| The Spook's Nightmare | |
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First edition cover |
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| Author(s) | Joseph Delaney |
| Country | Great Britain |
| Language | English |
| Series | The Last Apprentice – America |
| Genre(s) | Children's Fiction |
| Publisher | The Bodley Head, an imprint of Random House Children's Books |
| Publication date | May 2010 – UK |
| Pages | 401 |
| Preceded by | The Spook's Sacrifice |
| Followed by | The Spook's Destiny |
The Spook's Nightmare is the seventh novel in the Wardstone Chronicles children's fantasy series by Joseph Delaney. In the U.S. it is titled The Last Apprentice: Rise of the Huntress. it was first published in 2010.
Contents |
The Spook has always been a tower of strength, fighting the dark to protect the Country – and beyond. But things are changing. His Precious library of books has burned to ashes. Arch rival Bony Lizzie has escaped her bonds. And for the first time, Tom sees his master fail not once – but twice.
These are dark days, but the nights are darker. Haunted in his dreams, The Spook has a premonition of Lizzie becoming all-powerful – and now his fears seem to be coming true.
Meanwhile Tom and Alice are held hostage to a blood jar – the result of a dark magic pact with the Fiend. This is the stuff of nightmares. Will the Spook live to see the morning? Is his apprentice ready to face the dark alone?
The Spook has a nightmare: Bony Lizzie escapes and becomes truly powerful, with the Fiend by her side. The nightmare turns alive, as she becomes Queen of Mona ( a nearby island), she eventually gains the powers of a nearby Buggane (new creature of the dark) and uses it to do her evil will. They also meet a local bird witch who decided to aid them on their quest.
After to rallying the yeomen (Mona's defense) they challenge Bony Lizzie to battle. She gets the better of them and they narrowly escape. After some time Tom and Alice get into Lizzie's castle and manage to force Lizzie out while draining some of her power.
Towards the end they reach a cliffside where Lizzie makes her final stand and kills the Bird witch and her husband but not before the bird witch sends a final request to the birds nearby who maul lizzie. Although she manages to tell the spook all about Tom and Alice's blood jar.
They eventually get it all out in the open and decide to meet Grimalkin in Ireland to discuss how to defeat the fiend once and for all.
Thomas Ward is the seventh son of a seventh son, he is also the son of Lamia, meaning that along with his ability to see things others can't and being immune to some dark powers such as a witches long-sniffing, he also has inherited powers from his mother, one of which is the ability to slow down and stop time. He has a destiny to either save the world or damn it.
Alice Deane is revealed in the 5th book to be the daughter of Bony Lizzie and the Fiend, she is a firm friend of Tom; their friendship in fact keeping her from going over to the dark. According to Thomas' Mam, she could be the most powerful malevolent or benign witch ever.
John Gregory also known as the Spook A seventh son of a seventh son, he has kept the forces of the dark at bay for many years in the County. He has trained many apprentices, though precious few are any good, Tom will be his last.
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