Armageddon’s Children

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1. 

   Joe Sherry @ 1:38 pm

   Terry Brooks revisits the world of his greatest work: The Word and the Void. That original trilogy was set in a modern day United States where there are demons working for the Void trying to turn humans to acts of evil to twist the world to be a more violent, dangerous, and lost place. John Ross, a Knight of the Word, fought daily against visions of the future that he had to try to prevent. Ross’s visions were of events that could happen in his own lifetime and for all of Ross’s success, all he did was delay the inevitable. Armageddon’s Children is set some eighty years after Angel Fire East and the world is a ruined place and things are only fixing to get worse. Pollution is out of control, a nuclear war occurred, the humans which are “safe” live in compounds (like Seattle’s Safeco Field) warded off against the outside world. Those compounds are all under siege and they are falling day by day until there will be nowhere left to run or hide. In Seattle there are gangs of children calling themselves Tribes. Adults have failed them and street children are not allowed in Compounds so they must survive by becoming their own families and looking out for each other. Humans who had been caught outside for too long and who somehow survived drinking radioactive water and eating off of the poisoned land have mutated. This is our world, only broken. This could be our future.

   Terry Brooks works on four storylines in Armageddon’s Children. One storyline is of a Tribe of children in Seattle called the Ghosts. The Ghosts are led by an older boy named Hawk who is just trying to keep his family alive. It is through Hawk’s eyes that we see what his world and our world has become. Two storylines have to do with the two known remaining Knights of the Word: Logan Tom and Angel Perez. Logan Tom has been sent by The Lady to find the Gypsy Morph somewhere in the Northwest. The Gypsy Morph is a being of great power and magic and which we know was somehow born to Nest Freemark after Angel Fire East. Before I mention the last two storylines I need to mention what had been previously rumor and conjecture. Up until the announced publication of this novel it was suggested that the Word / Void Trilogy could be the world before The Great Wars that ruined the world and slowly evolved into the Four Lands that we know in the Shannara novels. This was always a great theory. In interviews before the publication of Armageddon’s Children Terry Brooks finally admitted that this was true. That in his next trilogy he would start bridging Word / Void with Shannara. So, that brings us to storyline number three: Angel Perez. Angel Perez is another Knight of the Word who has been fighting to rescue as many children as possible before compounds are overrun by the demons and Once-Men. She is given a new mission: to find the Elves and to help them find some Elfstones. Now, elves have nothing to do with Word / Void, but have everything to do with Shannara. And that brings us to storyline number four: The Elves. We actually find out about the elves before we find out about Angel Perez and when they appear and they mention the Ellcrys, longtime readers of Terry Brooks knows without question that the two series have now been linked. The Ellcrys has given one of the Chosen a mission: to find the seeking elfstones to located the Loden Elfstone to carry the Ellcrys out of the Oregon woods whole. This may not make sense to readers who have not read Elfstones of Shannara or The Elf Queen of Shannara, but Brooks makes these concepts fairly clear even to newer readers of the series.

   So, that’s what Armageddon’s Children is about. Is it any good? Yes. The more Brooks stays to the feeling of Word / Void the better the book is. I know that we’re bridging to a more traditional fantasy series, but he gives better description and characterization and storytelling when he is working in the more natural setting of Word / Void. There are references a plenty to the previous trilogy and several references to things we know from Shannara and even an explanation of why there are demons walking the land considering the nature of what we know of the Ellcrys. The primary complaint is that this is the first book of a trilogy so Brooks spends 350 pages setting stuff up and giving us some action and storytelling, but nothing is resolved. He ends with a cliffhanger (almost literally) and rolls right into Volume Two of this trilogy. Brooks does not tell a complete story. Let me contrast this with his four book Heritage of Shannara series. Each book told a complete story while still building to the larger story of the series. That is what is missing here. It is not a book that can stand alone, but because of the ties to the excellent Word / Void series it is a harkening back to when Terry Brooks was writing strong fantasy with solid description. Brooks intentionally stepped away from that, publishing a book a year and desiring to write faster, more action packed novels rather than longer works of greater quality. He sacrificed quality for quantity even though his sales did not decrease. This is a step back towards some of that quality, though I know that is because he is forced to be more descriptive about the world as it has changed from Angel Fire East and is nothing like The Four Lands. This book is designed as a book where new readers can step in and not feel lost because they haven’t read 20 books on both sides of the timeline but will also reward longtime readers. Armageddon’s Children is a success in for both groups of readers and while not perfect it is a strong work in the catalog of Terry Brooks.

