Revenge of the Witch is the first book in The Last Apprentice series by Joseph Delaney. It starts the story of young Thomas Ward, a seventh son of a seventh son, who is just about the right age to be
apprenticed. His parents reach out to Old Gregory, more commonly known as the spook, who protects the county from all things that go bump in the night. The spook only accepts a seventh son of a seventh son as his apprentice but also seems to indicate that none of his previous apprentices have lasted. Accepting Thomas as his apprentice for a one month trial they travel back to Gregory’s home where Thomas starts to learn the basics of fighting things like boggarts and witches and what exactly he needs to be careful of. While getting supplies from the nearby town he meets Alice, a young girl who exhibits some of the characteristics of witches, who helps him escape from a rather rowdy group of young boys in exchange for a favor. It is here that things start rapidly going downhill for young Thomas as he unintentionally sets dangerous events in motion.
This book was pretty good as it pulled on a lot of old superstitions, beliefs and folklore from the time period being depicted which was probably around the time of early European colonization of the Americas. I don’t necessarily agree with those beliefs as I never did like those early depictions of witches but I can acknowledge the book seems to be fairly accurate in its depiction of those beliefs. It also seems to be spinning a rather intriguing story about a young boy, barely a teenager, who starts learning about how to defeat the forces of darkness, evil and sometimes just mischief depending on what is going on. In some ways this is fairly stereotypical but in other ways it isn’t. A young boy learning to fight the forces of darkness you actually see pretty frequently in literature but in this case it is fairly different because the boy in question has no special powers. He is merely the seventh son of a seventh son which is believed to have greater strength against the forces of darkness and a greater ability to see them but nothing really beyond that. Everything else is entirely up to him and how fast he learns what he needs to learn. Another thing that is slightly odd is that he is the only one studying or learning, so to speak. In most stories of this kind there are other similar students or teenagers with similar abilities or something but Thomas is entirely alone in that aspect here which creates an interesting atmosphere, in my opinion anyway. This isn’t a bad thing but it does strike me as a little unusual nonetheless. It was a good book but I also kind of want to know more about the characters. With how short the book was I really feel like we only got to know Thomas and I find myself intrigued by both the old spook and by Thomas’ mother. It didn’t affect how well I enjoyed the story but I still would have liked to learn more so I hope that gets revealed as the series continues. A pretty good book that gets four out of five stars from me.
This book is a pretty good teen fantasy series so if you happen to be a teenager who enjoys fantasy than you might consider trying it out. I would recommend that you keep in mind some of the information and viewpoints should be taken with a grain of salt and understand that while they are indicative of their time they probably are not relevant to modern times. I say that but I am also aware that most teenagers probably won’t even think about that when reading this. Just keep an open mind I guess. This book would probably hold pretty limited appeal for readers who don’t enjoy the fantasy genre or for readers who are older than their teens though either group is still welcome to try this out if it sounds interesting. Hope you consider trying it and think about sharing your thoughts in the comments if you do.