Seventh Son

The Book

.. or books, as the Seventh Son is the title covering the first two separately published books in the Spook series by Joseph Delaney - Spook's Apprentice and Spook's Curse. Delaney's books are set in a fictional County in medieval England, but taking inspiration from real places in Lancashire, where he lives. There is a definite Northern feel, with characters walking over fells and saying Aye a lot, which immediately sets alarm bells ringing with me about the adaptation, looking at the cover of the book (the film poster) which has Jeff Bridges as the Spook and Julianne Moore as a pale red head (I am guessing a witch).


Tom Ward starts learning to be the Spook's Apprentice and leaves his family to be taught in the ways of imprisoning boggarts, witches and ghosts.


The first book focuses on this initial training and Tom's gradual introduction to Alice, a young girl with pointy shoes, who persuades him to help Mother Malkin, an old crone of a witch to escape her imprisonment by the Spook. Realising his error, he tries to kill the newly risen witch and she becomes wick - a shapeless form that can take over the body of another. The finale is set for a great showdown where the reader is looking for clues as to who out of Tom's friends and family might be the witch in disguise.


The second book ups the stakes and introduces a supernatural monster inhabiting the catacombs of a cathedral and a ruthless witch-finder general who captures Alice and John Gardner, the Spook, to put them on trial for dealing with the devil.
The author includes myths and legends from England's huge wealth of fables and by using this folklore helps to make the stories resonate and feel familiar to the reader.  



Official Movie Website


The Film

My commiserations to Joseph Delaney. It must be heartbreaking as an author who has created a fully realised series to then see Hollywood come along and completely ruin your vision. I don't know why they bought the film rights to adapt The Spooks Apprentice, as the screenplay bears absolutely no resemblance to the novel at all apart from the names of characters. Hopefully, as the film has a different title, people may not connect the two.

The film has no geographical coherence with a  mish mash of American scenery and Game of Thrones citadels. The British actors talk with American accents and Jeff Bridges with really bad old person make up (you can see the lines on his forehead) has a sort of english accent that is at times very difficult to decipher.


The main baddie is Mother Malkin, Julianne Moore, who escapes from her prison due to the power of the blood moon and gathers a cohort of other shape changing witches to her Moorish palace. There is an amulet that will give her even more power, which the Spook's Apprentice was given by his mother (yes that old chestnut). Good job that the old, gruff Apprentice is actually very good at wielding a sword and shows no mercy in killing.. as they can all clash in one action scene with fighting, CGI dragons and a staff that can disintegrate the witches with one stab.      
Those who have read the book will not recognise the mild wise Spook that would rather imprison a witch than burn her, as that is the worst way to die.

It's ok to adapt a book differently if its original and fresh, but the screenwriter hasn't added anything but Hollywood Hogwash of the first order.