Angel Fire East
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 1st edition cover |
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| Author | Terry Brooks |
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| Cover artist | Gerald Brom |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Series | Word/Void |
| Genre(s) | Fantasy novel |
| Publisher | Del Rey Books |
| Released | 26 October 1999 |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover, Paperback) |
| Pages | 352 pp |
| ISBN | ISBN 0-345-37964-0 |
| Preceded by | A Knight of the Word |
| Followed by | Armageddon's Children |
Angel Fire East is the third and final novel in the Word/Void trilogy by Terry Brooks, written as a prequel to his Shannara series. It was first published in 1999 by Ballantine's Del Rey division. The novel takes place around Christmas in 2012, ten years after the events of A Knight of the Word. The story returns to the town of Hopewell, Illinois as Nest Freemark and John Ross attempt to unlock a potentially world-altering magic. Brooks' The Genesis of Shannara trilogy, beginning with Armageddon's Children, follows this book chronologically.
[edit] Plot summary
John Ross has a vision of the future where a crucified Knight of the Word (one that resembles himself) tells him that a "Gypsy morph" is about to be created in the present. The creation of a Gypsy morph is a rare event - it is a vergence of magic that can become a powerful weapon for either the Void or the Word depending on who unlocks its secret. The morph, however, will dissipate within a month if the secret remains unlocked and the magic will be lost. John manages to catch the morph in the Pacific Northwest and escape his demon pursuers. The morph changes from object to object before settling on the appearance of a four-year-old boy. The only word the boy says is "Nest", prompting John to head back to Hopewell, Illinois to find out if Nest Freemark, whom he has not seen in ten years, can help him. However, a resourceful demon named Findo Gask has been tracking John. He has recruited three other demons - Penny Dreadful (a young goth-type girl), Twitch (a half-crazed hulking albino man), and an ur'droch (a lethal demon who remains in its demonic, shadowy form instead of taking on a human guise). They track John to Hopewell and arrive in town before him.
Nest, now a 29-year-old divorcee, had won several Olympic track gold medals, but had to retire from running because she nearly turned into the ghost-wolf Wraith during an event. She still lives in her house near the park and tends to the area with the sylvan, Pick. Four days before Christmas, she is visited by Findo Gask and immediately recognizes him as a demon. He threatens her but does not harm her. She also meets Penny at church, but does not realize she is a demon. Later that day, Bennett Scott, whom Nest saved from falling off of a cliff when Bennett was a preschooler fifteen years earlier, appears on her doorstep. Bennett is now herself a single mother of an infant, Harper, and trying to get clean from a drug addiction. Nest naturally invites her to stay with her. That night, while Christmas caroling, Nest and her church group are attacked by Twitch. Nest nearly has to call on Wraith when Penny appears, calls him off and pretends that he is a mentally disabled relative, and no one is hurt. Later that night, John Ross arrives with the Gypsy morph boy, whom they call "Little John".
The next morning Nest and John fill each other in on recent events. Bennett and Harper go for a walk in the park where they meet Penny. Penny offers Bennett drugs, but before she can accept, O'olish Amaneh appears and takes them home. Nest then goes for a walk in the park with O'olish, whom she also has not seen in ten years, who suggests that if Nest spends some time with Little John, it may help unlock his secrets. He also tells her that soon, he may never see her again. He then mysteriously disappears, as usual. Nest takes his advice and tries to talk to Little John, but no progress is made. Later that day the group does some tobbogganing and narrowly avoids an assassination attempt by Findo Gask, thanks to Pick's help. Instead, Findo Gask kills the park worker Ray Childress that night.
The next evening O'olish Amaneh again appears to Nest, and encourages her to persevere with Little John. After he leaves her, he is pursued by Findo Gask and his demon minions. Surrounded, he disappears in a whirlwind of snow. That night, Nest, Bennett, and the kids go to a neighborhood Christmas party while John spends some time with his old flame, Josie Jackson. Bennett abandons her child at the party, leaving Nest a note. She meets up with Penny who gives her drugs, then tricks her into falling off of the cliff in the park that nearly claimed her fifteen years ago. Nest returns home with Harper and Little John, and is attacked by the ur'droch. Wraith comes forth from her to successfully repel him. Before Wraith reenters Nest, Little John calls her "Mama" and runs into her arms, but refuses to do so after Wraith returns to Nest, thus foreshadowing what is to come.
The next day, Christmas Eve, Bennett's body is found and Nest has to tell Harper that her mother has died, and she will take care of her. That evening, however, Harper and Little John are kidnapped by Findo Gask. Nest knows from previous conversations with Findo Gask that he doesn't know that Little John is the Gypsy morph. She also realizes that Penny, who she is certain killed Bennett, is in league with Findo Gask and they are likely hiding out at the house where she was attacked by Twitch. She and John head over to the house for a pre-emptive strike, but before doing so, Nest somehow releases Wraith from within her, severing their magical tie. They are successful in destroying Findo Gask's three demonic henchmen (Penny, Twitch, and the ur'droch) and rescuing the children, but John is mortally poisoned. Finally, when Little John finds that Wraith has left Nest permanently, the Gypsy morph is able to become what it was meant to be: an unborn child of destiny within Nest's womb.
Findo Gask, thinking that the Gypsy morph dissipated, leaves town. Nest, perceiving her magical conception, decides to name the child John Ross Freemark, and heads back for home to start a new life with Harper. John Ross, weak and poisoned, lays down by the river in the park and dies. As he passes, he sees the Lady, the voice of the Word, reaching out to him and calling him home. As John's body disappears, his staff falls to the ground. O'olish Amaneh appears from the shadows, picks up the staff and surveys the horizon in contemplation of the continuous struggle between the Word and the Void.
[edit] Characters in "Angel Fire East"
- Freemark, Nest
- Ross, John
- O'olish Amaneh
- Gask, Findo
- Dreadful, Penny
- Twitch
- Ur'droch
- Wraith
- Little John
- Scott, Bennett
- Scott, Harper
- Pick
- Jonathan
- Jackson, Josie
- Heppler, Robert
- The Lady
- Glyndwyr, Owain
[edit] External links
| Novels of Terry Brooks’ Shannara universe | ||||
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| Book I | Book II | Book III | Book IV | |
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| Word/Void: | Running with the Demon | A Knight of the Word | Angel Fire East | |
| The Genesis of Shannara: | Armageddon's Children | The Elves of Cintra | Untitled | |
| Prequel to Shannara: | First King of Shannara | |||
| The Original Shannara Trilogy: | The Sword of Shannara | The Elfstones of Shannara | The Wishsong of Shannara | |
| The Heritage of Shannara: | The Scions of Shannara | The Druid of Shannara | The Elf Queen of Shannara | The Talismans of Shannara |
| The Voyage of the Jerle Shannara: | Ilse Witch | Antrax | Morgawr | |
| High Druid of Shannara: | Jarka Ruus | Tanequil | Straken | |
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| Other Shannara products | ||||
| The World of Shannara | Shannara PC Game | |||
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| Shannara on Wikipedia | ||||
| WikiProject — Characters — Creatures — Places — Objects — Related articles | ||||
