Oceanforged 1: The Wicked Ship by Amelia Mellor

Title: Oceanforged 1: The Wicked Ship

Author: Amelia Mellor

Genre: Fantasy

Publisher: Affirm Press

Published: 29^th July 2025

Format: Paperback

Pages: 240

Price: $16.99

Synopsis: The realm of Aquinta has fallen into a dark age. And no one knows that better than thirteen-year-old Cori, who is fighting for her life in a pirate crew more beastly than Aquinta’s sea monsters.

But Cori’s life changes when she finds the Oceanforged Gauntlet – a piece of armour belonging to the legendary Champions who once ruled the islands. Whoever wears the armour wields the Champions’ magic and has the power to return Aquinta to its lost glory.

Cori must begin a treacherous journey to find the rest of the armour. But first, she’ll have to escape from her captain, who craves the gauntlet’s magic for himself …

The quest begins in the first instalment of an epic new fantasy adventure series from the bestselling author of The Grandest Bookshop in the World.

~*~

There must be something in the air, because pirates and fantasy seem to be the thing for middle grade books. I’ve read two recently, both out at the end of July, and they have both taken very different paths with their pirates. In Oceanforged, we meet Cori, an orphan who has been forced into becoming a pirate with a horrid crew in Aquinta. It’s not safe for anyone, let alone a thirteen-year-old orphan wearing the Oceanforged Gauntlet and on the run from a very bad pirate crew. 

It seems the Gauntlet has chosen Cori to wield the Champion’s magic to return Aquinta to its former glory. But she needs help if she’s going to help Aquinta, find the armour and keep the gauntlet from her evil captain.

The Wicked Ship is the first book in a five-book series from Amelia Mellor, author of The Grandest Bookshop in the World. Cori’s quest is set up well, with action and adventure, and a good dose of magic. The magic used by most people in the world is set up early and explained well, so it plays out well on the page. The first instalment also introduces Cori’s travelling companions, Tarn and Jem, a failed trainee witch determined to make it on her own. Book one sets things up well, giving readers a good handle on the world and the characters so they know who they are going to be following. It’s a great fantasy world that will have many things to discover as the series goes on.

It’s always such fun diving into a new series, meeting new characters and entering new worlds. Especially in middle grade fiction, where these things have such zest and fly off the page, enveloping the reader in their joy. Both of Amelia’s series are for middle grade readers, but this one feels like it is geared towards the younger end of middle grade, which makes it very different to her other books. It’s got layers, but they’ll be the kind of layers that unfold as the series progresses. One of my favourite things about a series like this is reading each one as it is released, and then going back to see where the connections were made and where the hints for future books were dropped. It’s going to be a fun and thrilling series for younger readers, with just the right amount of tension for the age group. It was a joy to read, where some of the things we think we know about with magic are turned into something else. It’s the age of piracy but with magic.

Fantasy books are always fun to read, especially in the middle grade and young adult areas. I see different takes on similar themes, and even the books that might feel similar can have a point of difference. The best thing is that I am seeing a lot of great stuff in this genre come out from Australian authors at the moment. It makes me happy to see Australian talent from all different authors, and I have been reading some very diverse stories with different takes on magic and fantasy. Oceanforged is just the latest in my current stack that is doing this well, and in ways that readers of all ages will enjoy. It’s definitely a book that would have caught my attention as a child too.  Everything in this book was done very well, and it will be exciting to see where Cori and her friends go next.