The Prime Council takes over the Radiant Palace. New laws suppressing the citizens are enforced till they are unable to survive. The burrows become their home.
Poverty prevails.
Warnings are not circulated before the cyclone hits. The burrows flood. All those caught within, drown, including eight-year-old Cori’s parents.
Life is preparing Cori for a great adventure when she discovers information about the artificers that created OceanForged Armour.
This knowledge lit up the part of Cori’s mind she never realised was dark.
At twelve years old, deemed unfit to serve in the Radiant Palace and being escorted with other orphans to the outer islands, Cori slips away from the group.
Joining the crew on the pirate ship, Harridan, captained by the heartless Scrimshaw, she finds herself enslaved again, for they are freebooters that live by attacking and raiding merchant ships, and plundering the villages of the Naturals.
Cori becomes Roach. Seen as dispensable, she is allocated degrading and perilous tasks.
A magic blue jewel is in Scrimshaw’s possession. He intends it to lead him to the weapon that will bring him controlling power over everything and everybody.
But what is that weapon?
Cori is ordered to scale a trap-filled building and retrieve an unknown object. She discovers and recognises, the golden, OceanForged gauntlet, the armoured glove of the Champions.
It attaches itself to her arm.
Unable and unwilling to hand it over, Cori threatened by Scrimshaw, escapes again.
Here begins an adventure full of meaning and value for Cori. The golden gauntlet with its protective powers, puts those whom she needs, in her path.
Tarn, a Natural, who can talk to animals, helps her retrieve Scrimshaw’s magic blue jewel which is the missing object from the glove, and its power becomes compete.
Zin, the good witch, Jem her failed apprentice, and Tarn and his family, all play a significant role in Cori’s new life.
Can Cori be the new Champion that will lead Aquinta into the Age of Glory? If so, she must find the all the OceanForged Armour, divided for safety, after the death of the Last Champion.
An outstanding, well- researched new series begins from the talented Amelia Mellor, author of The Grandest Bookshop in the World, and The Booksellers Apprentice.
The next instalment, The Silent Island, will be available in April, 2026.
Title: OceanForged: The Wicked Ship
Author: Amelia Mellor
Illustrator: Alissia Trunfio
Publisher: Affirm Press, $16.99
Publication Date: 29 July 2025
Format: Paperback
ISBN: 9781922992390
For ages: 8 - 11
Type: Middle Grade Fiction
