The Devil's Apprentice (book)

*This article is about the book* The Devil's Apprentice *by Kenneth B. Andersen. For the character, go to Philip Engel, and for the stage musical adaptation of the book, go to The Devil's Apprentice (musical).*

The following information is based on events in *The Devil's Apprentice* and contain spoilers.

Høst & Søn (English edition)

* October 11, 2018 (English ebook)

October 19, 2018 (English paperback)

***The Devil's Apprentice*** (Danish: *Djævelens lærling*) is a fantasy novel written by Kenneth B. Andersen originally published in Danish in 2005, and is the first installment of the *Great Devil War* series. The book centers around a very polite boy named Philip who is killed but mistakenly ends up in Hell, forced to become an ailing Devil's apprentice and potentially his heir.

The book was released in English on October 11, 2018 in e-book form, with a translation by by K.E. Semmel. A print-on-demand paperback edition was released on October 19, 2018.

The book along with the rest of *The Great Devil War* and Kenneth B. Andersen's other books translated into English were pulled from Amazon in December of 2020 after Kenneth B. Andersen signed with an American literary agent, Jennifer Lyons, planning to find a traditional publisher for the books instead. He hopes that it will happen soon.

An excerpt of the first four chapters of the book in English is available at Kenneth B. Andersen's official website.

## Description

Philip is a good boy, a really good boy. So he doesn’t understand why he’s suddenly in Hell, handpicked to be the Devil’s successor. The Devil, too, quickly realizes that a mistake has been made, but he still needs to begin Philip’s training in the ways of Evil—and to bring out his dark side. Philip quickly makes friends and enemies in this odd, gloomy world. Meanwhile, he discovers an evil-minded plot against the dark throne…

*The Devil’s Apprentice* is volume 1 of *The Great Devil War* series (Middle Grade)

## Characters (in order of appearance)

* Philip Engel
* Sam, the worst bully at Philip's school
* Mike, a schoolmate of Philip's
* The janitor at Philip's school
* Mr. Johnson, Philip's math teacher
* Lucifax, the Devil's cat
* Grumblebeard, the gatekeeper of Hell
* Lucifer, the Devil

## English translation

   *The Devil's Apprentice*, the first novel of the *Great Devil War* series, came out in English in ebook format on October 11, 2018 through Amazon Kindle, along with its sequel *The Die of Death*. Both books were set to be released on October 11, 2018, but the release took place one day early.

For years, the original Danish publication house Høst & Søn had been trying to shop the series around to English language publishers after having the first book translated by author and professional translator K. E. Semmel. They did eventually find someone, and the first novel, *The Devil's Apprentice*, was set to come out in fall of 2015, but it fell through.

On June 15, 2018, Kenneth B. Andersen revealed on his Instagram that the two first books of the *Great Devil War* series, *Djævelens lærling* (*The Devil's Apprentice*) and *Dødens terning* (*The Di(c)e of Death*), would be released in English in fall of 2018.

On June 15, 2018, Kenneth B. Andersen revealed on his Instagram that the two first books of the *Great Devil War* series, *Djævelens lærling* (*The Devil's Apprentice*) and *Dødens terning* (*The Die of Death*), would be released in English in fall of 2018.

On June 14, 2018 an official English Facebook page for *The Great Devil War* had been launched, which gave the release date for the books as October 5, 2018. An announcement was published to the page on June 17, 2018 that stated that *The Devil's Apprentice* and *The Die of Death* will be released as e-books and print-on-demand. On June 20, 2018 Kenneth B. Andersen confirmed the release date of *The Devil's Apprentice* as October 5, 2018 on Facebook.

On August 15, 2018 Kenneth B. Andersen wrote on Instagram that he was currently proofreading K.E. Semmel's translation of *Djævelens lærling* (*The Devil's Apprentice*), which is the one that is going to be released to the English-speaking market.

On August 17, 2018 Kenneth B. Andersen announced on his Facebook page that he had launched a new official English website. On it, *The Devil's Apprentice* and *The Die of Death* are listed with their release dates, and all the remaining *Great Devil War* books are listed with approximate release dates. On the front page of the website reads that the books will be released through Amazon.com.

On October 5, 2018, it was announced on the English Great Devil War Facebook page that the release of the books had been pushed back to October 12, 2018 due to some unforeseen difficulties with the books. As a compensation, the first four chapters of *The Devil's Apprentice* had been put up on Kenneth B. Andersen's website for free.

On October 11, 2018 the book was released on Amazon Kindle, one day early. The print-on-demand version is set to be released sometime next week. A print-on-demand paperback edition was released on October 19, 2018 through Amazon.com.

## Musical adaptation

*Main article: The Devil's Apprentice (musical)*
A stage musical adaptation of *The Devil's Apprentice* is being produced in Denmark, with the premiere slated for November 1, 2018.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 *The Devil's Apprentice* on Amazon Kindle.
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Instagram: Kenneth B. Andersen proofreading K.E. Semmel's translation.
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 The Great Devil War on Facebook: Paperback out October 19, 2018.
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 *The Devil's Apprentice* paperback on Amazon.
5. ↑ Publishing rights inquiry contact information on Kenneth B. Andersen's official English website.
6. ↑ Kenneth B. Andersen pulls *Great Devil War* books from Amazon after signing with American literary agent in an attempt to find a traditional publisher, Kenneth B. Andersen's Danish Facebook page. December 11, 2020..
7. ↑ Kenneth B. Andersen pulls *Great Devil War* books from Amazon after signing with American literary agent in an attempt to find a traditional publisher, Kenneth B. Andersen's English Facebook page. December 22, 2020..
8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Official English Great Devil War Facebook page gives release date of October 5, 2018 (outdated release date).
9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 *The Great Devil War* on Facebook: Books delayed due to unforseen difficulties, free 4-chapter excerpt released.
10. ↑ PublishingPerspectives.com: Devilish Danish Bestselling Kids Series Seeks English Readers.
11. ↑ Blurb about *The Devil's Appeentice* on K. E Semmel's official website.
12. ↑ Kenneth B. Andersen on Facebook: *The Devil's Apprentice* set to be released in fall 2015 (outdated).
13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 Kenneth Bøgh Andersen on Instagram: The Devil's Appeentice and The Di(c)e of Death to be relesed in English fall 2018.
14. ↑ Official English Great Devil War Facebook page: The Devil's Apprentice and The Die of Death will be released as ebooks and print-on-demand.
15. ↑ Kenneth B. Andersen on Facebook: Confirms October 5, 2018 release date.
16. ↑ Kenneth B. Andersen on Facebook: Launching new official English author website.
17. ↑ Kenneth B. Andersen's new official English website.
18. ↑ Book listing on new official English website.
19. ↑ Kenneth B. Andersen's website, front page.
20. ↑ Free online excerpt of chapter 1-4 at Kenneth B. Andersen's official website.
21. ↑ Kenneth B. Andersen on Instagram: Soo excited about this! Out now as e-books on Amazon! Print-on-demand next week! 11 October 2018.
22. ↑ Langdal, Peter. LaZebnik, Philip. *The Devil's Apprentice* musical. Heltemus Production ApS. 2018.