The Ultimate Fantasy Series Ranking

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Joseph Delaney

1 universe Last reviewed 2026-10-31

Joseph Henry Delaney (25 July 1945 to 16 August 2022) was an English author, best known for the children's dark fantasy series Spook's. He was born in Preston, Lancashire, the eldest of four children of a labourer. He attended Preston Catholic College and worked as an apprentice engineer before taking A-levels at night school and studying English, history and sociology at Lancaster University as a mature student. He trained as a teacher and taught English at Blackpool Sixth Form College, where he started the Media and Film Studies Department. He moved to the village of Stalmine in 1983, where a local boggart story inspired his later work. He had earlier published adult science fiction and fantasy under the pen name J. K. Haderack. The Spook's Apprentice appeared in 2004, and he retired from teaching to write full time after the second Spook's book. He drew on Lancashire folklore, history and geography. The series has sold over 4.5 million copies in 30 countries. He died in Manchester in 2022, and his final book, Brother Wulf: Wulf's War, was published in 2023.

Universe(s)

The Wardstone Chronicles

  • Core Canon books: 20
  • Current rank: #197 in the official ranking
  • Weighted average: 4.14
  • Award recognitions: None recorded

Books

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