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The Horrendous Imaginings #1
Theft of Sapphire
5/5 stars. "...perfect for fans of Percy Jackson and Harry Potter..." Amazon reviewer Four clans of genies live deep in an abandoned gemstone mine, surrounded by a forest full of monsters, mysteries and treasure. 5/5 stars. “Best teen fiction since Harry Potter!” Amazon reviewer 5/5 stars. “If you love the Harry Potter series, you will love this.” Amazon reviewer. 5/5 stars. “Like Harry Potter meets fablehaven. An amazingly fun take on genies” Amazon Reviewer “In Theft of Sapphire... the comparisons to Harry Potter are warranted for once.” -M.S. Middle School Librarian Join Judah, Barnaby, Grace and the odd ones as these five genie children struggle to survive in a world where gemstones create magic, wishes are bartered for goods and souls, and monsters escape their prisons to run rampage among the four The Peregrines, the Grumbluds, the Smiths and the Lockwoods. A banished clan looks to return, a creeping ghoul hunts unsuspecting genies, and horrofiends rise from the ashes of failed wishes... “The story is very polished, imaginative, and original. The humor works well, the characters are well-developed and unique, and the plot is compelling... I was up late because I couldn't put it down.” -Kodon editor, Claire R. “I was completely enthralled the entire way through... There is now a part of my life that will feel empty until I get to read [the] sequel.” -M.A. Decker “In Theft of Sapphire... the comparisons to Harry Potter are warranted for once.” -M.S. Middle School Librarian “Worried about losing my job. I read it overnight instead of preparing for tomorrow's class.” -R. Kent, high school teacher “Super exciting... Great descriptions... Makes you keep reading.” -S. Jean, Librarian “It has been at least 5 years since I have been into fantasy and magic. This is truly the best [story] I have read in a while.” -Reddit reviewer “Honestly, you are going to quickly become one of my favorite authors. I can already tell.” -Reddit reviewer “I love this. It’s like an entire world that I never knew existed and you write about it so well. You have an insane talent.” -Reddit reviewer “You have such a way with words, vey compelling to read.” -Adult reader “I can't emphasize enough how much I enjoyed it.” -High school reader
- GenresFantasyMiddle Grade
344 pages, Kindle Edition
Published January 19, 2019
166 people are currently reading
179 people want to read
About the author
Joseph Daniel
107 books17 followersJoseph has been writing novels since he was eleven; it took him almost two decades, over a million “practice” words, and ten books before he mustered up the courage to publish his eleventh.
Joseph spends a good deal of his time working on his books at his house in Illinois where he is often distracted by Lupin–his English Golden Retriever–reminding him to take a break, as depicted here. When he isn’t writing, Joseph can be found giving into his dog’s entreaties to play, or reading anything by Brandon Sanderson, Brandon Mull or Jim Butcher. He also has been spotted playing the occasional tabletop or video game.
Joseph spends a good deal of his time working on his books at his house in Illinois where he is often distracted by Lupin–his English Golden Retriever–reminding him to take a break, as depicted here. When he isn’t writing, Joseph can be found giving into his dog’s entreaties to play, or reading anything by Brandon Sanderson, Brandon Mull or Jim Butcher. He also has been spotted playing the occasional tabletop or video game.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
August 15, 2019
When wishes become real physical beings, it’ll take a powerful genie to capture them. The magical world of Joseph Daniel’s Theft of Sapphire really took the show for me. I loved the concept of wishes being real creatures and unfulfilled wishes becoming terrible monsters, and Daniel’s humorous writing really brought the magic to life! This one’s perfect for any Percy Jackson or Harry Potter fans out there!
July 28, 2019
Full review is here, on my blog!~
This is the story of Judah Smith, who is a young genie on the cusp of taking his wishgranter’s exam so that he can begin work in the local wish repo agency and take possession of broken or wrong wishes.