   -Joe Sherry

   
2. 

   Arthur W. Jordin @ 2:11 pm

   Armageddon’s Children (2006) is the first fantasy novel in a new series bridging the Word and Void series with the Shannara novels. In the previous series, John Ross and Nest Freemark liberated Harper and Little John from the demon Findo Gask and his minions, but Ross was fatally injured by the evil creatures and then was released from his tasks by the Lady. Gask confronted Nest briefly, but departed without a battle when he learned that the gypsy morph had disappeared after Wraith destroyed the ur’droch. Nest knew, however, that the gypsy morph had become an embryo within herself.

   In this novel, Hawk is the leader of the Ghosts, a tribe of children within the ruins of Seattle. He has had a vision of leading the children away to Paradise, but he is holding off until he can persuade Tessa to leave the local compound and her parents. When a monster from deep below the city attacks their home, he knows that the time has come for them to leave.

   Logan Tom escaped from a compound overrun by once-men at the age of eight, but all his family were killed during their flight. Logan got a good look at the demon who leads the assault; the dead eyes will haunt his dreams for decades. He was saved at the last minute by Michael Poole, leader of a group resisting the demons and once-men, and he stays with Michael for the next ten years.

   After Michael’s death, Logan roams the country for awhile in a solar-powered S-150 assault vehicle, but is soon recruited as a Knight of the Word by the Lady. A decade later, he is wondering if his warnings about demon armies and his raids on slave camps have accomplished anything. He knows that many Knights have been killed by the demons, the number of once-men is increasing, and the environment is becoming even more polluted; is there any way to win this war? Then Two Bears gives him another kind of task to perform: guard the gypsy morph while he leads the children to Paradise.

   Kirisin is a young Elf who has been Chosen by the Ellcrys to attend to her needs. As he tends her roots and soil, the Ellcrys asks him why she has been forsaken. After he recovers from his shock at being addressed by the tree, Kirisin tells the other Chosen what he has been told.

   Kirisin is not believed and he angrily stalks off to tell the King. There he is placated and told to wait until his message has been researched in the ancient records. Soon, however, he realizes that the King already knows about the Ellcrys’s message and is avoiding a response.

   Angel Perez was a child of the barrio in Los Angeles. When her parents die, Juan Gonzalez adopts her and teaches her how to survive amidst the ruins. Johnny also teaches her how to protect herself from the human predators in the city, using unarmed combat or any available weapon. When a group of bully boys waylay and kill Johnny, Angel sets up an ambush and kills all of them. She takes over Johnny’s role as protector for those in her neighborhood. Then Two Bears recruits her as a Knight of the Word.

   During the destruction of the last compound within L.A. by an once-men army led by Findo Gask, Angel guides the surviving children off to safety. When she reaches the camp set up by her guerrilla forces, Angel is visited by a tatterdemalion bearing a message from the Lady. First she is told about Nest Freemark and the gypsy morph, then she is ordered to contact a group of Elves and to accompany them in their search for the Loden stone.

   Angel leaves word with the children’s escorts that she has been called away on another mission and then follows the tatterdemalion to a storage area. There they find a solar-powered ATV and head north. Unfortunately, a demon is tracking her and follows on another ATV.

   This story takes place long after the time of John Ross and Next Freemark. The demons are close to winning everywhere. Now is the time for an exodus of some surviving humans to an Elven Paradise. This first volume sets the scene, but terminates just before the exodus per se. All looks dark, but at least some of the heroes have to survive into the next segment of this story.

   Highly recommended for Brooks fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of the battles between Good and Evil among humans and Elves.

   -Arthur W. Jordin

   
3. 

   M.D.C. @ 2:34 pm

   Here’s the biggest thing I can tell you.

   MAKE SURE YOU READ THE WHOLE WORD/VOID TRILOGY FIRST. It also doesn’t hurt to make sure you read First King of Shannara and perhaps Elf Queen of Shannara beforehand.

   There’s a reason for this. The book is attempting to bridge the worlds of Word/Void with the Shannara world in very subtle ways. Reading the Shannara series isn’t vital, it will just give you clues into some of the content that’s discussed, but reading the Word/Void seems to be a prerequisite, because if you don’t, you won’t understand why this book is explaining certain things. Indeed, the very subname of this book is a direct link to the Word/Void’s future.

   Reading the book the first time I had never read the Word/Void and I was thusly confused. There is one small section that links back to the Shannara world and I loved that part, but the rest seemed very unappealing. I went back and bought that trilogy and read it through, went back and read this book and finally understand the connections being implied. It’s an intriguing approach, to be sure.

