Book Review
Title: The Spook’s Sacrifice (The Wardstone Chronicles #6)
Author: Joseph Delaney
Genre: YA/Paranormal/Fantasy
Rating: *****
Review: After the ending of the Spook’s Mistake, I was eager to up into book 6 and find out what is happening with Alice and how Tom is coping with everything now that his and Mr. Gregory’s relationship will never be the same again. The Spook’s Sacrifice definitely opens with a bang as Tom is attacked in his home but a maenad assassin, these creatures aren’t witches but they hail for Greece, his mother’s homeland, and worship a goddess called the Ordeen and this one had been sent to kill Tom. The boggart wasn’t able to protect him as someone had lured it away with blood and probably drugged it with something that confused it which is why it killed the assassin after she had been bound. When Mr. Gregory arrives back from dealing with another boggart, he is just as confused as Tom but Tom is hopeful he can ask his mother questions when she arrives home for a visit in less than a week.
After arriving back on Jack’s farm he sees campfires in the fields which Jack informs him are witches from Pendle. Immediately worried Tom speaks to his mother who tells him that the Ordeen is slowly taking control of her homeland and very soon unless she is stopped she will have the power to leave Greece. His mother is sure that she is will target the County as she is the Ordeen’s enemy and all of her seven sons live in the County. She asks Tom to go to Greece with her and the witches and help her destroy the Ordeen once and for all and Tom immediately agrees. However, his master doesn’t take the news well and tells Tom he is returning to his home and if Tom doesn’t return in three days then his apprenticeship is over, his mother tells him not to worry and if his master follows through with his threat he can finish his apprenticeship with Bill Arkwright who she has also contacted. Arkwright unlike Mr. Gregory has a far more open mind and agrees to come with them to Greece to help fight the dark and deal a major blow to the Fiend, he understands that without Grimalkin the pair of them would be dead so understands that sometimes you have to use the dark to fight the dark.
As we approach the ¼ mark in the novel, Tom finds Alice is with the Pendle witches and he is happy to see her again but some much has changed since they were last together but the feelings he has for her haven’t changed although he has yet acknowledged them as love. Alice and his mother both confirm that what the Fiend told Tom about Alice being his daughter was true but that doesn’t mean that she is destined to be a dark witch and if both Tom and Alice realise that then she might be the most useful weapon along with Tom against the Fiend. Grimalkin is also among the Pendle witches as she has a score to settle with the Fiend since he killed her son, she also gives Tom two gifts since he just turned 14, an age witches see as very important for their children as this is when male witches children are seen as adults. The first gift she gives him is a blade which he wears because his mother has asked him to and the second is something called a dark wish. This wish can be used only once as it takes a long time to amass the power needed to use one and she warns him to use it when everything else has failed. Mab and her sisters are also among them and Tom isn’t happy about this as she was the one who turned the tide in allowing the Fiend into the world but his mother needs her as her foresight is fading while Mab’s is still strong. She also tells Tom that she has seen Alice die at the hands of a feral lamia in Greece and while he wants to believe Mab is lying he knows her visions always come true unless something drastic changes. I have a feeling this will happen but Tom will use his wish from Grimalkin in order to prevent her death.
As we cross the ¼ mark in the novel, they begin the journey that will takes weeks in order to reach Greece but just before they leave the County behind for good, John Gregory changes his mind and joins them on their journey. While he doesn’t talk to Tom for a few days soon they have returned to normal and Tom is receiving lessons from Mr. Gregory and Bill Arkwright. His mother also informs him of a few dangers they will face in her homeland that they will never come across into the County like fire elementals who come through the portal with the Ordeen. However, their journey isn’t an easy one as they are soon set upon by pirates but the witches come to the rescue as they slaughter the pirate crew. We get to see a stark difference here, Mab is gloating about the killing and taking pride in it while Alice looks sick at what has just happened but no one says anything. As they draw closer to Greece they also have to deal with sirens, while the spooks are fairly immune to their charms, the crew of the Celeste are not and it is his mother’s quick thinking that save them all and not long after they make land and for the first time Tom is able to see with his own eye the land his mother has come from. On dry land again, Tom is introduced to Seilenos, a friend of his mother’s and the closest thing to a spook that Greece has and they get along well even though Seilenos doesn’t seem great English. Tom also gets to see the differences between countries and how they deal with the dark as Seilenos is married and has children which County spooks don’t, they also eat as much as they can before a battle with the dark in order to build their strengths, while Tom, Mr, Gregory and Arkwright would normally fast.
