Lords and Ladies of the Legion:
I regret to inform you that after five years of owning Smoothy Susie, our Suzuki, she has been bested in her latest MOT test.
It was a decisive and emphatic loss.
No longer than an hour after dropping her off, I was told the four words no car owner wants to hear:
"Sorry, mate – she failed."
Two of the issues are quite simple to fix by all accounts, but the other one — something to do with the brake lever or something — needs urgent fixing.
Yikes.
As you can imagine, it was a sad day.
Not only for my wallet, but also because our five-year streak of MOT passes (and the dozen before we owned her) has come to an abrupt end.
Alas, it was always going to happen at some point.
But she has served us faithfully for such a long time that it would be utterly reprehensible of us not to come to her aid when she needs it.
After all, she has been with us since Lady Laura and I were just Lady Laura and I.
She has carried us to and from concerts…
Taken us to countless airports…
Whizzed us to hospitals…
And welcomed two newborn babies to the backseats when they were barely hours old.
She only has to last us a few more months as we plan to make the holy pilgrimage to sunny Cyprus next year, then – and only then – we will give her the send-off she deserves.
(**cough—the scrap yard—cough, cough**)
Look, life happens.
You win some, you lose some — and that's exactly what you'll find in The Divided Region.
While it does follow many tried-and-true classic fantasy tropes — like the chosen one, or rather the unwilling one, which is Darius Rarkez — his path to heroism is not smooth.
He's not a perfect character.
He will make frustrating choices at times.
There will be triumphs and tragedies, laughs and cries, and everything in between.
But if you like your fantasy a bit like how real life is — albeit more medieval and minus the MOT centres — where win streaks are few and often brought to an abrupt end by unfortunate setbacks…
Then there's a good chance you'll like The Divided Region.
You can start with Book One: Exiled, here:
https://djjwatson.com/books/exiled
DJJW