Review Originally Posted At: FictionForesightDan S’ Review:Curse of the Bane was an interesting sequel to Joseph Delaney’s Revenge of the Witch. Set a bit after the events of the first book, Tom is beginning to show signs of growth and is starting to become a much better Spook (as shown even from the very first chapter of the book). However, even with his increasing skill and wit, is it enough to beat the next creature of the dark?…Well for that you will have to read it yourself. Overall this review is going to be very brief because I don’t feel there is much to add really. The reason for this is because if you read our first review of Revenge of the Witch, you will know how I felt about this book as well.The writing style, character flaws, and everything else I mentioned is the same with the exception being that you do in fact learn a bit more history and lore about the world Joseph Delaney created with this series. This book reads just like the next chapter after a brief fast-forward in time for Tom to train a bit more. Other than that I can’t say much else, other than that the ending for the book I found to be a bit more predictable than the last, but still enjoyable.So with that in mind, my rating of this book is 4 out of 5 stars and if you want more of my opinion, check out our last review of its predecessor: Revenge of the Witch!Treavor G’s Review:3.5 Stars…. Again! Curse of the Bane was as thrilling, mysterious and just plain spooky as Joseph Delaney’s first novel Revenge of the Witch. A Quick Summary: Beginning shortly after the conclusion of Revenge of the Witch, Curse of the Bane opens with Thomas Ward working on his first independent assignment. With his master ill, it is up to Thomas to bind a nasty boggart who is wreaking havoc on a nearby village. Just another day at the office for a future spook. Unfortunately this assignment hits a bit closer to home than most. While Thomas did succeed in binding the boggart, his success came at a cost. That cost? The life of the priest that the boggart was feeding off of. The priest who also happens to be the Spook’s brother.As it turns out, all priests are buried in a place called Priestown (Clichéd? A bit, but we’ll let it slide). While the Spook wants to go and pay his last respects to his brother, he is also a bit wary. Priestown is no friend to spooks, and the punishment for being caught there would be certain death. Danger aside, the Spook decides he and Thomas must go, but not just for his brothers sake.Long ago the Spook fought one of the most evil and dangerous creatures to walk this earth…. the Bane. Now, even banished to the catacombs of Priestown, the Bane is causing more and more problems. Corrupting the city above has allowed it to grow stronger and stronger. Soon the prison may not be enough to hold it. It is up to the Spook and Thomas to stop the Bane once and for all. But this is easier said than done. The world is on the line, and danger is everywhere.The Good:Spooky, spooky, spooky. I said it before with Revenge of the Witch, and I will say it again now, Joesph Delaney scares the crap out of me. I never thought a young adult novel could be scary, not in the least. Mr. Delaney corrected my way of thinking the first time around, and has put me in my place yet again. Now I’m not one for scary in the first place, so this could have a big effect, but none-the-less. Being forewarned with the previous novel, I made sure to read this one only when the sun was out. Boy am I glad of that. I expect I would have jumped out of my skin at every pin drop otherwise.Character development was much better this time around. I made a note to talk about this even before I read this book because of how left out I felt with the last one. I enjoyed learning more about the Spook’s back-story. It helped me to be able to identify with him more, and thus become more connected with the story. It made his actions and reactions more understandable because you could see where he was coming from. The same could be said for Thomas. It’s the little insights about him and his family that made him feel less like a puppet, and more like a real boy!Oh the emotions. I know I've talked a bit about the scariness that this book evokes with its readers, but lets talk a bit more about the emotions of the characters. Black and white, good and bad, these are not phrases I would use to describe this book. Nothing is that simple when it comes to Joseph Delaney. His ability to