Out of This World SFF Reviews is extremely pleased to be one of the many blogs participating in The Write Reads #UltimateBlogTour featuring Kenneth B. Andersen and his book THE DEVIL'S APPRENTICE! Today is Day #6 and I couldn't be more excited to be a stop on this tour. I will be reviewing Kenneth's book next as well as providing you with some biographical info after the review, so be sure to check that out before you go. But first, here is my official review of this entertaining and imaginative YA fantasy book!
Title: The Devil's Apprentice
Author: Kenneth B. Andersen
Publisher: Self-Published
Publication Date: October 8, 2018
Rating: 7.5/10
13 year-old Philip's life has completely gone to hell.....literally. As in, he finds himself in the fiery depths of the place where the naughty people go after being struck by a car. After a meeting with the devil himself, Philip finds out that his being in hell is actually a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time and that someone else was actually supposed to have descended in his place. You see, Philip is actually a very good boy, in fact according to the devil he's 99% pure as the driven snow.
The problem is, Lucifer is dying and needs someone to be his replacement, and despite the young boy's obvious lack of evilness, he still believes that Philip can fit the bill. So begins Philip's training, albeit reluctantly. What becomes almost immediately apparent as his training progresses is that Philip really sucks at being evil. And that's sort of a prerequisite for the job.
Philip simply can't understand why Lucifer would even want to train someone who has no desire to be the new Prince of Darkness. But the devil is undeterred and continues to try to convince Philip that evil is a necessity in any society and that if there was no evil in the world, it actually would be detrimental to humanity as there would be no adversity to help make people stronger etc..
There is a twist in all of this however as there is an unknown entity in hell who has ambitions of their own. Those ambitions seem to suggest that they want to sit on the devil's throne and engage in a hostile takeover so to speak. The question then becomes not if Philip will complete his training and become the new Beelzebub, but whether someone else may actually take him out before that can even happen and subsequently claim dominion over the entirety of hell and its tortured inhabitants.
This was a fun read that I found myself flying threw in a matter of a few days. The writing is crisp, the story is entertaining and humorous and I found myself chuckling out loud through many sections. THE DEVIL'S APPRENTICE is classified as YA fiction, ages 12-18 and it definitely has that feel overall. However, there are quite a number of dark and borderline scary moments that should make the book appeal to older readers as well.
If you are looking for a YA Dark Fantasy read that is similar in tone to Sabriel by Garth Nix or Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials, you should give THE DEVIL'S APPRENTICE a shot. It's an easy read with a decent amount of action and excitement which should delight most readers and keep them reading well past their usual bedtime.
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Kenneth B. Andersen's Bio
Kenneth B. Andersen (1976) is an award-winning Danish writer. He has published more than forty books for children and young adults, including fantasy, horror, and science-fiction.
His books have been translated into more than 15 languages and his hit-series about the superhero Antboy has been turned into three movies. A musical adaptation of THE DEVIL'S APPRENTICE, the first book in The Great Devil war series, opened in the fall of 2018 and film rights for the series have been optioned.
Kenneth lives in Copenhagen with his wife, two boys, a dog named Milo, and spiders in the basement.
Connect with Kenneth B. Andersen on these various platforms:
Here are just some of the things people are saying about The Great Devil War series:
Thank you for stopping by to find out more about this enchanting series from Kenneth B. Andersen! Also special thanks to Dave and the gang at #TheWriteReads for hosting this tour and allowing me to participate. And as always, Happy Reading! - Nick
Huh, I felt like it was middle grade! Nevertheless, I really enjoyed it :)
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