World Famous Comics: Armageddon's Children (The Genesis of Shannara, Book 1)
Armageddon's Children (The Genesis of Shannara, Book 1)
By: Terry Brooks Publisher: Del Rey Average Rating: Binding: Mass Market Paperback Label: Del Rey Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 416 Publication Date: July 31, 2007 Release Date: July 31, 2007
Amazon.com: If you have never read anything by beloved fantasy writer Terry Brooks, take your chance with Armageddon's Children, a rich and absorbing epic in which the world lies in ruins as the powers of darkness and light battle for control. Want to learn more? Watch our video featuring Terry Brooks:
Watch the video (high bandwith)
Watch the video (low bandwith)
Product Description: Terry Brooks is one of a handful of writers whose work defines modern fantasy fiction. His twenty-three international bestsellers have ranged from the beloved Shannara series to stories that tread a much darker path. Armageddon’s Children is a new creation–the perfect opportunity for readers unfamiliar with Brooks’s previous work to experience an author at the height of his considerable storytelling powers. It is a gripping chronicle of a once-familiar world now spun shockingly out of control, in which an extraordinary few struggle to salvage hope in the face of terrifying chaos.
Logan Tom is doomed to remember the past and determined to rescue the future. Far behind him lies a boyhood cut violently short by his family’s slaughter, when the forces of madness and hate swept our world after decadent excesses led to civilization’s downfall. Somewhere ahead of him rests the only chance to beat back the minions of evil that are systematically killing and enslaving the last remnants of humanity. Navigating the scarred and poisoned landscape that once was America and guided by a powerful talisman, Logan has sworn an oath to seek out a remarkable being born of magic, possessed of untold abilities, and destined to lead the final fight against darkness.
Across the country, Angel Perez, herself a survivor of the malevolent, death-dealing forces combing the land, has also been chosen for an uncanny mission in the name of her ruined world’s salvation. From the devastated streets of Los Angeles, she will journey to find a place–and a people–shrouded in mystery, celebrated in legend, and vital to the cause of humankind . . . even as a relentless foe follows close behind, bent on her extermination. While in the nearly forsaken city of Seattle, a makeshift family of refugees has carved out a tenuous existence among the street gangs, mutants, and marauders fighting to stay alive against mounting odds–and something unspeakable that has come from the shadows in search of prey.
In time, all their paths will cross. Their common purpose will draw them together. Their courage and convictions will be tested and their fates will be decided, as their singular crusade begins: to take back, or lose forever, the only world they have.
In Armageddon’s Children, Brooks brings his gifts as a mythmaker to the timeless theme of the unending, essential conflict between darkness and light–and carries his unique imaginative vision to a stunning new level. Prepare for a breathtaking tour de force. To those who are new to Terry Brooks, welcome. And to those who have read him for many years: prepare for a dramatic surprise.
"I Will Grow Up to be Like My Mother..." Best known for his expansive "Shannara" series set in a typical fantasy-realm of swords and sorcery, Terry Brooks is also the author of the "Word and the Void" trilogy, an urban-fantasy concerning the entropy of our world fought against by Knights of the Word. Although both series seemed unconnected (despite a few hints that the world of Shannara was set thousands of years into the future, a world built on the foundations of own, and the common use of the phrase "the Word" in both series) this new trilogy builds a bridge between the two of them. Aptly called "the Genesis of Shannara" the trilogy purports to act as a sequel to Angel Fire East (The Word and the Void Trilogy, Book 3) (the final book in the Word and the Void trilogy) and the prequel to the first book in the Shannara series: First King of Shannara (Shannara Trilogy, Prequel) - which is in itself a prequel to the first Shannara book ever written: The Sword of Shannara. Confused yet?
Combining elements from both series, in "Armageddon's Children" the world as we know it is a post-apocalyptic wasteland. The Knights of the Word (as they appeared in the original trilogy) have failed in their mission to halt the demons' mission of chaos and entropy. Now demons roam the landscape, feeding off humans caught in concentration camps or still holding out in fortified compounds. Strange mutant creatures known as Lizards, Moles and Spiders (which will no doubt evolve into the various species of the "Shannara" series) lurk in the cities, and humanity seems destined for extinction. Certainly, there is no salvaging this world.
Brooks juggles four separate storylines (that will no doubt meet up as the trilogy goes on) as the Armageddon bears down on all of humanity, and the survivors prepare to cut their losses, gather together, and embark into a `brave new world.' Like the "Star Wars" prequels, the best part of this trilogy is seeing the two series link up: because this trilogy is in the unique position of being both a sequel and a prequel, there is plenty of enjoyment to be found in recognizing familiar elements of both series, and Brooks takes great pleasure in building up his already-extensive history and mythology of the "Shannara" world.
