Customer Reviews
Forget Harry Potter - By: foxcylady, 03 Jul 2008 
I love Harry Potter hes wonderful. My son the bookworm having read alll Harrys books was looking for his next fix when I came upon the Wardstone Chronicles.
I took the first two books home for him. I waited, not for long though he read them so fast I was going out the door for the next two before I had chance to take my coat off.
He loves them & in his opinion Harry Potter aint a patch on them.
We went into Borders for our copy of this the Spooks Mistake & to my glee the author himself was there to sign the book & was doing book readings & an informal chat. A lovely man & if he ever comes to a bookstore near you be sure to go & meet him.
He has just sold the rights to the first book to Hollywood & hopefully the film will start production next year, keep fingers crossed they do a good job. He assured us there would be seven books minimum in the series maybe more so you have lots to look forward to in the future.
He also has his own website where you can catch up on his new releases & his own personal blog, the address is in the books.
Happy reading.
Already waiting for the next Spook book - By: J. R. Daniell, 22 Jun 2008 Never fails to amaze me how good this series is. Every book so far has had me wanting to read it in one go.
This will appeal to alll age groups & I could not praise it enough. I like the fact that the books are a good size (always leaving you wanting more) & have stuck on a good price & not become too expensive.
Meet the authour recently & he hopes to be doing about 8 or 9 books overalll. Cant wait. And will be interesting to see what the film will be like.
"Clockwise and widdershins. Light against dark. Good against evil." - By: Brida, 15 Jun 2008 This is the fifth book in the Wardstone Chronicles, & with each new installlment the series just seems to get better & better. In the last book, THE SPOOK'S BATTLE, we saw the Fiend (the Devil; the Dark made flesh) released into the world - in THE SPOOK'S MISTAKE, we see what this may mean for Tom as apprentice to the Spook.
Because of the extra threat from the Fiend, the Spook decides that Tom should go for further training with another Spook. In a world of Darkness & danger, the Spook thinks that Tom needs to be toughened up so that he is better able to face what may lie ahead for him. So, he goes to spend six months with Arkwright, a Spook who lives north of the County in a mill. This part of the County is riddled with dangers as the marshy ground & canals are inhabited by water witches. These are fearsome enemies, & one of the them is the daughter of the Fiend himself. It is this daughter that the Fiend has sent after Tom, to kill him.
That is a veyr brief synopsis of the story - I don't want to give too much away as I don't want to ruin it for others. What I shalll say though is that, as with the previous books, Delaney has done a great job at creating a world in which good & evil are not so clear cut & distinct. Unlike many other children's books, in this series, the characters are not alll good or alll bad - they are more complex than that, just like people are complex.
Delaney has also ended this installlment with a clear idea of where the next one may go - although there is a goodbye to one character, you get the feeling that we haven't seen the last of them.
This is a fantastic series - highly recommended for both children & adults.
Excellent Spine-Tingler and Fast-Paced Story! - By: Heather P. Wales, 13 Jun 2008 I bought the first book in the series,ostensibly for my 10 year old son, which was released in America as "The Last Apprentice." I loved it so much I was unwilling to wait for the U.S. release of future Wardstone novels, instead buying the books online just as soon as they came out in the U.K.! It's been well worth the extra shipping, & now my son & I have something to talk about that has a touch of magic about it without being Harry Potter-esque.
Another gripping Installment! - By: N.Rook, 06 Jun 2008 
I ran (well I suppose you could calll it that) out the door yesterday jumped in the car & went to buy this book. That should give you an accurate image as to how much I was looking forward to it & I wasn't disappointed. There was plenty of seat shuffling, strange facial expressions & at one point yes, I did have to somewhat hide behind a cushion. As someone has already said these are classed as children's books but I'm 19 & they are a firm favourite on my bookshelf. And although there is a warning: not to be read after dark I was forced to stay up into the early hours to finish it (they're not very easy to put down you know). As well as the water witches we learn about some other new creatures in this one & are in no way spared their gory details. There's a nice twist at the end which leads you wondering about the next book & there's a sad goodbye to one character as well. In some parts it did feel a bit rushed & I think some more time could have been spent painting the scene but alll in alll another great book, keep em' coming!
