The Last Apprentice #6: Clash of the Demons by Joseph Delaney

This book is the sixth in the series, and I gave it a rating of five out of five. Tom and the other main characters travel to Greece to help Tom's mother combat the arrival of the Ordeen, a dark creature that will release hundreds of blood-sucking witches to destroy all living things. Ironically, they must team up with the same witches they were fighting in the previous book to defeat this new danger. Tom is torn between using the powers of the dark to stop the Ordeen and the Fiend and his duty to stop the Dark forces. Tom, his mam, the Spook and the rest of the gang travel across the ocean together on a ship with the blood-thirsty witches. They are attacked by pirates at sea, and then they're attacked by other witches and dark creatures once they land in Greece. Tom wonders about the truth of a witch's vision that Alice will die, and the same witch tells him that his life will be sacrificed to the Ordeen. Tom discovers a terribly horrible truth about his mother, and the Fiend wants his soul. What's a boy to do?

This plot has a great deal of action, and the problems keep stacking up against Tom. He defends himself a little better than in previous books, but the dangers become even greater. He realizes that the lives of everyone in the world depend on his ability to defeat the Ordeen and the Fiend. The format of this book is the same as the others, so you'll like it if you've enjoyed them.

The Last Apprentice #7: Rise of the Huntress by Joseph Delaney

This book is the seventh in the series, and I gave it a rating of five out of five. Tom, the Spook, and Alice are forced to flee their land after the enemy in a war takes control. Actually, the war has been going on for several books, but it was a minor factor before. The citizens of the new land are not happy to see people migrating from the war, so they are placed in jails while suspected witches must survive tests. Tom and Alice are placed in barrels with spikes sticking into them and are then rolled down a hill. If the spikes don't kill them then the people will know they're witches. It turns out that Bony Lizzie escaped from the Spook's pit and is living in this new country too. She discovers a source of immense power under the land and is grower stronger each day. She plans to destroy Tom and the Spook and take over the land. However, unknown to her, this power source can also allow her to take over the world. With the Spook growing weaker, it's up to Tom and Alice to defeat Bony Lizzie.

I've enjoyed the plots so far, although I'd still like to see Tom use his power and training more. Alice often saves the day, but she tells Tom that he will be gaining strength as the Spook weakens. Hopefully, Tom will become a more formidable force in the next book, as the prophecy has said. Similar to the Harry Potter series, each book in The Last Apprentice has its own conflict, but the Fiend remains a constant enemy, much like Voldemort.

The Last Apprentice #8: Rage of the Fallen by Joseph Delaney

I read most of the books in the series a while back, and I gave this one a rating of four out of five. Tom, the Spook, and Alice flee the County, and get involved in a conflict between the locals and mages trying to summon a great, powerful being named Pan. The protection Tom and Alice have from the Fiend is weakening, and it's only a matter of time before he seeks his revenge on them. In addition, another witch, supposedly killed by Tom's first master, seems to have returned and wants to kill him too. All appears lost when the mages gain strength, the Fiend takes Alice to the Other World, and Tom is about to be sacrificed to Pan.

As you can probably tell, there were several subplots going on throughout the book.They tended to overlap, but that only helped to create suspense. It looked as though Tom had failed many times, but he somehow managed to survive. However, Alice's fate is questionable.

The Last Apprentice #9: Grimalkin the Witch Assassin by Joseph Delaney

This book is the ninth in the series, and I gave it a rating of five out of five. Grimalkin holds the head of the Fiend in her possession and must do everything she can to keep it from being returned to his body. If that happens, all living beings will feel the wrath of his revenge, and Grimalkin will suffer the greatest pain, even after her death. The Fiend's followers have collected a force of mages to retrieve his head, but they've also created a merciless creature to destroy Grimalkin. The creature has a collection of magical powers, is able to quickly heal itself, learns from its mistakes, and comes back more powerful than before after each battle. Grimalkin enlists the help of Thorne, her apprentice assassin, but they still might not be able to defeat the creature. Grimalkin's energy weakens as the creature's powers strengthen, so all may be lost.

