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The Spook's Sacrifice (The Last Apprentice / Wardstone Chronicles #6)
As the Spook's apprentice Tom's first duty is to protect the County from the dark. But now Mam needs his help in her homeland of Greece. One of the most dangerous of the old gods, the Ordeen, is about to return there, bringing slaughter and devastation. Meanwhile, the Devil himself is still loose and if he and the Ordeen join forces, a new age of darkness will descend. Mam...more
Hardcover, 384 pages
Published
October 1st 2009
by The Bodley Head
(first published June 4th 2008)
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
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Oct 05, 2012
Ana
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
the ones that like witches
Recommended to Ana by:
Vlad
NOTE : see this review and more on http://cocainepages.wordpress.com
These books are unbelievably addictive! I can't even begin to tell you how nice it was to stop a while from reading all types of disparate books and focus on this series, which has been, contrary to my belief, really nice to dig in to.
I have given every book in this series 4 stars, because I've always been in love with stories about witches and wizzards and bad people wanting to control our world, and this speaks of exactly...more
These books are unbelievably addictive! I can't even begin to tell you how nice it was to stop a while from reading all types of disparate books and focus on this series, which has been, contrary to my belief, really nice to dig in to.
I have given every book in this series 4 stars, because I've always been in love with stories about witches and wizzards and bad people wanting to control our world, and this speaks of exactly...more
Tom's mother has returned from her homeland and she needs his help. She wants Tom to come with her to Greece. It's dangerous, but she badly needs Tom's help. He might be her only chance at achieving victory.
Wow. I'm not sure what to sure. This is pretty intense and not to mention, very sad at parts. Tom is confused; he wants to be part of the light, but in this book, what his mother asks of him goes against everything the Spook has taught him, it even goes against what his mother has taught. Bu...more
Wow. I'm not sure what to sure. This is pretty intense and not to mention, very sad at parts. Tom is confused; he wants to be part of the light, but in this book, what his mother asks of him goes against everything the Spook has taught him, it even goes against what his mother has taught. Bu...more
Em O Sacrifício, sexto volume de As Aventuras do Caça-Feitiço, Joseph Delaney, escritor bestseller na Grã-Bretanha, apresenta o capítulo mais sinistro e desafiador da série até agora. Por meio de personagens cativantes e uma trama assustadora, o autor prova que uma história, quando bem-contada, pode se tornar um marco.
As Aventuras do Caça-Feitiço conseguiu um feito grandioso: ter um enorme séquito de fãs anos antes dos livros serem adaptados para o cinema e de outras séries tornarem-se mania mun...more
As Aventuras do Caça-Feitiço conseguiu um feito grandioso: ter um enorme séquito de fãs anos antes dos livros serem adaptados para o cinema e de outras séries tornarem-se mania mun...more
Apr 02, 2011
Sarah
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
not-translated,
series
Every 7 years, Ordeen will come to Greece and makes a bloodbath everytime she comes.
But not now, because Mam doesn't intended to let her back. Especially when the Fiend is unleashed.
And to prevent Ordeen, Mam needs allies. Either from the Light, or the Dark.
one of my favorite series, nowadays. So the review!
The characters
they're changed throughout this series. Either they're better, or worse.
I like to see how they'll end up like.
Tom seems to be much more impulsive than he's ever been. He isn...more
But not now, because Mam doesn't intended to let her back. Especially when the Fiend is unleashed.
And to prevent Ordeen, Mam needs allies. Either from the Light, or the Dark.
one of my favorite series, nowadays. So the review!
The characters
they're changed throughout this series. Either they're better, or worse.
I like to see how they'll end up like.
Tom seems to be much more impulsive than he's ever been. He isn...more
view all 4 comments
This is the sixth book in the Last Apprentice series by Joseph Delaney. This was another wonderful book in this series; a lot of changes happen to Tom Ward and his adventures as a Spook take on a more worldly nature to them.
Tom is contacted by his mother who wants him to travel to Greece with her to face the Ordeen, an evil goddess, who is in league with the Fiend. Mam, thinks Tom's presence will help to win the final battle with the Ordeen. Bill, the Spook, and Alice areamong those who Mam hope...more
Tom is contacted by his mother who wants him to travel to Greece with her to face the Ordeen, an evil goddess, who is in league with the Fiend. Mam, thinks Tom's presence will help to win the final battle with the Ordeen. Bill, the Spook, and Alice areamong those who Mam hope...more
This latest Tom Ward book was just as good as all the others. I tore through it in a matter of days and now I have to wait until August to read the 7th installment!
