James Ritter: The Skirik's Lair (Volume 1)

If they held a contest to see who was the most bullied kid in the school, James could take home the trophy. Every day, the kids at school call him names, taunt him and often beat him up – usually because of whatever strange thing his weird Aunt Matty (who he lives with) has done lately. Things look up for a few days when a new boy and his family move in next door, but his bliss is short lived as even stranger-than-normal events begin to take place at his house: Like strange voices and eerie nighttime intruders.

Just when it seems like he might break, a wizard calls on James in the middle of the night, telling him of his late father’s unfinished business and insisting that he come with him to a land full of magic, strange creatures and dragons to finish where his father left off. There are only two problems: He can’t get to this land, and his father may have been killed for his involvement with these people.

That complicates things, because our world has been scheduled for elimination – and only James possesses the ability to stop that from happening. Can James become the leader that the father-he-never-knew had been, and stop the world from coming to an abrupt end, or will he decide that humanity isn’t worth the bother?