The Wardstone Chronicles
#1974.14 in the official ranking · full ranking
Books 20 books Status Complete 2004–2023 Reading commitment High Joseph Delaney Last reviewed 2026-10-31
Overview
Joseph Delaney's Spook's books (published in the United States as The Last Apprentice) are set in the County, a fictional version of Lancashire in the north of England. Tom Ward, the seventh son of a seventh son, is apprenticed to John Gregory, the County's spook, who protects people from ghosts, boggarts, witches and darker powers. The Wardstone Chronicles run from 2004 to 2013 in thirteen novels, with Tom's friend Alice Deane and the witch assassin Grimalkin among the main characters. The Starblade Chronicles (2014 to 2017) follow Tom as the County's spook, training his own apprentice, Jenny. The Brother Wulf novels (2020 to 2023) add a young novice monk, Wulf, alongside Tom. The author died in 2022, and the final book appeared in 2023.
Dark fantasy · For Middle grade
Core Canon: Reading Order (20 works) counts toward ranking
The Wardstone Chronicles Joseph Delaney
| Work | Year | Internal chron. | Canon | Rating | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | The Spook's Apprentice | 2004 | 1 | core | 4.02 (55,363 ratings) |
 | The Spook's Curse | 2005 | 2 | core | 4.13 (33,432 ratings) |
 | The Spook's Secret | 2006 | 3 | core | 4.14 (32,339 ratings) |
 | The Spook's Battle | 2007 | 4 | core | 4.21 (25,502 ratings) |
 | The Spook's Mistake | 2008 | 5 | core | 4.22 (19,115 ratings) |
 | The Spook's Sacrifice | 2009 | 6 | core | 4.20 (16,988 ratings) |
 | The Spook's Nightmare | 2010 | 7 | core | 4.18 (15,749 ratings) |
 | The Spook's Destiny | 2011 | 8 | core | 4.25 (15,732 ratings) |
 | Spook's: I Am Grimalkin | 2011 | 9 | core | 4.26 (10,945 ratings) |
 | The Spook's Blood | 2012 | 10 | core | 4.23 (9,867 ratings) |
 | Spook's: Slither's Tale | 2012 | 11 | core | 3.93 (8,292 ratings) |
 | Spook's: Alice | 2013 | 12 | core | 4.14 (8,459 ratings) |
 | The Spook's Revenge | 2013 | 13 | core | 4.20 (7,359 ratings) |
Thirteen novels following Tom Ward, apprentice to the County's spook, from 2004 to 2013.
The Starblade Chronicles Joseph Delaney
| Work | Year | Internal chron. | Canon | Rating | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Spook's: A New Darkness | 2014 | 1 | core | 4.15 (4,640 ratings) |
 | Spook's: The Dark Army; The listed edition is a Bodley Head paperback published 7 January 2016. | 2016 | 2 | core | 4.11 (3,230 ratings) |
 | Spook's: The Dark Assassin | 2017 | 3 | core | 4.11 (2,530 ratings) |
Three novels following Tom Ward as the County's spook and his apprentice Jenny.
Brother Wulf Joseph Delaney
| Work | Year | Internal chron. | Canon | Rating | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Brother Wulf | 2020 | 1 | core | 4.33 (691 ratings) |
 | Brother Wulf: Wulf's Bane | 2021 | 2 | core | 4.23 (441 ratings) |
 | Brother Wulf: The Last Spook | 2022 | 3 | core | 4.23 (368 ratings) |
 | Brother Wulf: Wulf's War | 2023 | 4 | core | 4.15 (255 ratings) |
Four novels following the novice monk Wulf and Tom Ward.
Quick answers
- How many books are in The Wardstone Chronicles? The Wardstone Chronicles's Core Canon is 20 books.
- What is the reading order for The Wardstone Chronicles? Publication order, starting with The Spook's Apprentice. Full list and years in the Core Canon table above.
- Is The Wardstone Chronicles finished? Complete (2004–2023).
- How much reading does The Wardstone Chronicles take? High reading commitment (estimated from 20 Core Canon books).
