It is a very interesting premise about the sun being eaten up by Wolf and the city having to rely on fallen stars for light. The idea of the sun being eaten by Wolf reminds me of the Chinese myth about solar eclipse which says that a Heaven's Dog ( a wolf actually) eating up the sun, causing solar eclipse. The idea of a city engulfed in a fog reminds me of a movie from quite a few years ago.

The adventure is fun to read. I also love how the cats are depicted in this story.

The sun’s been eaten by a wolf, a mysterious fog has encompassed the earth, cats can talk, but can they be trusted, and there’s one boy who can save them all…

Starspill by Catherine Fisher is a release from Firefly Press coming 14th January 2025.

Zac is a starsmith, the latest in a long line of the family trade. Ever since the wolf ate the sun and the fog consumed their town, the starsmiths gather fallen stars to be used as sources as light for those in town. Pulled from school to learn the trade, Zac lives for the stories and legends he hears from the local storyteller and, one night, after a visit from tens of cats, known as the Catclave, he discovers they may be more than just stories.

The cats want him to steal one of the three remaining embers of the sun, the crumbs the wolf couldn’t consume. Normally, Zac wouldn’t consider such a thing, but they’ve stolen something precious to him – a remnant of a map of the world from before the sun was eaten. Armed with the knowledge that the cats have his back, and his best friend Alys by his side, Zac breaks into the museum and steals the fragment of the sun.

However, the town of Starspill has a new resident, a mysterious bookseller called Aurelian, who doesn’t believe the cats can be trusted. They arrange a trade with the cats, but Aurelian’s magic means they manage to leave with both the ember and the map fragment. Only then does Aurelian complete his personal quest to complete his map of the world’s labyrinth, a magical maze of doorways connecting the world out of plain sight.

Fuelled by this knowledge, Zac, Alys, Aurelian and future King of the Cats, Jinx, set off to retrieve the remaining two embers of the sun. However, with the Wolf Order, the shapeshifting fog and the peeved off cats on their tail, Zac and the group faces the trials and tribulations of defeating the wolf and restoring the sun. Can they do it, or will the world be forever thrust into darkness?

First off, I want to give incredible commendations to Catherine Fisher for the originality of the concept of Starspill. A wolf eating the sun and what would happen afterwards? Genius! I was captivated on sight of the description, and even through to the end I thought it was imaginative. There will be some science-minded individuals who will be the type to argue that without the sun life couldn’t continue, but to those people I kindly ask that they go and find an imagination because this book is FUN!

Aurelian really is a tremendous character, arguably my favourite in the novel. There’s a section of the book where he discusses his past, the world he remembers, and even the mystery of how old Aurelian is, all of which made me wish there’s a book centred on him in the future, because he had me captivated. They way he was a conduit between the children, cats, and adults of the novel, all whilst providing the physical magic, was exceptionally amusing, and I could read about him for days.

There are a couple small sections of the book where there’s the temptation to fall out of the mindset of the character. For instance, there are couple of “Zac knew”, “Zac felts” that were told rather than shown that I think could’ve benefitted from being shown to us the reader as opposed to telling us, however with these being few and far between, by the next paragraph you’re right back in the story and the enjoyment so I wouldn’t say this is a massive concern.

The ending, plotwise, is phenomenal and is everything that I wished would happen throughout reading Starspill. However, I don’t know if this has been edited too much or it’s a stylistic choice, but it read rather rushed. On the final page, there were key plot points wrapped up in single lines of dialogue that I, personally, would’ve liked to have seen expanded upon, but again it’s the ending I think a lot of readers will want. Therefore, I believe a lot of readers, especially young reader, will be able to overlook this.

Starspill is a magnificent adventure to kick start 2025 with for the middle grade audience. This world is thoroughly thought out, the idea is new and inventive, and most importantly, I cannot use the word FUN enough to describe this book. Catherine Fisher has delivered one of the first must-reads of 2025.

This was dark and scary at times and I loved it. There are stars, magic and cats. So many cats. Some are good and some aren't!
Zac and Alys end up on an adventure that will change their lives and the lives of the people of Starspill. They're keen and driven, but they need to work out who they can trust and who they can't (cats included!). They face many challenges but with hard work and some help from others, they manage to solve problems and find answers.
A fabulous read, full of adventure and fun.