Running with the Demon (The Word and the Void Trilogy, Book 1)

by Terry Brooks

Hardcover, 1997

Status

Available

Call number

813.54

Publication

Del Rey (1997), Edition: 1st, 350 pages

Description

Fantasy. Fiction. Thriller. HTML:In Running with the Demon, Terry Brooks does nothing less than revitalize fantasy fiction, inventing the complex and powerful new mythos of the Word and the Void, good versus evil still, but played out in the theater-in-the-round of the "real world" of our present. On the hottest Fourth of July weekend in decades, two men have come to Hopewell, Illinois, site of a lengthy, bitter steel strike. One is a demon, dark servant of the Void, who will use the anger and frustration of the community to attain a terrible secret goal. The other is John Ross, a Knight of the Word, a man who, while he sleeps, lives in the hell the world will become if he fails to change its course on waking. Ross has been given the ability to see the future. But does he have the power to change it? At stake is the soul of a fourteen-year-old girl mysteriously linked to both men. And the lives of the people of Hopewell. And the future of the country. This Fourth of July, while friends and families picnic in Sinnissippi Park and fireworks explode in celebration of freedom and independence, the fate of Humanity will be decided . . . A novel that weaves together family drama, fading innocence, cataclysm, and enlightenment, Running with the Demon will forever change the way you think about the fantasy novel. As believable as it is imaginative, as wondrous as it is frightening, it is a rich, exquisitely-written tale to be savored long after the last page is turned.… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member Cecrow

It took me a good long while after its publication to read this, despite being an early fan of the Shannara series. I found this novel wanting for tension, and I wasn't terribly drawn to the characters or their situation. I might not have continued with the sequels had I not already bought them.

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LibraryThing member Wiszard

Another great book and another fine series from Terry Brooks. Meet John Ross and Nest Freemark. Nest is from Hopewell, Illinois Running with the Demon is the first book in the Word and the Void series. It details the adventures that Nest has. We get to meet her grandparents and her closest friends,

Bobby, Jared, Cass, and Brianna. The book is subtitled "A Novel of Good and Evil" and that is very appropriate. This book comes highly recommended.

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LibraryThing member Karlstar

A great start to an excellent urban fantasy series. Brooks creates a compelling setting of a modern world with faerie creatures, knights, ordinary people with magical powers and demons. The characters are believable and relatable and lovable, everything you'd want. This is also the ultimate

beginning of the Shannara books, though set in our time and our world. This would make a great TV series too.

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LibraryThing member Karlstar

The first book of a contemporary fantasy series speculating on how dark powers are influencing our world for the worst, and how a Knight and a young girl fight back. Very good!

LibraryThing member npl

Although the world doesn't end in this volume, Brooks shows the beginnings of the end as they occur in Hopewell, IL. As the Fourth of July celebrations occur in Sinnissippi Park, the 14-year old Nest Freemark will find her soul is the prize in a battle between a demon of the Void and John Ross, a

Knight of the Word. Will she follow in the footsteps of her grandmother and mother, join forces with her father, or have the strength of will to create her own path? The end of the world "will happen because of a lot of little things, an accumulation of seemingly insignificant events", and a seemingly insignificant girl is the focus and deciding factor. Brooks wrote two urban fantasy trilogies to tell how the world around us ended and became Shannara, the realm of his classic fantasy world-building series. (The Sword of Shannara, the first in the Shannara series, was published in 1977.) Running with the Demon starts the Word and the Void, the prequel trilogy set closest to our reality.

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LibraryThing member vircotto

I read the 2nd trilogy first. When I returned to this first book of the original trilogy I was disappointed. The plot moved far too slowly for my taste. Character development was good, and it was entertaining to learn more of the back story on some characters referred to in the 2nd trilogy, but I

found it difficult to push on through to the conclusion. I doubt I'll read the rest of this trilogy.

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LibraryThing member jehovahrapha

Although Angel Fire East is my favorite of the Word and Void trilogy, Running With the Demon is the book to read if you want the basic background. You can't read the other two without first reading this one; you'll just get confused. Admittedly, I love the way Terry Brooks develops his characters

and their relationships. The dynamic between John Ross and Nest Freemark is both fluid and complex, and it only continues to grow more so over the next two books in this series.
NOTE: Read the Word and Void trilogy before you attempt the Genesis of Shannara. Those three will make SO much more sense if you do!