- How is The Wardstone Chronicles ranked? #197 in this site's official ranking, based on 271,297 reader ratings across 20 Core Canon books. See the full ranking for how this is calculated.
Why is it ranked #197?
Ranked #197 in the official ranking.
- Average reader rating of 4.14 across 20 core books.
- Backed by 271k reader ratings.
- Less than 0.01 behind #196, Belgariad Universe (a finer tie-break level decides the order).
- Below the top-10 average of 4.46.
Why explore this universe?
Highly rated · 20 books · Complete · 271k ratings · Ranks #197 overall
Good choice if you want a long-running dark fantasy universe that's already finished, so there's no wait for the next book.
Reading order
Publication order (20 Core Canon books)
- The Spook's Apprentice (2004)
- The Spook's Curse (2005)
- The Spook's Secret (2006)
- The Spook's Battle (2007)
- The Spook's Mistake (2008)
- The Spook's Sacrifice (2009)
- The Spook's Nightmare (2010)
- Spook's: I Am Grimalkin (2011)
- The Spook's Destiny (2011)
- Spook's: Slither's Tale (2012)
- The Spook's Blood (2012)
- Spook's: Alice (2013)
- The Spook's Revenge (2013)
- Spook's: A New Darkness (2014)
- Spook's: The Dark Army (2016)
- Spook's: The Dark Assassin (2017)
- Brother Wulf (2020)
- Brother Wulf: Wulf's Bane (2021)
- Brother Wulf: The Last Spook (2022)
- Brother Wulf: Wulf's War (2023)
Documented internal/story order
- The Spook's Apprentice (2004)
- Spook's: A New Darkness (2014)
- Brother Wulf (2020)
- The Spook's Curse (2005)
- Spook's: The Dark Army (2016)
- Brother Wulf: Wulf's Bane (2021)
- The Spook's Secret (2006)
- Spook's: The Dark Assassin (2017)
- Brother Wulf: The Last Spook (2022)
- The Spook's Battle (2007)
- Brother Wulf: Wulf's War (2023)
- The Spook's Mistake (2008)
- The Spook's Sacrifice (2009)
- The Spook's Nightmare (2010)
- The Spook's Destiny (2011)
- Spook's: I Am Grimalkin (2011)
- The Spook's Blood (2012)
- Spook's: Slither's Tale (2012)
- Spook's: Alice (2013)
- The Spook's Revenge (2013)
Awards (verified)
- No awards found for this universe.
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Suggestions computed from what The Wardstone Chronicles and each of these worlds have in common on record (subgenre, audience, shape, reading commitment and score), not a documented narrative connection.
- The Whitby Witches Urban fantasy / Dark fantasy · Complete · High commitment · 3.98
- Jane Yellowrock Urban fantasy / Dark fantasy · Ongoing · High commitment · 4.27
- Island of Whispers Dark fantasy · Complete · Low commitment · 4.21
- The Graveyard Book Dark fantasy · Complete · Low commitment · 4.15
Official resources
Research details
Ranking metrics: weighted average 4.14 across 271,297 ratings on 20 Core Canon books. See Why is it ranked here? above for the full breakdown, or the full ranking.
How do we know this?
Admission: Canon Extension: The Last Dragon Chronicles, The Wardstone Chronicles, The Sisters Grimm, Kingdom Keepers, Saga o zbóju Twardokęsku, Noční klub, El libro de los héroes, Kalfukura, Royaume de vent et de colères and The Heart of the Circle accepted 2026-10-31
Sources: (see source tier definitions)
- Wikipedia: Spook's Tier 2
- Wikipedia: Joseph Delaney Tier 2
- Penguin UK series page Tier 2
Last reviewed: 2026-10-31
Rule: Core Canon = the 20 novels set in the County: the thirteen Wardstone Chronicles novels (The Spook's Apprentice, 2004, to The Spook's Revenge, 2013), the three Starblade Chronicles novels (2014 to 2017) and the four Brother Wulf novels (Brother Wulf, 2020, to Brother Wulf: Wulf's War, 2023). Short stories, novellas, the bestiary, play and film tie-in editions, and the separate Arena 13 and Aberrations series are excluded.