Customer Reviews

The Word & The Void: Running With the Demon, A Knight of the Word, and Angel Fire East

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2 star:		(2)
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When I received this omnibus I thought there had to be a mistake; it was my understanding that it contained three books but it appeared too slender a volume to have that much inside. Then I picked it up - OOF! Through some mysterious method and unusual type of paper or something they packed over 700 pages into a book that isn't much over an inch thick - but you can definitely feel the weight to it! Enough about the technicalities of the book - on to the review!

This volume contains three books - "Running with the Demon," "A Knight of the Word" and "Angel Fire East." 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.

In "Running with the Demon" 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 (O'olish Amaneh) 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.

In "A Knight of the Word" fate and destiny intertwine to trap John Ross. Devastated by his failure to completely prevent a tragedy at a grammar school, John decides he is not able to continue as a Knight of the Word and stops. Stops using his magic, stops following his nightmarish dreams of the future ... and eventually - seemingly - the dreams go away, eventually his link to the magic appears to go away. He is still crippled, he still requires his black staff - the token of his Knighthood - in order to walk, but he no longer utilizes it for anything else but a walking staff. He meets the woman of his dreams - a stunningly beautiful woman named Stefanie Winslow - and together they move to Seattle and begin to work for a man called Simon Lawrence - a man of extraordinary vision who works to help homeless women and children - and a man who, according to the only dream John still has, John is fated to kill.

But the Word is not so willing to give John up; despite the fact that he has renounced his place as a Knight, he still holds the magic of the Word and if a demon can twist that magic to the use of the Void, that would be a giant blow struck in the war against the Word. Nest is contacted by O'olish Amaneh - the last of the Sinnissippi - and asked to go and try to get John to take up his part as a Knight of the Word, to try to get him to believe that he is up close and personal with a demon, because one is already close to turning him to the Void's purposes.

Although the identity of the demon didn't come as much of a surprise to me - having figured it out fairly early - it was nonetheless revealed in a rather startling manner. Watching John Ross go through what he did in this book was painful in the extreme, because it is easy to understand the isolation and loneliness that he underwent as a Knight of the Word as compared to the happy life he had built for himself in Seattle, where he had a job he loved, a girlfriend he loved and a thriving social network. To watch all that come apart under the machinations of a demon AND the Word - it was quite painful. And to watch his determination to make things right anyway was somewhat awe-inspiring.

Terry Brooks can break your heart over and over and you still keep coming back because his characters speak to you in so many ways. This story was about growing up, in more ways than one.

In "Angel Fire East" John Ross dreams of a crucified man telling him the location of a rare gypsy morph, and that the loss of that magic led to the downfall of the human race - then glimpses his own face upon that crucified man. He determines to find the gypsy morph and solve the secrets of its magic no matter what. Finding it will be the first task - although he knows it will be in a cave on the Oregon coast and what town it will be near, that doesn't necessarily narrow it down. Then capturing it will be a problem. Then the hardest part will be maintaining his hold on it without it being captured by demons, who will be attracted to it like bees to honey.

He finds the cave with the help of a resident of the area who knew all the caves around. He captures the morph with a net provided by the Lady. And he keeps one step ahead of the demons by remaining constantly on the run. Discovering what the secret of the gypsy morph is, and what it wants to become, however, seems to be impossible - until it finally assumes the form of a little boy and utters the word "Nest" and nothing more.

Nest is warned of their impending arrival by a demon named Findo Gask, who shows up on her doorstep and warns her to not help John Ross or take in the gypsy morph, or she will have only herself to blame for the results. Nest is unaware of this, but Findo did not come to town alone - he brought along three more demons because he has been thwarted repeatedly in his attempts to capture John Ross and the gypsy morph over the past weeks.

To complicate matters more, Bennett Harper turns up on her doorsteps with her daughter. Bennett is an addict and is looking for help and a place to stay. Of course Nest takes her in - but the demons see Bennett as a way to get to Nest.

By the time John Ross arrives with the gypsy morph in the form of a little boy, Nest has a full house.

What happens over the course of the next few days is alternately terrifying, horrifying, heart-rending and heart-warming. It shows the depths to which people can sink, as well as the heights to which they can ascend, all the while doing their best to pull others up with them. This made a satisfying end-cap to the trilogy, while leaving enough of an open end for additional books set in this world if the mood should strike Mr. Brooks (and we all know how he is!).

I can definitely recommend this trilogy to anyone who enjoys classic themes of good vs. evil, especially those with particularly thought-provoking ideas involved. These were very good books - read them!

The is a masterpiece that now starts all of Brooks' tales. This collection of the first three books makes it easy to read all of the starting stories for his entire Shannara lineage.

When 'Running With the Demon' first came out, I was initially NOT interested--at ALL. Which is quite different for me, especially since I have been such a vocal fan of Terry's since, oh I'd say the late 70's when I first discovered his original 'Sword of Shannara'. I should also point out that I also did not want to read Harry Potter for similar reasons (Fantasy being used in the Real World? No Way, thank you). Based on some prodding by several friends, I began the series and I have been forever grateful to those friends for introducing me to yet another example of why Terry Brooks stands atop the Fantasy World these days. While that statement can (and will) be debated, it isn't up for debate to me.

The characters are VERY well drawn out, and quite relatable even despite the element of Magic used. For those who wonder whether Terry has borrowed anything from Harry Potter, I assure you the two series couldn't be more different. Nest Freemark and her troubles from the outset of book one, to the eventual clash at the end of the series in 'Angel Fire East' is one that ALL Fantasy enthusiasts can be excited to read about. A little caution though: the Word and the Void are quite a bit darker than what Terry has written before in the Shannara and Landover series...but not any less entertaining.