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LibraryThing member letori

Of the five books of Terry Brooks I've tried to read at one time or another (with varying degrees of success) this is the only one I actually enjoyed.

LibraryThing member Imrahil2001

The plot is pretty threadbare and the book becomes extremely tedious by the midway point. This could easily have been a hundred pages shorter, but Brooks never knows how to say anything just once. Lots of mood and atmosphere, and some good bits, but overall, the payoff isn't worth the trip it takes

to get there. I won't be reading the rest of this series.

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LibraryThing member willowcove

Excellent prequel, and a great transition from one storyline to the other.

LibraryThing member RobinLythgoe

Readable, but unimpressive. Excessive description feels like filler. Character development disappointing.

LibraryThing member jimmaclachlan

This book gets 2 stars only if you're expecting a YA read & not much else. Actually, it's kind of a neat idea, but the execution was horribly flawed. Reading it, I was able to skim & ignore much of the stupid & repetitive writing. Listening to it was pretty torturous, though.

The idea of the 'Word &

Void', opposites, good & evil is obvious & overdone, but it looked as if Brooks had opened up some possibilities. Overall, there are some good messages. I like the idea that The End isn't one big thing, but a lot of little things all adding up together. A very subtle game was going to be played with unsuspecting people. Unfortunately, he fumbled in the execution.

The demon was a major dumb ass, too evil & stupid to be true when it came to Nest. He did everything possible to alienate her while using all his subtle charms on secondary players. It made no sense no matter how much I tried to excuse it.

But the worst offense was Stupid Secrets. Nest was born with MAGIC. IOW, the kid has a loaded gun in her hands from an early age & is now going through puberty with a bunch of trials on top. We also find out (oh, so slowly & stupidly) that both Gran & John KNOW the demon is after her! So, let's not tell her a damn thing or give her any training, but pretend nothing will happen, even though the basic premise of the entire book - what these people have dedicated their lives to -is that something the demon WILL come after Nest WILL happen. If there is any logic there, it completely escaped me.

To cap it all off, we get to the final confrontation & no one has told Nest that touching the demon will change her - something he could have done at the church - but luckily she doesn't. This is good because when all is said & done, John Ross makes it clear that what he really came to do was kill her if the demon had. Obviously, this is supposed to be a bombshell, rocking us all to our startled little toes. Aaaaggghhh! It was just STUPID.

The magic is sketchy. The knight, the figure of power & authority, is severely limited while a completely untaught, 14 year old girl's magic doesn't seem to be limited by anything other than her own self control. (Note: I have raised 3 teenagers. 14 is NOT an age where self control is a notable attribute of either sex.) OK, she wasn't up to handling the demon apparently, but she barely tried & she never felt tired after knocking someone out. Untutored, she had enough control to wake up her friend, Jared, from a coma? And Gran gave up all her magic to change Wraith. It never came back? Why? How? Without magic, how did she kill the boy friend with the vision? Wraith's appearances had no logic to them. Pick can suddenly send telepathic messages?

Brooks was consistent in using multiple words where one would do. In a phone conversation, we find this gem, "There was an audible sigh of relief." Of course it was audible! (OK, that one is minor, but the sheer number of similar instances drove me to distraction.) Feeders, limbless shadows, managed to both creep & slither. Pick was described so many times that I was ready to rip his mossy beard off. Seriously, the first several times we heard about him, that was most of the description & then Brooks decides to fully describe him & we get more on the beard. Enough!!!

Anyway, I will NEVER listen to another Brooks book on audio. Luckily, he had a really excellent reader & I was stuck or I wouldn't have finished this one.

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LibraryThing member ladyofunicorns

I enjoyed this book. I had two copies of it for some reason, a hard cover and a mass produced paperback. I am a fan of Terry Brooks and this one is a perfect find. I do plan on getting my hands on the other ones from this trilogy as well.

LibraryThing member Linyarai

I found it very slow going and much less interesting than his other novels, but still enjoyed the tie-in to the realms.

LibraryThing member GlenRH

This is definitely a set up book for a series of more. The plot comes to a conclusion but it leaves you wanting to know what the characters do next. It was quite the adventure. I want to know what happens to Nest's friends as they grow up and go their separate ways.

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