This a two (or three) parter, and for clarification, I should state this is for a novel (or so), not for a screenplay or some other medium (at least for now  )

I’ve been wondering, how many POV characters are just too many?

Consider your typical party of five (or six) adventurers who have set out on the Epic Quest.

They will all most likely make it through the journey alive (or at least the bulk of it) as they will be needed later, when the Party is (inevitably) broken up into pieces.

Now true, some will be there at the very beginning, while others will be added along the way; but, for the sake of this posting, imagine they are all present with “the Hero” prior to the end of the first third of the story.

Can/Should all of them be allowed to take the stage as POV characters?

And if so, how often do they need to be brought to center stage?

In a slightly different vein, but within the same Quest/story, what about characters that join for a brief period but are then left behind along the way? Can they be POV characters too?

Their primary purpose is to provide the Reader with knowledge of current events in various locations, things that the hero and the Party have no way of knowing.

In essence, they will be introduced, and then left behind somewhere in order to keep the Reader up to speed while the Hero is off Questing.

And, for those left behind, how often should they be brought forward, to say their piece then fade back again?

Add these four (or five) “left behinds” together with the members of the Party and the Hero, and you easily have over ten Separate POV characters, not counting any additional ones the narrative may need along the way.

I guess the goal here is to not whipsaw the Reader back and forth from POV to POV, without leaving a Voice silent for too long and have their reemergence break immersion.

“Who the heck is that? *flip flip flip* Oh yeah ... I’ve not seen them since page two …”

Heh, easy stuff, right? 

And as an added bonus, why did omniscience die?

*sigh*

I am very aware, and am prepared to deal with, the fact that it has died, and that using it would be pretty much instant death to a modern work of fiction.

But why did it die?

It was sooo much more useful ...

PS. You have to take a pass at the first questions before tackling that last bit.