Customer Reviews
Brooks take on modern day America 
2008-12-25
Multiple beginnings
Terry Brooks made his fame by writing fantasy books patterned after The Lord of the Rings. In his case, it is the Shannara series. In all of the books that he is written, he is very consistent. They are all trilogies; they all feature storylines that have a battle of good vs. evil; the good side is introduced to the readers and to each other in the first volume as they struggle with their magical powers and what they mean; in the second volume they get separated out and it looks like evil will win; and, in the third volume, the good side wins and equilibrium is restored; they also always feature a very dark setting and very apocalyptic visions of what the future is like if evil wins.
So, how is this book different from the others?
It is based in modern day America. Other than that, it is a typical Terry Brooks. The good side is based on John Ross who is a Knight of the Word - one of a small handful of people who have strong magical powers that is trying to win the battle for the side of good. However, the battle is not easy, nor is the use of magic without consequences (why is it only the good side get completely wiped out after using magic and are weak afterwards, while the bad side can use as much as they want and have no effects?). As a matter of fact, John Ross has a crippled leg to ensure that he must remain wedded to his cause (why is that needed? Shouldn't the good side NOT cause you to become crippled?) [ this is also a reprise of some of Terry Brooks's other characters who had a stone hand and other debilitating injuries].
John Ross has come to the small town of Hopewell, IL to change the course of history. That future is very dark and chilling and features a Queen Demon who is now a 14 year old by the name of Nest Freemark. If John can affect her life, maybe she will not become the Evil Queen Demon and so he will have scored a victory in the battle of Good vs. Evil. The consequences of his failure are described in long dream sequences where John envisions what will happen.
Nest Freemark also has magical abilities, but she sees herself as the guardian of a park where six generations of her maternal ancestors have lived. All of that lineage had magical abilities, but they are mostly guarding them as a secret from everyone else. In the recent two generations, other things have happened and that is the nub of the story. Nest's mother either committed suicide or was killed (it is never made clear) as a result of her magical abilities and Nest's grandmother is teaching Nest how to use her magic responsibly. There are other characters involved who have major parts in this story, but they are actually sidebars. For instance, Nest's grandfather is portrayed as a very positive man with many good qualities, but he has no magical ability which makes his marriage to Nest's grandmother fail and we see his anguish at that process throughout the book.
The good point of any Brooks story is his imaginative characters - especially the fantasy ones. In this book we meet the obligatory Demon, but much more interesting are the Sylvan, the Maentwrog, and Wraith - who is described as a kind of elemental wolf. Each of them is well described and believable in their characterization and we actually find ourselves interested in their lives and behaviors.
The negative side is the very predictable nature of the plot. The main `revelation' in this book is so predictable that I could tell you what it was going to be when I was only about 50 pages into this 420 page book. Secondly, you can see that this book will be the beginning of a trilogy even though Brooks does a far better job of making this a complete story than normal. The last negative of this book - and the one that made me take off a whole star - is that Brooks is almost preachy to the reader in terms of what he finds objectionable in American Society of these days. Whether he recounts some horrific story (like the early teen kids who throw a five year old off a 15 story window to watch him fall and die) from modern day America, to how often he repeats that mantra that society is deteriorating because people have stopped tolerating each other and being nice and kind to each other. It is very repetitive and distracting since it is obvious that Brooks is making the point - over and over and over again - and it is simply not needed beyond the first or second time.
A great change of pace for Terry Brooks 
2008-10-21
I came to know Terry Brook through the Sword of Shannara and his subsequent books thereafter. Having read around 8 or 9 Shannara books Running With the Demon is a refreshing change of pace. Brooks presents a believable present day world, yet still manages to infuse it with the magic and wonder that makes his Shannara material so enjoyable. Terry Brooks is slowly making me a believer.
Running with the Demon 2008-09-15
I actually got this as a gift for a friend. They give it 5 stars!!!! And they have not finished it yet! I get to read it next and can't wait.
