- Hardcover: 272 pages
- Publisher: Bodley Head (Oct 1 2009)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0370329961
- ISBN-13: 978-0370329963
- Product Dimensions: 18 x 12.4 x 2.8 cm
- Shipping Weight: 340 g
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #221,222 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
Product Description
This is a fabulous collection of stories based on many of the witches from Joseph Delaney's Spooks books. Ever wondered why the Spook doesn't trust girls who wear pointy shoes? Or why Grimalkin became the Assassin for the Malkin Witch clan? Find out all this and more in this a dark and eerie collection. You don't have to know the Spook's books to enjoy the stories. They're all standalone and absolutely haunting. This is a perfect introduction to the world of "The Spook's Apprentice". But for any fans of the series out there, this collection will be a must-have.
About the Author
Joseph Delaney is a retired English teacher living in Lancashire. He has three children and seven grandchildren and is a wonderful public speaker available for conference, library and bookshop events. His home is in the middle of Boggart territory and his village has a boggart called the Hall Knocker, which was laid to rest under the step of a house near the church. Most of the places in the Spook's books are based on real places in Lancashire. And the inspiration behind the stories often comes from local ghost stories and legends. The Spook's Apprentice, The Spook's Curse and The Spook's Secret have all been shortlisted for the Lancashire children's Book for the Year Award. The Spook's Apprentice is the winner of both the Sefton Book Award and the Hampshire Book Award. His latest book is The Spook's Sacrifice, the sixth book in the spine-tingling and best-selling Wardstone Chronicles series. And The Spook's Tale was his successful WBD book for 2009. It has recently been announced that Spook's Apprentice will be adapted into a feature film by director Kevin Lima, who directed last year's family blockbuster movie Enchanted.
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Customer Reviews
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Most helpful customer reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
Women with pointy shoes,
By E. A Solinas "ea_solinas" (MD USA) - See all my reviews (HALL OF FAME) (TOP 10 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)
This review is from: Witches (Hardcover)
The Last Apprentice series is full of witches -- good ones, bad ones, and horrifying ones. So unsurprisingly "The Last Apprentice: A Coven of Witches" is all about various witches in this series, ranging from a vampirelike dead witch to Grimalkin herself. Joseph Delaney's stories are solid, but be forewarned: one of these stories has been released in another book.
"Meg Skelton" takes us back to when Gregory was a young man: he fell in love with a beautiful young woman that he rescued from a monster -- only to find that she was a lamia witch. Though he tried to live peacefully with Meg, her feral sister Marcia and the suspicious townspeople ultimately made it impossible. "Dirty Dora" tells us of a grotesque undead witch who returns after death to visit revenge on the men who killed her. "Grimalkin's Tale" tells how the fiery young assassin became the Witch Assassin, and why she wants to kill the Fiend. "Alice and the Brain-Guzzler" tells of the first week of Alice Dean's apprenticeship, and how she became the target of a deadly familiar who's eyeing her as his next victim. Finally, Tom encounters the "The Banshee Witch," a mysterious woman with a terrible cry who is far more than what she appears... I'm 99% sure that "Grimalkin's Tale" was already released in another one of Joseph Delaney's short story collections, and that the big drawback to this collection. Well, that and the fact that there's no real ending to Gregory's doomed love story -- Delaney doesn't really explain what happened to Meg and Marcia after Gregory returned. But the rest of it is pretty good stuff -- Delaney explores some of the backstories of the supporting cast, and includes a story about Tom's apprenticeship with Arkwright. His writing also varies from story to story, from the grotesque descriptions of graveyard dirt and moldy leaves to the swampy battles with a serpentine worme. As for the "brain-guzzler," that's just horrendous. It also provides some interesting revelations about the characters. We see the horrors that drove Grimalkin to become a witch assassin, the toxic atmosphere that Alice learned witchcraft in, and some details about Gregory's naive youth. Dirty Dora is also explored in detail, but she's such a sly malicious old hag (and a sort of vampire!) that you can't really feel sorry for her. "The Last Apprentice: A Coven of Witches" is all about the witchy horrors and some truly terrible magic -- I just wish Delaney had told us what happened to Meg and Marcia.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
4.3 out of 5 stars (6 customer reviews)
5.0 out of 5 stars
Awesome: A Master Craftsman in His Art of Story Telling!,
By Rachael - Published on Amazon.com
Joseph Delaney is a Master story teller & I was definately NOT disappointed with this book of short stories. My only critique was, I believe, that one of the stories already appeared in another book of short stories (word-for-word) but was mildly expounded upon. Also, I would have liked it to have been longer too ~ I can never get enough of Master Delaney's tales!
4.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent book,
By Faeem - Published on Amazon.com
The book consists of several short stories, each of which is independent of the others and told by various people including the Spook, Tom Ward, Grimalkin etc. Each story is a fun read and provides information that don't quite fit into the other books. Highly recommended if you're a fan of the Spook series.
5.0 out of 5 stars
revenge of the witch,
By A Customer - Published on Amazon.com
this is the best series ever written. it has action and suprise everywhere you turn in the book
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