[Dragaera] speculation on forthcoming books (possible spoilers)

[J C]

> So far, except for "Jhereg," the titles have had relatively little to> do with the larger plot arc per se and more to do with personality and> theme. This is probably why a book which is supposed to be "Tiassa"> can morph into "Dzur" all of a sudden, as Vlad changes his approach to> the problem.> > Yendi -> Vlad gets involved in a Jhereg turf war and meets Cawti. A> minor character turns out to actually be manipulating things from> behind the scenes for political gain. Vlad is not notably sneaky.> > Teckla -> Cawti gets involved with a Marxist movement which clashes> with the Jhereg. Peasants are unhappy. Vlad is glad he's not a> peasant.> > [skipping Taltos]> > Phoenix -> Verra hires Vlad to start a war. Vlad is initially selfish> and starts the war but redeems himself by sacrificing himself to end> it.> > Athyra -> Vlad goes to a little village where evil necromancer is out> to get Vlad. Vlad is manipulative.> 
I would disagree with you with regards to the above.  I think that those titles' story lines could be "guessed" by a very lucky person.  In _Yendi_ for instance, well, isn't unravelling a Yendi's schemes something that requires a Yendi? :P
 
Phoenix---that's about something that affects the Empire itself, eh?  Possibly involving the Empress?
 
Teckla, we'll call that about something to do with peasants. Especially given Steve's marxist tendencies, I think we can expect to see something happen that involves a class-struggle.
 
Jhereg's about becoming a Jhereg :P
 
Athyra is probably the least predictable, plot-wise, of these.  And everything past that (as they progress in release-date), becomes even more unpredictable, as you say.  Athyra's probably going to be about magic, or maybe being philosophical.   And he certainly is philosophical, and necromancy/witchcraft figure prominently in the book, arguably moreso than they do in others.  
 
That being said, my retrodictions are pretty vague and general.  I'd be surprised indeed if my predictions for forthcoming works are even in the same ballpark as what actually gets published.
 
 
And yeah, now that I think about it?  Devera + VN = ew :P
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