Wrath of the Bloodeye

"This young adult series is consistently entertaining if written a bit "younger" than many in the genre while simultaneously being darker and gorey. I think the most interesting plot string by far is Alice, and what her nature/destiny really is. Fun quick read."

"The difference between the word fiend and friend is merely one letter. I could easily be the latter. If you knew me better...”"

Oh Tom. This is a tough 6 months for him. As we continue the series, he is exposed to more witches and things that creep in the night. The boy can barely sleep or eat (always fasting), as each new battle comes as the fiend sets his sights on him.

But now he is 14 and edging towards 15. It's good to read his growth and see the things he's learned. There was also growth in him knowing more about himself as he explored his relationship with both The Spook and Alice. He is also sent away to learn new training from another - Spook Arkwright - and his moral compass is put into question as well as his obedience to show more learning. It's another great addition to the series, although now I can understand the 2 titles for one book. I heavily agree with the other title. show less

This book is a sheep in wolf's clothing. It's dressed up and plotted like a lot of popular children's fantasy series, with its young male protagonist thrown headfirst into an epic struggle of good against evil. There's a prophecy of some kind, and the future of the world hinges on young Tom Ward's choices. But most fantasy series open up an alternate reality where the impossible becomes possible, and children escape their authority figures to sally forth into the world on their own. In THE LAST APPRENTICE, the fantasy world is even more confining and rigid than the real world - possibilities snap shut as fast as you can glimpse them, and Tom Ward is content to trail along in the wake of his teachers.

In fact, it doesn't quite seem right show more to call THE LAST APPRENTICE a fantasy. Tom Ward is training to serve "the light" as a Spook, a hunter of things that go bump in the night. The light includes everything that is good and moral. They fight "the dark" - supernatural creatures and witches. All creatures of the dark are tied to the Devil, cloven-hoofed and slightly Miltonian in character. Everything is black and white, there is no grey area. Magic and fantastical creatures are just so much evil to be stamped out; there is no fun or delight in them. The connection between magic and religion is so close that a key, climactic scene in the novel involves a condemnation of atheism.

As for young Tom Ward, he doesn't get to have much fun. I have never read a book that so thoroughly condemned disobedience. No good comes of mischief in Tom Ward's world; disobeying the commands of his superiors is just plain wrong. Perhaps his greatest trial in THE LAST APPRENTICE is being sent to train for some time with a nasty, abusive drunkard named Bill Arkwright. His challenge is to submit and obey - not to rebel and revolt. The moral of the story is that no matter what Tom felt at the time, the adults who control his fate know best and he should trust them.

Readers who enjoy THE LAST APPRENTICE will probably praise it for exactly the qualities that left me cold. The book is intensely didactic - very preachy, with a slightly condescending authorial voice. For these reasons, it's unlikely to appeal to adults (who may have enjoyed other children's fantasy series, along the lines of Harry Potter, Artemis Fowl, Lemony Snicket, etc.) The message overwhelms the story, and will doubtless define its readership. show less

For maximum enjoyment, the Last Apprentice series should be read in the order. That said, Wrath of the Bloodeye (volume 5) can still be enjoyed as a standalone novel without having read the previous volumes. I read volume one and then skipped over the next three to read this one. While there is a clear subplot and many references to events that happened in the intervening volumes, the main plot is independent of the others and I still enjoyed it greatly.

In Bloodeye, apprentice Tom Ward is sent to the Lake District for additional training from that area's spook. This new setting is rich in all things wet and soggy; bogs and fogs, swamps and mires, canals, moats and deadly tidal plains. It is equally rich in all the evil beasties that show more make water their home. There are selkies, skelts, spirits of drowning victims and, deadliest of all, the water witches.

Tom's new master, Bill Arkwright, is a fascinating character, tormented by demons both inside and out. He is a hard and angry man but Tom manages to see the value of his training and accompanies Arkwright on a mission to capture Morwena, the worst of the district's water witches. When tragedy leaves Tom on his own it is up to him to call upon all that he has learned to defeat Morwena alone.

