I wasn’t jesting when I said we do things differently around these parts.
Not just here in the Legion, but in my books as well.
Take this recent comment by a fan of The Divided Region:
I'm really enjoying this series. Although I see a lot of similarities to other, more classical novels, I feel like they're being presented in a new light for the generations of 'now' Almost like "L'mort de Arthur" was redone into "The Life of Arthur" (hope I got the names right). The characters keep true to their original personalities/characteristics. One or two characters are going through a pretty decent character arc. For a young, breaking out author, I'm very impressed. As soon as I find a way to buy the books online (digital restrictions), I will most definitely be doing so. Keep up the good work. I'm definitely, and thoroughly, entertained.
I can’t speak for the digital restrictions this reader is experiencing, though a niggling voice in my head is starting to suggest it might have something to do with the countries I’ve blocked from accessing my Storehouse…
(I shall investigate further.)
BUT I most certainly agree that I am taking classical fantasy concepts and putting a different spin on them.
Take, for example, the tired trope of dragons.
It seems every epic has one of these beasts cutting through the skies and setting remote villages ablaze.
There’s nothing wrong with this, of course.
I’ve had plenty of run-ins with those who have taken the knee at the altar of dragons.
I just believe they can be “mildly” adjusted to keep the trope fresh. Give ‘em a different name, a slightly altered anatomy, and voilà, you have an entirely different species that still satisfies the itch that these flying lizards evoke.
Like the beasts found in Chapter 7 of One True King and the brutal scene in Chapter 7 of The Great Betrayal.
The legendary spawn of Kaudon — the Skarlox.
Like dragons, they too terrorise the skies. But unlike their subordinates, skarloxes do not bellow fire; they unleash a shriek that paralyses and stuns prey, turning them into blocks of stone that make them all the easier to pluck with their dark talons.
There are, of course, other tropes I have “refreshed,” but this email is not the time or the place to list them out.
No, brethren.
You’ll have to venture into The Divided Region to see for yourself.
And I can think of no better place to start than here:
https://djjwatsonstore.com/products/TDR-Bundle
DJJW