Dark Army, The (Starblade Chronicles) Hardcover – September 20, 2016

Easy reading moves fast with surprising ending! Looking forward to reading the next 2 books in this part of the series.

Great product. Came quickly and book was in excellent condition.

The Dark Amy is the second book in the Starblade Chronicles. Most of the story takes place in Polyznia, the principality under the rule of Prince Stanislaw. The story picks up right after book one A New Darkness leaves off. Tom Ward, the new County spook is dead, slain by a Shaiksa assassin.I can’t say that I enjoyed this book, but I didn’t hate it either. I give it a solid three stars and here is why. There was a lot of talking about the New Darkness but it doesn’t really make an appearance in the book. The war with the Kobalos army isn’t developed well and the descriptions of the battles don’t seem to belong in this world.I didn’t want to go into the story comparing it to the previous series, but the book kept reminding just how awesome the first series was. I was tempted to stop reading this book and just start Wardstone Chronicles over from the beginning.*******Spoiler Alert*******I guess it goes without saying that Tom Ward doesn’t stay dead. I’m glad Tom isn’t dead, but it takes something away from the power of death when certain characters are able to escape death and come back as is nothing ever happened. What was the point of killing Tom? The book claims that they needed the warriors to rally around Tom. That is simply ridiculous. Just defeating the assassin should have been enough. Tom made no decisions in this book and was basically a pawn in Grimalkin’s war against the Kobalos. Tom made more sound decisions as an apprentice than he makes as Spook. His character has not grown at all. He relies too much on Alice and Grimalkin and only reacts to what is happening around him when he should be making important decisions.Grimalkin character was ruined in this book. She was melodramatic and moody and nothing like the warrior witch assassin that I loved from the previous series. I can’t say much about Grimalkin because she did a lot of nothing and left me wanting the old Grimalkin back.Alice is back. Why? Because Lukrasta is dead. Why is Lukrasta dead? Is he dead really? Who knows with the rules of this book. Why kill off Lukrasta? It makes no sense. He was one of the more interesting characters. Once Lukrasta is dead Alice reveals that she had “no choice” but to stay with Lukrasta because Pan, one of the Old Gods, made her promise after entering his realm without permission. So now she’s back with Tom and has discovered that she is an Earth witch, something that isn’t known of by any Spooks, because she is the first of her kind. The book made a big deal about Alice belonging to the dark and how Tom belongs to the light. I’m willing to bet anything that by the time the series ends Alice is going to find something out about her powers and learn that it doesn’t all come from the dark or something like that, which is weird seeing as how she’s supposed to be the daughter of The Fiend.Jenny Calder is Tom’s new apprentice. She’s the seventh daughter of a seventh daughter and is being trained as a spook. Her powers are much different from Tom’s but we don’t get to experience a lot through her that explore her powers or advance the plot. I can understand why the author didn’t want to rehash Wardstone Chronicles by just writing another story about a Spook training his apprentice, but I wish he would’ve given the apprentice the same powers of a seventh son of a seventh son, because I feel like I don’t know anything about Jenny. When are her powers going to shine?When the book is about 85% done we are introduced to another old character, Golgoth, who is wreaking havoc in the county, and there is final show down where Tom again does nothing except allow all the witches surrounding him do all the work and has to be saved… again. In the end Golgoth escapes and the New Darkness or the new Kobalos god, Talkus, who was born as The Fiend died still hasn’t made an appearance.All in all, not a very impressive book. The bad part about it, there is an interesting story hidden beneath all the filler. The Fiend was a scary SOB and Talkus is supposed to be much worse. I’ll be glad when he finally shows up. I loved that the previous books were dark and scary, not too scary though. This book was not scary, and the “dark” elements were lacking also. If you’re a fan of the Wardstone Chronicles, then it is likely that you will read this book no matter what. All other’s I recommend you read Wardston Chronicles before starting the Starblade Chronicles. It will give you a better understanding of what is going on and will give you a better appreciation for this world and what it has to offer.

Though I had preordered this book and was super excited about the whole Tom being dead thing, I was, for the first time, a little disappointed in Joseph Delaney. The story was great and kept me turning pages, BUT I dont feel like enough happened in this book... meaning it could have been longer and encompassed a longer time line. The death of a certain character was so shocking and brough tears to my eyes, but was so... I dont know how to explain it, but I expected more. I definitely recommend this title, but I was hoping for more after the wait.

I love these book about the spook and Tom Ward and all the characters. I have to say the Last Apprentice series was so far my favorite. The Starblade Chronicles so far are a little darker. I love them all but so far I think the Last Apprentice series was better. The Starblade Chronicles, to me feel a little compacted and hurried. I still love to read them all though. If you enjoy, reading Joseph Delaney then you should check out this series too.

*spoiler alert*First of all, I love the writings of Joseph Delaney, and I own all the books in this and the last series (Starblade Chronicles and Last Apprentice). I fell in love with the characters, the world and whole concept of the Spook. But, in the Starblade Chronicles, I'm finding myself grinding through the books, not really enjoying them, and it took me a while to figure out why. It's simply this: Delaney is compacting the story into a trilogy instead of being able to broaden the concepts, plot and character development across more books. I don't like the tense, constricted nature of it. It feels too rushed, too condensed, and he doesn't get to explore in depth some of the marvelous concepts, plot devices and set pieces he's teasing us with. Instead, it's a breathless non-stop furious pace of fighting and zooming from one place to another, with Tom as a pawn in a game, instead of displaying his own growth and agency. As a reader and a fan, I like a more in-depth, more nuanced exploration, and that isn't happening for the most part here. Many folks like the series, judging by all the 5 stars and it's certainly an enjoyable work, but, I find myself asking too many questions like, 'Where is Slither? Is he a friend or a foe? How has Grimalkin become so 'off' in this series? Is Alice coming back to Tom just because Lukrasta is dead and Tom's better than being alone? Can Tom actually trust that? And, can Tom actually regain his own personal power back?

It was a great read

My son started reading this series in his youth and is not in college and still likes the content of the books, I bought it for him on his xmas break home for the plane ride.

fine

I thoroughly enjoyed the Apprentice series thanks to Joseph Delaney's engaging writing style.. This new series featuring the Starblade Chronicles isn't quite as entertaining yet, but is still an excellent read. The inhuman Dark Army is well chronicled as a huge, ongoing threat to humanity. And the interplay between the main charcters...Tom, Alice, Grimalkin and Jenny... adds spice to the story. The sad part for me was the apparent demise of my favourite witch assassin of all time....hopefully some sort of supernatural miracle will find a way to bring her back.

My daughter absolutely loved The Last Apprentice series! She has now finished A New Darkness, as well as The Dark Army, and is now impatiently(lol) waiting for me to order the conclusion to the trilogy... The Dark Assassin.I haven't read the series myself, but anything that can hold my teen daughters interest and keep her off her phone, tablet etc.. for a few hours everyday, deserves ★★★★★!

i was amazed with the info given in this book altough the losses are extremelly bad the lessons ahead would be definitif for survival

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