The Forum of David Anthony Durham

[Guardsman Bass]

Well, I've got the book coming in on thursday (yay for Amazon and Amazon Prime!), so I'll just throw something out there before I actually get to read it.

I suppose one thing about the Auldeks is that we actually don't know anything about them other than that the League finds them horrifying and incredibly powerful. That might mean they're Eldritch Abominations .. . or it could just be that they're a lot more advanced than Acacia.

It kind of reminds me of something I came across when reading about the transatlantic slave trade, about how a common belief among the slaving groups and states in Africa (basically, the ones that sold captured slaves to the European slavers) was that the Europeans were taking the slaves back to wherever and eating them. I could easily see something like that springing up regarding the Other Lands among the Acacians - for all we know, the Auldek just like getting their slaves young, because it allows them to be more fully trained and indoctrinated.

[lynxie]

Before I read the second book, my guesses about what happened with the child slaves ranged from pedophilia to the child slaves actually BEING the Lothan Aklun or the Auldek (since that would explain why they never wanted to meet face to face with Acacians), to something close to the truth.

Speculations for the third book:

- I'm almost sure Dariel will become king.

- Aliver will help Corrin or possibly steal her role. But after a while, Aliver will go back to death.

- I have a feeling Corrin will find some way to make herself immortal, in some sense or another. Maybe she'll be half living like the Santoth. Her fear of death throughout the story seems to be leading up to it.

- Dariel will have a relationship with Mor. although if she's a lesbian it can't really be a romantic relationship, although it could be if she's bisexual. Of course, an author like GRRM would probably conjure up a threesome with Dariel Mor and Skylene, but I like to think this author's attention is devoted to things more important than sexually exciting male readers.

- I have no idea what Dariel will do exactly, but I'm sure he'll end up back in Acacia, with Mor, with some resolution, some plan. I'm not sure what it will be. That's pretty broad and obvious. Trouble will await when he finds he has a kid with a woman he's replaced with another. If Corrin's still alive at this point, she'll be furious about the spots.

- Rialus will develop. He'll devise a plan to help Corrin, which will grow big, and gradually become a less pathetic character.

- Elya's offspring will be a huge component in the war plan. Mena will be furious when she realizes what Corrin did to them.

As for the main plot points, I'm sure no one will be able to guess them exactly, as there will probably be some combination of surprise and things we know are coming.