Rating: 
Summary: Why did I put myself through this!
Review: I read the first book, it was not good. But I read the 2nd one to see if maybe there was some hope.
Nope, figgered this one out on page 12 just like the other one!
Good heavens!
Oh, and if you want Brooks to lecture to you about homeless people ad nauseum then read ahead! Some of the lectures in this book were straight from the writer to the reader, with no characters in between. A note to Mr. Brooks: DON'T EVER TALK TO ME WHEN I AM READING YOUR BOOK!
Oh and his scene descriptions are so detailed and looooooooong, you just skip over them to get to where the characters are actually speaking instead of moving through these long boring scen descriptions! (Terry, go talk to Stephen King. That fool can give a decription of an area in like five words and it's better than your FOUR PAGES of scene description...(no I'm not lying FOUR PAGES!))
Do not read this book or this story, it is atrocious.
Rating: 
Summary: A Good Follow-Up to Running With The Demon
Review: In "A Knight of the Word", the reader catches up with Nest Fremark and John Ross five years after the events in "Running with the Demon". John Ross has moved on to Seattle, where he has met and fallen in love with Stefanie Winslow, a strikingly beautiful woman. Both of them work for a homeless shelter called Fresh Start. Fresh Start is run by Simon Lawrence, a self-made man who has made it his life-long challenge to help the homeless. Ross has renounced his vows to the Word. Earlier, he suffered a traumatic personal experience. There was a hostage takeover at a school, and fourteen children were killed. Ross was foretold of this event in his dreams, but even though he thought he had everything figured out, the children were still killed. He has blamed himself for this tragedy, as well as blaming the Word for not helping him. Thus, he renounced his faith in the Word.Meanwhile, back in Hopewell, Nest Freemark is visited by Ariel, a tatterdemalion sent by the Lady to help Ross. Areil explains to Nest that John is in great danger and Nest must warn him. Nest, now a student at Northwestern University, isn't sure what she can do, but she decides to go to Seattle. Upon arriving, Nest finds her way to Fresh Start and immediately begins to feel ill. She steps outside to get some air, but she recognizes where the sickness has come from; a demon. Finally, Nest meets up with John and she explains to him how the Lady sent Ariel to tell her about him. John dismisses everything, saying he's perfectly happy with his life the way it is now and he has no intention of going back to being a Knight of the Word. He still blames himself for the death of the children. Ariel then tells Nest that she's discovered a sylvan guarding one of the parks, and they go to meet him. Unfortunately, the demon found out too and he is there as well. Nest is forced to flee back into town away from the demon. She vows to herself to stay in Seattle to see everything through to the end, but will she be able to convince John before its too late? I found this book to be very good. The characters are brought vividly to life by Brooks, and its easy to allow oneself to become immersed in their fight for survival. I thought Brooks went a little overboard with his discription of every square foot of Seattle, but he more than makes up for it by weaving a genuinely exciting tale. I highly recommend this excellent work. It will leave you wanting more.
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing
Review: This is the second book of a fantasy trilogy about Nest Freemark, John Ross, the Knight of the Word, the Void and magic. I rated the first in the series, "Running with the Demon," five stars, which I rarely do. The magic of that first novel dissipated in this sequel, however. The first third of the book is heavy with back-story, and I do mean heavy as in dragging, lugging, burdensome, tedious, and arduous. The author reiterates the theme, plot and principal scenes from his first book in narrative so boring it sucks the life from his old characters. Even the new characters are lifeless. Stef is so stunningly beautiful that the author cannot find the words to convince us that she is. This time the demon is a "changling," meaning it can assume the identity of any of the other characters, which robs it of a personality of its own. At first, the identity of the demon is obvious to the reader, but not to the protagonist, John Ross. With this tactic, the reader is supposed to cringe in fear for Ross, urging him to wake-up to his precarious situation. Later, the author treats the demon's identity as if it were a mystery for the reader to ponder. Unfortunately, I neither cringed nor pondered. Even the dialogue is lifeless, unless you are impassioned by long speeches on the plight of the homeless and why Native Americans ought not to be called Indians. Overall, this is good example of a book that gives sequels a bad name.
