The Last Apprentice

First off, I'm an adult - so not the target audience. Nonetheless, it is a good read.

Meshing together local myths about boggarts and witchcraft with Lancashire's hills and farms and a lot of imagination this book is a non-stop adventure.

I felt a lot of sympathy for Thomas, the protagonist. He doesn't want to be the spook's apprentice, yet he is determined to make it his career in spite of the hardship. What struck me most was his growing loneliness and the sacrifices he has to make to continue in his job, in particular the effects on his family life. He's a very mature boy and makes some tough choices. He messes up and makes amends.

This is a dark book and - unlike in Harry Potter - there are no minor characters to bring any light. show more Alice, who I imagine is a future love interest, poses only more trouble. As in Wuthering Heights, the bleakness of the mood suits the landscape.

I only intended to read this first book. Now I'm hooked and have just sent off for the next one! show less

My 9 year old daughter started reading Spooks, and she raved about it so now I have been reading them too.

The strength of these books lies in the fantastic storytelling of teh author who spins a tail that really will achieve that suspenful state of tension that will delight younger readers. For adults too, the story is well written and never becomes tedious. Good interesting stuff.

The stories are quite original, and well constructed, but not of great depth, and some of the themes feel like they are aimed at an older age group than 9, although the stories are perhaps not sufficiently complex to be branded young adult. Nevertheless I have a hard time recommending them to 9 year olds because while this first one is just fine, there are show more theems in some of the later books that are downright disturbing. Without wishing to write spoilers it is hard to go into details, but there is one particular theme, several books into the series, that led me to speak to teh school about placing these in an older section of the school library. The only time I have ever behaved like such an interfering parent! So please don't hold that against me.

My recommendation is that children and young adults 11 and up would love this series. show less

Picked this up a while ago but decided it would be a fun Halloween read. I wanted to preview it for my 10 year old son. He's been a fan of R. L. Stine's Goosebumps for years and from the general premise, I thought The Last Apprentice might be a fun series for him.

For being a middle-reader book, I found this rather engaging. I really enjoyed the character development. I liked the language and imagery used. And I found the story entertaining.

The concept of the book (the first in a series) is somewhat intriguing. We're in some "County" that feels loosely based on 18th/19th century America. A collection of small towns and villages spread over the countryside with generally religious/righteous people who are very superstitiously afraid of show more all things supernatural. Which is where the story comes in.

Gregory is a "Spook" which basically means he wanders around the County taking care of these supernatural problems….witches, ghosts, boggarts, etc. He's sort of like a colonial era version of the Ghostbusters. And he's taken our central character Tom as his apprentice. Tom is a bit frightened and wary of what this means, but he puts his heart into the effort and learns a lot, but also makes a number of very BAD mistakes which lead to a lot of bad problems for himself, the community, the Spook and others.

I felt like the story arc was pretty cohesive and the trajectory was generally believable. It was a bit of a stretch for me when Tom kept quiet about his encounter on the way back from town (I don't want to spell out what he kept secret, as it's a semi-spoiler). The Spook is Tom's authority figure and he'd given him very specific and particular advice. It didn't seem odd to me that Tom would have an opportunity to go against the Spook's advice…but it did seem odd that he didn't let the Spook know what happened. I guess perhaps he was ashamed/embarrassed, but since nothing had really happened, there shouldn't have been any need for hesitation. Still, I guess that's probably just me trying to put an adult mindset on a child's behavior.

Anyway, the story progressed well and I found myself caught up in the suspense and horror of the events as they unfolded. Things went from bad to worse to disastrous. And it felt like a natural rather than contrived flow. I was somewhat surprised at how everything finally came to a resolution.

So, overall, I enjoyed the book and found it an entertainingly creepy read. But, would I recommend it for my ten year old? NO. I would not. Part of me wants to because it was an entertaining read…but the larger part of me doesn't want to because this is a dark and gritty book. It's definitely written with children in mind. The horror stays on the tamer side of things…but it's still very creepy and very dark. The elements of violence and segments of gruesome interactions would certainly be frightening to anyone with tender sensitivities. Perhaps I'm being over protective as a parent…but I don't feel like this is the sort of book for a young reader. I could see the content working for a teenage audience…but by that point, it may come off as a little thin for teens who would rather graduate up to adult horror/thrillers.

Generally, I give the writing and the story 3.5 out of 5 stars, but even though it's a "kids" book, I can't recommend it for youngsters.

****
3.5 out of 5 show less

Wow. This was fantastic. I was very happy to learn there are 12 other books in this series (13 all together) that I plan on reading. I thought Delaney did a great job with character development, world building, and the illustrations were top notch and were definitely appreciated. I also enjoyed the book within a book we get at the end when we can read Thomas's diary and notes on what Old Gregory (Spook) has taught him so far.

"Revenge of the Witch" follows 13 year old Thomas Ward as he is off to apprentice himself to the Spook for the County (Old Gregory is his name). The Spook fights against those in the dark that ordinary people cannot. Since Thomas is the 7th son of a 7th son with a mother who is.....something he seems like the show more perfect fit. We follow Thomas as he learns about the things that go bump in the dark and how he help push back the darkness.

