Arkpire by Jamie Littler Review
Arkspire #1
85,795 words, 362 pages, 33 Chapters, 5hrs 45mins to read
2,599 average words per chapter, 10.9 average pages per chapter
Published by Puffin
4.80 out of 5 on Goodreads
Our rating: 5 out of 5
What is Arkspire About?
Arkspire is the first installment of the latest book series, by the best-selling author and illustrator of Frostheart, Jamie Littler. And let me tell you, he has done it again with this one. This first book introduces us beautifully to the world of Arkspire and its mostly wonderful inhabitants. The people of Arkspire are obsessed with magic, and they all look up to their protectors and idols, a group of powerful magicians which are known as The Five Arcanists.
Juniper Bell, an up and coming relic hunter of The Betrayers (who are the enemies of the Arcanists), with her ever optimistic partner in crime, Thea, the only two members of the Misfits, stumble across one very important relic. This one explodes, emitting colour and strange symbols into the sky… and releasing one strange and mysterious creature. One that is believed to be a dangerous enemy of the Arcanists…
If you want to know more about this book series, then feel free to check out our guide – Arkspire.
What’s Bad About Arkspire?
Well, let us get this out of the way before I carry on praising everything about this book. And frankly, there was not much, IF anything that I did not like or enjoy with this book. Only one thing I will complain about is – WHERE THE HELL WAS THIS BOOK WHEN I WAS YOUNGER! And so I have to admit I am not the target audience of this book, clearly being a children’s fantasy book, but can I really fault the book for me being too old? Oh definitely not, and there was so much that this book had to offer to me being of an older age (maybe in body but not in maturity…)
“Not bad, huh?” Mama said. “When the world gives you an empty bag, it’s your job to fill it.”
– Jamie Littler, Arkspire
What’s so Good About Arkspire?
Where do I begin with this? Arkspire is full of everything that I love to read, full of magic, mayhem, heists and witty and marvelous characters. The characters that Jamie Littler has written into this are incredible, you have as I have mentioned before, Juniper Bell, the rag-tag, not afraid to get a little dirty leader of the Misfits, with her ever optimistic and full of her GragGran’s wise anecdotes side-kick. Thea. With Juni’s sister, the more serious of the lot and trying to become selected to be chosen to be the next Arcanist and their ever tender and sweet Papa who wants nothing but the best for his girls. Every character you meet is as intriguing as the last, and you are excited to learn more about each and every one of them.
Again Jamie Littler is showing us his illustrious illustrating capabilities by giving us amazing and thoroughly detailed illustrations throughout to help showcase and build up this magical world of Arkspire. There were many of these drawings I found myself going back to after reading the next paragraph, as other snippets of details were spoken about, and when I looked back, there they were. All included in the drawings for us all to admire, the more you look, the more you find.
Final Thoughts
I found this book to be a real page turner, one that I could not put down and I actually even managed to finish this book in one sitting. Which is very rare for me as I do get pretty restless. I could not believe where the time had gone, it had all gone by in such a blur. This is quite easily one of my favourite books that I have read in a long while.
The story is absolutely captivating and I have already marked my calendar for next July to see where he will take us with the next installment of Arkspire.
If you enjoyed his Frostheart then you will love this book. I found this book to have many more moments of some lighthearted comedy while still not losing those sweet tender moments you can to love in Frostheart. His mix of the two truly make for some great moments between his characters.
So if you are looking for your next read, and you love your easy to read fantasy full of magic and heists then you should look no further than Arkspire. It will not disappoint.
Leave a Reply