As we approach the halfway mark in the novel, Tom is taken by his mother to visit her old home, the one she shared with his father before coming to the County and Tom is stunned by how beautiful it is. His mother has brought him there for a purpose though, knowing they won’t be along again for some time she wants to use this time to reveal to her youngest son what she is and by extension what he is. His mother tells him that she is Lamia, the mother of all lamia witches and Tom instantly knows from Mr. Gregory’s library what this means. As the story goes, Lamia, had an affair with Zeus who was married to Hera, in her rage Hera slaughtered all of Lamia’s children. In the wake of this Lamia went mad and killed many women, men and children as she grieved for her own children. The legend says she was killed by her children, the first three lamia witches but this isn’t true. Tom feels sickened by his mother true identity and keeps it a secret even from Alice as he knows if John Gregory ever found out he would banished him as he did with Alice when he learned that she was the Fiend’s daughter.
As we cross into the second half of the novel, the group are camping out ready to continue their journey to the Ord, the name for the temple that lies beyond the portal the Ordeen travels through. Tom learns that every time she appears, a delegation is sent through the portal to appease her but it never works, this time his mother plans to replace this delegation of 13 with people of her own choosing. She tells Mr. Gregory the only person she is sure she is sending through is Tom, which frightens him but even now he still trusts his mother’s judgement. That night they are attacked by maenads and Alice takes Tom away into the mountains keeping him safe as his mother wanted but soon they face a battle of their own with lamias. As Mab predicted one lamia drags Alice down into it’s tunnel to kill her so Tom uses his wish from Grimalkin to save her but the Fiend appears now Tom has willing used the dark. He tells Tom that Alice is ok and will emerge as soon as he restores the flow of time, he also tells him that his own mother is planning to sacrifice him to defeat the Ordeen but it will be for nothing as he is waiting for his chance and Tom knows this is true. However, he leaves just as quickly as he arrived and Alice is alive and well. After Tom tells her what he did in order to save her she tries to get him to use the blood jar but he still refuses even though he knows it would offer him some protection from the Fiend and it would protect Alice too as it is her blood in the jar not Morwena’s but they would have to stay together or the Fiend would target her. They soon meet up with Tom’s mother and the others at the foot of the mountains where the monasteries are found. After meeting with the monks, Tom’s mother confirms that she is intended to use Tom’s blood in a ritual but not in the way the Fiend suggested. His mother plans to use the same tactic the Greeks used in the war against Troy. Using a rule that allows a challenge to save the life of the youngest person in the delegation, Tom, the challenger is bound to a battle to the death. If the challenger wins the life of the youngest person is spared and they only have to sacrifice a cup of blood, if the challenger loses the whole delegation dies.
Tom’s mother has selected Grimalkin as the challenger as she is a skilled assassin and Tom hopes she will win the battle, if she does Tom will sacrifice a cup of kill blood to revive the Ordeen’s followers and the Ordeen herself, because it is only a small amount of blood it will take a while for them to be at full power so it gives the delegation time to enter the citadel and kill the Ordeen but they will still have to face many dark creatures. Along with Grimalkin, Tom will be joined by Seilenos and ten others but Alice refuses to stay behind and his mother relents and allows Alice to be one of the delegation. Because Tom is sacrificing his blood for the ritual most of the dark creatures even the Ordeen will see him as kin and by extension his mother allowing them to enter the citadel unharmed. By the time the first signs of the Ordeen’s arrival come to pass everyone including Tom is on edge. As thy prepare to enter the Ord, Tom is nervous and the goodbyes he gets from Arkwright and his master aren’t helping, however, having Alice at his side is helping. The more I witnesses interactions between Grimalkin and Tom, the more I am convinced that he is her child, Tom has been proved to have her speed and stealth, he also possesses the ability of foresight, in the form of a feeling and dreams which among certain witches is quite common. He also stops time more than once which is an ability only the Fiend has, and since we know Grimalkin had a boy child with the Fiend it makes sense to me but I honestly can’t remember that much about the series as I read it years ago so this is very exciting.
