The Devil's Apprentice (The Great Devil War, #1)

by Kenneth B. Andersen

[Witty and Sarcastic Bookclub]

Thank you to the author for giving me this book, in exchange for my honest opinion. It’s available to purchase now.

Um…where do I start? First of all, I really enjoyed it. It felt like a mashup between The Magisterium series and The Screwtape Letters, but for a younger audience. On Amazon it’s listed as being intended for ages 12-18. I can tell you, though, that it would scare the snot out of my sixth grader. Of course, each reader is different.

Due to an unfortunate mistake, an incredibly sweet boy named Phillip finds himself named successor to the Devil’s job. Lucifer is dying, and needs someone who can continue the job, so to speak. Thanks to the mix-up, Phillip is going to have to become a prince of darkness, literally. It’s going to be a more difficult job than the Devil originally thought.

Parts of this book were a lot of fun. The author took the usual hellish things (horns, pits of fire, etc) and made them his own. My favorite character was just a minor one, but I loved him. The gatekeeper to hell was so much fun to read! He was actually pretty polite, for a hellish guardian. He even offered Phillip a drink. It was revolting, but the thought was there.

There were mysteries to solve, and small lessons hidden here and there along the way. I did have a slight quibble with the amount of progress (or regression?) that Phillip made so quickly. Considering what a sweet boy he was, it seemed unlikely that he would go so bad so fast.

It was well-worded, and mentioned some pretty big concepts without assuming that younger readers wouldn’t understand. I really hate when books talk down to younger audiences, so I’m glad that this author understands that kids are a lot more intuitive than they’re often given credit for.

I liked the ending for the most part. I’m not entirely sure how there’s room for a sequel because it wrapped up so nicely, but I enjoyed the book enough that I’m curious to find out.