Spook's Sacrifice Review

The Spook's Sacrifice by Joeseph Delaney

Review by Emma McGrath 

Plot Summary

As the Spook’s apprentice Tom’s first duty is to protect the County from the dark. But now Mam needs his help in her homeland of Greece. One of the most dangerous of the old gods, the Ordeen, is about to return there, bringing slaughter and devastation. Meanwhile, the Devil himself is still loose and if he and the Ordeen join forces, a new age of darkness will descend.

Mam has summoned a powerful group to her side but among them are Tom’s old enemy, the Pendle witches, including the assassin Grimalkin, and the cunning clan leader Mab Moldheel. Can Tom go against all the Spook has taught him and ally himself to the witches? What is the secret that Mam is keeping from him? And what sacrifices must be made in the battle against the dark?

My Thoughts

Great story line I like the crazyness of John and Tom joining an aliance with pendle witches! espicaly after what happened in 'The Spook's Battle' ,I never would of guessed it! I was so happy when Tom saw Alice again,series wouldn't be as good without her.

This book brought all of the previous books together,Bill from mistake,pendle witches/Mab and Grimalkin from Battle and of course Alice and John.Brilliant mix of characters including a side of Tom's Mam we've never seen before.

The plot set at the beginning sounded exciting,a grand adventure awaited but i did find most of this one slow and boring.The big reveal about Tom's Mam was a shocker,didn't expect that!

my favorate scene from Sacrifice was when the main characters were in a tent making a plan of action against the Ordene

"If Tom's going into danger,then I want to go too!" Alice cried out,speaking for the first time.
mam shook her head."your place will be at my side, Alice"
"no, that ain't good enough!"she said springing to her feet. "I have to be with Tom".
"You stay away from him girl" said the Spook.
"Stay away?he'd be dead if it weren't for me-and you all know it"
Mam shook her head."Sit down!" she commanded.
"Ain't going to sit down until you give me what I want!" Alice retorted,almost spitting out the words.
"You owe me this!and there are things even you don't know yet!"
Mam came to her feet to face Alice,anger in her face.
At that moment the tent canvas began to flap.It had been a calm evening but now the wind was getting up.moments later,it was gusting furiously,threatening to tear the fabric from its supporting poles.
Mam led the way outside and looked up at the sky.
"It begins" she said pointing towards the horizon.

I found this book slow paced,quite boring until the end.i thought the concept was a good idea;the ordeane was quite terorrfiing and the plot twists at the end were shocking.
since Alice and Tom made the blood jar and tom made a deal with the fiend.the next book is looking very exciting

 

They All Fall Down

They all fall down

This is one of my fan arts for the Wardstone chronicle books by Joseph Delaney; this is based on a scene from the 8^th book Destiny. The books are told from Tom Wards POV and this scene focuses on his best friend Alice.

This scene was dramatic and shocking, the writing was very descriptive and it left me thinking of it long after I finished the book.

My drawing features Alice Deane dancing and spinning in the woods after she’s killed and created chaos. Without spoiling the plot, before this scene Alice had experienced something awful and wasn’t herself, this is the first time since then that she has come down to reality.

Each chapter in these books has a small silhouetted picture .I took inspiration form that and of course the story itself.

This is the passage from the book that I took inspiration from;

‘It seemed as though nothing could save me,

Then I heard a rumble from somewhere deep within the ground, and all at once the whole world began to move.

Above my head the branches bounced and writhed as if the tree trunk was being twisted and shaken by a giant’s hand. The witche’s gaze left me and she glanced upwards fearfully. But the danger came from the other direction.

A huge crack suddenly opened in the earth. With a grinding, splintering roar, it gaped wider, moving towards Scarabek faster than a person could run.

At the very last moment she tried to leap clear, but it was too late, the earth swallowed her up and closed with a deep reverberating thud, leaving only the fingers of her left hand visible.

With harsh cries, the flock of crows quickly took flight, then the ground beneath my feet began to buck and shake, and the surface became as liquid as an ocean, with waves rolling across the forest floor. They seemed to be radiating from where Alice was standing, and even above the noise I could hear her chanting a spell in old tongue. Mages and their servants were now running in all directions.

The trees were leaning at crazy angles, their roots dislodged by the violent movement. Then suddenly, everything became still and quiet again, as if the whole world was holding its breath, appalled at what had happened. Now there was only one thing moving; one new sound to fill the silence.

Alice was spinning, dancing across the grass with her arms extended, blood still dripping from her wrists. Her eyes were closed, and she was smiling and humming something under her breath. She spun faster and began to sing just loud enough for me to hear the words;

            “A ring a ring of roses, a fist full of thorns,

            A ring a ring of roses, a head full of thorns.

            I’ll give a laugh and then a frown

            So they all fall down!”

She giggled and repeated the last line as if it pleased her “so they all fall down”.

My favourite quotes from this passage are;

‘Then suddenly, everything became still and quiet again, as if the whole world was holding its breath, appalled at what had happened’.

The book is from Toms POV, his friend has done something evil and atrocious and he is stunned with the magnitude of it! I love this line because it also reflected my thoughts at the time and I realised that I was holding my breath as well!.

My second favourite quote is;

‘She giggled and repeated the last line as if it pleased her: “so they all fall down!”

For me this was the climax of the scene, she does something terrible then relishes in it. ‘So they all fall down!’ sounds so final and menacing.

Emma McGrath

Spooks fanart

 

 

 

 

My Spook's Fanart

 

 

Alice with her basket of cakes

 

Why don't you just leave him be

 

Just alice

 

 

Holding hands with the dark

 

Never let her go