create characters that are both conflicted and resolved is quite interesting. I mean here we have Thomas who wants to remain loyal to his master, become a great spook, etc, and yet he is constantly stepping on his own toes in the process. His sympathy and compassion make him unpredictable, even when the choice should be obvious. Before I labeled this naïvety, and he still is naïve, but now we know it’s more out of care than stupidity.Finally, I loved the plot reveals. They weren’t anything overwhelmingly amazing, but they were pretty good. There were a couple of points I found myself re-reading just to make sure I understood exactly what was being said. It was almost like “oh man, that was that girl?!”. It had that kind of mystery that the first book was lacking.The Bad:As much as this book improved on its predecessor, it was still lacking in a few areas.First lets address Tom’s utter lack of foresight. I mean this time around he has a bit stronger level of conviction in his decisions, but he still isn’t using his head. He makes these gut calls in the spur of the moment that anyone can see will bite him in the backside before the end is through. I understand he has to make difficult choices, but I mean think it through man. Ultimately his gut calls win out, but so much conflict could have been avoided if he would just think.The action. It’s there, but it’s not really there. That is to say, while I did find this thrilling, it’s still missing that special feeling that would really push it over the top. I really hate to mention movies when I’m talking about book reviews but hear me out. If you've ever seen the movie adaptation of the first novel you’d know it’s absolutely nothing like the book. In fact pretty much everything is different besides the name of the characters, and the basic premise of the seventh son. However, the action that took place at the end of that film was awesome! That’s what I wanted for this book. I wanted the action to feel like all the stops were being pulled out. Like this was it. I’m still looking for that feeling. So much build up to a flat ending, that’s what really hurt this book for me.Other: Maybe this doesn’t need to be mentioned, as this is just a work of fiction, but there is quite the religious overtone in this book. It’s not to say that this is all about religion, or negativity towards religion, but there is something there. I’m curious if this was just a plot booster, or if this has some basis in Delaney’s real world feelings towards religion as a whole.Overall: Curse of the Bane was a decent followup to a decent book. I won’t go on and on saying this is something so special, or that you must read it now because it’s unlike anything you've ever read before. That’s simply not the case. But if you’re looking for a good book, with a some spookiness to it, you've got the right read. I think I’ll continue with this series to see how it progresses. Here’s for hoping for some chills, thrills and action along the way!(www.FictionForesight.com)
Curse of the Bane (The Last Apprentice, #2), 2005, Joseph DelaneyCharacters: Mr. Gregory, Thomas J. Ward, Alice DeaneAbstract: The Spook and his apprentice, Thomas Ward, deal with the dark. Together they rid the county of witches, ghosts, and boggarts. But now there's some unfinished business to attend to in Priestown. Deep in the catacombs of the cathedral lurks a creature the Spook has never been able to defeat; a force so evil that the whole county is in danger of being corrupted by its powers. The Bane!As Thomas and the Spook prepare for the battle of their lives, it becomes clear that the Bane isn't their only enemy. The Quisitor has arrived, searching for those who meddle with the dark so he can imprison them--or worse.Can Thomas defeat the Bane on his own? Is his friend Alice guilty of witchcraft? And will the Spook be able to escape the Quisitor's clutches?عنوان: آخرین شاگرد 2: طلسم بین، اثر: ژوزف دیلینی، ترجمه: مریم منتصرالدوله، نشر: افق، تهران، چاپ نخست 1391، در 416 ص.، مصور، فروست: رمان نوجوان 95، شابک: 9789643698058، داستانهای انگلیسی – قرن 20م.، ویراستار: احمد پورامینیدر تالارها و سردابههای زیرزمین، موجودی کمین کرده که محافظ هرگز نتوانسته آن را نابود کند، موجودی به نام «بین»، اما «بین» تنها دشمن مردم منطقه نیست. «کوییزیتر» هم از راه میرسد و با هر کس و هرچیز که جلوی قدرت تاریکی و کارهای شیطانیاش را بگیرد، مبارزه میکند. «توماس وارد» و محافظ باید برای جنگ پیشرویشان آماده شوند
What do You think about Curse Of The Bane (2006)?
