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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A remarkable debut of richly rewarding, powerful epic fantasy, 27 Feb 2007
I really wish I knew exactly how to pronounce this author's last name because I'm definitely going to be spreading it around to anyone interested in reading great fantasy. Terry Cloutier really bursts out of the gate like gangbusters with this lengthy, richly rewarding debut novel, book one of The Zone War trilogy. Maybe you're thinking you don't want to invest a significant time and effort into reading a 600+ page novel from a brand new fantasy writer, but rest assured that your commitment will not be wasted one iota in The Demon Inside. You'll be swearing this book is all too short when you get to the end and face the daunting task of waiting for book two to see what happens next.
The foundation for the story is Edward Fox, a most sympathetic protagonist indeed. At the age of twelve, Edward was abducted by a deranged psychopath named David Wayne Diamond, a man who delighted in skinning his victims alive. While he was eventually rescued and Diamond killed, Edward is still haunted by the experience. Now, it is seriously affecting his relationship with his wife, who believes the scars on his legs date back to a farming accident. When the memories threaten to overpower him, Edward does now what he has always done - space out from the world completely and retreat into a world of his own creation. In the Zone, he was always safe and completely in control of his environment - no one could hurt him there, including Diamond. Unfortunately, that is no longer the case.
As his real world body lies in a coma, Edward finds himself back in the Zone for the long haul - only now, the Zone has undergone some serious changes. Edward no longer has the power to control what goes on there, which proves especially inconvenient and dangerous when he learns that he is the Creator whose triumphant return has been highly anticipated by many in the Zone. Almost completely powerless and exceedingly vulnerable, Edward isn't exactly the Creator that his followers expected. Doorgen Sandon, a great knight (a creation of Edward's younger imagination), and a young wizard are sent to find the Creator and return him to the Old Man (head wizard), while a company of devoted monks also seek the Creator they have been prophesying about. They, along with a fascinating mix of remarkably memorable individuals, find themselves compelled to become Edward's protectors (as they hope he will come into his powers eventually) against the evil and deadly forces of a mad emperor determined to kill this Creator and thus open up the way for his own conquest of the entire Zone. Edward doesn't know it yet, but this emperor is a malignant soul he is far too familiar with already.
There's no lack of action in these pages, as the emperor lets loose the dogs of war against neighboring cities and dispatches a cadre of soldiers, terrible witches, and other sundry evils to dispose of Edward and his friends. Much blood is shed by the swords of Sandon and his fellow Knights, a young wizard sent to do an experienced wizard's job more than proves himself despite serious physical odds, and the forces of evil increasingly bear down upon a more and more isolated Creator. Many great characters rise above the tumult, such as the bold and fiery Lady Jasmiine Vaxin (who bears more than a striking resemblance to Edward's real-world wife), and - sometimes to my dismay - many of them go. Cloutier forges his own path through the fantasy genre, sometimes killing off, after a few odd pages, individuals I expected to be major secondary characters. That authorial capriciousness really kept this reader on his toes, never knowing for sure whether a fallen hero would actually rise again.
While all of this intense action is taking place in the Zone, Cloutier pauses here and there to reveal more about Edward's real-world past, specifically his efforts to mentally and emotionally recover from his violent kidnapping ordeal. Both of Edward's story lines come to a most dramatic climax, leaving this reader desperate for more. This isn't one of those lengthy novels that you put down with a "Whew - thank goodness that's done" feeling - far from it. In fact, The Demon Inside has you directing a few choice words Cloutier's way for his authorial decision to leave you hanging on a precipice of anticipation until such time as the second novel in the series is released. That, my friends, is good writing.
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