Meanwhile, someone is letting the worst horrofiends (wishes that have gone bad and become monsters) out of the magical junkyard that houses them, and Judah decides to try and track them down as the reward could help save his family from eviction. Shenanigans are abound, as I’m sure you can imagine!
This book was, to me, very reminiscent in tone to Harry Potter. I wouldn’t necessarily call it middle-grade, but it’s on the cusp, I think. It felt something like a mash up of Harry Potter, The Goonies, and Aladdin. That said, I often found it quite unique. It brought to mind those things, while taking me on a pretty entertaining journey of its own.
It’s often got a laugh or three in it. Whether it is Judah stealing Rusty, his family’s magical, flying, talking minivan (appropriately known as a flying car pet), or a group of failed wishes of ninja martial arts masters who are in fact ninja masters of arts and crafts.
It was a well written book, and read really easily. It wasn’t overly long, though I did find it a bit slow at times. There weren’t many grammatical errors in it, but there were sometimes inconsistencies that threw me off, like Judah not knowing what a Tyrannosaurus was, but later pointing out that his little sister was reading a book about dinosaurs. One character is described as completely bald, only to let another character ‘run their fingers through his hair’ a few pages later. So, it could use another pass of edits, but was fairly well presented all told.
Overall, I thought it was a fun book. The plot ran a bit slow for me at times, so in the middle I found that I was floundering to stay interested it, but I stuck with it, and I am glad I did too, because the ending wrapped up everything while leaving enough open that I’ve got some interest in book two and what happens there. All told, I would say that I had 6.5/10 stars of fun with Theft of Sapphire.
This is the story of Judah Smith, who is a young genie on the cusp of taking his wishgranter’s exam so that he can begin work in the local wish repo agency and take possession of broken or wrong wishes.
Meanwhile, someone is letting the worst horrofiends (wishes that have gone bad and become monsters) out of the magical junkyard that houses them, and Judah decides to try and track them down as the reward could help save his family from eviction. Shenanigans are abound, as I’m sure you can imagine!
This book was, to me, very reminiscent in tone to Harry Potter. I wouldn’t necessarily call it middle-grade, but it’s on the cusp, I think. It felt something like a mash up of Harry Potter, The Goonies, and Aladdin. That said, I often found it quite unique. It brought to mind those things, while taking me on a pretty entertaining journey of its own.
It’s often got a laugh or three in it. Whether it is Judah stealing Rusty, his family’s magical, flying, talking minivan (appropriately known as a flying car pet), or a group of failed wishes of ninja martial arts masters who are in fact ninja masters of arts and crafts.
It was a well written book, and read really easily. It wasn’t overly long, though I did find it a bit slow at times. There weren’t many grammatical errors in it, but there were sometimes inconsistencies that threw me off, like Judah not knowing what a Tyrannosaurus was, but later pointing out that his little sister was reading a book about dinosaurs. One character is described as completely bald, only to let another character ‘run their fingers through his hair’ a few pages later. So, it could use another pass of edits, but was fairly well presented all told.
Overall, I thought it was a fun book. The plot ran a bit slow for me at times, so in the middle I found that I was floundering to stay interested it, but I stuck with it, and I am glad I did too, because the ending wrapped up everything while leaving enough open that I’ve got some interest in book two and what happens there. All told, I would say that I had 6.5/10 stars of fun with Theft of Sapphire.
January 30, 2019
Great book
Wow what a story, so much imagination to make these characters come to life and the learning experience from this story is just great. You got a fan. Catha. Watkins. Reese
Wow what a story, so much imagination to make these characters come to life and the learning experience from this story is just great. You got a fan. Catha. Watkins. Reese
February 16, 2019
Wow. That was awesome. Great characters, great premise, great world-building. A totally different take on genies. I loved all the kids and I can't wait to see what's next for them. So much fun.
July 26, 2020
Pretty good
Good book, could use some more magic and genie work but this is definitely pretty high on my recommendation list .
Good book, could use some more magic and genie work but this is definitely pretty high on my recommendation list .
