Title:   Knight of the Word Copyright: 1998, Terry Brooks Published by: Ballantine Books Cover Artist: Brom Extras: Sample Chapter -- Prologue

"Knight of the Word" had won the Rocky Award for Best Fantasy Novel of 1998, which is given out by Denver's Rocky Mountain News. In the eleventh century the Welch hero Owain Glyndwr was chosen to combat the demonic evil of the Void and disappeared from history to fulfill that mission.  Armed with powerful magic, Glyndwr became a Knight of the Word -- a draining and demanding legacy passed on eight centuries later to John Ross, a professor of English literature on tour in Wales. In accepting the black runestaff that channeled the magic of the Word, John Ross accepted a solemn trust -- and an awful burden.  Each night he dreams of hellish futures wrought upon the world by the Void.  And each dream is of a future that will come to pass unless Ross prevents it in the present.  Crippled in body and soul by the searing magic he wilds and the horrors he dreams, sustained only by his faith in the goodness of the Word, Ross drifts across America, a modern-day knight errant in search of the agents of the Void. Then an unspeakable act of violence shatters his weary beliefs.  Haunted by guilt, John Ross turns his back on the Word.  With the help of beautiful Stefanie Winslow, Ross slowly builds a new life -- a life whose only magic lies in Stefanie's healing love. But a fallen Knight makes a tempting prize for the Void, and merciless demons soon stalk Ross and all close to him.  His only hope is young Nest Freedmark, who wields a powerful magic all her own.  Five years earlier, Ross had aided Nest when the future of humanity resed upon the choice she would make between Word and Void.  Now Nest must return the favor.  She must restor Ross's failth, or his life--and her own--will be forfeit... Select one of the versions of this book below to see what other readers think about "Knight of the Word". Available in Hardcover(1998),  Paperback(1999), Audio Cassette(1998)