Delaney is great in setting an atmosphere of impending danger and Bloodeye does not disappoint. The reader is always convinced that something wicked is waiting just a few feet away in the fog and Delany seldom disappoints us. Bloodeye was hard to put down. show less

Taking up immediately after the ending of book four, book five in the Last Apprentice series still delivers the goods. Not a stand alone story, one must have at least read book four, if not all the others, in order to understand what happens in this book and which characters are on which side of the battling forces of good and evil.

This series has not petered out, the action, the frightening events and scenes, the ongoing developments of Tom's apprentice training, and additional insight into the main characters, remains steady and intriguing. I did not feel AS frightened in this book as in the others, but the reader will not be disappointed. The fear and chills are still there to keep the eerie intensity and high suspense alive. There show more are a good deal of high action scenes to keep you riveted to the book and to keep the pages turning. I found the author put in a lot more character development to the key players, showing us that all of us have darkness as well as light within us. As Tom learns this more in this book it helps him grow and aids him in his ongoing training as he inches toward his eventual graduation to an official Spook himself some day. I also felt that this book had more of an intricate plot that leads the reader down many paths and shows us many twists and turns that are unexpected and surprising. As Tom grows, his experience broadens and the story backs this up with more of a challenging read than the earlier, simpler installments. I enjoyed this book as much as the others, I found no disappointing aspects and in fact, I thought the wonderful surprise elements at the end were quite brilliant and teasing which will have us all eagerly awaiting the next book. It appears that the author is showing us his increasing talent, as well as our young hero's. Delaney has created a fabulous horror series for young adults that just does not stop delivering terrific reads.

One other thing I feel I must add and praise; the illustrations. I truly feel that these marvelous black and white illustrations and almost holographic cover designs add even more appeal to the success of these books. Each illustration evokes such a frightening feeling that the reader just cant help but feel scared to death. The art work here is truly talented and wonderful to behold. How can you not have a winning series with sensational illustrations to accompany very talented and creative stories? Bravo to both the author and the artist! show less

This young adult series is consistently entertaining if written a bit "younger" than many in the genre while simultaneously being darker and gorey. I think the most interesting plot string by far is Alice, and what her nature/destiny really is. Fun quick read.

I thought the fifth book in the series was just okay, there were some really bad plot elements in this one and I think the book fast forwarded a bit to get to the next book in the series (spoiler alert, it was not good) and better time would have been spent setting this up better. We have Tom being sent off to train with a new Spook so he can learn about different types of witches, but also more one on one combat. Also, there's additional details being provided about what makes Tom so different than the Spook's that have come before him. The biggest reason why I gave this three stars though is that I swear that every time Tom is in a bad situation, he makes the worst decision possible. At this point I need to create my own Tom Ward show more decision making tree and just see if I am right.

"Wrath of the Bloodeye" has Tom sent to go and train with another Spook for 6 months named Bill Arkwright. Tom doesn't want to go and per usual is angry that Alice can't come and holy moly I am sick of hearing about Alice. Probably because everything the Spook has said about her is true and Tom has no common sense at all in my mind. Tom eventually goes and meets Bill Arkwright and per usual can't help snooping and being angry he's not being treated like a snoop. There comes of course a new villain on the scene, a new witch who is the daughter of the Fiend (sorry I still think including the Devil in this series was the dumbest thing ever) who is determined to kill Tom so her father may walk forever because Delaney borrows a bit from the Harry Potter series to have it that if the Fiend kills Tom he won't be able to walk forever, etc. etc.

Tom is just aggravating in this one. Probably because without Alice he's not that interesting of a character. Everyone keeps telling us how important he is, but so far, eh.

I was interested in the character of Bill Arkwright, he had a hard life and I found him to in some ways be a better master to Tom than the Spook is. And frankly, I think I prefer his method of dealing with witches than what the Spook does and continues to do.

The setting of this book in a new place with water witches and other water based demons was a nice change of pace.

There's more secrets at the end of this one to be revealed to Tom by his mother who is apparently coming back from Greece. show less