Rating: 
Summary: An Excellent Work
Review: As I sit and read all of these one and two star reviews, I am thoroughly disappointed in my peers for coming to such conclusions. Many people said how they thought that the modern-world setting was a bad idea. I completely and whole-heartedly disagree with that notion. In my opinion, the fact that the events in Running With the Demon were "here and now" emphasized the realism and tension in the story. On a similar note, it is completely unfair to frown on Brooks simply because he didn't resort to another "sword and sorcery" fantasy land setting. I find it refreshing. As a writer, I let out a heart-felt "shame on you" for downing this story for such arbitrary, and, quite bluntly, selfish reasons. Running With the Demon was fast-paced and descriptive, with reaslitic, believable characters. Brooks managed to keep the heroes of the story "human", which is a skill that doesn't come easily to many adventure or fantasy writers. The fact that Nest Freemark was 14 years old adds to her humanity; it doesn't take away from her credibility as a hero in the story. I don't know how many people will actually read this review, because I got on the horn a little late, but I found it completely necessary to voice my opinion on this subject.
Rating: 
Summary: Completly entertaining
Review: This book is very different for Terry Brooks in that it takes place in "the real world" and not in some created land. It is a complete success as far as entertaining the reader. I read it in two days and actually had difficulty putting it down. Many times I said I would finish the current chapter and go to bed, only to stay up later. The book actually brought to mind Stephen King's book the Stand becouse of it's reference to good and evil and the possibility of the world's evil end. Brooks made the charactors work even if they were somewhat thinly composed. Nest the fourteen year old girl comming of age seems a bit too mature for her age, but not to any detriment of the book. I was often thinking of Barney Fife as Nest spoke to her best friend Pick, who is a Sylvan and is overly rife with his own argumentiveness. It is all very entertaining. Most of all the book keeps throwing up charactors and events that beg for immediate answers which keeps you reading. Who is the indian by the name of Two Bears, and what is his relationship to Nest and the books hero John Ross. Is John Ross the father of Nest? If not who is? These questions keep building on themselves making for great reading. Very well done.
Rating: 
Summary: Between a 3 and a 3.5 star rating
Review: Rating System:
1 star = abysmal; some books deserve to be forgotten
2 star = poor; a total waste of time
3 star = good; worth the effort
4 star = very good; what writing should be
5 star = fantastic; must own it and share it with othersSTORY: As one editorial review nicely put: "Sinnissippi Park, in Hopewell, Illinois, has long hidden a mysterious evil, locked away from humankind by powers greater than most could even imagine. But now the malevolent creatures that normally skulk in the shadows of the park grow bolder, and old secrets hint at a violent explosion. The brewing conflict draws John Ross to Hopewell. A Knight of the Word, Ross is plagued by nightmares that tell him someone evil is coming to unleash an ancient horror upon the world. Caught between them is fourteen-year-old Nest Freemark, who senses that something is terribly wrong but has not yet learned to wield the budding power that sets her apart from her friends." MY FEEDBACK:
I unknowingly listened to book 3 of the series first then I got my hands on this one (book1). I don't feel like I totally missed out because both books are contained stories which made the "out of orderness" (such a thing?) bearable. I like the story since it leaves the typical fantasy and sci-fi genres and deals with magic and demons in the current world. There are enough mysteries to keep you in the story with a desire to want to know what happens next. He handles suspense situations fine and has enough subplot going on to add some depth and reality to characters and setting. All I can say about the end of the story without giving anything away is that I personally found the ending very anti-climatic. If it was handled differently I would have given this a solid 4 stars. OVERALL: Enjoyable story, characters and setting. It was a bit better than good because of the "uniqueness" of the story setting but not great because of the ending demise of the opposition. Worth a try and not a waste of time.
Rating:
Summary: Running with the Demon
Review: Over in my country, we get most books a bit late and I only read this book in Dec 2002 and was hooked!! Imagine a world being fought over by the Forces of Good and Evil and the outcome of the battle rests in the hands of ordinary people like you and I, and you have a great story! John Ross is a Knight of the Word who dreams every night of what the world would become if he fails and the Void wins. Nest Freeman is a 14 year old girl, born in a family who has the use of magic as part of their heritage and who unknowlingly does her part in the battle against the hurt and dispair pre-valent in the world. She must come face to face with her family's dark secrets and on doing so decide how it will affect her (and that of the world's) future. The style of writing is a bit different to the Shannara series and the story line is down to earth and excellent. Anyone who has been different or could not fit in with the crowd or on the other hand would like to be a little different, would identify with Nest. Also John Ross is a very believable hero whose short-comings and weariness makes him very human. Very good and riverting reading which also very subtly highlights to us that we all bear responsibility in how the future turns out.
Rating:
Summary: Not resting on his laurels
Review: It is great to see Terry Brooks take yet another turn for the better and presents his fans with a brand new series. This takes place not in Shannara or in Landover but in modern day Hopewell, Illinios.
Nest Freemark is a girl who carries on the tradition of the women before by using magic to protect the local park. Namely her grandmother and her deceased mother. Brooks says within the first thirty pages that they are not witches, so Anne Rice fans calm yourselves. A demon arrives at Hopewell along with a Knight of the Word, the egnimatic John Ross. Guess who is caught in the middle. The book starts with a great chase scene and then calms down for a bit before picking back up. At first it was a bit tedious, but in the last one hundred and fifty pages every bit of it proves very relevant.