Running with the Demons 2008-03-04
I am a huge Terry Brooks fan. This book does not disappoint. I have introduced my grandson to Terry Brooks, and he enjoyed this book as much as I did.
Opening Gambit - pulls no punches 2008-03-02
I had forgotten ... it had been so long, I had forgotten what it is like reading a book by Terry Brooks. I had forgotten that he creates worlds that hold such dark things; that he isn't afraid to kill characters, traumatize characters, forge them into weapons in the hottest fires of testing. I had forgotten what a ... almost tactile experience it could be reading a book by Terry Brooks, who describes things in such detail, in such living color, that it is like you are THERE.
When Nest saves Bennett Scott from the Feeders one night in the park, it seems pretty normal - she's been a Caretaker of the park ever since she was old enough to understand that she carried the magic inside her to do so - the 5th of her family's women in a line to do so - and was paired with Pick, a Sylvan, who only those with the magic can see. However, she can't help but notice that the Feeders are becoming more bold, and there are more of them than ever. Pick tells her the balance is off, that something seems to be going on, but he doesn't know what.
Meanwhile, her grandfather meets with former co-employees who are currently on strike from MidCon, the area's largest employer - the strike has gone on for a long time now, and tempers are getting high; especially since scabs are being brought in, and managers are working the lines themselves in order to keep the plant operational. Derry and Junior, two of the men affected by the strike, are becoming especially upset about it, and swear they will "do something about it," leaving the meeting in a huff. A mysterious man, who Old Bob (Nest's grandfather) can't quite place but is quite sure he knows, leaves as well.
Nest's grandmother, shattered by the death of Nest's mother, Caitlin, but nonetheless holding herself responsible for Nest's training in magic, spends her days drinking and smoking. Nest believes that there is something that Gran isn't telling her, but she cannot figure out exactly what it is. It seems to revolve around her mysterious father, of whom no one will speak.
A mysterious Native American named Two Bears arrives out of nowhere - Nest befriends him and joins him when he calls up the spirits of his ancestors, the ancient tribe of the Sinnissippi people, of whom he is the last. What she learns further strains her relations with Gran.
The final piece of the puzzle arrives in town when John Ross, a Knight of the Word, shows up. He receives dark dreams of the future, of what it will hold if he fails in his duties to the Word, if he fails to stop the Void from destroying humankind.
I have this book as part of an omnibus, containing all three titles. It doesn't look particularly thick but through some trick of the paper and binding they have fit a large number of pages within a fairly small book, and you can feel the weight when you hold it. It reminds you of the weighty topic of the story itself. The story takes place in our world - or, at least, a world not so very much different from our own - and even if you do not believe in magic, demons, Knights and such, you should believe in the fact that we, are Humans, are on the brink of wiping ourselves out. There is a lesson to be learned here, I believe, if you look deeply enough.
Definitely a recommend from me for this extremely thought-provoking story.
I'm confused 
2008-02-16
In a sleepy steel-mill town, the ultimate battle between Good and Evil is about to begin . . .
Sinnissippi Park, in Hopewell, Illinois, has long hidden a mysterious evil, locked away from humankind by powers greater than most could even imagine. But now the malevolent creatures that normally skulk in the shadows of the park grow bolder, and old secrets hint at a violent explosion.
The brewing conflict draws John Ross to Hopewell. A Knight of the Word, Ross is plagued by nightmares that tell him someone evil is coming to unleash an ancient horror upon the world. Caught between them is fourteen-year-old Nest Freemark, who senses that something is terribly wrong but has not yet learned to wield the budding power that sets her apart from her friends.
Now the future of humanity depends upon a man haunted by his dreams and a gifted young girl--two souls who will discover what survives when hope and innocence are shattered forever . . .
