children’s fiction – Everything Is Better With Dragons

Review: Moojang and the Sloth Guardians, by N.E. McMorran

Publisher	Spondylux Press
Publish Date	10 December 2025
Pages	208
Language	English
Type	Paperback
ISBN	9781838097844

Moojag and Nema are back for a final roller coaster of an adventure, this time to save Box Hill from total destruction and rescue a bunch of mossy sloths from nasty Brix’s celebration feast.

But their new, slow-moving friends have a secret weapon
and together they’re all set to prove that saving the Real World
literally takes guts!

My Review

Moojag and Nema are back, the Conqip have invaded and are threatening to destroy Box Hill. With the help of various parents and grandparents (Adam’s dad and granddad reappear), a colony of sloths, the fruit-happy Pofs, and a gang of Gajooms, the evil plans of the Conqip are defeated and the island saved, although not without loss. We learn more of the history of the families, the secrets of the Conqips and how they came about, and see the responsible use of future technology in action.

This one was fun, and the cover is very colourful. There are bits of information sprinkled about and it ends with hope for a better future, even if Moojag does go off to live in the woods with the sloths. The families are reunited, and the danger to their world is removed. Some of them have gone to London Tops to help others surviving in London. There’s a future in sight.

There are also a lot of Beatles references, most of which I didn’t get because I don’t listen to the Beatles.

Reading the books one after the other, I might have got a few events mixed up; the stories follow straight on from the one before and I read them in quick succession. The overall arc is visible to me, and it’s a lovely story, but the details get a bit jumbled. There is a lot of to-ing and fro-ing for the characters, as they race across islands and Gajoomdom, and I got a little confused at times about who was doing what. It is the nature of children’s fiction that sometimes adults don’t quite get the story.

I actually really enjoyed this one, and the sloths digestive victory made me laugh. The development of the relationships over the course of the stories makes sense, as the reader learns with Nema about how things got the way they were and the reasons people act the way they do. There was something satisfying about the conclusion.

A lovely series of bonkers adventures for children, in a possible future world. Age recommendation for series 8+

Review: Moojag and the Lost Memories, by N.E. McMorran

The stand-alone sequel to ‘Moojag and the Auticode Secret’, endorsed by award-winning authors Patience Agbabi, Alex Falase-Koya, Ben Davis, and Daniel Aubrey.

A multigenerational story, featuring a neurodivergent cast and audhd, non-binary, POC, main characters, for readers 8 years and over.

When Nema returns to Gajoomdom, she discovers three forgetful grannies who have totally lost track of time. If she and Moojag can’t help them remember, everyone’s memories are in danger. But turns out not everyone is who they thought they were. Who will they rescue? Will they rescue them in time to save their perfect Real World from the nasty Conqip?

‘Lost Memories’, inspired by the author’s grandmother, and living with dementia and disability during the pandemic, shows us the impact of loss and the power of memory, as well as the importance of future technology when used for good.

Local Authors Reviewed: Part One

As you may remember, a few weeks ago I went to a local authors event to do some networking and get opinions on the best self-publishing platform and was given four books by local authors to review. Here are the first three.

As always, I received these in return for honest reviews. I am going to be very honest. Sorry.

Selected Poems, by Michael Nilsen (poetry)

Published by: Matador

Publication Date: October 2015

ISBN: 9781784624705

Price:£9.99

A collection of poems written over a 22 year period and covering a range of themes including nature, autobiography and surrealism.

My Review

The nature poems were the most affecting and well-written, with great imagination. Unfortunately most of the poems didn’t move me all that much although they could have a different effect on other people. Poetry is subjective like that.

The Crooked Link, by David Evardson (General adult fiction)

Published by:Self-published

Publication date: 2016

ISBN: 9781522901259

Price:Unknown

Stanley is a crook, a crook who happens to have stolen money from an even bigger crook in London. When he turns up in Cleethorpes with a plan to buy a house, if he can sell his London flat first. A chain of buyers and sellers build but the chain is only as strong as it’s weakest link, and this link is crooked.

My Review

The plot is good but the execution needs work. It feels like a first novel even though the author has written several books before. It doesn’t quite ring true enough to become immersed in the plot, although the attempt at local dialect is good.

Marikka, by Sam Hawksmoor (children’s fiction)

Published by: Hammer & Tong UK

Publication Date: 2015

ISBN: 9781511994224

Price: Unknown

Marikka flees from an arson attack on her home to the sea, where she meets Mika – a runaway working for a sinister, scarred man hiding from the world. Meanwhile her father, long thought dead, searches for her with the aide of ‘the girl who can read objects’.

My Review

The plot reminds me of an Enid Blyton novel that has been modernised, including the sinister, mysterious villains and the evil step-father. I really quite enjoyed it and I admit to bawling like a baby at end. I liked the main characters, the plot was good, the chapter titles funny and the writing fluent. There were editing errors, e.g. instance instead of instant, minor things I had to parse to get the gist of the sentence but nothing that a re-edit won’t fix. Definitely a good one for the young teenager before they move on to more challenging books.

I have just one other book to read, For the love of Emily by Joy Wood. I haven’t started it yet but I will soon. The books are piling up again on my to be read list. I’ve been working on craft projects and writing assignments. Before I start University at the end of September I want to get the non-fiction assignments of my Writer’s Bureau course completed. I’m almost done, I have one task left to do on the final non-fiction assignment, and I shall tackle that tomorrow.

For those following the Saga of the Bath, finally today, after nine and a half weeks, the landlord sent a plumber to replace the old bath with a shiny new one. Or, I should say, the letting’s agent did. I intend to wallow in that thing tomorrow morning.