, are right there with him

He can’t tell what anyone around him is going to do and neither can I