Which Person?

Hey everyone, once again.

I would like some advice as a reader--how would you prefer to read a story as of the following; first or third person? As of so far, I have used only third person, past tense (which is to remain) but I don't know whether to go for the former. See, the story is mostly character. He is blinded at the start of the novel, and this might give him more of an empty feel (a lost, alone exile) but there are times where I want some suspense. For example, a battle, but I can't say 'I died' without triggering some novel-sized religious follow-up story (...keen to avoid!).

It would let me get into his head more, but I don't know.

Thoughts please? And big 'merci's to all those who reply

I think it depends the story. Some stories sound really good in third person while others sound really in first person. The story that I'm working on now is also in third person with past tense. With the 'I died' thing for that kind of thing it would be best to do in third person because as you said 'I died' doesn't make much sense. It brings up the question 'How can you be narrating the story if you died'. Its like having someone in a coma talk about the lives of people around them when the person doing the talking is in a coma. Not sure if what I said helped any. I just thought I'd tell you what I think would work best.

I tend to work in third person with past tense. I'd say to do a test run with both tenses and see which you prefer.

First person limits you to a single character, and thus, greatly diminishes any epic plot you may be planning. In exchange, you tap into the character directly, so most end up being character driven/romantic pieces like Twilight. I prefer third, though.

I think the perspective depends on how well you can relate to the character in question. I think for fiction ad fantasy stories 3rd person is best but for realistic fiction 1st person is always cool. Your writing style greatly effects this so just try and see what you can do.