Running with the Demon
core novel 1997 Shannara
Record
| First published | 1997 |
|---|---|
| Original language |  EN |
| Work type | novel |
| Canon status | core |
| Reader rating | 3.99 (29,857 ratings, collected 2026-09-12) |
| First-edition ISBN | 0-345-37962-4 |
| First-edition date | 1997-09 |
| Internal chronology | 1 |
Synopsis
The first novel of the Word and Void trilogy is set over the Fourth of July weekend of 1997 in Sinnissippi Park in the small town of Hopewell, Illinois, a community scarred by a bitter steel strike, where ancient evil forces have long lain concealed and are now nearing a catastrophic act. John Ross, a Knight of the Word haunted by visions of the world's possible destruction, is drawn to Hopewell by disturbing premonitions of an unspeakable evil about to be unleashed there by a demon, a dark servant of the Void, who intends to exploit the town's simmering anger. Caught between them is fourteen-year-old Nest Freemark, who senses that something is deeply wrong in her town but has not yet learned to wield the unusual power that sets her apart, as the opposing forces converge on Hopewell over the course of the weekend.
Where it sits
- Universe: Shannara
- Series: Word & Void core; position 1 of 3 in the series' recorded order
- Author: Terry Brooks
Notes
- From the series record (Word & Void): Contemporary-set (1990s Illinois) prequel trilogy; the ultimate origin of the saga's magic and antagonists. Treated as Core per Brooks' own unified reading order, despite the non-Four-Lands setting.
Neighbouring works
Publication order and internal chronology are tracked as two separate orderings and are never conflated: a book's place in one says nothing about its place in the other.
- Publication order, within the series Word & Void: position 1 of 3: next A Knight of the Word (1998)
- Internal chronology, within Shannara: position 1 of 32: next A Knight of the Word (1998)
Sources
- Terry Brooks official site
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shannara
- https://www.isfdb.org
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Running_with_the_Demon
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