The Firelight Apprentice
The Firelight ApprenticeWriter/Artist: Bree Paulsen
Designer: Celeste Knudsen
Publisher: Quill Tree Books
Publication Date: October 29, 2024
Following a bloody war in which they lost their mother, a beloved and talented magician for the king, sisters Ada and Safi assist their father at his store, where he makes and sells magical lightbulbs—the family trade. His lungs are severely damaged from the salts he used in the incendiary bulbs he created during the war, and as his health worsens, business continues to decline.
Then, there’s Safi: a child who already possesses incredible magical power and needs a proper mentor to help her control it. Her family can’t afford such a teacher, and there are few traveling magicians who come this way. There are also rumors of liches kidnapping magic users and draining them of their power, heightening the stakes for Safi and her family—especially Ada, who can’t bear another loss after their mother.
Finally, a pair of magicians bring their show to town, and they spot Safi’s magic in the crowd. They ask to take on Safi as an apprentice, which means taking her away to travel, leaving Ada and their father behind to run the shop. It’s the best and safest opportunity for her, and she goes—but while she’s gone learning magic and building upon her blood family with found family, things get worse back home and one of her new friends may not be so friendly after all.
Garlic and the Vampire and Garlic and the Witch creator Bree Paulsen has once again crafted a masterpiece with The Firelight Apprentice. Paulsen’s signature cartooning style translates beautifully to this post-war world, with expressive characters and fully-detailed backgrounds providing a world readers can’t help but want to live inside. Her color palette is incredibly rich, with deep shadows beautifully contrasting bright sparks of magic that carry the story through.
As Safi learns more about her magic, including how to control and expand her abilities, her world opens up. She travels to far-away places, meets new people, and engages with training she never could have had at home. All the while, she remains steadfast in her kindness and dedication to her family, and she wants to visit her older sister Ada and her father more than anything.
Back home, Ada struggles to keep it together as their father grows weaker, even when the letters she receives from Safi don’t acknowledge any of the hardships she’s reluctantly written about in her own missives. Ada struggles to understand why her younger sister doesn’t seem to be reading her letters, and gains some insight from Elba, a former magician to the king who recently arrived in town now lives on its streets, seemingly drained of the powers he claims to have had.
Paulsen roots the core conflict of The Firelight Apprentice in miscommunication facilitated by a malicious third party. On the page, we see her letters being destroyed, but we don’t know who’s doing it until the finale—during which Safi discovers the full extent of her powers and how much further she can push her magic when she’s protecting the people she loves. Paulsen builds tension slowly, planting hints throughout so when the story reaches its climax and resolution, nothing feels out of the blue or rushed.
The pacing makes The Firelight Apprentice stand out, particularly because of how it tackles grief head-on. Safi, Ada, and their father all approach their grief differently, and finding joy becomes increasingly difficult for the latter two. But as the story progresses, rediscovering joy after loss becomes a core focus, with the characters taking the time and space they need to figure out what that looks like for them.
Paulsen’s writing on these themes is truly beautiful, and paired with her artwork, The Firelight Apprentice becomes a perfect addition to any library.
Final Verdict: Buy
