Mordor, California

By Nick Bascom

Fred Oglesburg has had enough. The vile woman his father plans to marry has already shipped his grandfather to an elder care center. Now she plans to push Fred out, too. But Fred has a plan to get rid of her first and get his parents back together. He plots to burgle the engagement ring and travel with his best friend, Stan, to Mordor, California, where he hopes to destroy the ring once and for all.

On their quest from Oregon to southern California, the boys are joined by a growing cast of quirky characters. Fred's neighbor, who still dreams of appearing on Nickelodeon GUTS, a gameshow that stopped airing years ago, lends the fellowship his NERF bow. When the boys bust Fred's grandfather out of his institution, the fellowship gains a somewhat unconventional magician. And Gemma Lee is an aspiring rockstar-a true ax woman whose guitar licks deal serious damage.

Can these allies help Fred and Stan escape the many foes closing in on them? Will Fred's gambit actually work? Or will the rigors of the road tear even the best of friends apart?

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1959510908
• ISBN13: 9781959510901
• Release Date: November 2022
• Publisher: Switchboard Publishing LLC
• Length: 512 Pages
• Weight: 1.21 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 5.0" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

A fun quest

This book made my nerd heart and brain so happy! I was a fun-filled quest novel just dripping with Tolkien puns and nerd culture references. Do you like: Star Wars, Star Trek, Harry Potter, The Princess Bride, Indiana Jones, The Last Unicorn, Redwall, Spinal Tap, The Neverending Story, an (omg I can't believe it!) Encyclopedia Brown, Nickelodeon, Saturday morning cartoons, video games, comic books, and of course The Lord of the Rings (and a few others, but my list was getting long)? Then this book is probably for you! Some references were pretty deep cuts and I'll admit, I think I missed a couple Easter eggs (or not... I mean I did catch the Wayside reference). Synopsis: Fred and his best friend Stan set off on an important quest. They must take an evil ring to Mordor, California to destroy it. If they can pull this off, they will reunite Fred's estranged parents and defeat the evil of Fred's father's fiancee. Along the way they gather a fellowship of friends, all misfits and bullied cast-aways, to help them.