Rear speaker options / seating question

I am in kind of the same situation in my room. Although, I have lots of width to work with and an attic above. I plan on doing some in ceiling speakers and place them as far apart as I can, and as far away from the back wall as I can without compromising the surround effect. I worry about the reflections off the backwall, but I think it will be better than having them too far in front of me.

In your situation, the best thing to do is get some long speaker cables and try out some smaller speakers in several locations until you find where they work best.

If you haven't bought your surround speakers yet, you can get some di- or bi- poles that send the upper frequencies 90 degrees away from your ears and the lower registers point at you. Some people prefer regular speakers for surrounds but I think they can be disconcerting.