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Angel Fire East

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Overview

As a Knight of the Word, John Ross has struggled against the dark forces of the Void and his minions for twenty-five years. The grim future he dreams each night-- a world reduced to blood and ashes--will come true, unless he can stop them now, in the present. The birth of a gypsy morph, a rare and dangerous creature that could be an invaluable weapon in his fight against the Void, brings John Ross and Nest Freemark together again. Twice before, with the fate of the world hanging in the balance, the lives of Ross and Nest have intersected. Together, they have prevailed. But now they will face an ancient evil beyond anything they have ever encountered, a demon of ruthless intelligence and feral cunning. As a firestorm of evil erupts, threatening to consume lives and shatter dreams, they have but a single chance to solve the mystery of the Gypsy morph--and their own profound connection.

Editorial Reviews

Fighting supernatural evil is taxing work, and Brooks's third novel of humanity's stand against the demons of the Void shows hints of battle fatigue. Fifteen years have passed since the events chronicled in Running with the Demon (1997), but neither Knight of the Word John Ross nor former Olympic runner Nest Freemark seem much changed by their encounters with predatory devils who incarnate modern social ills: he is still the reluctant hero tasked with preventing the Void's incursion into human affairs, and she remains the righteous heroine suppressing her demon-tainted powers. The plot follows a pattern similar to A Knight of the Word (1998), beginning with Ross's tormenting vision of the future that will occur if he fails to keep a gypsy morph--a shapeshifting bundle of "wild magics" with potential to become a weapon for good or evil--from falling into demon hands. Ross seeks Nest's help in Hopewell, Ill., a hometown of Norman Rockwell blissfulness primed for demonic devastation. There the morph changes into a young boy, which makes him vulnerable to the schemes of avuncular fiend Findo Gask and provides Brooks with a focus for exploring the importance of parental responsibility and mother love. This predictable dark fantasy springs a few surprises at its end, but the long parade of characters from the earlier installments gives it the feel of a family reunion one endures out of obligation rather than enthusiasm. Like Nest, this novel keeps pace, but a change of direction is in order for the series. (Oct.) Copyright 1997-2005 Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. -- PUBLISHERS WEEKLY.

Author Information

Bio of Terry Brooks

Terry Brooks is the New York Times bestselling author of more than twenty-five books, including the Genesis of Shannara novel Armageddon's Children; The Sword of Shannara; the Voyage of the Jerle Shannara trilogy: Ilse Witch, Antrax, and Morgawr; the High Druid of Shannara trilogy: Jarka Ruus, Tanequil, and Straken; the nonfiction book Sometimes the Magic Works: Lessons from a Writing Life; and the novel based upon the screenplay and story by George Lucas, Star Wars:(r) Episode I The Phantom Menace.(tm) His novels Running with the Demon and A Knight of the Word were selected by the Rocky Mountain News as two of the best science fiction/fantasy novels of the twentieth century. The author was a practicing attorney for many years but now writes full-time. He lives with his wife, Judine, in the Pacific Northwest and Hawaii.

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Additional Info

Imprint

Random House

Filesize

562.46 KB

Number of Pages

384

eBook ISBN

9780345444608

Excerpt from: Angel Fire East by Terry Brooks

He stands at the edge of a barren and ravaged orchard looking up from the base of a gentle rise to where the man hangs from a wooden cross. Iron spikes have been hammered through the man's hands and feet, and his wrists and ankles have been lashed tightly in place so he will not tear free. Slash wounds crisscross his broken body, and he bleeds from a deep puncture in his side. His head droops in the shadow of his long, lank hair, and the rise and fall of his chest as he breathes is shallow and weak.

Behind him, serving as a poignant backdrop to the travesty of his dying, stands the fire-blackened shell of a tiny, burned-out country church. The cross from which the man hangs has been stripped from the sanctuary, torn free from the metal brackets that secured it to the wall behind the altar, and set into the earth. Patches of polished oak glisten faintly in the gray daylight, attesting to the importance it was once accorded in the worshipping of God.

Somewhere in the distance, back where the little town that once supported this church lies, screams rise up against the unmistakable sounds of butchery.

John Ross stands motionless for the longest time, pondering the implications of the horrific scene before him. There is nothing he can do for the man on the cross. He is not a doctor; he does not possess medical skills. His magic can heal and sustain only himself and no other. He is a Knight of the Word, but he is a failure, too. He lives out his days alone in a future he could not prevent. What he looks upon is not unusual in the postapocalyptic horror of civilization's demise, but is sadly familiar and disturbingly mundane.

He can take the man down, he decides finally, even if he cannot save him. By his presence, Ross can give the man a small measure of peace and comfort.

Beneath a wintry sky that belies the summer season, he strides up the rise to the man on the cross. The man does not lift his head or stir in any way that would indicate he knows Ross is present. Beneath a sheen of sweat and blood, his lean, muscular body is marked with old wounds and scars. He has endured hardships and abuse somewhere in his past, and it seems unfair that he should end his days in still more pain and desolation.

Ross slows as he nears, his eyes drifting across the blackened facade of the church and the trees surrounding it. Eyes glimmer in the shadows, revealing the presence of feeders. They hover at the fringes of his vision and in the concealment of sunless corners, waiting to assuage their hunger. They do not wait for Ross. They wait for the man on the cross. They wait for him to die, so they can taste his passing from life into death--the most exquisite, fulfilling, and rare of the human emotions they crave.