Saturday, October 14, 2023

About the Book

Book: Ragabones

Author: Daniel Tweddell

Genre: Fantasy YA

Release Date: June 27, 2023

As if Josh having his memory stolen by an over-protective mother wasn’t enough, his older brother, Pete, wins every trophy and never lets him forget it. And oh yeah, Mom’s an ex-god of the underworld, so it’s no surprise their family has enemies.

Maybe that’s why Dad’s missing. Maybe that’s why ragged scars crisscross Josh’s throat. It’s definitely why Josh accidentally sprung the trap – the one that opened a portal and released the demon who now hunts them.

Turns out there’s another world; one with castles and dragons, and prisons that dangle into hell. That’s the world where Josh and Pete find Dad turned to stone, the world with entire cities enslaved by the demon. As the brothers race to undo Josh’s colossal mistake, Josh’s mysterious past comes to light, and Josh must choose between the fate of the world and the lives of his family.

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About the Author

Hi, I’m Daniel Tweddell. I grew up in the Bornean and Philippine jungle as a missionary’s kid. My neighbors had monkeys for pets. Just behind the tree line, “ex”-headhunters slipped through the shadows with spears and six-foot blow guns. It was the perfect incubator for a kid’s imagination. As an adult, I did a lot of things from writing high-octane video games with my friends to having my own companies. But I always loved castles, wizards, and monsters the best. So now I write white-knuckle stories about magic woven with truths from my life’s journey. I live in San Diego with my wife and 3 kids.

More from Daniel

I had a visual of a soapbox derby with the cars lined up from worst to best. The worst was made of cardboard with garbage can lids for wheels. The best was polished mahogany, with chrome wheels and velvet seat covers. Can you see the kids’ faces? One brushes old coffee grounds off his hood. He can’t face the crowd. Another polishes a gleaming fender and waves to his fans. I realized the difference between these cars isn’t the kids … it’s the time they spent with Dad.

I’m fraught with blind spots, bad habits, and shortcomings. I also barely have enough time, energy, or insight to manage my own life. How do I have enough for the lives around me who are so hungry for something more? I realized I live in a 5-loaf/5000-mouth world. I’ll never be enough, but I don’t need to be. Instead, I asked God to make this life and this book a father/son project.

Although I’ve dreamt of writing this story for decades, I had to be destroyed before I could honestly portray this hero’s journey. The truths about facing fear, about God making everything OK even when there is no way it can ever be, as well as courage, hope, and finding your destiny, they’re all written from my journey through the depths of an utterly shattered heart to a life so good it feels like a fantasy novel. Whatever you might be going through, I hope the story encourages as well as entertains you. If you haven’t already, you might even meet Magic for yourself.

MY REVIEW

The beginning of the book brings fantasy enthusiasts a chance to go into another world where magic, creatures and danger awaits. The creativity of the author is evident throughout the book as unexplained things start happening that kinda scared me. I appreciate the imagination that makes this book that fans of this genre will appreciate.

The relationship between Josh and his brother Pete is very strained. How do you compete with a brother that wins trophies after trophies? It is a wild story that delivers spine chilling thrills as we go deeper into a place that wants to cause harm. I didn’t care too much for the chants the creatures said or the magic that seemed to continue throughout the book.

There were some good scenes in the book that emphasizes how important it is for the brothers to work together. After being somewhat distant from each other, they must join forces in order to get out of danger. The story does have twists and unexpected creatures that keep readers wanting to read faster. There are parts of the story that deal with grief and other emotions that I did like. I thought the author handles certain topics well and could be used as learning tools .

Overall I thing fantasy readers will enjoy this story. For me I couldn’t overlook how much talk of magic was in the story which I don’t care for. As always this is just one readers opinion. I do encourage readers to form their own opinion and give the book a chance .

I received a copy of this book from Celebrate Lit. The review is my own opinion.