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Summary: Running with the Demon
Review: THis is my all time favorite book. It was very easy for me to get into and I enjoyed all of it. It has the great mixture of Sci Fi/Fantasy and some mystery too.
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Summary: A Modern Day Fantasy Brought to Life
Review: On a hot Fourth of July weekend, two men have descended on the town of Hopewell, Illinois. One of them is John Ross, a Knight of the Word, sent to protect Nest Freemark, a young girl who has magical powers. The other is a demon, sent by the Void to destroy Nest. Ross suffers apocalyptic dreams of the future. It is the price he pays for being a Knight of the Word. In his visions, he sees a world destroyed by feeders, once-men, and demons. He must do what he can to prevent the dreams from coming true. Nest Freemark has magic powers which were inherited from her mother and grandmother, and the demon realizes this. He has made it his sole purpose to turn Nest to the Void. While in Hopewell, the demon will use the anger and frustration of the town to attain his goal. Others will be sacrificed, but this is no consequense to the demon. Brooks has written a masterful novel filled with suspense and action as well as family drama, fading innocence, and cataclysm. The plot is excellent, and the characters come alive as genuine people that the reader grows to genuinely care about. This is a book sure to be remembered long after it is finished. Read this fine book and discover what it feels like to run with the demon!
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Summary: Well-crafted modern-day fantasy
Review: PERSPECTIVE: sci-fi/fantasy fan, new to Brooks' work Although a lifelong fan of sci-fi and fantasy, I've somehow gotten by without reading any of Brooks' original work (aside from an abridged audiobook of Knight of the Word and his Star Wars Episode I novel) until now. Needless to say, it seems I've been missing out. Running With the Demon is a great book, and I recommend it not just to fantasy fans, but to general audiences as well. Brooks attempts to paint a world-spanning epic supernatural conflict between the Word and the Void as the backdrop to his story, with moderately successful results. The majority of the narrative takes place in modern-day Hopewell, IN, which is portrayed very convincingly... Being originally from Cincinnati, I love his little touches emphasizing the "Midwesterness" of the area -- calling soda "pop", his portrayal of the extremes of the weather, etc... The characters are distinctively portrayed and consistant. Interestingly, all of the characters, even the most powerful protagonist (John Ross, the Knight of the Word) and antagonist (the Demon) have significant flaws, which are exploited and drive the story. Ross almost seems too unsure and oblivious of the Demon's machinations, in a way, given that he has been acting successfully as a Knight for several years, although it works in the context of thwe story. The Demon comes across excellently as a villainous presence that, despite all of its power, cannot overcome the complexities and weaknesses of its remaining aspect of humanity. It would have been nice to have spent a bit more time getting to know Nest Freemark's friends, especially the object of her budding romance (Jared Scott), but as this is the first book in the Word and Void series, the primary exposition needs to, and does, center around the pasts and purposes of Nest and Ross. The plot is well-tooled and appropriately suspenseful, building to a satisfying, if somewhat predictable, conclusion. Brooks' style here is descriptive and expositional, but not so much as to slow down the pace of the tale. Some areas seem a bit stilted, such as Nest's friends acceptance of the odd doings concerning the sick oak tree, but mostly everything clicks on all cylanders... the unfolding of the Demon's final plan is a thing of beauty. FINAL WORD: Read this book! Buy it, check it out from the library, or buy it and donate it to your local library.
