Customer Reviews

A Knight of the Word: The Word and the Void: Book Two (Word & the Void)

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(27)
3 star:		(11)
2 star:		(17)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

Nest is one of the more interesting characters Brooks has created, yet she does essentially nothing in this entire book. She seems to have this incredible power but we are barely made aware of it. What's the point in creating a great character if you don't use her? How about a bit more character development? This book reads like an outline, very sketchy with little filling in it. I was a huge Terry Brooks fan but in the last 3 years he has left me cold.

As you can probably tell from the subject, I am not what you would call a Terry Brooks fan. I've read all, or nearly all, of his Shannara books and found them long-winded and difficult. His 'Magic Kingdom' series was much better, though still too long-winded for my taste (I prefer a book that doesn't spend so much time in detail that you lose sight of the story).

I bought the initial book of this series because I couldn't find anything else that interested me at the airport bookstore, and I figured this would at least put me to sleep.

Surprise, surprise. The book was one of the best SF books I've ever read. The characters were 'real' and the plot was very well thought out. Still long-winded in parts, but I found the content actually enhanced the story instead of detracting from it.

This book continues that tradition. Truly one of the best SF books I've ever read, it captures the imagination and won't let go. I found myself disappointed that my neighborhood bookstore doesn't yet have a copy of 'Angel Fire East'.

However, I'm ordering it from Amazon as soon as I get done writing this... :)

This book was wonderful. It expands on a story that was already a complete masterpiece. Our friend Nest has gone off to college and must return home to take care of some family business. Her powers have improved with age and a demon is stalking her unbeknownst. John Ross has gone through some turmoil which is expected with a character of his depth. Questioning his convictions, John resigns his post as a knight of the Word. At least until Nest argues him from that path. Some good excitement and unexpected revelations make this book a must read. As I said before, even for the non-fantasy fan. Read this book!

When I was a young lad I would read every Shanarra novel I could find, and several times. I read all of Terry Brooks' Magic Kingdom of Landover novels. But for some reason I never picked up Running With the Demon or any of the Word/Void novels. It really makes no sense because of how much I enjoyed Brooks' work. A couple of months ago I finally read the first Word/Void novel and was stunned. Running With the Demon was quite possibly the best thing Terry Brooks has written with an argument to be made about Elfstones. What's more, it felt fresh. It was the story of John Ross, a normal man picked by the Word to be its Champion in trying to hold the balance against the Void. When the novel started, Ross had been a Knight for some twenty or so years and made his way to Hopewell, Illinois to try to stop something from happening. He wasn't sure what because his dreams only give him a location and a taste of the horrors that would be unleashed on our world if he fails. He finds a teenaged girl, Nest Freemark and her magic.

Five years later Nest is a college student and John Ross has given up being a Knight of the Word. He once had a vision of an event that he needed to stop and he failed. He couldn't continue to serve, the burden was too hard. But being a Knight is not a burden one can lay down. The Void wants to turn John Ross to its side. The Word needs John Ross to resume the fight. An agent for the Word contacts Nest to try to convince Ross to rejoin the fight for the Word. In just a couple of days Ross will take a step that will put him solidly on the path to the Void and he won't know it. A Knight of the Word is a novel of the continuing fight for balance between the Word and the Void, the fight for John Ross's soul, the future of Nest Freemark and ultimately the future of our world. You see, the world of the Word/Void novels is out own, just with a twist. Most people have no idea.

By this point in my life and having read nearly everything Terry Brooks has published (there are a couple of Landover novels I haven't read now) I would have said it was impossible for Brooks to surprise me. But he has. I am nearly shocked by just how good his Word/Void novels are. A Knight of the Word is the second book in the trilogy and it is just as good as Running With the Demon, possibly better. Even if a reader does not like the typical fantasy novel, I would suggest giving the Word/Void novels a chance. This is more of an urban fantasy where there is some magic, but it is in a modern setting. It's worth a look. This trilogy is the best work that Brooks has produced.

-Joe Sherry

John Ross has renounced his pledge as a Knight of the Word after he failed to save the lives of schoolchildren in a tragedy. He's now working for a homeless shelter in Seattle and trying to build a life for himself.

Nest Freemark is now a college student. She comes to Seattle to warn John that a Demon's after him and eventually will try to seduce him into the service of the Void.

This one's not as much of a page-turner as "Running with the Demon." Interest in what happens to Ross and Freemark is what keeps you reading rather than the plot itself. Overall, a decent followup, but not a thriller like "Running."

A Knight of the Word takes place 5 years after the events of Running with the Demon and one of the things I liked about it was how the characters have moved on. Nest has gone off to college and has kinda lost touch with her old life, like a lot of folks do in real life. Her one true friend remains Pick, the six inch sylvan twig man that keeps balance to the magic in the park. I like how Brooks shows her dealing with these feelings, it's very natural.

The roles here are flip flopped from "Demon", in that this time it's up to Nest to go to and help out John Ross, who's lost his faith. The main thing I liked about this book was how sympathetic Ross was. You just start to feel bad for the guy, the things he's gone through and had to endure. More than one man should ever have to. This makes his fall from faith all the more believable and real, in fact, considering the event that triggers it, I'm forced to admit that I probably would have too were I him.

