This is definitely going to be a big area of exploration in future books, but I thought the whole idea for the Parshmen and Parshendi to be already very interesting. They definitely weren't the usual Trolloc or Orc evil characters... in fact, I had a hard time figuring out what they were supposed to be until towards the end of the book. A reread is in order now that all the proper nouns in the books are acquiring definitions in my head.
I really liked the way Brandon came up with Parshendi. It definitely was quite different from the humanoid monsters in most fantasy-I just took them to be a different human race, just with shell growing abilities. It definitely fits in well with the whole world building aspect of it, with the shellish/chitinous construction of everything.
I also liked the parallels to the Roman empire, where the majority of the society was slaves, and the sinister threat underneath it all of the slaves overpowering their masters.
I also liked the mysterious nature of having these humanoid creatures, the parshmen, being so... animalistic. Shen seemed to act almost like a robot, but with tiny hints of a personality. I look forward to future books, where the parshmen become "unlocked", and I think it will be fascinating for someone like Shen to develop a personality.
In some ways, they have a very "insect" feel, especially with their hive mind capabilities.
Can't wait to see where Brandon will take all of this... but unfortunately, I will HAVE to wait... at least two to three years for the next update. Sigh.
By the way, I don't know how Brandon can be such a prolific writer. I know that he was way ahead work wise, but seriously, two huge books coming out in the same year. And an Alcatraz book to come. He's a scary man. Slow and steady writers, shake in your boots with fear.
I think his humanity will be more apparent if he can't get AMOL finished by next year. Is that actually possible? He's not going to start writing until the beginning of next year... surely he won't be able to make a November publication...