I'm on the 7th of 13 books in this series and so far it hasn't gotten old yet. In this installment, the war is in progress and enemy soldiers have been ransacking the counties. When Tom, Alice & the Spook return home from Greece they find the Spook's home, including his massive library of priceless books, burnt down, the bogart has fled & the witches have escaped. They end up fleeing to an island that they think we'll be a safe haven but from the moment they disembark they encounter even more problems including the bone witch, Bony Lizzie. 

 

This series never lacks adventure and I really like the characters and enjoy seeing how they develop. The audio narrator is also fantastic so until the stories get old or I run out of books I'm going to keep on listening... 

 

 

*I read this for my 2016 Halloween Book Bingo: ~Witches~ square

 

This has been a very consistent series; all of the books have been really good. I just finished the audio version of this sixth book, Clash of the Demons, and I liked it just as much as the other ones. 

 

In this installment, Mam, Tom's mother, enlists the help of Tom, Alice, the Spook, the Pendle witches, Bill Arkwright and the assassin Grimalkin to travel to Greece to help her battle the Ordeen. Of course, the fighters of the dark are reluctant to actually join forces with their dark enemies but they agree that it's the only chance they have of successfully destroying the Ordeen.

 

In the end, a few lives are lost and Tom makes some heavy sacrifices that I'm sure he'll have to answer to the Fiend for in the near future. Overall, it was an entertaining story with all of the characters battling together. I also enjoyed the change of scenery to Greece and I'm curious to see how things play out between Tom and the Fiend.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is the 4th book in The Wardstone Chronicles about a Spook's Apprentice named Tom. In the previous books, Tom battled boggarts, and a witch here and there but never three clans of witches. That's what he's up against in this installment along with a fiend that the witches are trying to unleash into the world. I just love this series! There is never a dull moment and the characters are so developed they just come to life. I've been listening to the audio books but my library didn't have the audio for this one so I just read it, but I still enjoyed it tremendously. The narrator of the audio books is fantastic though so I'll continue to get the audio when I can, but I definitely plan to continue the series with or without it. 

Curse of the Bane is the 2nd book in the The Last Apprentice Series by Joseph Delaney. In this one Tom is still studying to become a Spook. He gets to bind his first Boggart which is actually pretty interesting. I've learned more about witches, boggarts, spooks & curses in this one series then I have in my entire life. At least if I run into a witch or a boggart, I'll know how to bind it and what type of pit to dig etc. You never know when that will come in handy.

I really like the main characters too- Tom, Alice and Tom's master, the Spook. I think Alice might be my favorite character.  She was raised by bad witches but she hasn't crossed over yet to the dark side. She has the potential to be a good witch or a bad witch so I'm curious to find out which way she goes or if she stays somewhere in between. I'm sure if I was a witch I would be a little of both too so I guess I just relate to her more. : ) 

One thing I am tired of though, is hearing Tom talk about his mam! Omg his mam is this, his mam is that.  His mam makes the best this, she cooks the best that, she hung the moon, she ran 50 miles uphill in the snow. Blah blah blah. Cut the cord for goodness sake! If my boys talked about me like that I probably wouldn't be complaining though right. Lol  I'm just glad they aren't listening to this series. I don't want them to get any ideas. Hey mom, why don't you do that? I mean, who can compete with that? 

The audio books have been fairly short so I've been moving right along in the series. The narrator is also still the same as the first book and he is really good which is always a make or break for me. I still don't recommend for younger middle grade though. They need to stick with Harry Potter or something because this series has more of a dark magic feel to it with a little gore and horror mixed in. Definitely better for teens or older and great for adults too. : ) 

I am a huge fan of book adaptations because I'm a book & movie addict. These 8 adaptations will hit the theaters next year and I'm already excited! 

 

Do you read books before watching them in the cinema?