Title: Running with the Demon (Word & Void #1)Author: Terry Brooks
Genre: Adult, Urban Fantasy
Length: 420 Pages
Publisher: Del Rey Books
Release Date: August 19, 1997
Source: Library
Rating: 2 Stars
Reviewed by: Jasmyn
Twenty years ago, Terry Brooks turned fantasy fiction on its head with The Sword of Shannara, the first fantasy novel to make the mainstream bestseller lists, and the first in an unbroken string of thirteen bestselling books. Now, in Running with the Demon, Brooks does nothing less than revitalize fantasy fiction again, 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.
This is the story of the world before - the world of man and technology - before magic returned to the world and the Shannara Chronicles began. Many times throughout the stories the past is referenced and the remains of ruins of our world can be seen in the forests and swamps of the world of Shannara. How did this happen? Well, start reading Running with the Demon to find out.
This one just didn't do it for me. I'm not sure if it was the sudden change from a high fantasy style to a completely urban fantasy - or that it was set in a town not too far away. I just couldn't see it in my head or connect with the characters. Nest is a very special teenager, from a very special family line. on her shoulders may rest the very furture of the world as we all know it. I had a hard time connecting with Nest as the story went on. her relationship with her friends, family, demon, creatures, and John just never rang very true for me.
It also takes a long time to get anywhere of significance in the storyline. I really had no clue why any of this was so important until about half way through the story. This made it a little difficult to keep going from chapter to chapter at times. Brooks writing is still very beautiful and he has a way of bringing a scene to life, this just wasn't one of my favorites.
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