A Knight of the Word

The Word & The Void #2

by Terry Brooks

Eight centuries ago the first Knight of the Word was commissioned to combat the demonic evil of the Void. Now that daunting legacy has passed to John Ross - along with powerful magic and the knowledge that his actions are all that stand between a living hell and humanity's future.
Then, after decades of service to the Word, an unspeakable act of violence shatters John Ross's weary faith. Haunted by guilt, he turns his back on his dread gift, settling down to build a normal life, untroubled by demons and nightmares.
But a fallen Knight makes a tempting prize for the Void, which could bend the Knight's magic to its own evil ends. And once the demons on Ross's trail track him to Seattle, neither he nor anyone close to him will be safe. His only hope is Nest Freemark, a college student who wields an extraordinary magic all her own. Five years earlier, Ross had aided Nest when the future of humanity rested upon her choice between Word and Void. Now Nest must return the favor. She must restore Ross's faith, or his life - and hers - will be forfeit...

Genres: Fantasy, Urban Fantasy, Fiction, Science Fiction Fantasy, Magic, Ebooks, Science Fiction

386 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1998

About the author

Terry Brooks was born in Illinois in 1944, where he spent a great deal of his childhood and early adulthood dreaming up stories in and around Sinnissippi Park, the very same park that would eventually become the setting for his bestselling Word & Void trilogy. He went to college and received his undergraduate degree from Hamilton College, where he majored in English Literature, and he received his graduate degree from the School of Law at Washington & Lee University.
A writer since high school, he wrote many stories within the genres of science fiction, western, fiction, and non-fiction, until one semester early in his college years he was given The Lord of the Rings to read. That moment changed Terry's life forever, because in Tolkien's great work he found all the elements needed to fully explore his writing combined in one genre.
He then wrote The Sword of Shannara, the seven year grand result retaining sanity while studying at Washington & Lee University and practicing law. It became the first work of fiction ever to appear on the New York Times trade paperback bestseller list, where it remained for over five months.

Reviews

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

Brooks' uninspired and often tedious novel Running With The Demon gets a follow-up novel that continues to try readers' patience without actually being bad enough to make them give up on it entirely. In Knight of the Word, the novel's main character must undergo the kind of crisis of faith that we've seen before in countless books and films of every genre. Namely, the hero's special powers prove unable to save absolutely everybody who comes within harm's way, burdening the hero with an abundance of unwarranted guilt and causing him to attempt to shrug off the mantle of being a hero in exchange for a normal life. Predictability ensues. Unfortunately, Brooks makes his hero so wrought with indisiciveness that he loses his "cool" cred and ultimately becomes rather annoying and unlikable. The mystery aspect of the story isn't really much of a mystery, and the fantasy elements aren't brought into play as often or explored with as much depth as I would have liked. One of Brook's weakest novels.

[Mike (the Paladin) · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't really know what to say here. I put off reviewing this one for some time. It is a good idea, and I read the trilogy (though in my opinion it falls apart badly when he tried to "meld" it with his other series). I just kept having the "it could have been so much better or so much more" reaction throughout the entire book. I almost gave it a 3 star rating which for me would be a "very readable" rating, but finally went down to 2, mostly on disappointment.

[Jonathan Koan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Unfortunately, this book was just "ok". I think its a step down from Book 1 "Running with the Demon".

The biggest difference between the two books is the atmosphere. Book 1 took place in the middle of summer and was centered around the 4th of July. You could absolutely feel the atmosphere and the weather and the heat and the sweat of the characters. It also had this midwest charm to it that made it very relatable. This book, however, is set around Halloween and is not very spooky or atmospheric. Terry Brooks does not use the atmosphere in the same way. The location of Seattle instead of Chicago is pretty good, which keeps it in the "ok" territory.

This book also does not have as good a mystery to it. The first book was fairly predictable, but it still had some surprises and interesting elements. This book was very predictable, and I felt like I was just going through the motions while reading it. The mystery of who was the demon was incredibly obvious from very early on, and I think Brooks may have inadvertantly revealed too much early on.

Nest Freemark is an interesting character, but she really did not have much to do in this book. Her involvement just felt a little out of place.

Where this book succeeds is the themes about solving social problems. I think Brooks has great ideas about how to fix social problems in society like homelessness, education, and was able to infuse those themes in this story without it feeling political. His themes about duty and responsibility were also fairly strong.

Overall, this book is just "ok" for me. I didn't particularly like it, but it has a few good themes and elements, but overall just felt kind of bland, and I have to say that I really believe that Urban Fantasy is not the strongsuit for Brooks. Overall, a 5.5 out of 10.

[Squire · Rating 4 out of 5]

#2/29 in my Epic Shannara Quest.

