Friday Book Review
by Kitty Griffin
The Last Apprentice: Revenge of the Witch
Greenwillow Books, 2011
With the release of the movie, “Seventh Son” (Jeff Bridges,
Julianne Moore) I decided to look back at the book that inspired this movie,
“The Last Apprentice: Revenge of the Witch.” It's been a while since I've read the first book (now I'm on number 11 in the series) but these aren't books one easily discards. Delaney doesn't give you popcorn, something that passes through and is little remembered. No, he serves a full meal, only the meat is raw, in fact, a bit bloody. These are not characters that one forgets. Not at all.
I came across this series while looking for an audio book
for a road trip. Didn’t have much time, read the back matter quickly and went
for a ride. And what a ride. From the first chapter on the reader is dropped in
the “County” a place where the most important man is a man who folks don’t like
to look at. Folks don’t want to talk to him, either. That man is the keeper of
the peace. He’s a “Spook.” He takes care of ghoulies, and ghosties, long-legged
beasties, and things that go crunch in the night.
“When the
Spook arrived, the light was already beginning to fail. It had been a long,
hard day, and I was ready for my supper.”
With that
line, and with the stunning line drawings of Patrick Arrasmith invite you in, the reader
learns that the main character, 12 year old Thomas Ward, is the seventh son of
a seventh son and he has a destiny. He is to be trained as a Spook. All begins
quietly enough, that is, until Alice comes along. Alice, a young gal herself,
manages to “trick” Thomas into freeing Mother Malkin, a witch so vile that she
could eat Cruella DeVille as a snack before chowing down all 101 Dalmatians,
fur, bones, and all.
This book
is suggested for 10-14 year olds, however, make sure that any ten year old who
receives it has a stomach for horror, because that’s what this is, an adventure
(extraordinary) with a walloping dose of scare. In fact, I’d drop off the 14
year old age limit because I know plenty of adults who’d enjoy this series.
The trailer
for the movie shows a young Tom with a beard. Not the twelve year old in the
book. It also shows a dragon and some other monsters that I’m not so sure
about. Julianne Moore looks absolutely outrageous as Mother Malkin and Jeff
Bridges as the Spook, well, be still my heart.
So if you
have an adventurous kid who enjoys books that push the boundaries, and this kid
is pretty well grounded (doesn’t scare easily) I’d definitely recommend this
series.
From the Author’s Blog:
Joseph Delaney is a retired English teacher. He
has three children and nine 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. http://www.spooksbooks.com/authorblog/
And here’s the link to the book trailers…perfect for Halloween!
Ooh, I love this series too, and I don't even like horror much. I love it because of the voice (and that's not usually why I love a book), and because of the complexity and surprise of the characters. Alice is definitely not sugar and spice, but she if not "evil" either. She is on the line. Well, not even that; first she looks like she's one side of the line, then another. I don't think I've read the last couple of books in the series, but maybe I will now.
ReplyDeleteAs to age: I agree, it would be too much for many 10 year-olds. Of course, being a book, it's easier for a younger reader (or an easily-spooked reader like me) to just have fuzzy images of the really scary parts, and not be too freaked out.
Delaney reminds me of Orson Scott Card a bit (another of my favorite authors) in how he manages to create child characters who are in some ways very mature, yet totally believable.
I admit that I am skeptical of the movie. Tom with a beard? But then, I was skeptical that anyone could do justice to Pride and Prejudice until I saw the BBC series, or Lord of the Rings until I saw Peter Jackson's version, or that there would ever be a Star Trek movie worth its salt.