gilda_elise

Angel Fire East marks the close of Terry Brooks's Word and Void trilogy, which began with 1997's Running with the Demon. In this book, the story returns to Nest's native Hopewell, where once again Nest and John must face off against the Void. This time, the demon is the ancient Findo Gask, along with his sidekicks: a giant albino demon, a shapeless ur'droch who lives only to kill, and a self-destructive psycho named Penny Dreadful.
The story begins when John Ross shows up at Nest Freemark's door with a young boy. He reveals that the boy, who he calls Little John, is actually a gypsy morph, a creature born of wild magic and capable of enormous deeds, for good or evil. Both sides have approximately one month to unravel Little John's secrets and recruit him for their cause. Because after one month, the magic that holds him together will tear him apart, and his powers will be lost forever.

Returning to two of his greatest characters, John Ross and Nest Freemark, Brooks builds the mystery of the gypsy morph, and its affect on John and Nest, to its surprising, though inevitable, conclusion. It was a conclusion I knew was coming, but I’ll miss John and Nest.

Though this trilogy, along with the Genesis of Shannara trilogy which follows, are part of the history of the whole Shannara universe, I find them more satisfying. Perhaps because they’re still in our world, the characters, and the situations, are easier to accept. The books seem more science fiction than fantasy, though that changes as the series goes on.

Given all that, the three Word and the Void books can be read as a standalone series, Angel Fire East being the satisfying and great ending.