Attack of the Fiend

The Last Apprentice: Attack of the Fiend
by Joseph Delaney
YA fantasy. 532 pp.
Greenwillow. 2008.

flap copy:

I see your future clearly. Your master will be dead, and you will be alone. It would be better if you had never been born.

Thomas Ward is the apprentice for the local Spook, who banishes boggarts and drives away ghosts. But now a new danger is threatening Tom's world: the witches are rising and the three most powerful clans are uniting in order to conjure an unimaginable evil.

Tom and the Spook set out to stop the witches before they unleash the demon. But when Tom finds himself on his own, he wonders if he has the courage and cunning to defeat the most powerful enemy he has ever encountered.

Completed April 19.

I find that this series gets better and better with each book. Unlike Harry Potter, Tom continues to grow and learn and piece things together on his own. Yes, he makes some poor decisions, but he's drawn in such a way that you care about his learning curve and the conflict he has with his emotions and his profession.

Ooh! I'm excited! I just discovered on Devils Den Online that the fifth book, Wrath of the Bloodeye, will be released August 26.

Thomas Ward has spent two years as the Spook's apprentice. He's faced unimaginable peril, and survived. But a new danger has emerged: an ancient water witch, Bloodeye, is roaming the County intent on destroying everything in her path. To strengthen his skills, Tom is sent to the far north to train with the demanding Bill Arkwright. Arkwright lives in a haunted mill on the edge of a treacherous marsh, and his training methods prove to be harsh and sometimes cruel. Will Tom's new bag of tricks be enough to overcome a critical mistake that leaves him confronting Bloodeye on his own?

That gives me something to look forward to reading.

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