July 22, 2022
This book is quirky and fun! We are in a world of genies who grant wishes and have their own whole hidden society, and we follow Judah, a young genie trying to pass his wish-granting test and prevent his family from being evicted and losing their home. He ultimately teams up with a stranger in an attempt to get enough gold to save his house, and of course there is plenty of adventure and magic.
It's hard to say if this is middle grade or YA, but I'm leaning more toward middle grade.
I read this book as a buddy read with my cousin, who has met the author. I'm glad we read it! The writing was very distinctive to me--the author's voice and writing style is a strong element of the book, and I thought leant the story a lighter tone and allowed the plot to flow. Also, it is very apparent that the author loves words and wordplay--there were puns galore and a lovely vocabulary; I could tell that the sentences were crafted carefully and purposefully, and this was mainly for humorous effect. Which is another thing--I found the book quite funny! Mostly because I too love words and a good pun, but also because I think this author is sarcastic and funny.
While a comparison to Harry Potter may be a smidge grandiose, I will say that I think this world seems quite rich and carries a lot of potential for a wealth of stories. There are parallels: the Weasley family I think is the strongest, followed by Judah being a magical young person, but also elements of magic, coming of age, and secret societies.
Overall, I enjoyed this read! The plot was fast paced and pulled me along, if a little meandering and repetitive. The writing was enjoyable, humorous, and fun, and I think provided a great atmosphere. I feel like this world of genies has a lot of potential, though being thrown into it the way we were in this book was a tiny bit 'sink or swim' with following what was happening.
I enjoyed the end and how this story was tied together, but I did feel it was strongly the FIRST book in a series--the setup for continuation was very heavy handed. But I wanted to go right into the next book, so that's good!
Check out our full discussion here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xTcbd...
It's hard to say if this is middle grade or YA, but I'm leaning more toward middle grade.
I read this book as a buddy read with my cousin, who has met the author. I'm glad we read it! The writing was very distinctive to me--the author's voice and writing style is a strong element of the book, and I thought leant the story a lighter tone and allowed the plot to flow. Also, it is very apparent that the author loves words and wordplay--there were puns galore and a lovely vocabulary; I could tell that the sentences were crafted carefully and purposefully, and this was mainly for humorous effect. Which is another thing--I found the book quite funny! Mostly because I too love words and a good pun, but also because I think this author is sarcastic and funny.
While a comparison to Harry Potter may be a smidge grandiose, I will say that I think this world seems quite rich and carries a lot of potential for a wealth of stories. There are parallels: the Weasley family I think is the strongest, followed by Judah being a magical young person, but also elements of magic, coming of age, and secret societies.
Overall, I enjoyed this read! The plot was fast paced and pulled me along, if a little meandering and repetitive. The writing was enjoyable, humorous, and fun, and I think provided a great atmosphere. I feel like this world of genies has a lot of potential, though being thrown into it the way we were in this book was a tiny bit 'sink or swim' with following what was happening.
I enjoyed the end and how this story was tied together, but I did feel it was strongly the FIRST book in a series--the setup for continuation was very heavy handed. But I wanted to go right into the next book, so that's good!
Check out our full discussion here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xTcbd...
June 13, 2019
I loved it. The world is beautiful and very well described. Some of the 'fighting' scenes were a bit underwhelming, using items we do not know doing things we do not understand to win rather than the usage of an established magic system creatively.
Joseph Daniel is definitely on my radar now. I would love to know more about the world, the different clans, the family who I came to love.
Comparisons to Harry Potter are valid, with the Weasleys, Borrow, Gringotts and Erisid vibes at different parts.
A very solid start to what seems like a very vast universe which I'll be happy to further explore.
Joseph Daniel is definitely on my radar now. I would love to know more about the world, the different clans, the family who I came to love.
Comparisons to Harry Potter are valid, with the Weasleys, Borrow, Gringotts and Erisid vibes at different parts.
A very solid start to what seems like a very vast universe which I'll be happy to further explore.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews