The Spook’s Battle by Joseph Delaney
Rate and review The Spook’s Battle! | What does everyone else think?
The delightfully dark Wardstone Chronicles continues with the fourth instalment in the series, The Spook’s Battle.
In Pendle the witches are rising and the three most powerful witch clans are rumoured to be uniting in order to conjure an unimaginable evil. Together they will be capable of raising the dark made flesh – the Devil himself.
Tom and the Spook need to set off for Pendle to avert the unthinkable. Before they go, the Spook tells Tom to journey home and collect the trunks Mam left behind for him. But what dark family secrets are contained in the trunks? And will they place Tom’s family in even greater danger or provide the help Tom and his master need in Pendle?
The Wardstone Chronicles provide old-fashioned fireside storytelling at its very, very best. Joseph Delaney has written one of the finest set of young-adult fantasy books to appear in recent times; compelling, chilling and enormously enjoyable. The County where the Spook's books are set is based on the real English county of Lancashire. Many of the place names have been adapted from real place names to create a mythical Lancashire that the Spook and Tom inhabit. Among others, Preston becomes Priestown, Lancaster is renamed Caster, Blackpool changed to the Black Pool and Chipping is now Chipenden.
The three books prior to The Spook’s Battle all featured a memorable and fearsome adversary that the Spook and Tom must face. The Spook’s Apprentice had Mother Malkin, The Spook’s Curse the Priestown Bane, and The Spook’s Secret had Golgoth, the Lord of Winter. To top these Delaney gives us the Devil himself, ably abetted by the formidable Mistress Wurmalde, the appalling Tibb and a more witches than you could shake a stick at.
Central to the story is the location of Pendle, an area steeped in history and famous for the witch trials. It is a place full of fear, distrust and horror. The Pendle Witches were the most famous witches in English history and were responsible for the murder by witchcraft of seventeen people in and around the Forest of Pendle. This is where Joseph Delaney sends Tom, Alice and the Spook. A grim and foreboding place, the party travels east towards Pendle.
‘Well, there it is, lad,’ said the Spook, coming to a halt some distance from a stream that lay in our path. He pointed towards Pendle Hill, which had been growing steadily as we advanced towards it. ‘Not a pretty sight, is it?’ I couldn’t help agreeing. Although its shape reminded me of the Long Ridge, a local fell beyond the valley to the south of Chipenden, this was larger and more daunting. Above it was suspended a threatening bank of thick black clouds.
The Spook’s Battle: East To Pendle
The Wardstone Chronicles are all written in the first person with a sparkling narrative full of tension and excitement. There are moments of horror and moments of humour, all set within a beautifully recreated Lancashire. All four books are off a similar standard – excellent – and it has been many years since I have enjoyed an ongoing series to this extent. The characters are wonderful, The Spook, Tom and Alice are now old friends but the reason that such freshness is kept is thanks to the clever introduction of new characters, good and evil, at just the right time. The most memorable new character in The Spook’s Battle is Mistress Wurmalde:
For the first time Mistress Wurmalde’s eyes fixed directly upon mine and I saw them widen slightly. Then her nostrils flared and she gave a short sniff in my direction. And in that contact, which lasted no more than a second at most, an ice-cold chill passed from the back of my head and down into my spine. I knew that I was in the presence of someone who dealt with the dark. I was filled with the certain conviction that the woman was a witch. And in that instant I realized that she also knew what I was. A moment of recognition had passed between us.
The Spook’s Battle: Mistress Wurmalde
In writing the Spook’s series Joseph Delaney has draw upon his own experiences. On first leaving school he worked as an apprentice engineer and had to follow a tradesman around carrying his bag of tools. Just like Tom, Joseph even had a notebook in which, as he was taught his trade, he made sketches and records of repairs he'd successfully completed.
The Spook’s Battle is another highly impressive instalment in this great series. A must read for young and not so young adults.
The Spook's Battle (Wardstone Chronicles) (Amazon.co.uk)
Author: Joseph Delaney
Binding: Paperback
Number of pages: 512
Publication date: 2008-06-05
Publisher: Red Fox
RRP: £5.99
Lowest new price: £3.20
Lowest used price: £2.26
Submit your own mini-review
Let people know what you think about The Spook’s Battle. You can write your own mini-review and give the book the rating that you think it deserves. Your reviews will go towards giving The Spook’s Battle its overall rating that will decide where The Spook’s Battle finishes in the top 100 fantasy books of all time.
Books you may also enjoy...
The Spook’s Apprentice by Joseph Delaney
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 him. 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 Country, the horror begins… ... read the full review
Summary: Chilling, memorable and full of wonderful characters.
