Terry Brooks
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Running with the Demon By Terry Brooks
A major departure from the previous novels that
Brooks has written. Although still a fantasy novel, this book takes place
in present day America. Brooks has created a new vision of good vs.
evil. The Word (good), which created the world, is constantly struggling
to maintain its balance against the Void (evil). Demons, evil servants of the
Void (who once were
human beings), are trying to subvert humanity and tip
the scales in favor of the Void, thereby leading to a cataclysmic destruction of
the world as we know it. John Ross is a Knight of the Word. John is
a man who pledged his life in service of the Word and while he sleeps, he dreams
of the nightmare that the world will become if he fails to prevent certain
events from occurring when he awakes.
John Ross and a Demon both converge on the sleepy
town of Hopewell, Illinois one fourth of July weekend. The town is in the
midst of a lengthy and bitter steel strike. The demon hopes to use the anger
and frustration eating at the community to achieve a secret goal. John has
tracked the Demon to Hopewell to attempt to destroy him. Somehow, linked
to both of these men is a 14 year old girl named Nest Freemark. Nest
possesses a unique form of magic that could be used for the good of the Word or
for the evil ends of the Void. On Independence Day, the fate of all
humanity may be decided, depending upon the actions of Nest.
Brooks develops his new vision of good vs. evil in
an effective manner. You feel like the story could actually be happening
in the next town over. It is a refreshing twist to have a fantasy novel,
replete with magic and magical creatures, set in the modern world as opposed to
some fantasy kingdom. There is something for everyone in this novel:
hidden family secrets, magic wielded against magical monsters, human weaknesses
turned towards evil ends, fairy creatures, etc. This is a very good start
on a new series. Although I figured out some elements of the ending about
halfway through the book, I was still surprised by the conclusion. Brooks
fans will not be disappointed by this book.
Reviewed by: Alan
Terry Brooks
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A Knight of the Word By Terry Brooks
John Ross was enlisted by the Lady (a servant of the
Word) to fight the demonic servants of the Void. After serving the Word faithfully for decades, a terrible act of violence shatters his faith and he
abandons his charge as a Knight of the Word. He attempts to settle down in a
normal life, forgetting about his nightmares and the demons of the Void.
However, the servants of the Void covet the magic
that John Ross possesses and will attempt to turn him to their own evil ends.
Ross has ignored warnings sent by other servants of the Word, so finally, the
Lady sends a messenger to Nest Freemark. Five years earlier, Ross had helped her
when she was making her own monumental decision between the Word and the Void.
Now Nest must help John to regain his faith, or his life-and possibly her
own-will be lost.
In my opinion, this sequel to Running With The
Demon is inferior for three major reasons. First, this book fails to
build the suspense generated by Running even though it utilizes the same
formula of compressing all the events of the novel into four days. Second,
Brooks spends too much time describing physical places in Seattle instead of
writing dialog that advances the story. Although his descriptions are well
written (I’ve been to Seattle several times), they would be more appropriately
found in a travel book than a fantasy novel. Finally, the main story idea was a
good one, but I figured out the ending one-third of the way through the book.
Brooks’ other novels often have twists at the end that are hard to spot while
reading the book. This book would have been better served had he remembered this
formula.
There are a few bright spots. The book does reveal
additional background information about John Ross becoming a Knight of the Word.
Also, the idea for the plot is plausible. It is conceivable that a fallen
Knight would be a target for the servants of the Void.
The next book in the series is called Angel
Fire East and is due out in October 1999. I will be reviewing that novel
here because I have not given up on this series. Terry Brooks is a fine author
and everyone is allowed to stub his toe once in a while. There could be many
reasons why Knight of the Word was not up to his usual standards (time pressure
from his publisher, other writing commitments such as the Star Wars novel, lack of a
good idea in time to meet his deadline, etc.). However, I’m confident that
Brooks will once again hit his stride in the next installment. This series has
an interesting premise and the teaser for Angel Fire (at the end of Knight)
looks promising.
Reviewed by: Alan
Terry Brooks
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Angel Fire East By Terry Brooks
John Ross, a Knight of the Word, has continued his
struggle against the demons that serve for Void for another ten years. But now
he faces his greatest challenge. He has been charged by the Word to capture and
protect a Gypsy Morph. The Morph is a rare blending of magics that occurs
spontaneously. If developed properly, the Morph can become a powerful tool in
the fight against the Void. Unfortunately, for Ross, the Void is painfully aware
of these facts and has dispatched legions of demons to destroy Ross and turn the
Morph to their own evil purposes. Lead by Findo Gask, the oldest and strongest
of all of the Void’s minions, the demons hound Ross relentlessly.
Ross turns once again to Nest Freemark, inheritor
of a strange magic passed down for generations in her family. Nest last saw Ross
ten years before in Seattle when she helped him recover his faith when he
attempted to quit being a Knight of the Word. Now Nest must help Ross discover
the secrets of the Morph while holding the demons at bay. Nest and Ross continue
to make extremely painful personal sacrifices to achieve the goals of the Word.
However, since the entire fate of humanity hangs in the balance, is any price
paid too high?
Brooks adopts the same style that he did in the
first two novels in this series. All the events are compressed into a few days
of real time while details are filled in through flashbacks. Brooks keeps the
action moving fairly well and comes up with an offbeat ending which I did not
see coming. All in all, this is superior to A Knight of the Word but
still inferior to Running With the Demon. Brooks just was unable to
recapture the feeling of suspense that he expertly developed in Running.
Still, it is a satisfying conclusion (for now) to this series.
Brooks is allegedly done with this series for now
and will be developing another five books in the Shannara series. However, the
ending of this book left plenty of room for sequels, so don’t be too surprised
if he continues this series at a later date.
Reviewed by: Alan
Terry Brooks
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