As we approach the ¾ mark the delegation has entered the citadel and taken their places at the table but no one eats or drinks. Very soon a knight appears in black armour demanding Tom’s life but Grimalkin makes the challenge of combat. As she faces her opponent Tom realises how well Grimalkin is built for battle and how much she loves it even though she is at a disadvantage as her opponent has armour and she doesn’t but to the amazement of Tom and the others she wins. The same knight returns and demands Tom to fill the cup which he does and the knight disappears to take the blood to the Ordeen. However, the room is quickly filled with demons who enchant the group even Alice and Grimalkin fall under spell, the human escorts quickly begin eating and drinking and are killing by the demons including Seilenos but Grimalkin manages to use her mirror and signal for the attack to begin. Quickly the witches stream in and led by Grimalkin they need deepen into the citadel, Tom and Alice follow behind the mercenaries but quickly they are almost trampled as the mercenaries retreat and there is no sign of his master, mother or Arkwright. At the gates that lead deeper into the Ord, Alice and Tom don’t have the strength to enter but when Mr. Gregory turns up her fortifies Tom’s spirit and the small group press on. Inside the find elementals, slaughtered demons and some dead witches. However, they get to three staircases and Alice tries to sniff out which one they should take when witches come streaming down trying to escape the fire demons they encountered and many are dead. Tom is unsure of whether Grimalkin has died but as book 9 is called I am Grimalkin I doubt it. The end up taking the right staircase which is littered with fire elementals eventually leading to a circular chamber with no door but the one they entered through. Before they work out it is a trap the floor gives way and they plunge into darkness.
As we cross into the final section of the novel, Tom is once again confronted by the Fiend who has stopped time to prevent Tom and the other from being killed by lamias. He shows Tom what will happen if they die there and offers him a bargain. His soul in return for the location of the Ordeen and to delay her awakening by an hour and Tom knowing this has to be done agrees. With the location of the Ordeen he gets the others and they head to where the Ordeen is but Tom is the only one that can pass through the barrier because it was his blood that was used. Beyond he meets Mab who is with his mother and she is there to guide him back when the time is right. Tom finds his mother who is shifting back into her feral form to take on the Ordeen and she tells him this is the last time they are going to be together as she is going to die facing the Ordeen but she needs him to buy her time, but as he has already used Grimalkin’s wish they don’t have long. He manages to buy his mother enough time but loses both his staff and Grimalkin’s blade in doing so. His mother binds the Ordeen and tells him to leave so collecting the other the escape the Ord but before they can get free a hoard of demons are upon them and Bill Arkwright sacrifices himself for their escape. They have manage to defeat the Ordeen as the Ord is dragged back to the dark but at a terrible cost, his own soul. Exactly nights later the Fiend comes for him but once again Alice rescues as she took his blood earlier when he was unconscious and is now under the protection of the blood jar something he can never tell his master along with his mother’s true identity. When they get back to the County the spook has agreed to let Alice stay with them but Tom has the break the news to his family and Jack blames him as since he became a spook’s apprentice it has brought nothing but heartbreak to his family. Tom accepts this and hopes with time his brother will understand but nothing will ever be the same again as he knows the second he dies the Fiend will come for his soul and he will eternally tied to the dark and Alice’s life is at risk should she ever leave his side.
Overall, the Spook’s Sacrifice was heartbreaking and I cried more than once during the course of this book, I have no idea where the series is going to go from here but with the dangers constantly lurking over Tom and Alice, it is going to be a major emotionally rollercoaster. A easy 5 star read for me.
Buy it here:
Paperback/Hardcover: amazon.co.uk amazon.com
Kindle Edition: amazon.co.uk amazon.com
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