Joseph Delany and the Spook's Apprentice Series

 

As a reader of paperbacks, I sometimes read more Young Adult (YA) novels than I do the so-called “Adult” ones. In my opinion, YA editors often do a better job than their peers in the mainstream adult publishing industry. The YA novel is often shorter, more precise, and honestly, more fun to read.

There’s no better example of this idea than Joseph Delaney’s Spook series. It’s called the “Last Apprentice” series in the USA because of the negative connotations of the word “spook”. I get that, but I don’t think the word is as troubling as the publishers do, so I will refer to these books as the “Spook’s Apprentice” series.

This series is about Tom Ward, a farmer’s boy who is the seventh son of a seventh son, which makes him special. His mother (a mysterious woman at first) urges her farmer husband to apprentice him to John Gregory, the local spook. A spook is someone who investigates and removes mysterious paranormal events/beings like ghosts, ghasts, and boggarts. The full series is 13 books long. They follow Tom’s growth and training as a spook, along with his relationship with John Gregory and a very special young witch named Alice.

In this, my fifth re-reading of the series (they are simple and easy-to-read books, so it doesn’t take long to finish), I was struck by how vividly Joseph Delaney writes, especially when he describes backgrounds and the very special monsters and demons Tom encounters along the way. Tom is a wonderful character (Alice, who saves Tom's butt several times, is too). Much of the series is based on British folklore, primarily, although the author includes Irish and even Greek folklore/mythology.

Another thing that makes these books special is the illustrations by graphic artist Patrick Arrasmith. He uses a black-and-white etching process that produces simply amazing images that fit so well with the series' characters and places. I can’t imagine these books without Arrasmith’s illustrations.

One last thing I’d like to note is that even though the continuing story of Tom’s experiences as a spook is traditional, there are very dark moments in several of the later novels. And not just in the supernatural world; Delaney often shows that the real danger to Tom and his friends is other people and their avarice and desire for power.

The trade paperbacks of the Last Apprentice series are published by Greenwillow Books. Delaney passed away not too long ago, but was a very productive author. He created several other series of very good books. The late author’s website is a good source of information.