Review Amazon.co.uk:
Terry Brooks' Running with the Demon is billed as "A Novel of Good and Evil", but it could have been "A Novel of Here and Now". The fantasy master behind the Shannara series switches his focus from neo-Tolkien jungles to the woebegone steel town of Hopewell, Illinois. Though Illinois teenager Nest Freemark (where does he get these names?) looks like your average kid, she spends her free time in the woods asking her 6-inch pal Pick for advice in dodging the Demon and his creepy Feeders, spirits who gobble the souls of humans. Nest is also being tailed by John Ross, a shining Knight of the Word who wants to keep her from the Feeders' jaws.

Meanwhile, in the real world that dominates the novel, Nest Freemark is being stalked by a handsome, evil classmate whom she has rejected, and a pack of insurgent striking steelworkers plot a bombing at the company's Fourth of July picnic. The boy and the bombers are unaware that they're being subconsciously manipulated by the Demon. The book's matter-of-fact take on the uncanny is a bit like The X-Files. (And if you want to compare the two, check out Ted Edwards' X-Files Confidential: The Unauthorized X-Philes Compendium.)

Brooks' plot has more strands than a plate of pasta, yet his mind is logical to a fault--he used to be a lawyer after all. There's something for everyone: gory monster attacks, dreadful family secrets, magical mind-game duels, even a (rather flat) teen-romance subplot. The setting has real grit and the countdown to the Independence Day bombing peps up the tale. Brooks sometimes prosaically explains things a better literary stylist would dramatize, and his minatory visions of environmental apocalypse are more fun than the obvious, nagging, don't-be-a-litterbug message they exist to convey. Brooks will never be as deep as Tolkien, and many readers will find him less awesome as their adolescence recedes. Still, he's the genuine article and, with this book, he raises the stakes he's playing for.

RELEASE NOTES:

Wanders (again) into YAEB - Yet Another English BookBox.

Thank you, I'm looking forward to this!

This almost forgotten book resurfaced when I moved house earlier this month and looked like just the right thing to take my mind off unpacking boxes.

While I found myself gripped almost despite myself and couldn't stop reading because I just had to find out what became of the characters, Running with the Demon also served as a good reminder as to why I'd given up on reading mainstream fantasy some years ago. I found Brooks' style intensely annoying -- most everything is over-described, the wording is pretentious, and there are a few words (mostly "big" ones like implacable) the author really likes and uses ad nauseam.
The setting, however, was what kept me going, even before the plot drew me in. How could I not fall for the story of an innocent young girl whose best friend is a forest sprite on the mission to protect the park of their hometown? John Ross is the (stereo-)typical dark and broken hero to match, constructed to be all the more likable for his failures and weaknesses (and intended to kindle every woman's innate desire to "save" stray creatures, as exemplified by the character of Josie, no doubt).

A well-executed and calculated pastiche of stereotypes that quite appealed to (and satisfied) my lower reading instincts, but leaves me somewhat ashamed for it.

Looks like I'll have to hold on to this book for just a little while longer so I can release another couple of books first, and then make this count for the Ich bin dann mal weg-Challenge.

Beim Lokaltest-Mini-Meet-up. :)

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Hallo! Du hast also ein Buch gefunden, das bei Bookcrossing registriert ist! Wenn Du hier eine kleine Nachricht schreibst, weiß ich, dass es gefunden worden ist. Vielleicht hast Du auch Lust, mich wissen zu lassen, wie Dir das Buch gefallen hat und was Du als nächstes damit machen möchtest? Bookcrossing ist eine Plattform, die die "Wanderwege" von Büchern beobachtet -- anonym, kostenlos, garantiert spamfrei und ohne weitere Verpflichtungen!

Vielen Dank und viel Spaß mit dem Buch!

Ich hab's heute auf dem inoffiziellen BC-Treffen in Solingen ergattert und freue mich schon aufs Lesen. :)

Kommt heute mit zum Meetup!

Caught at the meetup of bookcrossers in Solingen. I am looking forward to reading it :-)... Thank you!

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this suspenseful novel about bravery and remaining true to oneself. Demons are pictured a bit like a symbol of what humans can be become when they experience more despair, loss and violence in life than they can bear, with the children of "demons" being especially vulnerable to the damage life can do to us. Even more interesting symbols are, however, the feeders ...
Moreover, some parts are beautifully written as I normally would not expect from a fantasy novel (for example chapter 25 when Gran bids a sad farewell to her home).
A great read - thank you for sharing!

Sent as a RABCK to a fellow bookcrosser.
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Happy reading!

Dieses Buch lag heute als RABCK von Colombina im Briefkasten, zusammen mit einer netten Karte und ein paar tolle BC-Labels. Ganz lieben Dank für diese Überraschung, ich freue mich schon aufs Lesen!

12.09.2013: I finished reading the book, because I kept hoping for it to get better. Although the story is sound, at no point while reading the book I felt gripped by the story. For me this is one of those books I can put aside without a pang of sadness that I can't keep on reading, as I have with many other books. The character development was a little flat for my liking and the back story about the strike and the town itself was somehow non-consequential, the story could have taken place everywhere. A slightly disappointing read for me, which does not encourage me to go look for other books by this author.

Taking this book with me to the BC-meeting in Groningen on the 28th of September.

Took this from the meeting this afternoon at Café De Beurs, Groningen.

Bij de ingang van King Kong Records.

Redenatie mbt loslaten:

Demon ---> 666 ---> Number of the beast --> is nummer van Iron Maiden ---> cd/platen van Iron Maiden worden bij King Kong Records verkocht

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jsmcDLDw9iw

English:
At the entrance of King Kong Records:

Reason for releasing at this place:
Demon ---> 666 ---> Number of the beast -->song by Iron Maiden ---> cd/record of Iron Maiden sold at King Kong Records.