1. We have been told that Nicodemus has a very specific target in mind, ostensibly kept in the Labyrinth of Daedalus.  What is Nic trying to get his hands on and why?

As I recall Hades had a special helm and chariot in his possession so they should appear, but they are far too obvious. So I'm gonna put my money on something else. Either the keys to the doors of tartarus to unleash all kinds of beasties upon the world or some pomegranate seeds he intends to feed to some unsuspecting summer deity.

2. Nicodemus apparently called in a marker from Mab to get Harry on the team.  Does he have a specific plan for using Harry or did Mab twist his request?  Which of Harry's capabilities will he admit to needing, and (given that this is Nicodemus after all), which abilities is he scheming for Harry to use?

I figure Nicodemus wants Harry at his side for several reasons. First, because Nick wants to kill Harry and this will be the perfect opportunity. Secondly, because forcing Harry to work with him will be the most fun Nick has had for years. Thirdly because Hades hates those who manage to cheat death and that fact makes Harry prime bait.

3. Jim has mentioned that the book will be "Ocean's Eleven".  Who else did Nicodemus recruit?  How will they interact with Harry?

Anna Valmont is a given I think because of WoJ, but apart from her I expect one of them will be Marcone. Marcone has cast himself in the role of Hades too often for him not to appear.
Kumori as a necromancer also would make a fitting addition. She will lose some of her mystique and she'll be one of those who will work together with Harry in good faith.
Finally I kinda expect Mavra to show her maggot riddled head once more. Her sole goal will be to kill Harry once and for all.

4. Harry's general method of operation is to call on his friends for help.  In this book, Harry is (initially) allowed one extra backup member on the crew.  Who will it be?  Which of Harry's other allies will "interfere" before the plot is over?

Harry's plus one will be Kincaid. As for who will interfere? Sanya, Fix, Murphy, Ivy, Molly, Sarissa Mort and Butters in some manner or another. I fully expect Harry to leave a trail of breadcrumbs for his allies to follow so he can lay a trap of his own.

5. This is a Denarian book, so (unlike the last "end of the world" showdown), the Swords will almost certainly be present.  In fact, there have been various hints...  Which Sword wielders will appear in the next book and how will their interference/help affect the plot?

Sanya and the new one which will be a complete surprise. So it won't be Murphy although she might use one of the swords for a bit.

6. Mab is apparently against Nicodemus succeeding in this heist.  In the Cold Days, we found that Mab had complex reasons for wanting Harry to kill Maeve.  What are Mab's reasons in this book?  Is it simple thwarting or is there something deeper?

If you consider that Nicodemus is someone who always plays the deeper game you can imagine that whatever he plans to do will have far reaching consequences for the world. It will probably affect the very balance of the world and Mab does not want that to happen. So her tool Harry is chosen to interfere for her good, the good of the world and his good in that order. Besides she wants Harry as her Knight to get a proper reputation. CD was only in house business so she couldn't show Harry off to the rest of the supernatural crowd. This time Harry will be in the midst of major league players and for him to survive he will show himself as the most dangerous of them all. Thereby enhancing her own rep as his queen.

7. At the end of Cold Days, Harry needs to stay on the island to keep his growing headaches at bay.  The start of Skin Games implies that those headaches will need to be resolved by the end of the book.  Who or what is causing those headaches, and how will the whole thing get resolved by the end of the book?

The parasite is a combination of Lash and Outsider and it will get resolved by Molly helping it be born without Harry having his skull explode. With the greek setting of the book and it being literally the child of Harry's brain she'll be called Athena.

8.  One of the key components of the "Ocean's Eleven" movie is that there is a final twist/reveal.  Given that we've got Nicodemus, Harry, Mab, and potentially Hades (and who knows who else) all trying to get the better of each other, if there's one thing you can count on it's some sort of last minute quintuple-cross.  What will be the nature of the twist and how will it all fall out?

