I don’t think BB will push Elain’s story because fans hate her but then refuse to announce that it’s not her book. And this is only fandom drama. In real life most people I’ve come across assume the next book is Elain’s and don’t seem aware of any ship wars. It’s on SJM. If the next book isn’t Elain’s she is the one who isn’t interested or got carried away with some other plot. Obviously I am on the other end because I will not read it if the book isn’t Elains because I didn’t like SF. Like the first three books were magical but it’s downhill from there. And honestly the more she keeps Elucien on standby the less convincing their romance will be for me. They spent two more years ignoring eo?? And what was the point of Elain being in those 2 BCs?
Agreed. I don't think Sarah cares that much about fans who dislike certain characters because she's shown in the past she will give them a story anyways (Chaol, Nesta).
I do think if someone stepped away from the fandom and looked at it from the lens of a casual reader or if we fast forwarded 10 years and imagined someone receiving the ACOTAR series as a boxed set, most readers would expect Elain's story to be next.
That is not to say Sarah can't do whatever she wants to do, that is 100% her prerogative as the author BUT very few people who have not spent the last 5 years obsessing over everything SJM and looking for clues around every corner, spinning more and more fantastical theories as we go would read Feyre's trilogy and see how she's worried about Nesta, Elain, and Lucien in the novella, see the resolution to Nesta's healing arc in SF then say "Oh! Let's read about Az and Gwyn and the Dusk Court right now!". Again, please do not misunderstand me because I realize Sarah can write Gwynriel kicking off the next book if she wants and of course it's still on the table (heck, she could start off the next book with Eris if she wants because he was a key player in providing intel about what was going on in SF) but I don't think that would be the logical assumption. The logical assumption is "ok, now it's time for Elain to figure out her bond and her purpose because both Feyre and Nesta have".
The ACOTAR series since it's inception has been about Feyre finding her place in the world of the fae and the complicated relationship she has with her sisters. That did not changed even in SF when Sarah switched POVs. Nesta found her place and purpose in the last book but we also saw the struggles both she and Feyre were having in their relationship with each other. We saw the struggles Nesta and Elain are now having with each other. We saw Elain vocalizing how her trauma has become a thing others claim for themselves. And the series, after Eris reminded us of the current threats in their world (not possible future threats but actual threats they have not yet dealt with at this point in time and are currently threatening their peace) ends with Nesta, Elain, and Feyre together and Elain's rose carving being placed on their fathers grave.
People who begin exploring this series in 10 years are NOT going to be picking up ACOTAR 6 expecting to read about Nesta randomly getting a sword from an out of their world time traveler with an open ended suggestion to figure out why she has the tattoo she does, with the purpose being for her to go exploring the prison court to find god knows what as it relates to Koschei and Beron and Spring and the treaty. I think they'd actually be a bit blindsided if that were the case because in 10 years nobody is going to read their ACOTAR series boxed set and have any idea that the events of an entirely different series in an entirely different genre are somehow important to what is going on in their world RIGHT NOW especially when HOFAS mentions nothing of what's going on in their world right now. Az and Nesta only spoke to Bryce about what happened with Hybern and did not at all seem concerned that a girl remains kidnapped by an evil sorcerer and the fae on another continent / fae on their own continent are looking to start another war to take over more of the human lands and that of Spring. People can have theories that the Dusk Court is somehow relevant to Koschei, to Spring, to Beron, to the treaty, and maybe those theories will turn out to be true but at this point in time there is no canon evidence to suggest this is the case. Those things were not even mentioned in HOFAS nor were we left with any actual threats to the ACOTAR world at the end of HOFAS.
So yes, Sarah can connect these things and introduce to us how Dusk will be relevant to defeating Koschei, to stopping the fae who are looking to take over human lands, to stopping Beron from taking over Spring, but after reading SF (or even HOFAS) there is no reason to think Dusk is the key to any of that. In the ACOTAR world we're told Koschei was trapped by a fae whose bloodline now exists in a human line. The only thing Dusk seems to have relevance to in HOFAS as it relates to the ACOTAR world is that it is a portal to other worlds and that would be a concern should future outside threats try getting into their world (especially if they were to go after the power left by the Asteri or the Cauldron) but after SF readers are not left with any reason to suspect this is what the concern is right now - not when Eris literally told them they should be worrying about. Rhys may have suspected worlds outside their own in SF and HOFAS confirmed it but Sarah has not once said that the ACOTAR characters are now under attack because of something trying to get in through the portal of the prison lands. In SF the ACOTAR characters and the tentative peace they have are under attack because of Koschei, because of the human queens and the army they've yet to disband, because of Beron, because of the fae who are looking to take over territory in the human lands if another war were to take place, because of the fragility of the Spring Court, and I think a casual reader or a reader 10 years from now would pick up ACOTAR 6 expecting those things to be the focus and it is Lucien who is most connected to those things (and by default Elain as his mate, because of the visions she's had, and because of the potential foreshadowing of her ending up in Spring).
