Revenge of the Witch

The Last Apprentice, #1

By: Joseph Delaney

Narrated by: Christopher Evan Welch

Length: 5 hrs and 14 mins

Publisher's summary

Warning: Not to be listened to after dark.

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. Can Thomas succeed? Will he learn the difference between a benign witch and a malevolent one? Does the Spook's warning against girls with pointy shoes include Alice? And what will happen if Thomas accidentally frees Mother Malkin, the most evil witch in the county?

©2005 Joseph Delaney (P)2005 HarperCollins Publishers

Critic reviews

"Delaney grabs readers by the throat and gives them a good shake in a smartly crafted story." (Booklist)

Not just for YA.

I liked this book much more than I thought I would. It is supposed to be a YA series but I think it is just good fantasy. Tom, our main character, is the seventh son of the seventh son and when he becomes 13 his parents send him off with "The Spook". He is to train as his apprentice to learn to fight and protect his county from the bad paranormal entities that are a constant threat. I really liked all the characters in this book, even and the bad characters were interesting and original. Tom is a young man but seems to have an old soul and the maturity to handle himself, I think that is why it did not feel like a YA to me. The Spook is teaching Tom about witches, ghosts, braggarts and obsession, but, what he is really trying to teach him is to use and trust his own instincts. Overall not a thriller but not silly either, just enough adventure to keep it moving along without becoming too wordy or over explaining every thing.

Christopher Welch has great tone and cadence to his voice and did a great job with different voices without going over the top. I hope this series just keeps getting better and better, I will be reading the second book.

Good entry book for a young reader series

This is the beginning of Tom's story, his apprenticeship. Tom is nervous and prone to make mistakes and he has just made two of the worst of his early career and his not even sure he wants this career. Tom is the seventh son of a seventh son and he just was given the opportunity to apprentice with the Spook. What is a Spook you ask? He is the man deals with all that bumps in the night and wakes up children when they scream. But as the first month of his apprenticeship is finished Tom has made a mistake and hides it from the Spook. So after Tom fails to convince his mom to let him quit and move home he is left to deal with the mistakes by himself untrained as he is, so begins his adventures.
Delaney has brought a darker side of the young reader’s side of fantasy with this book and hopefully the next books in the series to come. As a reader from a young age of fantasy novels it’s nice to see some new ideas come out that I can share with my kids. Christopher Evan Welch does a great job of narrating this book and I look forward to listening to more books in which he narrates. I recommend this book to fantasy readers of all ages it is a quick read or listen with more to offer than it first appears to offer.

Wonderful start to an awesome series!

This book is a great start to an awesome series. You are introduced to characters that will be there through much of the series.

fascinating

This story is about Thomas Ward, who is apprenticed to a man that called The Spook. His job is to deal with all the nasty Things That Go Bump in the night in the county. Things like ghosts, witches and Bogart's.

Thomas is something special that this story hints at but doesnt fully reveal, but promises in future stories to do so. In this first installment, he has to decide whether he is going to continue as an apprentice, of course he does because it is a series.

I won't go into detail but I found all the characters somewhat interesting in the story went from creepy, sad, and compelling. Sad because this was his break from his family And he loved his mother dearly- not in a bad way but the way mother's mourn the youngest leaving home.

the narrator was very good, but once again I get very disappointed when males do female voices. They all sound the same. Maybe they feel the same way about females doing male voices, I don't know. He did a solid performance.

I do recommend this book, but it is a bit on the scary side. It just might fit what you're looking for.

love it

I've already read these books, definitely my favorite book series, hands down, no equal.

Great Young Adult fantasy series

I loved the world and lore and only wish we were given more time in this world.

it was a good excape form my day to day I loved it

I love listening to this on my off times at work on my break like I said before it was a good excape from my day to day

The beginning

The story is noticeably for children but I like the subject pacing and narration

Great!!

Can't wait for the next one in the series, well worth listening to. I listened to it nearly non-stop, so did my 13yr old son.

Great story, good narrator

I really enjoyed the story as the reader’s narration. My only issue keeping the performance from five stars is the music that plays at the beginning of several chapters which makes hearing the narration difficult at times. Aside from that, a thoroughly enjoyable listen.