Book Review
Title: The Spook’s Blood (The Wardstone Chronicles #10)
Author: Joseph Delaney
Genre: YA/Paranormal/Fantasy
Rating: *****
Review: After being disappointed with I am Grimalkin I was weary about the last 4 books in the series. Slither’s Tale and Alice (books 11 and 12 respectively) don’t have Thomas Judd as the narrator for the audiobook and so far the only audiobook that had a different narrator was I am Grimalkin and I only gave that 3 stars, so we will have to wait and see. I was also very disappointed with the loss of Thorne as a character as she was shaping up to be very interesting but I am glad that Grimalkin survived her encounter with the kretch as she is one of my favourite characters in the series despite her book falling a little flat for me. The Spook’s Blood pick s up at the same ere I am Grimalkin ended, Alice has disappeared and Tom is worried as he and his master are setting out to buy some new books to rebuild his library when she suddenly returns and relays the warnings from Slake so John Gregory decides to let Tom and Alice go to Pendle alone to retrieve the items he needs from the Tower. However, along the way Alice wants to stop at Witch Dell to see Agnes and decides to give her power to make her a stronger witch despite Tom’s protests and he realises that their friendship is changing as Alice is using dark magic more freely now and he worries that she is being drawn completely into the dark.
As we approach the ¼ mark in the novel, Tom is beginning to realise that everyone is changing including himself but he doesn’t yet want to accept this. When they reach Malkin Tower, he finds himself face to face with Slake reverting back into her feral form and is reminded of his mother’s final battle. Slake tells him that he needs three sacred items to destroy the Fiend and they are known as the hero swords. One he already has in the form of the destiny blade and she gives him the dagger known as Bone Crusher, however, the third blade known as the blade of sorrows lies in the dark. Slake assures him that his mother will visit him that night and tells him alone where the final blade is and detail the ritual that will destroy the Fiend once and for all. When his mother appears she shifts between her feral and humans forms sparking conflicting emotions in Tom, she explains that the final blade lies underneath the throne of the Fiend and only Alice can journey to get it as she has the power to retrieve it and since the Fiend is bound the power of his domain is lessened. Tom doesn’t like this but it is the ritual that really disturbs him, his mother explains that the ritual has to take place on top of the Wardstone, a hill that lay to the east of Caster, with the hero blades in hand, he needs to sacrificing someone he loves, this means Alice. The graphic detail of the ritual breaks something in Tom as he realises in order to defeat the Fiend he needs to cut of Alice’s thumb bones while she is alive and then cut out her heart and it needs to be done willingly. Tom instantly knows he can never do this to Alice and doesn’t tell her of the ritual but he does tells her and his master about the journey to the dark which Alice agrees to as long as it is the only way so she journeys to find Grimalkin to make sure it is the only way.
As we cross the ¼ mark in the novel, Tom meets Judd Brinscall, one of his master’s ex-apprentices and they begin their journey to Todmorden. Tom is worried about Alice and what he has to do and while he can’t accept it he also knows it needs to be done otherwise the whole world will be under the control of the Fiend, plunged into darkness. In Todmorden they meet with Mistress Fresque who offers them many books from her extensive library which had been mainly collected by her uncle, Mr. Gregory is in awe of the library but there is one book there that he wants, not for his library but to destroy as it is a very powerful grimoire that could be devasting in the wrong hands. The first night nothing happens and they return to the inn with a seemingly paranoid innkeeper, however, the next night Tom is sent to hire a horse and cart for the books but doesn’t return until after dark and the inn keeper won’t let him in and tells him his master also hasn’t returned for he heads back to Mistress Fresque’s home where seems old and dilapidated in the night. Upon entering he encounters a fearsome creature which he slays with the destiny blade and in the cellar he finds the bones of many more victims. There are numerous creatures waiting in the dark and Tom flees, but the next morning he feels foolish and knows he has to return to the house in order to find his master.
