The thing about Carpetbaggers as a title is that the Pevensies were, and weren't, carpetbaggers. Yeah, they came in from outside and began running the show. But (a) they had divine/leonine authority to do so; and (b) the point of the novel is to show that they earned the authority on their own merits. So they might have been perceived as carpetbaggers, but in the end, showed they weren't in it for their own benefit.
So there's an ironic element to the title that I can't find in any of these follow-ups. Unless I can find a really cool way to refer to the Marshall Plan or something...
The Returned? Expectations? Creating The Shoes You're Meant To Fill (hm, that has potential)
Maybe you don't go with The Something-ers, but something else? Something to do with a new land or a new home or their position as rulers?
Empire Builders? Like the railroad game?
I'm toying with Bildungsroman.
Your book (which I stayed up way too late reading), plus the conversation made me think of something. Aslan sending them home seems like kind of a fail, since everything fell apart when they left. But the other possibility that occurred to me is that they misunderstood their task. They were not just supposed to create a golden age. They were supposed to create a golden age and also permanent institutions that would last when they were gone. When they failed to do this, Aslan sent them home because at least they could leave a golden memory that people could rally around. Does not fit the whole "Aslan does not give you tasks too hard for you" thing, but not my faith, so some of the stories I see there won't be Christian or at least not Lewis's brand of Christianity.
They were supposed to create a golden age and also permanent institutions that would last when they were gone. When they failed to do this, Aslan sent them home because at least they could leave a golden memory that people could rally around.
Well, it's actually hard to know whether they succeeded or failed, because the next time the narrative picks up, it's 1300 years later. They might well have succeeded for, say, 500 years or something.
According to the one timeline Lewis developed (here), the Telmarines didn't invade for another 900 years. But we don't know what happened in that interim: perhaps Narnia was at peace, and the institutions the Pevensies established kept it so.
As a god, Aslan appears to be one of limited power, but if the Pevensies entirely failed in their task, I assume he would have told them so, and he never says that. And in the end, he rewards them (sort of), so one must assume they succeeded.
Anyway, I hope you liked the novel! Longest single story I've ever written.
I definitely liked the novel. I would not have given up sleep to finish one I did not like. Your point about the chronology is a good one. Oh and I did think of a great title, but maybe not for your sequel. "Queens and Vagabonds" . The Pevensies seemed to always be setting off on quests and adventures which made them vagabonds as well as royalty. But the problem is that "Kings and Queens and Vagabonds" does not have the same ring, nor does "Royals and Vagabonds" nor "The Royal Vagabonds".