This sequel to Running with the Demon doesn't disappoint. It's full of intense, sometimes scary scenes, plenty of exciting action and mystery. If it seems uninspired compared to it's predecessor, A Knight of the Word, this book makes up for it by moving the setting from small-town Illinois to urban Seattle (which Brooks paints in vivid and loving detail) and giving this series social conscience.

The mythos behind the world that ultimately becomes Shannara is becoming fascinatingly complex as Brooks moves his saga briskly along. I'm looking forward to the final book of The Word and the Void trilogy as well as the next chapter in the Shannara epic.

[Chris Haught · Rating 4 out of 5]

Number two in the Terry Brooks urban fantasy series doesn't disappoint. I didn't like it quite as much as the first, but it was pretty close.

This has more "urban" as it goes from small town Illinois in the fist book to Seattle in this one. And once there, one must wonder just how many times the characters will stop for Starbucks. Nobody listened to Nirvana in this though (that happened in the first book), so it wasn't too bad for Seattle stereotypes. It did mention the Kingdome a couple of times. That's a bit dated, but as a longtime Broncos fan, I remember that as a scary place.

But back to the story. This happens 5 years after the first book, and we have an all grown up Nest Freemark going to Seattle to knock some sense into John Ross, the Knight of the Word who has lost his way.

And where do we go from here, but to Angel Fire East. Looking forward to that.

[Max · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Knight of the Word is a little different than the first part of the series. Nest Freemark, now five years older, goes off to warn John Ross, who is in danger. John is losing its purpose and is wandering away from the path of the Word. He is needed to fight the demons from the Void, and Nest knows this.

This book takes place in Seattle, most of it in city context. There's less nature, and not the beautiful Sinnisippi Park of book one. The book is less eventful, and there is more explaining and talk in this part. Even though it is well written and interesting, I missed the park, the sylvan Pick and the other magical elements. Hopefully they will return in book three.

[Michelle Morrell · Rating 3 out of 5]

The middle book in the trilogy of when Shannara was still our earth. The events are leading up to apocalypse, can the Knight of the Word stop it? Not when he has denied his calling and the void is starting to win. Luckily he has an old friend watching his back.

I didn't like this quite as much as the first novel, I figured out the bad guy from literally the first appearance, and there was a lot of the feeling of an extended chase scene about the whole thing. Still, worth a read though, if you are interested in how we became Shannara. And this one takes place full on in downtown Seattle, so bonus points there.

[hotsake (André Troesch) · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5/5. This book was very frustrating, The pacing was good, the story itself was entertaining and the characters were likable but the big reveal was so frustratingly obvious from the first 50 pages that I kept getting annoyed.

[Jim C · Rating 4 out of 5]

My rating is 3.5 stars.

This novel is the second one of a trilogy. I recommend reading the first one to get a better understanding of this book. This story is set five years later and is about John Ross who no longer wants to be a Knight. The character Nest is back and this time she is trying to help John. This book had its slow parts but the actions parts were intense. There is a chase scene that is one of the best in any book. I liked the first book in the trilogy better. This book is definitely worth a read and I will continue with this trilogy.

[Stephanie Carr · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked it. Probably won't read again.

Cons:
-characters get on their soap boxes a lot
-the plot is kind of predictable
-an attempt at diversity feels a little forced and awkward but points for the attempt

Pros:
-characterization is something i like in general
-the writing is such that FOR SOME REASON its hard for me to put down even with ff14 sitting in front of me
-I really really like Nest Freemark
-John Ross has an interesting internal struggle which, is most of the plot but eh
-the magic though more of a soft magic nature than a Sanderson magic style, still works here imo and i really like the woodland creatures and how they live in the real world in this trilogy

[Shelby · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 Stars

[Carolyn Hilty · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad, but I don't think up to his usual standards. Kept my interest once I got into it, but it took a while.

[Tbirdplanstoread · Rating 4 out of 5]

2026: 3.5/5. I still agree with my previous review. This trilogy had been one of the hardest for me to get through and in fact, I still haven't read the 3rd book yet. I'm hoping to this year so I can move on with this read-thru. There was so much redundancy in this and I was getting frustrated, and I think that may be my main issue with this series.


2020: Book 2/37 of my Shannara reread journey...this is still not my favorite of the series. In fact, Running with the Demon was better, but I am appreciating the beginning of the end for civilization and how it will become he world of the Ohmsfords later....

[William · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book had promise, and I did finish it, but was frustrated that he had to include abuse of a child in the book. I realize that this is fantasy but I do not much care for parts about abusing kids. Unlike his Shennara books which are pure fantasy this book was written with humans in our world, and although it included demons, I just felt that the story was based a bit more in our real which made the child abuse part a bit harder to stomach. Obviously many loved this book but it is my opinion and I accept that.