THERE MIGHT BE UNMARKED SPOILERS HERE. too lazy to edit it wholeFinally! I'm done reading it! I started it 5 days ago or more? I've been busy with something and didn't really get a chance to read it straight even though someone was nagging at me to read faster. :/Eep! There's this time when I suddenly detested the Church. Okay, wait, that sounds like bad. I just mean, I detested the church IN THIS BOOK. Not necessarily I detested it in real life cause I don't. Well, okay, maybe just a tiny bit. But I just want to clarify, I'm a believer though I'm on the neutral ground, you know what I mean? In any case, I said that cause the priests in the book were irritating me and there's this Quisitor which remind me of Harry Potter's Dolores Umbridge for being the High Inquisitor of Hogwarts. That guy there, Quisitor, was sooooooo bad and ruthless, I hate him even before he was shown. >:( I also cheated here, I read the blurb of the third book cause I really wanted to know if the Spook will still live. See, there's this curse about the Spook so I desperately wanted to know if he'll live. And so when I appease myself, I'm still over the edge when they said someone will die. I was like, "Nooooo... They can't die..." Though I know that it will not come true cause they were still in the third book. :PThere's this question I wanted to know... Is Tom's Mam a Lamia Witch like Meg? I wanted to know more but I don't have the third book yet. I just asked my brother to give it to me as a birthday gift. :P Over-all, I really like the book. :) Tom has his own silver chain! Yay! And finally Alice is in care of the Spook.
—Lex (Fastidious Reader)
Oh my, the difficult second book, it is almost as if I am reviewing pop bands over here. I was a tad disspointed by the second book in the series and I sincerely hope that the third one will be on par with the debut entry in the series. Let's see, Delaneys pragmatic, yet picturesque prose still bedazzles and entertains and the characters I came to be interested in, being Tom, the spook and Alice are up to their old tricks again but there are two major setbacks in this back, for me at least.1. The whole witch burning / the true enemy is man itself angle really did not do it for me. I feel like Delaney had the urge to leave some resemblance of a social commentary along the trail of the series (of which a lot deals with witches and their persecution), but it feels forced, bland and a tad disconnected to the rest of the story. 2. The antagonist (monster of the week) in this book - The Bane - is not very interesting because it is too omnipotent and non-descript and yet, mysteriously easy to trap. Give me some good old witch, werewolf or zombie, but not some ghost/demon/creepy voice mash-up.Hence, with the lack of a good protagonist, and at least one fourth of the book wasted on political mumbo jumbo, I was far less pleased by this one than the first. X.
—Henrik Schunk
tVisualize hypocrisy from a respected elder, despair for others along with oneself, and throw in a couple witches and ghouls and you have got The Last Apprentice: Curse of the Bane. In town called Chipenden and time era similar to that of the medieval, a young boy named Thomas Ward continues his training as an apprentice to become a spook. A spook is a person who is avoided by ordinary people, but called upon when they are being threatened and frightened by evil spirits that reside in darkness. Tom, like all other spooks and apprentices, is the seventh son of a seventh son giving him special abilities to allow them sense the demons and the undead. Along with his teacher John Gregory, a current spook, Tom traveled to Priestown for both personal and work relations. Lurking underneath the town's largest cathedral, a monstrous creature, known as the Bane, is bound behind a silver gate within the catacombs. This being had already bested John when he was in his prime and had only gained power since then, corrupting the minds of the priests above. With the priests at its disposal, the Bane plagued the town with terror, killing innocent people through others or by driving them to insanity. Even Tom's friend, Alice, was at risk of being burned alive! Will he and John ever be able to stop this beastie and restore some order or will the Bane overcome their efforts and plunge the world into further darkness? Throughout the novel, Tom learns that he needs to disobey rules in order to protect the people he holds dear. Sometimes rules are made to be broken.tI wanted to read this book because I read the book that came before it and wished to continue the series. I found the first book to be pleasant, so I was hoping this book would live up to its predecessor. To my surprise, in my opinion, this book surpassed the first by leaps and bounds. As I read about Tom visiting his ill father, I was reminded of the time when my father was experiencing gout and a stomach flu. It was awful and I felt terrible, unable to do anything to help him. You should The Last Apprentice: Curse of the Bane if you're looking for a thrilling mystery mixed with fables. It is fast and hard to stop reading! The audience intended for this book is anyone interested in fantasies involving eerie presences, but anyone that likes mysterious situations would enjoy The Last Apprentice: Curse of the Bane.
—Michael Weber-williams