Obviously Nicodemus will double-cross Harry. Probably setting him up as the sacrifice who is supposed to get hunted down by Hades and Cerberus. But Harry will be ready for it. He will have set up his own back-up beyond what he was allowed. He'll have left a trail for his usual allies- lead by Sanya and Murphy- to follow and they'll spring a trap of their own on Nicodemus. Naturally Nick will be ready for it because his true plan depended upon one of Harry's allies interfering. In the end Nicodemus will escape only to fall into the true trap he did not see coming.

9.  (Extra Credit) There are many WAG ("Wild A$$ Guess") theories on the boards, some crazier than others.  Write up to three WAG theories (or make up your own) you believe are correct that will be confirmed (or at least have evidence in favor of) in Skin Games.

1. Nicodemus will get finished off in this book and it will involve a super soaker and the Waters of Lethe.
2. The new wielder of Fidelacchius will be the nice jar ad kid from SmF.

10. (Extra Credit) This is that "free form" question where you can come up with anything else you think will be in this book.  Specific quotes Harry might say (will he actually quote Ocean's Eleven?  The movie will have come out already in Harry's timeline)? Tidbits about the White Council? The fate of Molly? Write down anything you want.  Note that whatever you write must be specifically mentioned or hinted at in Skin Games in order to be worth credit

No clue what to write right now. I already put my WAGs in the last question.

The Blackstaff being originally Mother Winter's would be a really nice touch. Great idea.

Obviously someone belonging to the Black Council. Question is who. Raith would be a good guess, however I think he got taken out of play too early for him to assume that role.

It could be Cowl, but I don't think so. Cowl didn't really become aware of Harry until DB. Before then he didn't really care about him and from what we have seen of him Cowl doesn't seem the type to engineer something relatively lowlevel like Victor and the Hexenwulfen.

I personally think there is some divine or atleast immortal entity behind it. I think whoever is behind it was trying to shape Harry as a weapon for the dark side. He or she wanted to corrupt Harry by tempting him with power. But an entity of such power and with the foreknowledge it would require wouldn't do stuff like that personally. Even if it wasn't under a restriction preventing it from actually doing it like all the other beings of that magnitude seem to be. So instead it probably send an underling to do it. Mavra would fit the bill, but so would many others.

Awwwwe, shucks mam. /* blushes rubbing the toe of his shoe in the virtual dirt. */
I think the three of us, Tsunami, and Kokolores have been at it from the beginning. One of the fun things I do in retirement. heeee.

I so am gonna brag about this map to a friend of mine who also reads the series

My opinion is that there's something called the edit button, well it's modify button on this forum

nice. I'd love to see how many of our ideas will actually end up being used.

Oh and congrats on passing the exams. That's a big step :>). High fives Tsunami.
Any idea whether kokolores passed hers?

Mikey

Yeah I did. Thanks for asking. Although I've only gotten the results of one, I'm sure I've passed the other four as well. By the way I'm a guy.
Kokolores is a german slang which can mean something like senseless blather or stupid jokes. Neither of those is really accurate it's pretty much impossible to translate it.

I'm free until mid of march. So whenever is fine with me I can arrange my planning as long as I know of it beforehand.

By the way I like that new map.

Instead of making the Sea of Ice a giant lake, why not just make the Sea of Ice thinner? It's called Sea of Ice for a reason, especially with the ability of the Icemen isn't it rather likelythat both sides can just walk across it up north close to the polar region? There might even be settlements of the Icemen on the other side.

Also the way it is now Tavi would have been right in the path of the attack on Ceres and we know for a fact that the First Aleran was hundreds of miles away from any civil war battle battle. So the Elinarch has to get a bit further north and I would say Kalare is larger and extends more to the east, Attica gets pushed a bit further down south and Ceres also. Right now there is little reason for the Kalaren legions, or for the Vord forces for that matter, to have assaulted Ceres as they did, because the shortest connection was through Attica.