As we approach the halfway mark in the novel, Tom returns to the home of Mistress Fresque to find everything is seemingly back to normal but he knows something isn’t right there but he can’t recall the information he needs about creatures of the dark from Romania. He meets Mistress Fresque who explains that she is a strigoica or a female demon and that thing that Tom killed was her partner, a strigoi and he will want revenge for what Tom did. Strigoi inhabit bodies, the males inhabit the dead while the female inhabit the living. She leads Tom to the cellar where she has the severed head of Mr. Gregory in a box and says she will exchange him for the head of the Fiend and he is to summon Grimalkin there for the exchange to happen. Tom knows he can’t allow this to happen but he doesn’t know how to deal with these creatures. Scouting out the surrounding areas he knows many homes that could belong to other creatures like Mistress Fresque, he also notes there are Romanian witches operating in their spirits forms close by. When he returns again he realises that a moroi, an elemental spirit is possessing a bear which guards the path to the house. Close by he hears someone being attacked and goes to help, he slays another strigoi and rescues the man who turns out to be Judd, Tom is angry with him but after returning to the inn, Judd explains. He tells Tom that County spooks don’t marry but it was different in Romania and he was planning to marry Cosmina Fresque but the creatures of the dark wanted him dead and the demon took control of his fiancé effectively killing her. When he learned that the demons had fled to the County he followed and was ambushed where he was kept in a pit for his blood as strigoi are much like vampires. He was released to lure John Gregory and Tom there and this matches what the demon said to Tom as she was ordered to kill them but something much more powerful, but Tom saved his life. In return, Judd tells Tom everything he knows about strigoi and how to kill them.
As we cross the halfway mark in the novel, Tom has tried to contact Alice using a mirror in order to warn her of the danger but he hasn’t had any luck yet in getting hold of her. He knows his master doesn’t deserve the fate he has been given and he is going to do anything he can to bring him peace. They work together to gather all the relevant information but from what Tom tells Judd he believes that the witches are trying to summon Siscoi, the greatest and most powerful of the Old Gods in Romania and he would hunt down Grimalkin and retrieve the head of the Fiend in hours. Tom uses the tried and tested method of putting salt and iron in the pit where Siscoi’s host body is forming which works. They also want to deal with the witches first but after only killing one the others are away of what they are doing. Tom also watches Judd kill a moroi but he also tells Tom of an easier way to deal with them. With no option Tom asks Alice for help and by the time she arrives with the dogs, the villagers are turning on them but she has brought Grimalkin with her meaning the head of the Fiend is exactly where the Romanian witches want it, meaning all this could be a trap.
As we approach the ¾ mark in the novel, Tom, Alice, Judd, and Grimalkin head back to the witch’s territory to find Mr. Gregory. Alice and Judd head to hire the horse and cart while Tom and Grimalkin head into the lair. They find John Gregory but he is completely dejected and it takes both Grimalkin and Tom to convince him to carry on but their way out isn’t safe as herds of dark creatures are hiding there but Grimalkin does her thing with Tom watching her back and they make it out of Todmorden and head for home. Back at the Spook’s house they settle in for a difficult night as they expect to be attacked before sunrise and that does come true but they have an old ally back. Mr. Gregory sends Tom to find the boggart and make a new pact with it to protect the house and garden. Tom and Alice go together and they manage to find the boggart and Tom offers it more than Mr. Gregory did and he also makes the pact because the boggart won’t be bound to his master anymore. Tom gives the same terms but also allows the boggart to travel the ley lines to assist Tom if he calls and it is welcome to kill anything it finds there and the boggart agrees. For a moment, everything seems to go back to normal but the attacks start to come but the boggart proves to be formidable but even it won’t stand a chance against one of the Old Gods. Alice is also starting to prepare for her journey into the dark as there seems to be no other way to retrieve the final hero blade although admittedly Tom hasn’t been looking that hard as he’s been bound up with other things. He is also keeping vital information secret which may come back to bite him later but knowing Tom he might come clean very soon.
As we cross into the final section of the novel, we get the final battle between Tom and Siscoi which was very interesting as we see Tom mastering some of his abilities and we learn that Tom’s own body is a weapon that can be used against some of the most powerful of the Fiend’s allies. However, Grimalkin leaves afterwards once again on the run with the head of the Fiend while Alice is in the dark looking for the final dagger. Tom doesn’t come clean about the ritual but we learn that Alice has quite a few abilities that she has kept hidden, including the power to scry meaning she has foreseen what is too come although she sees Tom ready to sacrifice her but Tom isn’t sure whether it is because that path is set or because it involves Alice’s death, either way Alice has agreed to be a willing sacrifice if they can find no other way to stop the Fiend and with less than three months until the deadline, time is running out. Tom also has more responsibilities as a spook since John Gregory has finally realised he doesn’t have the strength or will to continue in his role so despite having over a year left of his apprentice, Tom for all intents and purposes is the Spook. Overall, I loved the Spook’s Blood and it was a great change to the disappointment I’d felt with I am Grimalkin. I am still worried about the next two books as they don’t have the same narrator as most of the series but I am eager to find out how this series ends and get into the Starblade Chronicles which I haven’t read.
Buy it here:
Paperback/Hardcover: amazon.co.uk amazon.com
Kindle Edition: amazon.co.uk amazon.com
Kommentare