When the Brain Remains Overactive While On Hiatus

...a shift in the home stretch of the "Barbarians of the Storm" saga occurs

While I am on a writing hiatus until I can get my next phase of life figured out (I have to have it figured out by the end of May), the ideas keep coming to me and obviously, I always have my notebook with me to jot these things down. During my "time off", my plans for the end of the Barbarians of the Storm saga seem to be changing a bit.

I previously talked about how the 15ish books I wanted to do have been whittled down to 10 (leaving 3 more to be written) and that the next saga book would potentially have a time jump. Well, the homestretch is starting to formulate in a way that tells me I will need an additional book. However, I'm not sure how I will approach it yet. Also, I am not sure if it would be the next book or if it would come in after the second Fenrik Side Quest, which I've mentioned before.

This book and its format is something I am trying to work out.

1st possibility: I initially thought of a mixture of an anthology and a Side Quest book where it would have three novella length stories, each featuring a different main character, which tells the story of what happens between Fenrik's absence and his return some time later after the events of his second solo Side Quest.

2nd possibility: This book is a Saga book and numbered alongside the rest of them, making it Book V. Essentially, it would be the heroes contending with the growing darkness in Fenrik's absence. Fenrik was mostly chained up in Book III, so a book without him as the main force for good has already been done and can work. This would be "a world without Fenrik" and it would push the other heroic characters into stepping up even further like they did in Swords Against Bastards.

3rd possibility (and the original thought): I stick to the current plan and let the major changes to the world when Fenrik returns to be a surprise to not just him but the reader. However, I think I need to tell this story in a larger way than just flashbacks and character recollections. There was a BIG villain reveal at the end of An Axe to Eat the Gods and she should be seen fully, as she rampages across the world, and her story and motivations are presented more fully.

I'm still not sure on which path I'm going and I need to focus on real life, but I figured that I would reveal where I'm at and how plans are likely to change a little bit.