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I’m nervous as all get out about writing this but it needs to be said. It doesn’t feel like enough and yet too much.
The final book in The Môrdreigiau Chronicles hits different than the ones that have gone before. I’ve been reading through the manuscript, making sure it flows well, seeking out any awkward sentences, and so on. (Since writing this, the book is finished!)
It is, if I say so myself, a cracker of a read. I have snorted, I have giggled…
It is also a reflection of these times. I thought I had been subtle, but … nope. I thought I echoed Eidothea’s times when the Luddites revolted and abolition of slavery became a real possibility in the UK. Yes, but also … nope.
I read through the secondary sources I’d created and they are heartbreaking—and harsh.
Why are there even secondary sources? (Newspaper clippings mostly. If you’re new here, this series mostly consists of a series of journal entries.)
Eidothea is so traumatised by what’s happening in her world that she stops writing in her diary, leaving us newspaper snippets and the occasional words from her.
She’s not the only one. Another diary writer in this fourth and final book tears pages out of her diary and destroys them (presumably by burning).
Book four could have been a deep dive into their fight for justice, into all the traumatic happenings (not gonna lie, we do hit a few of them) over the years from 1816 to 1819, but … we have enough of that here and now. I also didn’t feel confident that I could pull off an excursion into early nineteenth century activism.
What I am hoping instead that, even though there’s magic, A Gift for the World will be an indicator of the way forward. A heavy weight to bear for a fantasy romance serial, but my goal is to show instead of demand … so the ending falls into myth. It is (I hope) beautiful, complete, and yet full of promise of the work still to be done. There’s magic, but there aren’t any tidy bows.
There are more voices in this book, lifting up and filling in when others fall silent. You’ll hear from Jasper, Llyr, Sir Hugh, plus there are a couple of new voices to fall in love with.
Like Eidothea, I don’t even write about what’s happening in my journal. I shed tears, feel absolutely heartsick. I had to delete one social media app from my devices because I was literally doomscrolling, not for diversion but for immersion, to witness the pain.
At the same time, I’m relieved that I’m not there, guilty for feeling that way, and worried for those who remain.
The final book, A Gift for the World, starts serialising on June 13, 2026.
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