The story is told first person, from Grimalkin's point of view, and Tom, the Spook, and Alice aren't part of the events in the plot. It's a little strange to think of a witch assassin as the hero of a story, but the Fiend and his followers are even worse. Plus, Grimalkin teamed up with Tom in previous books to defeat the Fiend, so she is a good, bad protagonist. Weird, huh? I enjoyed her character as she battled with her feelings for Thorne, her own mortality, and her duty to save all living things. Mix that with her talent for killing, and you have a very complicated character. I also liked the suspense as I tried to figure out how she might be able to defeat a seemingly unbeatable monster.

The Last Apprentice #10: Lure of the Dead by Joseph Delaney

I gave this tenth book in the series a rating of five out of five. Tom learns a way to defeat the Fiend forever, but he needs an artifact from the Dark and will need to sacrifice Alice's life. That plot will take place in a future book. In this book, Tom and the Spook travel to a nearby town to buy books for the Spook's new library. However, it's a trap. The Fiend has servants from Romania attack the Spook in the night and show Tom his severed head. They have magic that Tom has never seen before. The creatures will make the Spook suffer unless Tom convinces Grimalkin to return the Fiend's head. Once again, the task of defeating the enemy seems impossible.

Tom is the main man in this plot as he takes over the role of a real spook. The battle with the Romanian witches is the main conflict, but subplots deal with Alice, the Spook, and another former apprentice. The author increases the suspense as the protagonists are forced to fight the enemy alone, and in some cases, the victims fight them too.

The Unwanteds #1 by Lisa McMann

This book is the first in a series, and I gave it a rating of four out of five. Alex lives in the land of Quill, and all thirteen-year-olds are sorted into three groups. The Wanteds are ranked highest, the Necessaries are next highest, and the Unwanteds are sent away to be killed in a lake of boiling oil. Alex is an Unwanted, but his twin brother is a Wanted. Alex discovers that most of the previous Unwanteds weren't killed, and they're living in a world, Artime, cloaked by magic. They're able to use their creativity to enjoy life, and they later learn to turn their artistic talents into weapons for battle. The citizens of Quill live in a strict dictatorship with no freedoms, and the leader of Artime knows it's just a matter of time before they're discovered and attacked by the Quill army. Alex wants to rescue his brother and bring him to Artime, but he also knows it could be the end of their world if the leaders of Quill realize the Unwanteds are still alive.

This book was recommended by one of my students, and I found it had an unusual plot. Some of the characters are strange combinations of animals, but the use of artistic talents to create magic was interesting. The author did a nice job of creating suspense with subplots. In addition to the threat of Quill, Alex's issues with his brother and secrets kept by some other characters kept me wondering. Even so, there were still a few other surprises that popped up near the climax.

The Unwanteds #2: Island of Silence by Lisa McMann

This book is the second in The Unwanteds series, and I gave it a rating of five out of five. After the final battle in book one, Mr. Today tries his best to bring peace between Quill and Atrime. However, Alex Stowe's brother, Aaron, is very bitter about the turn of events, and he puts his efforts into getting revenge against Alex and Mr. Today. He starts to recruit followers in order to form an army, and he prepares them to attack Artime when the opportunity arises. Meanwhile, Mr. Today offers to train Alex to become his successor when he's away or when he eventually dies. Alex doesn't want the position, but he continues to learn new spells and work with Mr. Today. Some strangers wash ashore, and the leaders of Artime assume they are escapees from one of the nearby islands. A few of the characters take an interest in the islands with disastrous results. Another battle between Artime and Quill seems unavoidable, but will the paradise of Artime survive this time?

There were many different things going on in this plot. Mr. Today was preparing for a time when he would be gone, Aaron was planning to overthrow Artime, the silent strangers with thorns on their necks created more questions, and Alex had mixed feelings and questions about everything. Every chapter held action and interest, so I wanted to keep reading. In addition, I knew there were spies around, but I didn't know which characters to believe or doubt. Even at the end of book, I wasn't sure whom to trust, and I'm anxious to read the next book when it comes out in September of 2013.