A Knight of the Word by Terry Brooks

 

(hb; 1998: second book in Brooks’s Word & Void trilogy)

 

From the inside flap

“In the eleventh century the Welsh hero Owain Glyndwr was chosen to combat the demonic evil of the Void and disappeared from history to fulfill that mission. Armed with powerful magic, Glyndwr became a Knight of the Word—a draining and demanding legacy passed on eight centuries later to John Ross, a professor of English literature on tour in Wales.

“In accepting the black runestaff that channeled the magic of the Word, John Ross accepted a solemn trust—and an awful burden. Each night he dreams of hellish futures wrought upon the world by the Void. And each dream is of a future that will come to pass unless Ross prevents it in the present. Crippled in body and soul by the searing magic he wields and the horrors he dreams, sustained only by his faith in the goodness of the Word. Ross drifts across America, a modern-day knight errant in search of the agents of the Void.

“Then an unspeakable act of violence shatters his weary beliefs. Haunted by guilt, Ross turns his back on the Word. With the help of beautiful Stefanie Winslow, Ross slowly builds a new life—a life whose only magic lies in Stefanie’s healing love.

“But a fallen knight makes a tempting prize for the Void, and merciless demons soon stalk Ross and those close to him. His only hope is young Nest Freemark, who wields powerful magic all her own. Five years earlier, Ross had aided Nest when the future of humanity rested upon the choice she would make between Word and Void. Now Nest must return the favor. She must restore Ross’s faith, or his life—and her own—will be forfeit.”

 

Review

Five years after the events of Running with the Demon, a reluctant, emotionally ruptured John Ross and Nest Freemark (now nineteen years old) confront an elusive demon whose presence threaten not only Ross’s fragile sense of peace but the world at large—in short, same fight, life-altered characters, different demon and locale. Seattle, Washington—author Brooks’s real-life home city—is lovingly (to a fault) described so much it should be labeled more character than location.

That said, Knight has all the qualities and reader-gripping flow of Running: a grab-you-from-the-get-go tone and fast-and-vividly-described flow that effectively matures its struggling protagonists (Ross, Freemark) while expanding—a little bit—their world,  now in urban surroundings, further setting Knight apart from Running’s rural events. Anyone who’s read this sort of book might easily spot who the demon is, but it doesn’t ruin the nightmare-driven and heartfelt ride.

Another great read, this, from Brooks, one worth purchasing. Followed by the final book in the trilogy, Angel Fire East.