Subject: Review: RUNNING WITH THE DEMON by Terry Brooks

From: [email-masked] (SFRevu)
Date: 27 Oct 1997 20:27:48 -0500

RUNNING WITH THE DEMON by Terry Brooks
	Review Copyright 1997 Ernest Lilley - SFRevu

And now for something completely different from the author that brought us
the Shanarra novels and occasional lighthearted romps in fantasy like
KINGDOM FOR SALE. Well, it is the time of year for some HORROR, or at
least Dark Fantasy, so Terry Brooks latest book is only fitting. When the
forces of classic Fantasy grapple with the power of demons in small town
America it all seems vaguely familiar...

A bit more graphic than Bradbury, a bit more hopeful than King, Terry
Brooks' latest book, RUNNING WITH THE DEMON is dark fantasy teetering on
the edge of horror.

Magic runs in the Freemont family. For seven generations the women of the
family have been charged with the stewardship of Sinsinippi Park, warding
off the mindless "feeders" that no one can see and maintaining a balance
of magic with the help of Pick, a Sylvan ("Don't call me an Elf!") and his
forest friends. Nest Freemont is a normal 14 year old girl. Well, normal
if you discount her prodigious athletic ability and the strength of the
magic inside her, or the way her future self keeps popping up in visions
of a dark future. It's her uniqueness that makes her the focus of good and
evil in this story, and why she is summoned in the night to stop the dark
magic in the park from driving humans to self destruction.

Nest's mother died mysteriously when she was an infant, and no one will
tell her about her father; not her grandmother, who wielded the power in
her time, not her grandfather who can't see the magic, not even Pick.

Two men, or things that were once men, come to town as it readies itself
for the Fourth of July, and tries to forget the strike that has shut down
its sole source of industry, the steel mill.  One being is a demon in
human flesh, come to tip the balance of power towards an apocalyptic
future, the other a Knight of the Word, sworn to the service of an ancient
power, sworn to stop the demon and his kind, forsaking his humanity in
that service. They have both come for Nest. On her future rests the future
of mankind, a future that John Ross, Knight of the Word, dreams all too
vividly in the desperate visions of what the future might be if he fails.

Terry Brooks lies somewhere between the implied horror of Ray Bradbury's
dusty attics, and the conspicuous carnage of Steven King's hatchet
wielding minions. In RUNNING WITH THE DEMON, he maintains a fine balance
between hidden and obvious evil. He also spends his violence with care,
obtaining its best dramatic effect by not wearing it out through
overuse. Set in a contemporary small town in the heart of "Reagan
Country," the story builds steadily toward a battle for the Nest's future
on which the balance between good and evil teeters.

The story climaxes in a battle which is clearly part of a larger war.
This awareness, along with the author's superb storytelling skill leaves
you in suspense as the story moves towards its conclusion. Nest and her
band of teenage friends are as well realized as the adult and elderly
characters. Though there is some adult content, it is handled with
restraint and should make this acceptable for mature teens as well as the
adult readers it's aimed at.

%G ISBN 0-06-105286-8
%P Harper Prism
%D September 1997 (hardcover)