The best of Brooks 2007-11-29
This is my favorite Terry Brooks novel. The Magic Kindgom for Sale was a close second, but Running is the book I keep coming back to read over and over. And, I have read ALL of Brooks' Shannara books. This book is perfect. It wreaks of nostalgic Americana, yet the evil is ancient and powerful. The characters are some of the greatest ever created for a novel. The tender, bittersweet relationship between Evelyn and Old Bob. A group of kids from disfunctional families who stay srong and support each other. The mistreated Josie. The pillar-like Two Bears. The tortured John Ross. And finally Nest, probably the most perfect female character ever written. She is strong, intelligent, yet warm and caring. I really missed them in Armageddon's Children. I love the Shannara books too, but they are sometimes hard to follow, perhaps because of the vast variety of foreign names and places.
Terry Brooks: Knight of the Written Word 2007-11-08
"Running with the Demon" is a brilliant novel centered around Nest Freemark, a fourteen year old grappling with her magical abilities that set her apart from her friends. She must protect the park in Hopewell from feeders and other monsters that lurk in its dark recesses that lay invisible to others. The novel also centers on, John Ross, a knight of the word that suffers from haunting dreams of a destroyed Hopewell, a city caked in ruins, people roaming about it like ghostly aparrations starved and decrepit and the smoke from its ruin rising about the air, like ink. He must prevent the possible future of his dream from occuring.
The story intricately intertwines these two stories, these two lives. Terry Brooks flawlessly describes the city of Hopewell, the park and such to the extent that I am there, lost in the vivid colors so creatively and lyrically painted.
Also, I have never read a novel that draws the characters so intricately, so dynamicly, emotionally that I really feel for them. This novel is truly a masterpiece that delves into rich fantasy and into deep carefully constructed characters.
I really feel as if I know Nest, John Ross, Oolish Amaneh, Nest's grandfather and grandmother and her friends. It is as if I could hop on a plane, take the next flight out to Hopewell and meet them. It is a fantasy that so deeply embeds itself in reality, it takes a while after I close the book, to feel it leave me, for reality to sink in. It is a dizzying plummet into a great work of art.
This book is amazing, I highly recommend it to any and everyone!
Rural Fantasy 2007-10-07
Terry Brooks burst onto the scene years ago with his Shannara series. I was one of those who hesitated to jump onto the "new Tolkien" bandwagon. Later, I read his non-fiction book on writing, and thoroughly enjoyed it. Time to read some of his fiction, I decided. After much prompting from a good friend, I started with the Word and the Void series.
The series opener is an urban fantasy, or more accurately, a rural fantasy. It has more similarities to a Scott Nicholson novel, in that sense, than a Richard Jordan book. We follow young Nest Freemark, a likable but somewhat lonely young woman, who is friends with a sylvan named Pick, a woodland magical creature. She is at the epicenter of a coming spiritual struggle in a small town. The town is in financial trouble, with some malcontents planning their own trouble. Meanwhile, John Ross, a mysterious and dream-riddled Knight of the Word, has showed up to help Nest face the coming evil.
Brooks focuses on many of the town relationships, with families receiving the most attention. He gives lots of detail (sometimes, it bogged the story down for me), adding to the texture of this fairly typical rural setting. His strengths show through the internal conflicts of his characters, their questions about their origins and purpose, and in the descriptions of fantastical things. The story's climax is satisfying, providing some answers and conclusion, yet leaving much more to be explored in the rest of the series. I've already purchased a copy of "Knight of the Word."
Running with the Demon 2007-09-17
This was a decent read. Seems this trilogy gave Terry a new outlet in 2 ways. First, it was cool to see him write in 'our world', and do so well. Secondly, it was nice to witness a different 'formula'. Some of his books are formulaic, albeit enjoyable otherwise I wouldn't read them. From what I read before I purchased many reviews focused on how much the 1st was heads above the other two and how they were copies of the first. I don't agree with this. If you like the 2 main characters of the 1st, you'll enjoy the rest of the trilogy. I look forward to reading in a later trilogy how he ties this word vs void world to Shannara. Let this review stand for the entire trilogy.