I just love the characters in this one. Tom Ward, the Last Apprentice himself, is such a touching character. He is innocent in many ways, and yet has seen great evil in his short life. His best friend/girlfriend, Alice, was born to a witch family and there is the constant threat that she may turn to the dark side, but she loves Tom m...more
I just love the characters in this one. Tom Ward, the Last Apprentice himself, is such a touching character. He is innocent in many ways, and yet has seen great evil in his short life. His best friend/girlfriend, Alice, was born to a witch family and there is the constant threat that she may turn to the dark side, but she loves Tom m...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
Another good installment in what is shaping up to be a very solid series. By this, the sixth book, the series has focused itself on an ongoing war between Tom and his allies, and the fiend. Here, Tom joins with a host of witches to fight against an ancient evil God in Greece. His mother has returned to marshall all the forces she can for this fight. The main internal tension, again, is between the Spook's resolve not to use dark to fight dark. On the other side of this are Alice and Mam, who bot...more
Apr 05, 2010
Polly Todd
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
followers of the series
Recommended to Polly by:
Lancashire Book of the Year Shortlist
I came to this book expecting great things and relishing the opportunity to indulge my love of the fantasy/myth genre. Perhaps suffering from not reading the first few books in the series, I had two or three false starts to this story. I don't know what it was about it, but somewhere along the line it missed the mark for me.
It has all the brilliant ingredients that should, by any measure, lead to a gripping and enthralling yarn. The use of real locations was a pure stroke of genius, (As a Lancas...more
It has all the brilliant ingredients that should, by any measure, lead to a gripping and enthralling yarn. The use of real locations was a pure stroke of genius, (As a Lancas...more
Once again Joseph Delaney gives his readers a fun and slightly chilling tale of Tom Ward, the Spook's apprentice. However, while still entertaining, it seems that the series has gotten to the point where he's really starting to stretch to come up with new, more dangerous perils for his characters to face. The change of locale to Greece was interesting, but felt a little arbitrary and illogical, despite building on Tom's mother's history. I would be reassured to know that the series had an end an...more
I think Clash of the demons is a very good book. It is one of the best books I have ever read, it was that good. This is the sixth book in a series. It is about a young man named Tom ward who is training to become a spook. A spook is a person that fights against "the dark", ( witchs and evil In the fourth book a whole bunch of witches bring the devil onto earth, and the only person that can truly defeat him is Tom. In this book Tom's mother rounds up a bunch of people to go to Greece to defeat t...more
The Last Apprentice by Joseph Delaney was an interesting read that brought out the sci-fi lover in me.
The main theme of this book is learning who to listen to most, your master or the ones that care most about you.
The style of Delaney is very interesting. The Last Apprentice is set in the past so some of the words used are old but are very easy to understand. This, to me, makes Delaney seem to be a great author. Delaney does not do a tremendous job of describing the characters and places in the...more
The main theme of this book is learning who to listen to most, your master or the ones that care most about you.
The style of Delaney is very interesting. The Last Apprentice is set in the past so some of the words used are old but are very easy to understand. This, to me, makes Delaney seem to be a great author. Delaney does not do a tremendous job of describing the characters and places in the...more
I've read the previous 6 books in this series. I have devoured all within a day and absolutely loved them. I recently read the sixth one and can honestly say I was a bit disappointed. I remember thinking the other ones were very scary and not being able to put them down. Clash of the Demons took me a while to get into. It also didn't have that 'horror' appeal that I had found so invigorating in the others. Perhaps that's just because I'm getting older. Either way, it wasn't nearly as exciting.Th...more
Audio. It is fun to switch between listening to audio and reading books in this series. Reading is faster, audio is more engaging.
This book is better than #5. All our favorite characters are back in a new setting, they go to Greece to fight a powerful dark entity with Mam. We learn a tidbit about Tom's unusual powers in each book, and he's beginning to understand and control one of them, which is cool. The climactic fight scene is believable. I hate when you get to the end of a book and the goo...more
This book is better than #5. All our favorite characters are back in a new setting, they go to Greece to fight a powerful dark entity with Mam. We learn a tidbit about Tom's unusual powers in each book, and he's beginning to understand and control one of them, which is cool. The climactic fight scene is believable. I hate when you get to the end of a book and the goo...more
Sep 19, 2010
Mailis Viiand
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
childrens-books
Love blood and guts and horrifying witches gnashing their teeth full of juicy human flesh? This book is for you. Horror delivered to young boys and girls, with a good plot and easy to read style. The journey to Greece was a new course for the series and gave Delaney a chance to widen the scope a bit. The previous book was even more creepy than this, but i might just gotten used to the ugliness of Tom Wards world. I never try to delve deeply into what happened in the book, because i don't want to...more
This is an excellent teen horror book, still fresh after a long series. The Spooks series is refreshingly, simple, straightforward and a breath of fresh air. The tension is all the better for a sort of stripped-down style of writing that reflects the humble, medieval-type setting, but really packs a punch when you get to the scary bits.