So I loved Thomas, Spook, Thomas's mother, Alice, etc. The characters in this first book were so well developed.

I liked that you got Thomas's fear as he was learning about things that would happily kill him and what befell Spook's last apprentice. But he is brave and determined to not let anyone get hurt when a trio of witches that are nearby are set upon letting loose their most dangerous member.

Spook is mysterious and I am sure Delaney is going to reveal more about him as we go along.

I was very curious about Thomas's mother. We know she's something, but just guessing at it for now.

I felt for Alice and I think we will be seeing her again. I liked her blossoming friendship with Thomas and her knowing what she was doing was bad, but has no way to stop it.

The writing was really easy to follow (thank God...after the last book I read, I needed that). Delaney does a great job world building. We learn about ghasts, which are different from ghosts and the types of witches there can be out there in the world.

I thought the flow worked. The chapters are sometimes quite short, but the illustrations are wonderful. Delaney wrote this for middle school children, but as an adult, I have to say I enjoyed it too.

The setting is I assume an England in a different type of place/world. It's kind of mimicking an England in the Middle Ages, but with a twist.

The ending was great and I can't wait to read the next book in the series.

I read this for Halloween Bingo 2021, "Grave or Graveyard" square. show less

Young Thomas Ward was born the seventh son of a seventh son, and being such, he's saddled with trying to find a profession for himself. After all, his oldest brother Jack would inherit the family farm, and his other siblings had been married off or found suitable employment. But with the help of his Mam -- who knew he was born for a specific purpose -- Thomas is about to become the apprentice of Old Gregory, The Spook.

Old Gregory spends his days traveling the county, warding away ghosts and ghasts, protecting homes from boggarts, and doing away with the occasional witch. His days are numbered, though, and he needs someone to whom he can pass his duties -- and it can only be the seventh son of a seventh son. Reluctantly, he takes young show more Thomas on, teaching him the basics of the lonely life of a Spook. And Thomas has a lot to learn, especially when he unwittingly releases the evil witch Mother Malkin from her confinement. With Old Gregory lured away, can he defeat Mother Malkin on his own, or will he end up like the Spook's last twenty-nine apprentices?

Jospeh Delaney's novel is a fun adventure tale, geared more toward the young adult crowd, but I think everyone will enjoy it. He presents some great characters: Thomas Ward, who possesses some special gifts, seeing as he's the seventh son of a seventh son, and is trying to cope with being away from his family for the first time; Old Gregory, The Spook who dreads trying to train yet another apprentice only to possibly lose this one, too; and Mother Malkin, with glowing eyes and skin ravaged by worms, determined to seek revenge on the one who confined her. Sometimes Thomas comes across a bit too thoughtful and cautious, moreso than I think a young boy his age would be. Rather than dragging the story down, it actually makes his character more likable, taking time to consider all his options before acting on them.

I enjoyed the story, as well, getting caught up in the action scenes of Thomas forcing himself to enter a dark, quiet forest at midnight on his own (creepy enough when you're an adult) or battling ghosts in an abandoned house. Each scene is paced well and not overly long, so that by the end of one chapter, I had to find out what happened next, and didn't put the book down until I finished it. Best of all, the story doesn't talk down to kids. Thomas may be frightened, he may be facing a new world on his own, but he's smart, he takes the time to consider everything rather than act rashly without preaching to the reader that this is how you should act.

"The Last Apprentice: Revenge of the Witch" is a fun read, perfect for anyone wanting to take a stab at reading horror for the first time -- not too scary and filled with lots of action. (And witches, boggarts and ghosts.) show less

This was surprisingly GOOD! I was completely drawn into the story and it was near impossible to put down. This is not my normal genre, loving books about witches and those who vanquish the bad ones from our world - The Spooks. But the story is compelling, each new moment leading you to wonder about the next. The descriptions of the types of witches and the things they ate, the way they smelled - it completely pulled me into the story and mesmerized me. I plan to read more of this series!

2.5/3
"Non leggete questo libro dopo il tramonto"... o subito dopo cena, aggiungerei io!
Sicuramente non manca un certo gusto del macabro con ossa, scheletri e fantasmi vari, amplificato dalle ambientazioni sinistre e le descrizioni abbastanza efficaci.
Nonostante abbia trovato il racconto un po' troppo breve, ho comunque apprezzato Thomas, il protagonista e apprendista mago, che impara dai suoi errori e conserva il suo lato "umano" con le incertezze e i problemi che ne derivano sebbene abbia a che fare con creature che di umano non hanno più nulla. Anche Alice, con il suo comportamento sempre sul confine tra bene e male, è un personaggio che mi ha incuriosita per la sua complessità.
Se solo la trama fosse stata un po' più ingarbugliata show more sarebbe stato un ottimo libro da catalogare come YA, ma allo stato attuale rimane comunque una scorrevole, inquietante lettura per i più giovani. show less