Synopsis: Spook apprentice Tom Ward helps his master fight an ancient evil that's corrupting the countryside.
The second book of The Last Apprentice is possibly better than the first. It still has minor writing issues, but they are so small it's hardly worth mentioning (except that I'm a schmuck). The biggest issue I had was that the back cover copy revealed the Act II twist.
One thing I rather liked in this story was the portrayal of evil clergy. What was great about the clergy was that we know the clergy hate Spooks (they consider them servants of evil). The clergy hates witches too. Basically, the evil clergy are Cotton Mather and his ilk (I am a direct descendant of Robert Calef, so it rang well with me). Most clergy are basically good and treat others (even Spooks who aren't obviously malevalent) well. The worst are under the influence of an ancient evil (not a spoiler since it's the title and something we learn in the first few chapters).
Basically, it gave us some villains to generate a feeling of injustice without making a vast group of people purely evil. Yes, evil was behind it, but it wasn't the pure evil of flat, unimaginative villains.
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