It might feel a bit old-fashioned when placed alongside other, modern teen fiction books, but the characters are beautifully written, the pace is good and the ho...more
It might feel a bit old-fashioned when placed alongside other, modern teen fiction books, but the characters are beautifully written, the pace is good and the ho...more
Dec 31, 2009
Ryan Mishap
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
young-adult-fantasy
A fresh story after the stagnation of the last two (or three, even), as Tom Ward's witch mother comes to him for help fighting an Old God aboput to rise in Greece, her homeland.
The Spook reluctantly agrees to go, despite his misgivings about alliances with witches and other things of the Dark.
The Fiend--the devil hisself--is still after Tom, who only needs to use the Dark a few times to lose his soul.
The new setting and larger evil expand the world beyond the County and its small evils. The razo...more
The Spook reluctantly agrees to go, despite his misgivings about alliances with witches and other things of the Dark.
The Fiend--the devil hisself--is still after Tom, who only needs to use the Dark a few times to lose his soul.
The new setting and larger evil expand the world beyond the County and its small evils. The razo...more
I liked this book and all the books in this series. I kept wondering why Tom's mom was looking younger until Tom figured out she was a lamia. He was right she was a lamia, but it turned out she was the original Lamia. I didn't seem surprised when the spook didn't want to work with the Pendle witches considering they cursed him in the past and also they caused him lots of trouble and had to do with the death of one of his friends Father Stocks. But, he came at the last moment jumping aboard the...more
Verry verry verry good. lets put it a thousand times. read this in 3 hours. i thougt this book was so good i almost bought it event thought i i donthave the others just because i dont doesnt stop me. but it did. i went ad got it from my teacher mrs hanson. to my appreation. she was verry generous. i think that the plot was awsome little gory. but i love gore its just my way of life. i think Joseph Delaney is one of the better aouthers in this world. It is also a little scarry for those who are c...more
Interesting beginning. Lots of questions right off. The title of the book, chapter, and the chapter itself gives no initial clues from which I can divine from, however I was given a heads up (so stop reading these chapter notes now, if you don’t want to know about it), and I won’t tell you WHO told me this (but they know who they are), one of the male leads (yeah, I don’t know who specifically, but I’m pretty sure it’s Tom) sells his soul to the Fiend.
Read more and add your own commentary at R....more
Read more and add your own commentary at R....more
This book was okay. The dialogue is annoying at times. Why does Alice speak in fragmented sentences? I suppose it's Delaney's attempt to give each character his/her own, unique voice, but I find it distracting. I'm probably in the minority here, but I'd rather see Tom go to the dark side. I think he'd be a much more interesting character if he had an attraction to the dark, like Anakin Skywalker from Star Wars. I like Grimalkin the most because she's no friend of the light but is willing to aid...more
Feb 27, 2012
Annette
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
12-up-youth,
fantasy
The version I read of book 6 was called "Clash of the Demons". I am anxious to read the remaining 3-4 books to see how the whole apprenticeship is concluded. There are a few good vs. evil power, who should use what, issues in this book that give me some pause when thinking of youth reading it. I am reserving my judgement for now; it will all depend on how the author helps Tom, the last apprentice, resolve his internal struggles and the overall conflicts as to whether I think the series ultimatel...more
Tom's Mam comes back from Greece to beg his help fighting the Ordeen, a powerful dark God that will bring devestation to the world. Tom and his friends join her. This is the first book where I really noticed the parallels to mythology. These books weave religion (not dogmatic), mythology, horror (on a teen friendly level) together in a brilliant story. There is some surprising information about Tom's Mam, that I'd forgotten, even thought I'd read the books before. This is why I love rereading bo...more
In this book, Tom's mom is in need of help in her homeland of Greece. Orden, one of the old gods, has returned causing destruction. At this time, the Devil is loose as well. There is a fear that if these two join forces, doom would surely ensue. At home, Tom's mom has assembled an army of some of Tom's old enemies such as the Pendle witches. However, Tom has to make a decision of whether to ally himself with his old enemies to help his mom or to listen to all the Spook has taught him and fight a...more
As mentioned in a previous posting in regards to this 'series', I was given almost the entire THE LAST APPRENTICE series.