The charm and heart of the book comes not from the protagonist Nest or even from John Ross. It comes from the supporting and peripheral characters that pop up throughout the book. Nest's grandmother and grandfather especially, and not keeping the book soley told from the perspective of one character. At the end of the book, you really want to know what happens to everyone. There is the sylvan Pick, a woodland creature but in my opinion he was variation of Abernathy in Brook's Landover series.
The author also blessedly knows how to write kids. He showed some great work in the Star Wars adaptation but it really comes across here.
The foreshadowing power of John Ross is intriguing, but does get a bit repetitive. Still, he is a very enjoyable character when he shows up. A modern day fantasy told by one of the best. Brooks does not rely on gimmicks and creatures but implements real and relatable people (and sylvans) to drive the story. Other authors of the genre should follow Brooks' lead and not simply stay in one world (are ya listening Jordan & Goodkind?) I would love to see what he does with a collection of short stories or horror.
Get the book and enjoy!
Rating:
Summary: An excellent start for the non-fantasy reader!
Review: Terry Brooks is an exceptional writer! This book had me hooked from the first page, and I am NOT a fantasy reader. A friend recommended the title to me, and I was skeptical at first, but I have no regrets about reading it. The story is a nice reprieve from your everyday, run-of-the-mill, fiction. It's suspenseful, thought provoking, and just plain fun to read. The book is centered on the war between the "Word" and the "Void" (good and evil), and their fight to control the magic of a young girl who could change the future for either side. Nest (the young girl) must first discover the secrets of her family that her Grandmother has kept hidden from her, and then she must face a truth about her father that will change her life irrevocably. She must decide whether or not she will side with her Grandmother or her father in the great war that will either sustain, or end, humanity. The human characters are very well portrayed, and the fantasy characters are intriguing. If you're thinking of trying a book that is off the beaten path of ordinary fiction, this is it! Terry Brooks has made a fantasy reader of me!
Rating:
Summary: A good start at a new series
Review: As like many of Terry Brooks' fans, we all started out with The Sword of Shannara. However after the 3rd book, I could no longer find interest in the characters who became too far removed from the original cast. I also found great interest in reading his books since he lived in a neighbouring town, Barrington, IL. Although he has moved out of the area (I think Hawaii), he returns to this area, Starlight, IL (which seems to be somewhere around the Northeastern area in Illinois). The lead character in this book is a 14-year old girl named Nest Freemark. While I found the other chacters believable and real, Nest seems too immature to be believable (not because she's a she but because she is too young). I would have liked to see Nest get some more clues from her grandmother, especially since she knew what Nest was up against. With her little gang of friends as helpers, I couldn't stop myself from thinking of the new Scoby Do cartoon where all the characters are younger but doing the same thing the older characters do with the same success. I hope to read about a sequel in the near future where Nest has grown up and again has to deal with the forces of Evil -- maybe she finds a diary kept by her grandmother that will explain more to her...
Terry needs to break out of the funk he seemed to get himself in after beating the Shannara series to death and focus on this series that shows alot of potential.
Read this book if a sequel is planned -- I'm sure he's got more in store for these characters and we won't be disappointed.
Rating:
Summary: Word vs. Void
Review: A start of another great Terry Brooks Series.. John Ross: Knight of the Word. Chosen to battle the forces of the void and prevent..or at least delay terrible futures that could be the result of the influence of the Void. John Ross comes to Hopewell, Illinois to stop the future in which he dreams of from coming to pass. Nest Freemark: A 14 year old girl coming to grips with the magic that is a part of her. Forced to keep it a secret from even her closest friends. Nest protects her friends and people of Hopewell from "The Feeders". Evil creatures which feed on human emotion. Nest Freemark & John Ross are the only people who can stand against the forces of the Void and prevent the future John Ross dreams about every night...
Rating:
Summary: Holy Moly!!!!!!!!!!
Review: Who on Earth can do this?Who can write three serieses with no resemblance?
Landover was different enough from Shannara,well hey,it was funny.Word and Void goes back to the serious outlook on things,but modern fantasy!Terry's doing pretty good as far as ideas go.
The only slight resemblance to Shannara in this is that the magic can take over you and do stuff sometimes.But that's it!The creatures,such as sylvans,are like nothing Brooks has ever done before.Feeders,sylvans,maentwrogs,demons,who could ask for more?!
Fans of The Golden Compass,and the Dark is Rising should enjoy this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Running with boredom!
Review: Heellooooooo Star Wars fans out there! If you liked the Luke/Vader son/father stuff, then you will love this story! the only problem is you'll probalby figure it out on page twelve or so.
This plot was tired. The writing was boring! If you read this review and still get the book, remember this: You can read the first episode where the Knight has his dream, and then you can skip every other time he has what is almost THE EXACT SAME DREAM!
Also, once Nest has gone through the park the first time, you can skip every other time she runs through the park. For some odd reason Brooks seems to think we need minute overkill descpriptions of the area our characters are moving through...even if he's already given us the dead on descriptions FIVE TIMES BEFORE! I was getting upset with this book because, you take out half the ridiculous scene descriptions and you take out half the internal dialogue and the book is about 150 pages! it was like he had this short idea for a story in his head, but he stretched the story so it would be a normal length novel. I wa skipping the internal dialogue and the dream sequences and the scene description by the 2nd half of the book.
| 