   So why did I give this 3 stars? Well, I don’t like how the book ended. I realize the intent; it’s a trilogy, so let’s cliffhang it ala Voyage and High Druid, but I hate that. I much prefer the way the Heritage series did it, where there was at least some closure in each book, even though the books were all connected together, it felt as though I could read any of the four books and feel a sense of satisfaction, rather than having to read one book and then wait a whole year for the next one, while having forgotten the events of the one before it. It’s frustrating, especially when you really enjoy the author’s work.

   For that, I can’t give it any higher, because this method of writing doesn’t work for Brooks. It feels like a blatant attempt to milk money out of the masses. I really hope he goes back to the old style of ensuring some level of closure in each book, even in series.

   
4. 

   Jeffrey T. Munson @ 3:30 pm

   Terry Brooks has combined two of his most famous worlds, Shannara and the Word and Void, and developed a new post-apocalyptic setting where good and evil square off once again.

   There are three distinct sub-plots in this book. The first plot deals with a Knight of the Word Named Logan Tom. He has been charged with finding a magical being known as the Gypsy Morph. But he is not the only one searching for the Morph. Findo Gask, a demon who was nearly destroyed in Brooks’ “Angel Fire East” has survived and, along with other demons, is searching for the Morph as well. Aided by the finger bones of Nest Freemark, the heroine from the original Word and Void series, Logan sets off across the United States in search of the Morph. It is a race between himself and Gask to see who will find it first.

   Sub-plot two deals with a group of young street kids known as the Ghosts. Living in post-apocalyptic Seattle, they struggle to stay alive. The leader is a young boy named Hawk. All of the members of the Ghosts have taken on unusual names. They, along with other tribes, mark their territory and try to exist. Hawk’s dream is to be able to take his group safely out of Seattle to a more safe place, but he possesses a power much stronger than any of the other Ghosts can imagine.

   The final sub-plot involves the Elves from the Shannara setting. Kirisin is one of the Chosen who tends to the legendary Ellcrys. The Ellcrys is a tree that was made by the Elves to lock all of the evil beings away. As long as the Ellcrys lives, the evil creatures cannot return to the earth. One day, Kirisin is startled to hear the Ellcrys speaking to him. The Ellcrys never speaks, but she tells Kirisin that she is in danger and must be moved before its too late. Kirisin decides to tell the king about what he’s heard, but the king ignores his pleas. However, there is one person who can help him before its too late. Meanwhile, another Angel Perez, another Knight of the Word, has been sent to help the Elves reach safety. But, she has one of Findo Gask’s demons trailing after her. Will Angel arrive before the Ellcrys’ magic fails?

   This is a fascinating read. I’m a big fan of Terry Brooks, and I’ve read all of his previous books. I’m amazed at how he has managed to bring together two of his most famous worlds and blend them together. As the book ends, the reader gets a true sense of how neatly Brooks has melded the worlds together. The story is fascinating, and it really draws the reader in. As in all of his previous works, the character development in this book is excellent, and the reader really feels a bond with these new characters.

   I recommend this book very highly. Brooks has developed a new world by combining two others, and this new world promises to be as thrilling and exciting as his others. I can’t wait to see what happens in book two of the series.

   
5. 

   124C41- @ 5:48 pm

   …,as to why I even started reading in the first place, way back in grammar school. In fact, the first novel I’ve ever read was the Scions of Shannara. I found the book compelling in a way that the literature pushed onto us by an oppressive English Lit class could never hold a candle to, and have been an avid reader, and fan, ever since. Although the last trilogy didn’t seem to share the depth of it’s predecessors, even though I still found them enjoyable, I’m glad to see Terry’s work back in full force.
   
   Even though the book takes place in the inevitable apocalypse, a seemingly tired cliche these days, the fact that it’s a sequel to the Word and the Void, and a distant prequel to the Shannara series, definitely adds a magnitude of depth and originality that is unprecedented in the genre.
   
   Each character portrayed in the story has their own demons, and even the literal demons in the story have theirs. The fall of human civilization has scarred not only the land in which we lived, but also the hearts of men themselves. The fact that a large portion of the story revolves around a group of children struggling for survival in the ruins left for them by their parents, and how they cope from day to day and deal with the monstrosities that plague them, will certainly, at times, have you glued to your seat, and your eyes stuck to the pages.
   
   As I found out one morning at about 4 a.m.
   
   I can only hope the sequel is as enthralling as the first, and once again, THANK YOU Terry!