The Wicked Ship (Oceanforged)

Hailed by the publishers as the first in a new series of swashbuckling adventures, this is indeed an exciting story. 13 year-old Cori had been orphaned when the Council allowed the Burrows to flood rather than the richer areas, and had been trained as a Council Page, but, as she wasn’t a very good Page, she was about to be sent to the Blackrocks, when she escaped, and joined what turned out to be a pirate ship. Her time at the Council had been made more interesting by the discovery of tapestries showing the Champions, people with magical artefacts that prove useful for their good deeds during the Age of Glory, and that becomes important knowledge. Pirate Captain Scrimshaw is a nasty piece of work, and he lands his ship near a village where one of the artefacts is hidden, which he knows about because he already wears one: a far-seeing pendant. Only Cori is small enough to retrieve it, and she keeps it, mostly because it’s a gauntlet, and it has sealed itself to her arm. Joining forces with local villager Tarn, a boy who can communicate with living creatures, and Jem, a trainee witch who owns a boat, she gets away. The fact that the gauntlet has attached itself to her shows that she is destined to become a Champion, and she swears to rule better than the Council, but first she has to learn how to make use of its power. Off they go in search of the remaining magical artefacts, led by the gauntlet, and we are left at the end of this book with their arrival at Whalehead Island, which seems rather sinister…

The characters are good – Tarn is very useful, especially as he can listen to what animals and birds are saying, but he cannot read, and Jem starts to teach him. Although she has failed at the witch skills demanded by her tutor, Jem has bright ideas of her own and creates useful spells. Their stories may give encouragement to children who feel they are failing, but just haven’t found their way yet…

Amelia Mellor is well known in her native Australia as an author of children’s fantasy fiction, notably the series The Grandest Bookshop in the World, and this may be the beginning of a new readership.