Sagaria

by John Dahlgren

Set in the mysterious world of Sagaria, this enchanting tale of adventure and friendship will charm teens and adults alike, and is the latest novel in the Sagaria series. Young Sagandran Sacks enters Sagaria in search of his missing grandfather, and soon finds himself on a quest to save not just Sagaria but two other worlds--the Shadow World and Earthworld--from the evil Shadow Master.

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Magic, Young Adult Fantasy

504 pages, Paperback

First published December 16, 2011

About the author

John Dahlgren is a Psychologist and an award winning author. He has been working as a marketing director at a pharmaceutical company in Switzerland since 1998. He's also an adjacent lecturer of the Royal University in Bhutan where he teaches creative and fiction writing.

Born in Stockholm, Sweden, he grew up close to the vast and untamed nature of Scandinavia and became influenced at an early age by the Nordic sagas, fairytales and mythologies. This environment triggered his imagination and inspired him, to later become a fiction/fantasy writer. He has studied creative and fiction writing at Oxford University where he earned high praise for his work. He has won numerous awards as well. Appart from being mainly a satire writer, he's mostly known for his fantasy series set in the magical world of Sagaria.

Besides his research work; he is now engaged in several book projects, for both younger readers and adults. He's also a script writer and composer.
For more information, please visit Dahlgren's website: www.johndahlgren.com

Reviews

[Stephanie Dagg · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sagaria by John Dahlgren is an action packed fantasy novel for Young Adults. We start with Adventurer Extraordinaire Flip, a young mouse, who is woefully misunderstood by his community of Mishmash in Sagaria. Then, back in the familiar setting of twenty-first century America, we meet Sagandran, a bespectacled, kind boy, the sort that bullies are drawn too. Mom and Dad have split up and he’s unhappy. But at least he has a holiday with Grandpa Melwin to look forward to, until he finds that one of the bullies has a summer house next door. However, what looks like being a disastrous vacation becomes the best he’s ever had when he discovers a family secret and has to rescue his Grandpa, and a whole world - Sagaria. Flip and Sagandran cross paths in Sagaria and meet some new friends in Princess Permia, Lord Tombin and Samzing the wizard as they help battle the evil of Shadow World which threatens Sagaria and Earthworld. Can Sagandran, The Boy Whose Time Has Come, unlikely a hero as he is, meet the occasion and defeat the Shadow Master?
John Dahlgren’s writing is a joy to read. His characters are original and delightful, even the hideous worgs with their boils and unpleasant smell. An author who can describe someone’s face as “a boulder strewn hillside” is not your everyday kind of writer. Dahlgren uses his non-native language with endless humour and skill and creates the most incredible universes with his words. This is quite a long book but you wish it was longer since it so totally enjoyable. This will keep the youngsters in your household happy, no question.

[Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

Saragia by John Dahlgren is a true epic fantasy following the footsteps of Tolkien's LotR series. There is a quest of dire importance, an eclectic band of travelers, wizards, monsters, magic, relics, everything you need. The biggest difference is that this book is great for younger readers. The two main characters are younger teens one of them from our realm and the other is from Sagaria. The challenges that the two teens face rely on quick thinking and reflexes as much as violence and aggression contributing to a younger readers potential enjoyment of the book.

There is a wide assortment of characters in this book with my favorite being Sir Tombin the frog knight. Such an interesting backstory led to his creation and his adherence to a strict code of chivalry make him quite an entertaining guy to read about. The plot was strong with an evil magician trying to gain control over three crystals that would grant him almost unlimited power. Sagandran Sacks, the young man from Earth, has one of the crystals while he wants nothing more than to save his kidnapped grandfather he is pulled into a whole lot more.

I have his second book from the world of Sagaria and look forward to reading it to see where else he goes with this.

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you love YA fantasy, this book is for you! High adventure! A saga that sucks you in from the first and keeps your attention through out.

[Kes · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars - entertaining, light read.