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Summary: Criminy, A Good Story Told Well
Review: This is a novel of Good and Evil, about a Knight of the Word and a demon from the Void. There is a bad ass, ugly maentwrog. It's ten feet tall and weighs well over five hundred pounds, has a wicked tongue and bad breath. Wraith by definition is a spook and an enigma in character. Pick the sylvan who is around 195 years old, is clearly a good guy however, because he says "criminy" every now and then. These creatures manage magic. The magic is uncertain. It dissipates. It might be spent on a lesser evil, or be exhausted while still required, and must be rejuvenated after each use, hopefully before the next need. If you think all this sounds silly, you're mistaken. This is a good story told well. Terry Brooks did not write this story by himself. Sure, he had an idea about what was supposed to happen when he started writing, but then his characters took over the tale and did pretty much what they wanted. In a chronicle of good and evil, we know who is supposed to win, but you're going to wonder. I'm certain even Mr. Brooks didn't know how this one would turn out, because when you let the characters tell the story all hell breaks loose. You ought not to presume the ending; there's a sequel! Nest Freemark, the protagonist, is a fourteen-year-old girl complete with freckles who runs like a bat out of hell. When Nest was very young her mother fell off a cliff, or perhaps she jumped, and her father disappeared before she was born. Nest lives with her grandpa, Old Bob, and Evelyn, her grandma. Grandma smokes and drinks a lot, and she mostly just sits at the kitchen table. "She (Nest) imagined her grandmother sitting alone at the kitchen table in the soft, tree filtered light of moon and stars, smoking her cigarettes, drinking her bourbon, and reflecting on the secrets she hid." Grandma Evelyn is special because she is the only one besides Nest who can see the "feeders," those shadowy, yellow-eyed things that are more a concept than creatures. Nest likes her grandma. You will too, not because she bakes cookies, which she does, but because she's a tough cookie. Old Bob is tough too. He knows that Evelyn has secrets, and during their long life together, she has mentioned the feeders and maybe the other creatures too. Of course, Bob doesn't believe in that nonsense, he's not ready yet, and maybe he never will be. As the story unfolds however, you're going to want to kick Old Bob in the butt to wake him up as to what's happening out there in Sinnissippi Park because Nest is in danger. The spooky stuff works because Brooks' characters are real, even the demon. As the Knight of the Word told Nest, "The demon is not perfect.... He makes mistakes just like humans. He was human once...." Running with the Demon is an enjoyable, suspenseful read.
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Summary: I LOVE IT!!!!
Review: This is a wonderful book, and i love the whole series. It was impossible to put down, and had me on the edge of my seat. This novel has adventure, romance, mystery... everything I look for in a book. Read it!
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Summary: Great Read!
Review: When I bought this series I was new to Terry Brooks. I am SO glad I started off with this trilogy! I've bought other works by him since, and in my humble opinion: "Running With the Demon" is his best. It's rare for me to find a book I can't lay down, such was the case with these books. If you want to totally escape read this series. In real life I've been a practitioner of magick for over 40 years...just the way Brooks describes the heroine's use of her "gift" made me go wow. No hocus pocus Hollywood crud. Loved it. Blessed Be, Morgana
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Summary: don't run from this great novel ...
Review: while not quite up to par with his shannara works, it's still worth reading - several times too. the sequels are pretty lackluster, but this one (as are most originals) is the best in the series.
a great introduction to brooks as well, even if you havent read the shannara books - this will introduce you to his writing style which is very good.
the thing i like the best about this novel is that the characters are so vivid and the events are so realistic and logical. the knight of the word and the demon are both described very well and are so deep psychologically that its hard for me to think of a fantasy novel that rivals it in its depth of psychology. a great buy!
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Summary: Very original and nothing like the Landover series.
Review: When I first heard about this book set in modern times. I thought oh no not another Landover series. Not only is it much better than Landover it is every bit as good as the Shannara books. It is also much more original. Brooks has manage to capture the magic and demons of epic fantasty not only in modern times but without running across the globe either. He also blended in real life drama in an amazingly smooth conglomeration. It makes me wish that Brooks would write a novel set in modern times without the fantasy to see how well he would do(and I am a die hard fantasy fan) It just that good.
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Summary: Not my favorite Brooks series, but the guy's still a genius.
Review: Okay, Running with the Demon was Brooks' attempt of making a fantasy-type story in modern times and in an actual location. It wasn't bad. It wasn't great either, but it's not my personal favorite. It's dark. (That's not the reason why I didn't like it as well as his SHANNARA series, but for the sake of saying so, it's dark.) The thing that's memorable about this is that is suggests and basically fantasizes that maybe there are some people with magical powers in a REAL world. Well, anyways. I didn't toally expect Brooks to understand a teenager (that's the main character, Nest) but it wasn't as bad as I'd thought it might turn out to be. The only reason I ever read this in the first place was because I love Brook's writing. I did give it 4 stars, though. What can I say, a good read but.. the SHANNARA novels are better.
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Summary: Not Carbon Copy for once
Review: Of late fantasy and Sci Fi books have become so dull that I have just about given them up, "anyone for another quest with the kid with unkown powers to find the lost piece of rock that'll kill the evil king" zzzzzz , after reading the GAP series by Stephen Donaldson everything else has been, well just plain boring, I read the first two Shannara books ages back, didn't make it past the second one and was 50 / 50 on buying "Running With the Demon" but the fact that it put fantasy in a modern setting gave it a an edge and even though then whole book takes place in one town it has a nice pace that'll keep you interested as pieces of the story fall into place, sure you can hazard a pretty good guess at the outcome by half way, but then again you can with most books that are well written, unless the bad guy wins, which you don't see very often, a good book I'll be buying the rest in this series.
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