In between wobbly walks in the rain and a flu that is still ravaging my coil, I've spent an enormous amount of time rewatching Lord of the Rings.
And I loved every second of it.
The characters… the camaraderie… the epic world of Middle-earth… the battles… ah 😊
Let’s just say, it has made my time this past week go a bit easier.
Anyway, while watching it, however, it struck me like Gimli's axe just how much Tolkien's work had influenced The Divided Region without me even really knowing it. There were so many parallels that it’s borderline spooky.
For example:
LOTR has Mordor, TDR has Kaudon.
LOTR has Sauron, TDR has Vraqor.
LOTR has Gandalf, TDR has Alderan.
LOTR has the Misty Mountains, TDR has the Frosty Peaks.
LOTR has the elven sanctuary of Rivendell, TDR has a wizard equivalent in Kladstin.
LOTR requires the Ring to be destroyed, TDR requires a prophecy to be answered, or else the world of Estos will be cast into an age of shadows.
These were just some of the immediate ones that hit me as I was rewatching the trilogy.
The keen eyes amongst the Legion might have noticed orcs, dwarves, and hobbits were missing from the above list, and that's not because I failed to mention them. It's because there are actually no such races in The Divided Region.
Only man, wizard, and beast inhabit this world.
And there are two very specific reasons for that.
1. I didn’t want TDR to be LOTR in disguise.
2. With the books being short novels, and the series due to be concluded inside six books, factoring in these additional races would have risked lore dumps left and right or, worse still, being skimped over entirely for the sake of preserving the fast-paced nature of this series.
That would have been no bueno.
Anyhoo, I found that to be an interesting discovery, indeed.
And being the opportunistic marketer I am, I will shamelessly exploit the new angle this discovery has proffered me. Shall we?
Okay, here we go…
*clears throat*
If you're a lover of Lord of the Rings and fantasy that has vast plains, forbidden forests, prowling beasts, and a dark lord that stirs in the foul basins of the realm, then there's a chance you’ll like The Divided Region.
You can grab the starter bundle here:
https://djjwatsonstore.com/products/divided-region-starter-bundle
Or you can start with Exiled (Book 1) here:
https://djjwatsonstore.com/products/exiled
DJJW