Wrath of the Bloodeye by Joseph Delaney
Wrath of the Bloodeye is the fifth book in Joseph Delaney’s very popular LAST APPRENTICE (or WARDSTONE CHRONICLES) series for middle graders. This book has also been released in other countries, such as those in the UK, under the title The Spook’s Mistake.
Tom has been John Gregory’s apprentice for a couple of years now. In the last book, Attack of the Fiend, three witch clans worked together to summon the Fiend (the Devil). Now he roams the earth and would like to kill Tom because the rumor is that Tom will be the most powerful spook in history. Or maybe it would be better for the Fiend if he befriends Tom…
Call me what you will, Tom. I have many names… But none adequately convey my true nature. I’ve been misrepresented by my enemies. The difference between the words fiend and friend is merely one letter. I could easily be the latter. If you knew me better…
Realizing that Tom is nowhere near ready to face such a foe, Mr. Gregory decides to send Tom to his former apprentice, a spook named Bill Arkwright. If Tom thought his life with Mr. Gregory was difficult, he realizes how wrong he was when he arrives at Mr. Arkwright’s house. The place is a dilapidated watermill in a boggy area. Arkwright doesn’t keep it up very well because he’s an alcoholic, so everything is damp and moldy. Delaney’s descriptions of this feel like something Lovecraft would write:
..the creature enveloping me in a stench of dank, moldering loam and rot from stagnant pools.
In addition to his poor housekeeping skills, Arkwright has other flaws. He’s the kind of drunk who gets violent, he lets ghosts live in his house, and he’s very secretive about something. Very quickly Tom is missing Mr. Gregory (and his best friend Alice) while trying to adjust to his new living arrangement.
The water around Mr. Arkwright’s home is inhabited by water witches and other nasty creatures that thrive in wet environments. As Tom is getting toughened up physically, he’s also learning to deal with these beasts. One of them is a horrendous water witch who can paralyze anyone who looks into her blood-filled eye. As you’d expect, Tom gets mixed up with her and has a frightening experience. It is genuinely gruesome and scary.
Despite all of his recent familiarity with the dark and the personal losses he’s racked up since leaving home, Tom’s character hasn’t developed much. I hope we’ll see more development in the next couple of books because it’s time for his personality to progress a bit. Likewise, the issue about Alice — is she good or evil? — needs to move on a bit, too. I like where Delaney is going with this — showing that genes are not destiny and that our training, social interactions, and other factors play a large role in determining who we become — but after five books there is not much movement here, either. I suppose that’s because this is a 13-book series (plus additional related tales) and Delaney is in less of a hurry to finish than I am. This will be fine for readers who are happy to indulge in such a long tale (and I completely understand this), but these days I tend to feel a little jaded about the tendency for authors to drag things out. But I am sure that Delaney’s fans are happy to spend more time with Tom, and that’s just fine with me. In fact, I’m all for any long series that can keep kids reading, so my rating for these books reflect that children are the target audience.
There is a bit of overall plot progression in Wrath of the Bloodeye. We learn more about Alice and get a few hints about Tom’s mother. The ending of this book suggests that more information is coming in the next book, Clash of the Demons.
The 8-hour long audio version of Wrath of the Bloodeye produced by HarperAudio and read by Christopher Evan Welch is quite good, though I really don’t like his voice for Alice and I’m afraid it might color my perception of her character.
The Last Apprentice (The Wardstone Chronicles) — (2004-2015) Ages 9-12. In the UK, these are The Wardstone Chronicles (The Spook’s Apprentice, The Spook’s Curse, The Spook’s Secret, The Spook’s Battle, The Spook’s Mistake, The Spook’s Sacrifice). Publisher: A wonderful and terrifying series by a new writer about a young boy training to be an exorcist. Thomas Ward is the seventh son of a seventh son and has been apprenticed to the local Spook. The job is hard, the Spook is distant and many apprentices have failed before Thomas. Somehow Thomas must learn how to exorcise ghosts, contain witches and bind boggarts. But when he is tricked into freeing Mother Malkin, the most evil witch in the County, the horror begins …
Other Last Apprentice Tales:
The Starblade Chronicles — (2014- ) Publisher: The first book in a chilling new trilogy from the author of the internationally bestselling Last Apprentice series! Tom Ward is an apprentice no longer—he is a full-fledged spook battling boggarts, witches, and other creatures of the dark. First in a three-book arc that introduces brand-new readers to Joseph Delaney’s haunting world. Tom Ward is the Spook, the one person who can defend the county from bloodthirsty creatures of the dark. But he’s only seventeen, and his apprenticeship was cut short when his master died in battle. No one trusts Tom’s skill, not till he’s proven himself. And a fifteen-year-old girl named Jenny knows more about the three mysterious deaths in the county than Tom does. She is a seventh daughter of a seventh daughter, and she wants to be Tom’s first apprentice—even though a female spook is unheard of. Together, Tom and Jenny will uncover the grave danger heading straight toward the county, and they’ll team up with a witch assassin to confront it. A New Darkness begins a three-book arc that will introduce new readers to Joseph Delaney’s deliciously scary imagination and electrify his longtime fans. A New Darkness is perfect for every reader who loves thrills, chills, action, and adventure—no prior knowledge of The Last Apprentice series necessary! The Last Apprentice series, the first internationally bestselling series about Tom Ward, is soon to be a major motion picture, Seventh Son, starring Jeff Bridges, Ben Barnes, Alicia Vikander, Kit Harington, Olivia Williams, Antje Traue, Djimon Hounsou, and Julianne Moore as Mother Malkin.
“..the creature enveloping me in a stench of dank, moldering loam and rot from stagnant pools.”
So atmospheric!
When a character’s name is Arkwright and they live surrounded by water, I make instant assumptions about any secret project they might be working on.
haha, I didn’t even think of that. Funny.