The Death Defying Pepper Roux by Geraldine McCaughrean
When Pepper Roux was born his aunt foretold that he would not live past 14 years of age. Throughout his childhood his parents haven't bothered with him much, knowing that his life would be short-lived. So when Pepper wakes up on his 14th birthday he knows this will be the day that he'll die. But as the day wears on, and Pepper finds himself still alive, he decides to set off to sea in an attempt to try and avoid death for as long as possible. As time goes on Pepper steps into many roles and personas and has numerous outrageous adventures. But can he stay one step ahead of death? Or will fate catch up with him? And, if he does live, which of his many lives will he choose to adopt? This riot of a story is a wonderful adventure, and Pepper is an unforgettable character who stays with you long after his story has been told. ... read the full review
Summary: A delightful and whimsical book that highlights the power and wonder of imagination.
Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine
Ella is given a blessing at birth by a very stupid fairy: She gets the gift of obedience! but the blessing turns into a horror for Ella who literally has to do what anyone and everyone tells her, from sweeping the floor to giving up a precious necklace! She has to battle with ogres and wicked stepsisters, make friends and loose them, and even deny she loves her Prince Char to save his life and his kingdom. The story overthrows the stereotypes of the original Cinderella when Ella breaks the curse -- not the prince -- saving not only herself, but Prince Char as well. And Ella rejects his proposal of marriage, at least until she decides herself to propose to him! And the curse is only broken because she's said 'No!' rather than 'Yes!'. ... read the full review
Summary: Ella Enchanted is an enchanting re-telling of the Cinderella fairy tale.
Also in this sub-genre...
- The Spook’s Apprentice by Joseph Delaney
- The Death Defying Pepper Roux by Geraldine McCaughrean
- Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine
- Who is Charlie Keeper? by Marcus Alexander
- The Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullman
- Abhorsen by Garth Nix
- The Spook’s Mistake by Joseph Delaney
- Northern Lights by Philip Pullman
- The Subtle Knife by Philip Pullman
- The Prophecy Keepers by Melaine Bryant
- The Spook’s Curse by Joseph Delaney
- The Spook’s Secret by Joseph Delaney
- The Spook’s Stories: Witches by Joseph Delaney
- Lirael by Garth Nix
- Once Upon A Time In The North by Philip Pullman
- The Magician’s Apprentice by Trudi Canavan
- Mister Monday by Garth Nix
- Grim Tuesday by Garth Nix
- The Spook’s Tale by Joseph Delaney
- Dragon Horse by Peter Ward
- The Spook’s Sacrifice by Joseph Delaney
- Sabriel by Garth Nix
Book of the Month
Apartment 16 by Adam Nevill
Some doors are better left closed . . . In Barrington House, an upmarket block in London, there is an empty apartment. No one goes in, no one comes out. And it’s been that way for fifty years. Until the night watchman hears a disturbance after midnight and investigates. What he experiences is enough to change his life forever.
Latest interviews
Interviews plus question and answer sessions with authors, narrators and publishers.
Must-reads
The following reviews are of books that begin the very best fantasy series available.
Competition: Win a signed copy of Graham Hancock's Entangled
Graham Hancock is the author of The Sign and the Seal, Fingerprints of the Gods, Keeper of Genesis, Heaven's Mirror, Supernatural and other bestselling investigations of historical mysteries. His books have been translated into twenty-seven languages and have sold over five million copies worldwide. Written with the same page-turning appeal that has made his non-fiction so popular, Entangled is his first work of fiction. We have five signed copies of Entangled to give away as prizes. Email us the answer to the following question and the lucky winner, chosen at random, will receive a copy of the book, signed by the author.
Special Feature: Fantasy Book Review talks to the Book View Cafe
Book View Cafe is a cooperative site created by a group of writers - including internationally renowned authors Katharine Kerr, Ursula Le Guin and Vonda N. McIntyre - who want to take advantage of the internet's possibilities for reaching a wider audience and to distribute their work directly to their readers. The Book View Cafe is a place where you can find free, original fiction plus the authors' best and out-of-print work for a fee. Fantasy Book Review spoke to Book View Cafe member, science fiction author and memoirist Chris Dolley in February 2010.
Special Feature: Understanding the author of Alice in Wonderland
Lewis Carroll, the elusive author of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, has been the subject of enduring fascination for the past hundred years. The destruction of many major documents about his personal life by his descendants has only magnified the mystery. Jenny Woolf's biography, published to coincide with the release of the new Tim Burton Alice in Wonderland film, lays waste to the myths and suspicions that have obscured Carroll's reputation by placing him firmly in the context of his own time.
