The Spook's Apprentice Hardcover – January 1, 2004

I remember reading this novel when I was 16 or 17. And I remember that it was very good. And I decided to reread again. It is still good, but probably I’ve read too many books during these years and this one looks not as good as I remember. It’s just only now realized that it had basically only couple characters in the whole book. It’s like there is only 20 people living in this world. But again, it’s just what I found a bit strange and it prevented me to sink deeper into the story. Gonna go and read a second one, I remember it having more action.

I really like this series and would recommend it to any vampire diaries or Supernatural fans out there as it is a really good read.

I recently saw a movie trailer for Seventh Son, an action / fantasy film. It caught my interest. Knowing that many, many movies are based on books, I did a little digging.Turns out, the movie is actually based on the first two books in The Last Apprentice (The Wardstone Chronicles, as it was originally published in the U.K.) series, written by Joseph Delaney. This book, and perhaps the series, falls into my search for the #NextYaCraze. And I can easily see it becoming a sensation.I read Revenge of the Witch (The Last Apprentice, Book 1) in one day. The basic dust jacket flap synopsis of the young adult novel states: For years, Old Gregory has been the Spook for the county, ridding the local villages of evil. Now his time is coming to an end. But who will take over for him? Twenty-nine apprentices have tried--some floundered, some fled, some failed to stay alive. Only Thomas Ward is left. He's the last hope, the last apprentice.My take. Thomas comes from a large family. He is the seventh son on a farm. His older siblings are moved out, and working, except for Jack. Jack and his pregnant wife live in the farmhouse. He is going to take over the land and continue in their father's place. It is the father's role to ensure employment for his kids. By the time he reached the seventh son, all of his favors have been used up. Old Gregory, the Spook, needs an apprentice, and only takes on seventh sons. Mam (Thomas' mom), had sent the Spook a letter, and with that Thomas will spend a month with Old Gregory to see if being a spook is something Thomas wants to do with his life.A Spook is a lot like a dentist. No body cares for dentists. Being a spook is a lonely job, where ridding towns of evil encourages nasty looks from locals. Spooks are feared. Ignored. Picked on. That is until they are needed. Thomas isn't certain he is going to appreciate such an ostracized way of life. The training consists of learning the layout of the land, dealing with a variety of evils, and keeping a journal to ensure history is recorded, and can be then called upon by future spooks.Like any apprentice, Thomas makes mistakes. Unfortunately, his mistakes do more than just put his life in danger. When he crosses paths with a witch, the errors made put the lives of Old Gregory and his family in jeopardy. Thomas is faced with two choices, man up and meet the danger head on, or run away.With help from his teacher and an unexpected ally, Thomas must figure out how to combat against powerful witches and other creatures in order to fix the mess he'd made.There are currently, and I believe only to be, thriteen novels in the series. My goal, after reading the first, and about to start the second, is to read and review them all. I say this, because I enjoyed the first book. The characters are very well drawn, and the set up to build the series is obvious.Revenge of the Witch was an easy read, and highly entertaining. There was plenty of action, and unexpected twists and turns. While it is a YA novel, the theme and implications, the lessons and situations, should be engaging enough to satisfy any fantasy / horror / YA / NA fanbase.I look forward to finishing the second novel in the series, Curse of the Bane. Then I will have an idea about the movie,Seventh Son, before I go see it in theaters next month.Phillip TomassoAuthor of Damn the Dead and Blood River