And again, I have to state that this is NOT FOR YOUNG READERS and should be for strictly GRADE 8 and up.
It contains Black Magic, Demons, Witches, and all sorts of bloodletting, dismemberment, and much violence depicted within it's pages. Still can't believe it's zeroed in on basicly a Young Age Group.
For older Teens and such? Yes, by all means as this is proving to be a very...more
And again, I have to state that this is NOT FOR YOUNG READERS and should be for strictly GRADE 8 and up.
It contains Black Magic, Demons, Witches, and all sorts of bloodletting, dismemberment, and much violence depicted within it's pages. Still can't believe it's zeroed in on basicly a Young Age Group.
For older Teens and such? Yes, by all means as this is proving to be a very...more
In the previous book we learned about the mistake the Spook makes, now we learn what he sacrifices in
The Wardstone Chronicles #6 The Spook's Sacrifice by Joseph Delaney
.
Here is the summary of the book:
As the Spook's apprentice Tom's first duty is to protect the County from the dark. But now Mam needs his help in her homeland of Greece. One of the most dangerous of the old gods, the Ordeen, is about to return there, bringing slaughter and devastation. Meanwhile, the Devil himself is still loose...more
Here is the summary of the book:
As the Spook's apprentice Tom's first duty is to protect the County from the dark. But now Mam needs his help in her homeland of Greece. One of the most dangerous of the old gods, the Ordeen, is about to return there, bringing slaughter and devastation. Meanwhile, the Devil himself is still loose...more
I struggled with this one, and for awhile I thought it was going to be the first book in the series that I was going to give four stars to...but my concerns were taken care of by the end of the book.
My main problem had been Tom's mam and how cold she seemed to be. I got the impression of her as only really caring about Tom because of his destiny to defeat the fiend, when she should have loved him and wanted to protect him because he is her son (and her youngest at that!)It frustrated me because...more
My main problem had been Tom's mam and how cold she seemed to be. I got the impression of her as only really caring about Tom because of his destiny to defeat the fiend, when she should have loved him and wanted to protect him because he is her son (and her youngest at that!)It frustrated me because...more
Mar 23, 2011
Melanie
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
sci-fi-fantasy,
my-library
I do love this series. It's really quite different - the setting, the characters, the lore that's involved, it makes me happy! Even after five novels Delaney manages to come up with new ways to challenge Tom (our dear protagonist) and offers up a great storyline set in a whole new country for this installment in the Spook's series.
Of course, being a little older than that target audience, I find some things lacking. The language is repetetive. I found that the same thoughts and ideas were const...more
Of course, being a little older than that target audience, I find some things lacking. The language is repetetive. I found that the same thoughts and ideas were const...more
Nov 18, 2010
Colleen
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
horror-esque,
middle-grade
In general, I've really enjoyed this series. But this latest installment just didn't do much for me. My biggest complaints are as follows:
*** potentially spoilerish ***
1) In a lot of the books, but this one in particular, Tom seems to have more happen to him, and gets saved by others or by luck. He's not very proactive, and while he does do well in a fight now and again, I would expect more from someone who's been training for several years and have been in as many tight spots as he is.
2) Thomas...more
*** potentially spoilerish ***
1) In a lot of the books, but this one in particular, Tom seems to have more happen to him, and gets saved by others or by luck. He's not very proactive, and while he does do well in a fight now and again, I would expect more from someone who's been training for several years and have been in as many tight spots as he is.
2) Thomas...more
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Does anyone know anything about this book? | 6 | 54 | Mar 13, 2012 07:37pm |
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'...more
More about Joseph Delaney...
Most of the places in the Spook'...more
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“Have faith in who you are. Believe that you will recover, and it will truly happen. And don't judge yourself too harshly. Some things are meant to be, and you had to fall so that later you may rise and become what you are truly meant to be.”
—
32 people liked it
“Human beings have hope. Not matter how desperate things are, they convince themselves that they can change things for the better."
- John Gregory (Clash of the Demons)”
—
17 people liked it
More quotes…
- John Gregory (Clash of the Demons)”
