CreateSpace (April 2009)
ISBN: 978-1442114593
252 pages
$11.95 Paperback
$ 0.99 Amazon Kindle

Jack Regan captured me from the get go with his young adult fantasy T'Aragam, which is aimed at the tween age group (9-13). What was it that captured me and made me want to keep turning the pages? A cheese obsessed medgekin, named Gramkin Truly. I am a cheese lover, and couldn't resist phrases such as: “I have a high cheese requirement.” and “In the name of Gouda."

T'Aragam opens with the medgekin, Gramkin, running through the woods toward Ransome Hall on an important mission to obtain cheese to supply for the annual medgekin games. It is the first time he has been in charge of supplying the cheese, and because of the aforementioned cheese requirement, Gramkin had eaten the medgekin supply. He was hoping to acquire some cheese from Ransome Hall as the medgekin games had been played for a millennium with no lack of cheese and he would be disgraced should he fail to provide. While he is running through the woods, and being laughed at by chucklebugs when he falls, he becomes alarmed as it appears that someone is following him. On the verge of panicking, Gramkin runs in to Zohar, a great wizard, who is also on the way to Ransome Hall to deliver news of disaster which approaches T'Aragam.

T'Aragam takes the reader on a fast paced adventure beginning with Ransome Hall being attacked by phantors. During the attack, thirteen-year-old Max Ransome, watches his father, Lord Ransome, die because Max disobeyed his father's instructions to stay in the armory. Orphaned and a pawn in a game whose stakes he did not fully understand, Max has to save T'Aragam from destruction. Assisted by the wizard, Zohar, and the medgekin, Gramkin, Max travels beyond the confines of Ransome Hall for the first time in his life. He finds himself in battle against Zohar's evil wizard brother, Zadok, who was behind the phantor attack on Ransome Hall. Zadok is determined not to stop until the kingdom and all it contains is his.

Regan pens an adventuresome tale sure to capture a reader's imagination. I laughed out loud through much of the book, as the action is interspersed with humor. What tween could resist such names as Lord Stench from Dankwater, or the pirate Captain Baggywrinkle? Or how about monsters named Gloom and Doom? We also meet the viscious equuraptor named, Dresden, and the sea monster named, Bob. In fact, the humor in the piece is taken to such a degree that I would classify this book as a fantasy parody or spoof. A prime example of this is the following, which takes place at the Luscious Lemur:

    Leading the way inside, Zohar shut the door behind them and bolted it. A hat rack stood left of the door and the wizard leaned his staff against it. To Max’s surprise, he then removed his beard and also hung it on the hat rack. 
    “I don’t really have a flowing, white beard,” he explained, seeing their curious faces, “but it seems most people expect wizards to have them and without it people refuse to take me seriously. So I put it on whenever there’s a chance I may need to perform wizardly deeds.”

Regan's main goal is to Get Kids Hooked On Reading by making books exciting and attractive. He believes that a "fluency in reading" is vital to a young person's development and success, while "a love of books is one of the most valuable gifts anyone could give a child." With T'Aragam, the first book in the Max Ransome Chronicles series, Jack W. Regan achieves his goal. A delightful, fast paced read, with enough humor to entice the most reluctant of readers, T'Aragam hits the mark.

Preview T'Aragam on Amazon.com

Originally reviewed for the LL Book Review

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LK Gardner-Griffie
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