Logan Tom is a Knight of the Word, his family murdered by a demon, and led by dreams to Hopewell, the setting of Running With the Demon (The Word and the Void Trilogy, Book 1). He is given the task to find the legendary gypsy morph (a concept introduced in Angel Fire East (The Word and the Void Trilogy, Book 3) in which Nest Freemark - the protagonist of the previous trilogy - found herself impregnated by magic) who is destined to lead the people into the new world. Of course, he is not the only one hunting the gypsy morph, as Findo Gask (the demon who had hunted it in "Angel Fire East") has once again taken up the quest to eliminate the morph - or to turn it to evil. The only problem is - no one knows who the child of Nest Freemark actually *is*.
Hawk is the leader of the Ghosts, a group of feral children who has strange visions of leading his people out of the darkness and into a strange new world. He lives with several others in an abandoned building, and the only thing holding him back from following his visions is his girlfriend Tessa, who lives in one of the compounds and is reluctant to leave her family.
Meanwhile, the third sub-plot is one directly lifted from "Shannara", involving the Elves and the Ellcrys - a magical tree created from the life of an Elf who keeps the Elven people safe. Kirisin is a young Elf who helps keep the tree healthy, but is distraught when he begins receiving messages from the tree warning him of impending doom and the need for the Elves to relocate to a new land. The problem is trying to convince his fellow-Elves of the legitimacy of his claims. The presence of the Elves is a little off-putting, simply because there was no mention of them in the "Word and Void" trilogy. One would assume that they were there in the world all along, hiding away, but it's still a little strange to have them inserted so suddenly into the narrative.
Finally, a second Knight of the Word named Angel Perez is given the task to find an Elfstone known as the Loden (used extensively many books later in The Elf Queen of Shannara (Heritage of Shannara, Book 3)) in order to keep the Elves safe during their exodus.
As you can see, it's a fairly big set-up, and I guess it's fairly obvious that you can't begin reading Terry Brooks with this installment! You'll either have to start with the very first published book The Sword of Shannara or Running With the Demon (The Word and the Void Trilogy, Book 1). If you're serious about embarking on Brooks's work, I suggest the former, and following the rest of the series in publishing order.
As usual, Brooks' writing suffers from his usual long-windedness of sentence structure (he's of the opinion that nothing is properly understood by the reader unless it's been stated at least three time is slightly differing ways), but the story itself is reasonably fast-paced. There are a few needless flashbacks, and it does ultimately feel like one big introduction to the rest of the trilogy, but on the whole the story flows well.
Brooks manages to include a wide range of familiar faces and places from the rest of his work, including Owain Glyndower, Two Bears, Findo Gask, the Lady, tatterdemalions, the Elfstones, the Ellcrys, and even finds an intriguing - if somewhat grisly - way to include Nest Freemark. I'm looking forward to what else Brooks will incorporate in the coming books (I've got my fingers crossed for back-story on the Druid Council and the Ildatch from The Wishsong of Shannara). The story picks up again in The Elves of Cintra (The Genesis of Shannara, Book 2).
Great Armageddon's Children This is a really good book. It continues on with the Gypsy Morph (Hawk) and shows his life and stuff. Very interesting. Hard to put down once you start it. Highly recommend it to anyone who is a fan of the Shannara books!!
Yet another post-apocalyptic tale. If you are one of the followers of the Shannara stories, perhaps this book would have meaning to you. On its own the people and events are a slow, tedious rehash of other end-of-the-world books. This iteration of post-apocalyptic story writing rides the current popularity among some of bashing humanity for errors both real and imagined. This assault is so pervasive by what appears to be a political agenda that the story is overshadowed and becomes lacking in entertainment value, which is what I read fantasy for.
Good start to a new era I have enjoyed these works for several years and have read just about everything in the Shannara and Knight series. Maybe I am expecting a lot of this book, but it did keep me interested and wanting the next book right away. It is interesting to see the two worlds merging and I can't imagine how this will end.
IMHO, very entertaining if you're into this kind of thing.
A definite for any fan of sci-fi and fantasy! I did not like the original Shannara stories however I liked the concept of Terry Brooks worlds. So I decided to give this story a try. I absolutely loved it! I really like post-apocolypse type stories as well as fantasy worlds. This blends the two seamlessly. I will definitely be getting into the word and the void series next.
Anything Goes Trivia
Trevor
Megaton Man
