The Spook's Apprentice: No.1 (original 2004; edition 2005)

by Joseph Delaney

Series: The Wardstone Chronicles | The Last Apprentice (1)

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Member:	99sono
Title:	The Spook's Apprentice: No.1
Authors:	Joseph Delaney
Info:	Red Fox (2005), Paperback, 336 pages
Collections:	Your library
Rating:
Tags:	fantasy adventure darkness witts witches

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The Last Apprentice (Revenge of the Witch) by Joseph Delaney (2004)

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20
The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper (LongDogMom)
LongDogMom: Both of these books have a similar atmosphere and style. The Dark is Rising is about Will Stanton, who is also a seventh son of a seventh son, as well as a boy with special gifts that only a few others have that enable them to fight the Dark.
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The Revenge of the Shadow King by Derek Benz (Joles)

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A bit gory at times and definitely dark, but the magical world was intriguing and the mythology was engrossing. Delaney did a fine job of laying the groundwork for a deep, intense series. I will read more to find out if that comes to fruition.

Tom is the seventh son of a seventh son and as such is apprenticed to the Spook of the neighborhood. As one who deals with ghasts, boggarts and witches, a Spook is needed, but not appreciated. It's a lonely profession and one Tom is not sure he is cut out for. This book details his introduction to his new life and his discovery of what exactly it means to be the Spook. (

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VanChocStrawberry | Apr 2, 2018 |

A touch of scary. A touch of gore. Nice quick entertaining read. A good start to a series. It will be interesting to see if he can maintain my interest. A lot of long YA series lose me eventually. (

)

CSDaley | Mar 28, 2018 |

Loved this story! Great setting, characters with lots of scary moments. Totally enjoyable. (

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blueraven57 | Nov 26, 2017 |

When I first saw the cover, my first thought was Ranger's Apprentice! but for magic?

So I kind of went in with high expectations because the Ranger's Apprentice series was fantastic.

This turned out to be pretty good. At first I was kind of surprised by the actions of the main character,but I just kept reminding myself that he was what, 11, 12 or 13? And as long as I reminded myself of that, it was no longer surprising.

I think Delaney does a fantastic job of showing us the sad and lonely side of the life of a Spook. When his sister-in-law talks to him near the end, it really crashed home, for the character as well as for the reader. Spooks are alone, period.

I also liked the possibility of redemption hinted at for the young witch. Redemption themes always get points from me :) (

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BookstoogeLT | Dec 10, 2016 |

I didn't like it because it didn't go into detail about what he learned. (

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Brinlie.Jill.Searle | Nov 22, 2016 |

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Is contained in

The Last Apprentice: Seventh Son: Book 1 and Book 2 by Joseph Delaney

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Series (with order)

The Wardstone Chronicles | The Last Apprentice (1)

Canonical title

Original title

The Spook's Apprentice

Alternative titles

Original publication date

People/Characters

Important places

Important events

Related movies

The Seventh Son (2013 ∙ IMDb)

Awards and honors

ALA Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers (2006)

Florida Teens Read Award Nominee (2008)

CCBC Choices (2006)

New Hampshire Great Stone Face Award Nominee (2007)

Epigraph

Dedication

For Marie

First words

When the Spook arrived, the light was already beginning to fail.

Quotations

"The first time I'd learned about witches the Spook told me never to trust a girl with pointy shoes. I would have believed that if I never met Alice Deane. Despite the Spooks convictions, I can honestly say I would trust at least one girl with pointy shoes."

“I married your dad because he was a seventh son. And I bore him six sons so that I could have you,”

Last words

(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)

Disambiguation notice

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▾References

References to this work on external resources.

Wikipedia in English (3)

Joseph Delaney

The Spook's Apprentice

The Wardstone Chronicles

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Amazon.com Amazon.com Review (ISBN 0060766204, Paperback)

"I was going to learn how to protect farms and villages from things that go bump in the night. Dealing with ghouls, boggarts, and all manner of wicked beasties would be all in a day's work. That's what the Spook did, and I was going to be his apprentice." Twelve-year-old Thomas Ward, as the seventh son of a seventh son, has no inheritance and is bored with farm work, and even though his new job will mean the superstitious villagers will forever shun him, he is eager to go off to adventure with the tall, hooded man he calls the Spook. His mother, a magical person herself, approves, and the Spook's teaching is strict but kind. But when Tom has only learned enough to be able to control their house-boggart, he is tricked by Alice, the young daughter of a witch family, into inadvertently releasing and then killing Mother Malkin, a witch the Spook has imprisoned in a pit. This is no polite wicca-type witch, but a snuffling, slime-trailing, cannibalistic creature reminiscent of Tolkien's nasgils. The story of Tom's escape from the reincarnated witch's hideous revenge is full of horrible details, as Alice helps, and then once again betrays him. This well-crafted novel marks an auspicious start for an exciting and fast series for young teens. (Ages 10-14) --Patty Campbell

(retrieved from Amazon Thu, 12 Mar 2015 18:18:49 -0400)

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▾Library descriptions

Young Tom, the seventh son of a seventh son, starts work as an apprentice for the village spook, whose job is to protect ordinary folk from "ghouls, boggarts, and all manner of wicked beasties."

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