Throughout the book, Ross deals through this problem. He can't just give up, it just doesn't work that way. It's just amazing watching him ignore the totally obvious signs and warnings that he can't give it up because he's blinded by his new life and how good he feels and how right it feels to him. It's amazing, because I've seen people do the same thing in my life, so this book kinda hit me personally there.

The mystery of who the demon is is kind of easy to figure out, and not too much of a shock when it reveals itself, but that's of little consequence, what is of the most consequence is how it effects the characters in the book. You knowing makes it that much more painful knowing how it'll probably effect Ross.

And let's not forget poor Nest, how does she go about helping this man who she has mixed feelings about. But she does, and her relationship with Ross develops further (not in THAT way, you sickos! :). A complicated relationship it is, but a real one that will stand the test of time.

Of course I would be remiss to go through the review and not mention Two Bears! This guy is just plain cool, I could probably read a whole novel on Two Bears, but I'm afraid that would undo what is so cool about him.

And let's not forget Terry Brooks, who has created two characters in John Ross and Nest Freemark that I will probably remember for a long, long time. Plus, he weaves an excellent story around them that deals with important issues such as friendship, strong characters, and the whole homeless situation, which you can see he has some real concern about (and rightly so!) So, in conclusion, Terry Brooks continues to do no wrong in my book.

I read this book and am just absolutly enthralled with the vivid scenes and the continuity of the story line that Terry Brooks has created. The setting is very close to home as I live in the Seattle area and have been to the scenes depicted in the book and have since had a very different view of them. Ah well on with the review, John Ross is an reluctant hero/Knight of the Word, his powers and strength granted to him by beings out of legend, the power has crippled his body and soul yet he must answer the cryptic visions with action and be transformed by the magic to battle the demons that are taking over Seattle WA. After a long period of self imposed exile from his service to the Word John Ross finds himself haunted and hunted by the very demons he had pledged his body and soul to destroy, when the demons start to destroy all those things that John had come to believe as his true release from his duties as a Knight of the Word He falls further into the despair that made him renounce the power and magic and the demons know that he isn't free of the power and they are attempting to drive John to such despair that he will join the side of the Void, for A Knight Of The Word would be a great prize and would add the power of the Word to the side of darkness and unspeakable horror for human kind. John Ross needs help and it comes to him in the form of a friend, a young woman named Nest Freemark. Nest also has power to wield given to her as a birthright from her father a demon of the Void and her grandmother a servant of the Word. All in all this book is a good read one of the best I've read in over 20 years and one of the Top 10 favorites I've read from Terry Brooks in the past 10 years. I can't wait until the next in this series.

The second volume of the Word and the Void series, is as much of a standalone novel as the first one (Running with the Demon) was, and it features many of the same characters. The main story line this time is that John Ross has decided to forsake the side of the Word and quit his role as A Knight of the Word. Unfortunately, quitting is not allowed in this world and so a battle begins for his soul between the two sides. Ross is being courted and seduced by a demon who is working as hard as it can to make sure that Ross becomes an ally of the Void. The Word is not sitting idly by either. The Lady sends emissary after emissary to him trying to get him to stay in the fold - or actually, to return to her service. The initial emissaries are the normal dream sequences - but Ross ignores them; so then she sends her other servants culminating in the recruitment of Nest Freemark who is now a 19 year old woman attending college.

The main problem I have with this whole concept is that it seems to me that there is no reason for anyone to want to take on the mantle of fighting for the good side - the Word. Look at Ross for instance, as soon as he is admitted to the fold, he is permanently disabled and bound to the staff. We are told that this is to remind him every day of his service. Also, he is haunted every night by nightmares that show him how the world will end if he screws up. Oh, these dreams eventually yield clues that allow him to redirect events and resolve things to the side of the good, but why would anyone want to do this? What are the rewards of service? If you read these two books attentively you notice that there are no rewards - only more and more demands.

In Ross's case, he makes a mistake and does not foresee all the possibilities for wrongdoing in one case and consequently he fails - which results in a massacre in which 14 young kids die. Ross is understandably upset by this setback and one would think, nay hope, that the Lady would come to his aid - but she does not do so. Instead she spurns him and does not appear to him to bolster his morale. Noticing this, the dark side dispatches one of its most feared demons to work on subverting Ross. So, what does the Lady do? She sends a few more emissaries, but also dispatches one of her assassins to be ready to kill Ross in case he deteriorates further! Why would you serve these people willingly?

As far as the story goes, it rolls along in a semi-believable fashion as we witness the battle from Nest's perspective. She is not sure why she is being asked to help, and put aside her own worldly concerns, but she eventually does. As she finds Ross, and works out all the mysteries and swirls of magic around him, she begins to unravel the plot that is ensnaring Ross and points the way out to him. Ross for some reason believes her, while not believing in all the previous emissaries, and consequently is ready for the final battle in the nick of time - a battle that introduces us to a new twist of the magic that resides within Nest!

