A KNIGHT OF THE WORD
By Terry Brooks
Books 2 & 3 of the WORD & VOID Trilogy
My introduction to Terry Brooks was the adaptation of The Phantom Menace (Star Wars Episode 1, for ye commoners), a serviceable work. Unlike many other fantasy fans, I did not pick up the Sword of Shannara series until recently, concerned with the many reviews that considered it derivative.
RUNNING WITH THE DEMON, first in the WORD & VOID trilogy, was then my first wholly original Brooksian outing. I didn't know at the time if it fed into a larger world or was just part of this particular trilogy. I remember buying it at the Kroger in Oxford, OH, interested in the cover and dark, urban fantasy premise. Was this another Neil Gaiman-esque read?
No. No no no.
Don't get me wrong - I enjoyed it enough to buy these sequels and finish the story, but it wasn't literature or a genre-straddling opus (American Gods was recently in my memory). The story introduces our two heroes, the improbably named Nest Freemark, a teen with inborn magic ability being raised by her loving, irascible grandparents; and John Ross, a mysterious traveler and "knight of the Word," cursed to dream a grim future every night that changes - usually darker - with his actions. Together, they battle a demon trying to start the world on the road to Armageddon in rural Illinois.
Fast forward five years, and we're now in the brief timeline of A KNIGHT OF THE WORD. Here, John Ross takes a far larger role, as he is sought by the evil forces of the Void. For John has forsaken his Word vows and taken up as a regular person, with a normal job and friends. No more the wanderer, seeing friends and innocents die while he does "the best he can" to avoid the future he sees in his dreams (specifically here he grapples with a school shooting that he tried but failed to prevent).
Nest is set to put him back on the right path, away from the growing temptation of the Void's human agent(s), so in time he can be on the battlefield against the darkness.
All very dramatic, but overwritten. Brooks is a solid writer, but no Tolkien or even Robert Jordan, who in his early books spun quite a few strong phrases. The action is largely predictable, the outcome rarely in question (it is just book 2) and the characters aside from our leads as thin as the pages you still find yourself eagerly flipping. That's a key part of Brooks' appeal; he can assemble a good plot. I rarely found myself truly bored, just a little disappointed that all aspects didn't live up to their potential.
Which brings us to ANGEL FIRE EAST, final volume in this trilogy, where the potential needs to pay off in a big way. We have demons coursing their way through the lives of these two struggling heroes, throwing obstacles and tragedy at them like confetti. And so it came to pass that ten years following John Ross' fall from grace a gypsy morph (? not a fan of the name, but hey) was born, a being of pure magic that could be a powerful weapon for either Word or Void in the grand overall battle.
Being so chosen by destiny, John finds the creature and has to figure out how to keep it alive long enough to choose a final form and allegiance. He turns to the only "good" friend he has, Nest Freemark. Back in Hopewell, IL, site of their original meeting, the two must now plan to prevent an ancient, terrifyingly strong demon and his minions from snatching or killing the morph.
Who lives? Who dies? I can say there's a surprising mix, and I was happily surprised (though frustrated nonetheless) at how Brooks chose to close out this story. Much of the book is this back and forth between the two camps, with some flashbacks for good measure, telling of the escalating conflict. Some decent magic, a few action scenes and a final page-flipping conclusion that could make an uninitiated Brooks fan wonder if there is more to the story.
Start to finish, I enjoyed the series. These two books provided a welcome distraction to a busy time in my life and literally flew by. Based on how much I enjoyed them, I'll probably pick up the (but of course!) continuation of the story, even if it takes place years hence, with different characters. The writing is decent, the few lead characters given plenty of opportunity and page-space for development and growth - even if some is for naught - the action sufficient for this sort of fantasy and it can stand out on the racks as not the same as the next Jim Butcher or Neil Gaiman or Charles de Lint or etc. urban/dark fantasyist.
3.5/5 for each book, but the series overall is 4/5
-Erik
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