[Jenni · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Knight of the Word is the second book in the Word & Void books. It is an urban fantasy that is so different to the Shannara books . Terry's writing knows no bounds and as a reader I am grateful for that because we get tales like this one.

[Elar · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book was like a remake of first book, but with less new universe building and also less action. It tried to be psychological thriller with some action, but for me it just did not work.

[L.R. Braden · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the second book in Terry Brooks' Word and Void urban fantasy series. These books most definitely need to be read in order to make sense. (I actually picked this one up first and read the first couple chapters before realizing it was the second book, and I was completely lost until I backtracked and read the first one.)

Once again, Brooks' world building is phenomenal. The tatterdemalion creature he creates, as well as the forest creatures he introduced in the first book are unique and believable. He also does a wonderful job with the demon in this story, although I didn't find it nearly as compelling as the demon in book 1.

The two main characters from the first book, John Ross and Nest Freemark, return as POV characters in book two. They are joined by several other familiar faces and a good many new ones. Nest Freemark is a strong, independent young woman who, while often conflicted, always does what she believes is right. I really like Nest and I feel like she was the true protagonist of this book.

John Ross is a Knight of the Word, though the premise of this book is that he no longer sees himself as such. He basically goes through the entire novel with his head in the sand, willfully delusional to his own reality. Now, I've met plenty of real life people like this, so it is believable, but the thing is, I don't like people like that and I generally avoid them when I can. As such, I didn't particularly connect with Ross. He's inept and steeped in self pity, more a plot device that an actual character in this book. Part of that may have been due to the demon's influence, but whatever the reason, I didn't find him compelling and had trouble rooting for him.

The plot was centered around John Ross running away from his responsibilities as a Knight and, as stated above, sticking his head in the sand. Therefore, while the individual scenes were fun, I didn't find myself caring too much about the outcome. I enjoyed Nest's chapters. I liked the way she kept the story moving forward by actually doing things, even when her choices were bad. She made a much better Knight than Ross.

All in all, I wasn't riveted but did enjoy the book, and I will be continuing with book 3.

[Brend Speigel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I watched a movie once. In it there was a wedding. The wedding rule was that the bride and the groom must circle around the fire seven times holding each other through some knots. It signifies togetherness in seven life or in seven hell or heaven. I thought it was cute, until there was this scene where the unconscious girl was carried on the groom’s back and the groom did the circling alone. Not pretty when the girl woke up and found out she’s married. Hmm. I thought it cannot be just enough civilized way to make a contract then. And then, I saw other culture’s way of such contracts. Yes, all of those are cute, romantic, and meaningful even. There is one where girls and boys keep throwing water at one another. Whichever couple lasts gets married. And there’s another version where several grooms get to steal the bride by throwing most water. Fun! But fun doesn’t often look civilized to me. At least, not enough that you could respect it, acknowledge it as something real, right? Then I wondered what’s really the best way to make a contract? To have some sort of vows? And then I knew. There’s really no better way than a conscious exchange of words. How about exchange something from the memory with something valid, something you can prove with math that there’s no flaw in those words? So they will prove to be true.

[Wrecker · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm reading the Shanara books in chronological order according to events. I liked this book as much as the first of the series. As before, though some of the descriptions are long, no details are pointless. I also love his writing style of just having one steady climb to the final climax. No pointless ups and downs. I did however find this book predictable. Not every detail of course, but the big details. I'm not sure if that's the fault of the author or if was just lucky guesses. Either way, great book! Bring on book #3.

[Questor German · Rating 4 out of 5]

First half is so slow and boring, but the back half makes up for it.

[Tracy Smyth · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars - I enjoyed this book more than book 1. I’m hoping the next one is better.

[Caroline Ludden · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found book 1 of the trilogy very slow until the final few chapters. The second book was utterly thrilling! I read it in 5 hours while traveling. Unfortunately, I finished this book at the beginning of my trip and am eager to return home to start the third.

[MC · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Knight of the Word, the second book in Terry Brooks' The Word and the Void trilogy changes around some of the actors. We still have Nest, John Ross and O'olish Amaneh, but in this situation John Ross is the one in danger of falling to the Void, Nest must convince him to turn back to the Word and Two Bears (Amaneh) is ready to kill him if he might fall.

The action begins five years after the first book, Running with the Demon, with Nest mourning the death of her grandfather, Bob Freemark. She has choices to make about whether to sell her house, and is struggling with balancing her dreams and her duties to serve the Word, when she recieves news about Ross.