I have seen the book marketed as something you shouldn't read after dark. I thought it might be something to attract the attention of kids. Obviously it was but I do have to say it was very spooky. I was actually a bit surprised at how "intense" it was at points. I thought it was going to be one of those kids' books that tries to be scary but doesn't do it well. This book walked that "scariness line" perfectly. It wasn't too scary so younger readers can still enjoy it but it's still scary enough for those who want it. Basically it was perfect for a weenie like yours truly.The story itself was fun. [Can you call a scary story fun?] It definitely kept you on the edge of your seat. Lots and lots of action. I enjoyed getting to know more about folklore creatures in a different way and how to deal with them. The book used creatures that the reader is familiar with to an extent and simply expanded on what the reader knows.There were good characters. Tom is a good YA character. He's doing the whole `finding himself' thing but he has a lot different pressures than most kids do. I'm still on the fence about Alice. I want to like her but I think there's more of her that we're not seeing yet. The Spook is a bit cold but he's enjoyable enough. The end of the book makes me more intrigued to know more about him. I really liked Tom's mom but I have a sneaking suspicion that there's a big secret she's hiding.This was the first audio book that I've listened to since elementary school. It was a lot of fun! This was an amazing story to listen to. It was spooky. I really think having someone read the book to me added to the spookiness. It was almost like the scary stories we told as kids. At first I was worried about the narrator. I didn't like his voice but I grew to enjoy it as the story went on. I enjoyed the different voices. [Hearing the witches' voices was SO much scarier than reading them]The one things I didn't really like about the story was it sometimes got bogged down with lots of details (things I would likely skim over if reading) but it worked really well as an audio book. I can't tell you how good this worked as an audio book. If you ever have the chance of listening to this series on audio book, DO IT.

Entertaining and builds a good mythos. Next to nothing in common with the movie (Seventh Son). Will be reading at least the next one

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 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.

READ READ READ!!!! Ok I started reading these books when I was 12 and I'm now 18...I hope that tells you how awesome a read this is. They tell you its for kids but that's like saying harry potter is for kids, ANYONE CAN READ THESE BOOKS! I will warn you though that there quite dark "children's books" but very entertaining! Full of witches that eat and kill children, boggarts that will tare of your limbs, creepy ghosts, awesome dark gods and one boy who must work up the courage to fight against them all. These books are kinda like if lord of the rings met harry potter met Tim Burton. You have the basic "one boy to fight against the dark plot", the lord of the rings quest and general vibe (old world) and some monsters that are very Tim Burton/lord of the rings esqu. Seriously a must read..

I've entitled my review 'Adventures for boys!!' as I initially bought this book to encourage my 11 year old son to read. However I am sure that girls with a sense of adventure would love this book too - I certainly would have.The story follows a Spook ( a person who works to remove evil from an area). His job might involve ridding an area of a malevolent witch or boggart or simply calming restless spirits. In this book the Spook is taking on his last apprentice, a seventh son of a seventh son and it is his adventures that we follow in the book.My son likes history and although this book does not specify a date, it feels like pre-Victorian possibly early industrialisation. Mention is made of ghosts from a civil war but whether this is the Wars of the Roses or the later Civil War of Roundheads and Cavaliers I was not sure.We are reading the book together and both enjoy the sense of suspense built by the author and are pulled from chapter to chapter.

I hadn't come across Joseph Delaney's writing before, and ordered this item when I heard that there is an upcoming film. My first impressions weren't good - the fact that there was a character list at the start didn't endear the book to me, as it seemed like this might just be a lazy way to bypass character and story development. However, the story soon started to carry me along. Among the strong points for me were:1. An original story - the 'apprentice to a magical master' trope may have been used often before, but the particular way it was used and developed in this book was pleasingly different;2. Good characterisation - the main characters were well-fleshed out, but with space left and questions unanswered for later books (I hope!)3. Well-orchestrated sense of menaceI have been sufficiently impressed to purchase the next couple of books in the series, and I am looking forward to seeing how this series develops.

I bought the kindle version of this book having read the free sample first which hooked me immediately. I enjoyed the style of the storytelling and having only read a few pages I was intrigued and was convinced that the rest of the book would be enjoyable. Enjoyable is only part of it, the book was genuinely scary and this is a grown man speaking here! The suspense, tension and depth of characterisation was such that I had to read just a few more pages and actually cared about the main characters and what happened to them. An excellent idea for a book where the setting is accessible but is essentially an alternate reality where people require Spooks to rid them of ghosts, witches, boggarts and even nastier entities. A thoroughly good read and highly recommended but not for young children!