Rating: 
Summary: I don't enjoy being lectured endlessly
Review: Before reaching the halfway point of the book, I found I had been lectured on environmentalism, the plight of the homeless, the unfair treatment of native americans, and the moral decay of our society. I've read religious books that preached less than this, and it was insulting. The entire story seems a thin broth to tie together a series of pontificating essays that Brooks knew nobody would publish on their own. If you can get beyond that, you're confronted with the fact that Brooks really wants you to know that he's familiar with the Seattle landscape. He describes Seattle in such exhaustive detail that it's obvious he's trying to make the book appeal to people who live there (here, as I do), since nobody else would care about a brass pig in the Pike market. The problem is that he spreads it on so thick, it's tiresome and obvious. All in all, the story is too thin to make it on it's own, and buried under the mounds of trash that Brooks throws on it, it's just not worth your time.
Rating:
Summary: MOSTLY FILLER, WITH LITTLE ACTION OR SUSPENSE
Review: Through most of the story, the characters are in little danger, so there's not much suspense or action. When they do face the demons, the demons are so weak that they're quickly defeated. Maybe if Terry made demons a little bit more dangerous and more of a threat the story would be better.
Rating: 
Summary: Good Job
Review: I'm a biased reader. I have read all of the Shannara series and a few of the other fantasy and magic books that Mr. Brooks has written. All I can say is thanks for another serial. Just ship the next one to me, I'm good for it.
Rating:
Summary: Good sequel, same problems...
Review: I liked this sequel--I thought it was even a bit better than the original. Nest is feeling adrift and alone with all her friends and family gone. John Ross, on the other hand, has quit his Knight of the Word position in despair, and for the first time has a life. And no magic. He has a girlfriend, and they work together at a homeless shelter. But the demons have not forgotten him, and Nest Freemark is sent to warn him and to try to get him to take his responsibilities on again, before it is too late. As in the first book, there is a lot of unnecessary blabbing at the end as they explain every plot point the reader might not have got. (Not as much, though) Another disappointment was that it was dead obvious through the book who the secret demon was. And there was a particularly annoying scene where Nest was trying to stop John from doing something disastrous, and just kept saying "No, John, don't do it!" instead of explaining to him why the heck not. (I hate scenes like that.:P)
Rating:
Summary: Lacking sequel to the superlative RUNNING WITH THE DEMON
Review: SCORING: Superb (A), Excellent (A-), Very good (B+), Good (B) Fairly Good (B-), Above Average (C+), Mediocre (C ), Barely Passable (C-) Pretty Bad (D+), Dismal (D), Waste of Time (D-), Into the Trash (F) DIALOGUE: B STRUCTURE: C+ HISTORY SETTING: B- CHARACTERS: B EVIL SETUP/ANTAGONISTS: C+ EMOTIONAL IMPACT: B- SURPRISES: C+ MONSTERS: not applicable PACING: B- OVERALL STYLE: C+ FLOW OF WORDS: C+ CHOICE OF FOCUS: C TRANSITIONS/FLASHBACKS/POV: C+ COMPLEXITY OF WORDS/SYMBOLISM/THEMES: C+ OVERALL GRADE: B- QUICK REVIEW: A disappointment after reading RUNNING WITH THE DEMON. This time around it moved to Seattle so we lost most of the hometown feeling. Seattle was fine and there were plenty of details but the emotions weren't there anymore. No good supporting characters this time around. It's just Ross and Nest. I was disappointed that Brooks rushed through the friends; everyone is gone or dead except Robert, who now has a crush on her. They're estranged since he made a move on her at her gf's funeral. Not enough surprises this time around nor enough conflict. Too many details; too much running around; too much about Ross' pain and his new job and his new love. Emotional resonance was lacking this time around but I least finished it.
Rating:
Summary: Brooks wrote this?
Review: As you can probably tell from the subject, I am not what you would call a Terry Brooks fan. I've read all, or nearly all, of his Shannara books and found them long-winded and difficult. His 'Magic Kingdom' series was much better, though still too long-winded for my taste (I prefer a book that doesn't spend so much time in detail that you lose sight of the story). I bought the initial book of this series because I couldn't find anything else that interested me at the airport bookstore, and I figured this would at least put me to sleep. Surprise, surprise. The book was one of the best SF books I've ever read. The characters were 'real' and the plot was very well thought out. Still long-winded in parts, but I found the content actually enhanced the story instead of detracting from it. This book continues that tradition. Truly one of the best SF books I've ever read, it captures the imagination and won't let go. I found myself disappointed that my neighborhood bookstore doesn't yet have a copy of 'Angel Fire East'. However, I'm ordering it from Amazon as soon as I get done writing this... :)
Rating:
Summary: Good but predictable!
Review: I enjoyed reading the book but was able to predict the ending/demon about halfway through the book! Will keep your interest provided you want to read the details even though you deduced the ending/demon.
| 
