The Last Apprentice

Joseph Delaney’s The Last Apprentice series is not a one for the squeamish. There is murder, death, and blood in every book so far. I’m not talking about the bloodbaths you’ll encounter in adult horror novels, but there’s definitely cannibalism, human burning and much, much more. Most of it is subtly covered without graphic descriptions, but if you’re not even a light horror fan, this might not be the best series for you.

The books are told by young Tom Ward, a twelve-year-old farm boy who happens to be the seventh son of a seventh son. We learn much more about his lineage throughout the books and I have a feeling there’s much more to discover down the road. Tom is apprenticed to the Spook, a word in this series that pretty much means a wizard who doesn’t use magic. The Spook is responsible for dealing with all things dark and deadly in the county, and Tom will someday have the job if he survives his apprenticeship. It has been quite dangerous so far, and previous apprentices have often died as a result of their duties.

I just started reading the first book at the end of January and I’m currently reading the third, so I can certainly vouch for its appeal. The books are just plain fun. They are full of dread, horror, magic and darkness. There’s also some humor here and there, but overall the series feels like JK Rowling, Lemony Snicket and Peter Straub met and made something magical. So thank you, Joseph Delaney! We really have a paucity of youth horror and could use many more engaging tales like these.

One of my favorite parts in each book is when Tom foreshadows something that will come to pass. Normally I dislike it when a character says something like, “We did x but if we had known y we would never have done it.” In this case, however, you never know if he’s talking about something in the current book, the next one, or something much farther down the road. I’m really enjoying the character and world building, especially regarding Tom’s mother and friend Alice, two of the most interesting characters in the series.

I know 10-year-old me would have loved this series, but it may not be for all 10-year-olds. If you have some tweens in your life who like to read scary fiction, this series would be a perfect gift. It looks like there are 13 books in the series and I am pretty excited about reading the rest of them.

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