For those who may (or may not know) Terry is working on the final volume of a series which bridges the gap between the Word & Void series and Shannara--which so far have been absolutely incredible (IMO). I always know to trust Terry when it comes to what he produces, and one additional valuable lesson was that it doesn't really matter what the subject matter is, Terry just isn't going to let me down. He has NEVER disappointed me in the past, and so far, my hopes remain high for anything and everything he has planned for in the future.

Highly recommended.

Though written to appeal to a young audience, Brooks weaves his tales so skillfully that it draws you in completely. He gives us engaging characters and settings that are so convincing, easily believable.

I have enjoyed the Shannara series since I was in grade school, but I believe Brooks has created his ultimate masterpiece in this series, surpassing all his previous works.

Terry Brooks books are the best! Our whole family loves these books. Now he has combined books into one book, so you don't have to change books they are all there.

Read the Shannara books they are also very good Books.

I bought this novel on the recommendation of a website I trust. However, I had no idea it was fantasy set in the modern world. This is not the typical type of novel I read and I have no interest in the lycans and vampires that seem to dominate such novels. If you want typical fantasy, this is not your novel. If you are looking for something different, this will broaden the palate.

On one hand, the plot of this novel seems to have lots of Christian themes. The good guy is a knight of the Word. The good is the Word and the bad is the Void, harkening to the first chapter of Genesis. The main bad guys are demons. There are demons working behind the visible scene to create evil in the world. These themes harken back to Frank Parettis books like This Present Darkness. However, these novels are by no means Christian allegory. In fact, the struggle between the good and evil is more yin and yang, with neither able to get the upper hand. The Word is not omnipotent or omnipotent. It is an interesting application of Christian themes, using them to place a fantasy novel into the modern world, and blending those themes with more Eastern ideals.

The first novel in this omnibus is by far the best. It is the best because it is the richest in its characterization. While the two main protagonists are the same throughout the three novels, this first novels contains two fantastic characters in grandpa and grandma. They have secrets. They are loving. They are dysfunctional. A huge portion of the first novel is spent on these two characters and the story is made because of it. The other wonderful strength of this novel is its depiction of small town America. The depiction rings spot on and was fantastic.

Unfortunately, grandpa and grandma are gone for books 2 and 3. In this, these two novels suffer. Whereas the 1st book is rich and deep and primarily a character driven novel, books 2 and 3 read more like a summer blockbuster movie: lots of action but little substance. So if I had bought these as the three separate novels as written, book 1 would have been 4 or 5 stars, and the latter books only 3 stars.

When I first purchased this omnibus, I got it because of Terry Brooks "Shannara" series, i.e. an author with a deep experience in sci-fi fantasy who, for some reason, I've never read. Little did I know, these books were a prequel to the Shannara series which I never picked up and had no good reason not to. After "The Word and the Void", they are next on my reading list to be sure, even if it is over 20 years later.

Hopefully this isn't a spoiler-- it shouldn't be. Several score of pages into "Running with the Demon" I was a bit discouraged-- who seemed to be the main protagonist ("John Ross") I was not connect with. Who ended up not being *that* character was the character who I could become attached to ("Nest Freemark"). Once I knew the story revolved around Nest, the pages flew by without me even noticing. It's classic good and evil, without all the cliches and stereotypes. The story of Nest, from naive and frail teenager to a mature 20-something who has always struggled with who she is was what drives the story.

From me, this comes highly recommended. I can't wait to start the Shannara series now.

I loved having all three books in one volume and the volume didn't feel nearly as large or akward as the Sword of Shannara and the Heritage of Shannara all in one volumes. It was easy to take on the bus or take on a flight etc. This edition was very well constructed and easy to use for the amount of material that you carried around.

Anyway... to the books.... I thought these were pretty well written books. They had a lot of action (although not nearly as much as his Shannara series did) and a lot of good plot development. The bad guys were truly evil dudes that you wanted to see destroyed at the end. One problem I had is that the main characters of the book, Nest Freemark and John Ross were really not as likeable as I would have liked and some of the story lines were a little depressing as well but what do you expect when demons are running free and they are trying to destroy you more mentally than physically. I really did enjoy the moral implications these stories had and I liked the way he showed how these demons went about destroying people much like Satan does in "real life".

Angel Fire East is easily, in my opion, the best of the three followed by Running with the Demon and my least favorite was a Knight of the Word. The Knight of the Word is extremely predictable whereas the other two are not nearly as much. Running with the Demon probably has the most plot twists and the Demon in the Angel Fire East is by far the most interesting and even somewhat likeable in a twisted sort of way.

Overall very good books just not as good as some of his others and a much different feel than his Shannara series. Also a lot more language and a few sexual situations (although nothing compared to most books nowadays) than in his Shannara series.

This is his original trilogy in one volume. I have always been a great fan of Terry Brooks and have read everything he's written. This series is connected with that world but set in modern times. Highly recommended for any Terry Brooks fan. If you've never read anything by him I'd suggest starting with "The Sword of Shannara" to check out his writing style, if you love that book as much as I did then this trilogy won't disappoint you.

I got hooked on the Shannara series and have been reading all the books in the order Terry Brooks recommends. I have burned through reading all of his previous works but just cannot get interested in The Word & the Void book. I'm not sure what the problem is but it just doesn't hold my interest enough to turn the pages. I'm going to skip this trio of stories and go onto the next, The Voyage of Jerle Shannara.