You see, after a horrific failure for which Ross blames himself, he has decided to stop being a Knight of the Word, and is trying to ignore that previous life. But the cosmology of the series is clear that he can not just give up the magic or calling, only the Word can release him. Therefore, he is traveling around, trying to live his attempt at a "normal life" with the magic still at his disposal, though hidden away and sleeping, as it were. He is ripe for being turned to the service of the Void.

Nest is told all of this and warned he will be killed to prevent his fall from grace, if it is necessary. To head this off, she agrees to travel to Seattle, Washington, where Ross now lives and works at a nationally-recognized charity, and convince him of the danger posed to him.

And once there, she finds Ross embroiled in a complicated series of clever manipulations designed to subvert him and turn to the service of evil.

I really enjoyed this story. It didn't have the same feel of epicness as the first Running did, but it did have a sense of a mystery. In fact, that is how I'll describe them both. Whereas Running was an epic fantasy in an urban fantasy format, Knight seemed to be more of a standard mystery-oriented urban fantasy.

Of course, in a way this was inevitable, given the plot of subverting John Ross and taking place in one of the major US cities versus a family saga in a small town surrounded by lush landscapes. It was no less enjoyable.

One of the parts that struck me was how Brooks brings up issues that we don't think about to feed into the notions of the never ending battle of the Word and the Void, creation and entropy, that are standard to his trilogy. He also had me at least a little empathizing with John choosing the wrong choice, because it's hard not to like John, to feel sad for him and understand that he wants some happiness.

Nest, for her part, is in a part of her life where she is trying to decide between past and future, what to give up or not give up of her life so far. Sorrows, fears, so forth, are her companions. But hope is too. Watching her struggle with her emotions and choose what to do, how to find meaning in life, was poignant and just as important and impactful as observing John Ross' struggle.

Sure, Brooks can navel-gaze somewhat, but in general, he does do a good job on characterization and of helping the readers understand his characters' thoughts, motives, fears, so forth.

A great book that has me looking forward to the final book soon.

Highly Recommended.

[Dave · Rating 2 out of 5]

In way I like this better then the first book in the series because now I was more familiar with the authors world and Nest is more grown, however, at time this was little predicable.

My main issue and I could be wrong here is that Nest figures out who the daemon is by how the daemon acted around Ross and that it was similar to how the other daemon acted around Gran. However Nest, Ross, and the daemon were never in the same place. The first time Nest and Ross meet she is outside when he comes up in a Taxi and the second he meets her in her hotel lobby. And both time they depart from each abruptly and no one else is with them. Also I don't recall Gran, other daemon and Nest hanging out. Ok as the reader, the Daemon's ID is little predicable and you don't need Nest's thinking about Gran to figure it out.

Also this book could have more meat. I'd like to see Two Bears kick some ass. I think Nest could have another episode where she demonstrated a more mature use of magic. Also this daemon wasn't as calculating as the first. There should have been some more misdirection and manipulation.

Anyway this book was good enough that I stayed up rather late finish it.

[Mike · Rating 5 out of 5]

I avoided the Shannarra series for years in deference to Tolkien, but finally picked up Running with the Demon since Terry Brooks is from my home town and based the story there. That book was a bit of a slog but showed enough that i decided to continue the series. A Knight of the Word is a writing of the highest level. Fast paced, intricate, fluid. The foreshadowing led me to conclusions early that proved true but did not take away from the story as it played out.

I am now a Terry Brooks convert. If you ever read anything of his, read chapter 13 of this book. He wrote it in 1998; I thought he was writing about current world situations as I read it. It's timeless.

[Holly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ahh. This was also excellent. It didn't knock my socks off quite as much as Running with the Demon - mostly because it just didn't have quite the level of mystery about who the players were and what might be happening. But, it transported me back to some of my favorite spots in Seattle, and for that alone I loved it. Also, fantasy worlds aside, it had some pretty compelling things to say about how we treat each other here on planet earth.

Onward to Shannara!

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

A real page turner just like the first book in the series. I read this book in 2 days (pretty fast for me). I did love the book and the story was good, however it wasn't quite as good as the first book. The plot was weaker, the "mystery" was not as well "hidden" as it was in the first book. There were also a few contradictions that while not big, did irk me a little. I still loved the book, but not quite as much as the first.

[Jacob Aitken · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brooks advances some really profound ideas and in some ways it is better than his Shannara works. I sort of saw who the "bad guy" would be, so to speak, but even then he offered enough of a twist to make it interesting.

[Caleb M. Powers · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this book. A bit less deep character development than the last book, but a much more satisfactory ending, in my opinion. Looking forward to the last in the trilogy :D

[Edwin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ik kan nog steeds niet zien hoe deze boeken in de wereld van Shannara passen.