Running with the Demon

I liked this book although the basic plot seemed cliche. Good V Evil. Demon wants to subjugate the world. Only a wounded Hero/Heroine can stop him. But it was an enjoyable read. It took awhile to get going, which may have seemed that way to me because I have been reading a lot of YA books and books written more recently. I think books even 10 years ago were more descriptive and slower moving.

It didn't grab me enough to want to find the other 2 books in the series, especially since I am trying to downsize my stuff including books.

This is the first Terry Brooks book I have read and I like his style. He kept me guessing as to how the demon would be defeated and by whom. I like his style. I know I have more of his books on my shelf so I am show more looking forward to reading them. show less

What do a fourteen year old girl, a wanderer with a wicked limp, and a calculating demon have in common? The answer is three-fold.

Hopewell, Indiana is your typical small town where everyone knows everyone else, it's economy reliant on a single industry - in this case it's the now quiet steel mill as the strike grinds into it's third month. It is also the home of Nest Freemark, growing up under the watchful eyes of her grandparents, a sylvan, a magical dog, and the knowledge that she has a powerful magic. Stranger John Ross drifts into town on a Greyhound bus, and insinuates himself into the life of the Freemark family, claiming that he knew Nest's mother, Caitlin, back in college, before she killed herself. And then there is the demon, show more focused and determined to destroy not just our way of life, but life itself. They are bound by Hopewell. They are bound by deep secrets. They are bound by magic.

Terry Brooks is one of my favorite fantasy authors, but I'll admit it, I had not plan to read this or any of the other books in The Word and The Void series. Urban fantasy just didn't appeal to me, despite how popular these books became. But then he had to go and link this series to Shannara, my gateway drug into the realm of fantasy. If I didn't read these books, I would never be able to fully understand the foundations of those books. I added them to my stack of books to be read, but still I hesitated, putting book after book in front of them. I shouldn't have. Running with the Demon is a dark and complex story of the battle between good and evil. This is not Lord of the Rings or even Shannara. It is something completely different and it hooked me right from the start. If you think you know fantasy, if you think it's all wizards and swords, you're wrong.

What I want to do is go right out and read all of the other books in this series and then jump headfirst into the Genesis of Shannara. Terry Brooks has a way of making me feel like that. He has since the first time I picked up The Sword of Shannara. But I will be patient, I will savor these books. I will allow myself to fully enjoy them and I will say to anyone who has debated reading them because they aren't Shannara, to quit debating and start reading today. show less

Pre-review thoughts
I've finally read Terry Brooks - usually they are higher fantasy than I read. Pick is adorable and my favorite of the characters. The demon is light-eyed and creepy without being cheesy. Nest is a worthy heroine who is finding herself in an unconventional family - a grandfather I adore who does his best in a mad world he can't see, and a grandmother too haunted by her past to move on other than saving her energy for an ultimate battle. Nest's bandit of realistic friends is a fun touch, including a side situation with a boy in an unstable home. Some of the story gets weighed down by lengthy scenes where the demon devices horrible stuff for the town, but this isn't all necessary to the story and I'd like to see it show more trimmed. The writing style is well done and not complicated, making it a quick and light read. The ending is a glorious twist that has a few surprises up its sleeve and made me close the book pleased. I will say the "Knight" seems a bit weak to me, and I disliked all the dreams that dragged on and on. Being in pages of italics did not at all help. show less

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.

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.

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.

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! We written, with great characters and a seemingly more accurate by the day portrayal of current times.