Blood Is Thicker than Magic

The Arcana Chronicles, Book 1

By: Jay S. Willis

Narrated by: Jason Keller

An ancient family feud. Strange magic. Can one uncertain boy heal an eldritch rift?

Thirteen-year-old Daniel Waldera is struggling with life's changes. Realizing he has feelings for his best friend is hard enough, and the idea of confessing them to her is even more terrifying. But when he's attacked by an evil spirit and turns a flashlight into a lightsaber to vanquish it, the young teen faces a whole new level of confusion.

Discovering he's heir to powers from both his grandfather and his dad, Daniel finds himself caught in the middle of a long-running family rivalry. And with his best friend afraid of his growing abilities, fulfilling a prophecy is the last thing he wants.

Can Daniel defeat his own fears in time to become the master of magic he was born to be?

Blood Is Thicker than Magic is the thrilling first book in the Arcana Chronicles middle-grade/teen urban fantasy series. If you like everyday heroes, unexpected destiny, and coming-of-age adventures, then you'll love Jay S. Willis' riveting tale.

©2021 Jay S. Willis (P)2023 Jay S. Willis

Fun, Imaginative Story!!!

What a fun story! This was a terrific family oriented, interesting paranormal story for the whole family to enjoy! I really enjoyed the non-stop action as well as the supportive family relationships in this story. The setting was realistic- albeit a magical paranormal world. The ending was fulfilling and left me very satisfied and looking forward to the sequel! The narrator was ok, but irritating at times and somewhat monotone when voicing the 13 year old boy.

Amazing listen

This story starts off really fast and you are pretty much thrown right into the action but everything is really simple to understand and the performance of Jason Keller makes it sound like the main character is actually a teenager and everything is just overall amazing.

Harry Potter ate your heart out

Awesome storyline,the characters were great! Lots of action! Lots of magic. The main character gets support from friends and family.oh though there’s another book,I’m recommending this book for all.

I liked it; for middle school kids I think its great. I love how the family all rallies around Daniel.

"Blood is Thicker than Magic" is a magical coming-of-age adventure of a very sheltered about to turn 13 year old young man. As the story progresses you find out there has been a fued between both side of his family until his parents married and conceived Daniel Waldera; at which point his grandfathers' agreed to a truce to not discuss magic with Daniel until he comes into his own magic at the age of 13, at which point they can proceed with everything...

Daniel is very into pop-culture, gaming, DND, ect. I loved this about the book because it reminded me of the newer Doctor Who episodes, where you would be in the middle of something and suddenly there would be a reference to something else. Which was cute. I finished the story in one night, so it was a quick read. I didn't like that the characters didn't have very much development throughout the story, they develop some... but not as much as what you would expect for a book of this length. The story hooked me with the first chapter, the game "grave yard gus" they play reminds me of similar games we played as kids, so imagining their surroundings and feelings was an easy feat. The story was a page turner; in fact I finished it in one night. I could see reading it to my son, he likes magic/monster/goul stories and it has a little of everything in it. I think the only thing he won't like is the two best friends hinting around that they like each other.

Jason Keller's narration brought Jay S. Willis' writing style to life with a vibrancy that I haven't heard on many audio books. The dice sound effects, were a nice touch to add to the story.