The demon that is working on Ross is obvious from miles away. About one third of the way through the book, I figured out who it was. The author does his best to cloak this and to sow doubt at the end, but those plot twists do not really work. Also, the whole story is a vehicle for the author to present his very dark vision of current American humanity and to expound on his political views of how the world and our society have turned their backs on unfortunate people - which will ultimately cause us immense pain and destruction.

I am not sure what bothered me more: the preachiness of the book? The obvious plot? Or the utter disregard that the supposedly good side has for its own people. For all of these reasons, I rate this book as a mere two. One final note, what was the illustrator thinking about when preparing the cover? Whose house is that? It is certainly not a part of either of the first two books in this series. Sloppy, sloppy, sloppy.

John Ross is a Knight of the Word (or Creator) who has had it with his lonley mission to fight the evil minions of the Void (guess who he is). After a mission that ends in tragedy Ross calls it quits and tries to make life for himself serving the homeless in Seatle with a new home and a lover. Life is good, but can Ross escape his calling to defend the world from the depredations of demons and the forces of chaos? No. Ross's past catches up with him in the form of an insidious demonic plot to seduce him into the service of the Void. However, there is hope! Nest Freemark, the girl Ross saved in Running with the Demon, is sent by the Lady, a servant of the Word, to save Ross not only from the Void, but also from the fatal consequences the Word will visit on him if he doesn't get his act together.

A Knight of the Word is well written, fast-paced, and a fun read. You can always count on Terry Brooks to come up with memorable characters you can relate to set in a book that is hard to put down. Brooks' dualistic take on the battle between God and Satan is pretty interesting stuff, and, although I don't believe that particular battle is as close in reality as in Brooks' imaginary world, the setting of this book and its precursor uncover some interesting truths about our responisibility to serve either ultimate good or ultimate evil. The only drawback to this book is that it was a bit predictable. However, I got sucked into the how of what would happen, and found myself satisfied at the end of this good book.

Even though two stars may seem like a bad rating, keep in mind that it technically means "fair". If stars were a grade in an essay, it would be C+ - a pass, but not a particularly brilliant one. Such is the case of "A Knight of the Word", the sequel to Terry Brooks's "Running with the Demon," a much more rewarding book.

The basic premise is a good against evil plot, embodied in the forces known as the Word and the Void. Both sides have creatures loyal to them, namely demons on behalf of the Void, and Knights for the Word. The present Knight of the Word is a man named John Ross, who lives a lonely existence; wandering an post-apocalyptic future in his dreams in order to find clues and answers to what transpired to prevent it from happening in the present (kinda like "Early Edition" and "Tru Calling" - remember those shows?)

Anyway, after a botched rescue mission that results in the deaths of several children, Ross gives up his calling and settles down to a new life. He has a girlfriend Stefanie Winslow, and they both work for "the Wizard of Oz", the nickname given to Simon Lawrence, a charity worker for homeless people. Meanwhile, the magically inclined Nest Freemark (the young girl that Ross saved in "Running with the Demon") is now nineteen years old and in a rut in her life.

All seems reasonably well, but the Word's messenger, a tatterdemalion named Arial assures Nest that Ross has made himself vulnerable to the Void by ignoring his calling, and only Nest can make him aware of a demon in his presence attempting to corrupt him. Meanwhile, Back in Seattle, an investigative reporter named Andrew Wren is uncovering suspicious facts that may prove the downfall of Lawrence's foundation and Ross's work.

It is a solid enough sequel, but not up to par with its predecessor. I enjoyed "Running with the Demon" immensely due to its environment (the far-reaching parklands) and the supporting cast. Here however, most of the old cast has died or moved on: Cass Minter and Old Bob have died, Brianna and Jared have moved away, and even the cats are gone. Brooks may be attempting to make the situation true to life, but it comes across as rather depressing. Despite the presence of Robert, Nest feels very much alone in this book, with none of the hope and promise that "Running" concluded with.

Likewise, the streets of Seattle just aren't an interesting setting as Hopewell and the park, and the change in scenery deprives us of Pick's presence. Two Bears appears in little more than a cameo, and Wraith has a relatively minor role that doesn't really have much bearing on the overall story.

I found that Nest was the more interesting character out of the two protagonists, though I can't exactly pin point why, and I liked the way the roles had been reversed from the previous book - now Nest is the rescuer. Likewise Arial was an interesting idea (a spirit made up of lost children's memories) and it was fun to see another sylvan - Boot. But I have to admit that unlike other reviewers, the secret identity of the demon did catch me off guard (gimme a break, I was only fourteen when I read it!)

Throughout the story Brooks gives us so many lectures on the plight of homeless people that I seriously hope he takes his own advice and gives generously to the poor. Hey, maybe you should take the money you were going to spend on this book and give it to a homeless fund instead! There's an idea I'm sure Brooks would approve of!

So my main grievance is that it was too far removed from the direction "Running with the Demon" seemed to be going in at its end - this instalment is too dark and melancholy. Unless you're desperate for more on Ross and Nest, I would just read "Running" and then go on to bigger and better books.