Armageddon's Children

[Circus Cranium]

Anyone read it? Is it any good? It's been sitting on my shelf for a while now, but I haven't gotten to it. I'm a bit skeptical he can merge the two worlds, but at the same time, curious to see how he does it.

[that old guy]

Both my wife and I liked the first book a great deal, though who can say how the series will turn out? Armageddon's Children was mostly written in the Word and Void series milieu, with very little in the way of Shannara mentioned. (And to me this was all to the good.)

[Circus Cranium]

Thanks! I'm actually of the opposite thought, I enjoyed the first Word novel but couldn't get through the second one. But it ought to be interesting to say the least.

[dekket]

I have read Armageddon's Children, and enjoyed it immensly. When I was reading the Word/Void trilogy, I didn't really expect that the Word would lose. Even with the death of John Ross, the hope of humanity being able to avoid the demon wrought devastation was still there - in the form of Nest Freemark and her gypsy morph child.

But from the get go in Armageddon's Children you know that the Demon's have destroyed the world as we know it, and are just mopping up the survivors.

The hope of the gypsy morph (which is revealed to be Hawk) is that he will lead survivors to a better world (which we know will be what becomes the Four lands in the Shannara series).

However Armageddon's Children does have much more of a Word/Void flavour/feel, rather than that of a Shannara book.

Book two The Elves of Cintra is much more of a true blend, what with Knight of the Word, Elves, Demons of the Void, The king of the Silver river, human survivors of the Great Wars, and Elfstones all combined.

Apparantly Book three The Gypsy Morph will bring in an even more Shannara feel, and ends in what will be the period leading up to the First Druid Council of Galaphile.

However I have heard somewhere (maybe it was even the Terry Brooks offical website) that there will be another shannara prequel trilogy set between Gypsy Morph and the establishment of the Druid Order.

[GOLLUM]

Armageddon's Children is not bad but I thought it was a bit weak and didn't really investigate the book's origins that well. Like others are suggesting, Elves Of Cintara is more of a blend and I liked that.

I can confirm there will indeed be another prequel trilogy. Terry always envisaged writing at least 6 preqeul books.

[dragonhawk]

I have read both Armageddon's Children and the Elves of Cintra .
I liked both books and liked figuring out what parts of our world survived in the world of Shannara

[Grimward]

I'm of the same mind as Dragonhawk about Armageddon's Children, and rather like both of the two new tough guy and gal knights. Elves is on my summer reading list, but haven't gotten there yet (and am beginning to run out of summer...).

Welcome to The Chrons, Dragonhawk. If you're so minded, post a thread in the Introductions forum and tell us a little about yourself.

[Lioness]

I've only read Armageddon's Children but I enjoyed it immensely. I don't believe my local library has the other 2 though.

[Harpo]

I'm 200 pages into my first read of any Terry Brooks book, and it's this one. I like it.

How many books are there altogether?

[Grimward]

I guess it depends on how one counts them....

Some see that book as Book IV of The Word and Void series, but if you go by the subheading, Armageddon's Children is part of a series called Genesis of Shannara (this is how Brooks sees it, of course). I think it reads differently enough (what with the merging of the Shannarra storyline and that of the three previous Word and Void books) to live up to the sub-heading, Harps. Strictly by the order they were published, there were 14 previous books in the Shannarra storyline before that one, plus 3 earlier Word and Void books. In the Shannarra world chronology, however, a different order emerges...

Drop a note when you finish it, if so inclined, and tell us how it fared...

[Karn Maeshalanadae]

I read this one, and the only good novel I felt Terry Brooks EVER did was The Sword of Shannara. Later Shannara books were poor distant seconds to it, and the "Good and Evil" books were just plain bad. Though, while the Landover books were alright, only the first one, again, is worth of any decent mention.

I don't read Brooks anymore for good reason.

[nixie]

Overall I enjoyed the series, a bit weak at times but still a decent read. I'll pick up the next series when its available.

[Grimward]

Am finally reading The Elves of Cintra now, and enjoying it.

[GerkGently]

Working my way through Armageddon's Children I've become rather dissatisfied with what Brook's has done with his world. Well, it is his world after all, but I'm still left with the deflating sense that he took an easier way out, instead of perhaps taking a tougher (though I feel more rewarding) route of developing a more original source for his magic.

-->btw, I've not read the Word & Void books but they sound awfully familiar... the terms, that is, I know I've heard them somewhere else but not sure the context. Perhaps biblical...?<--

Anyway, my major dissatisfaction, and why I think he 'copped out', is due to the introduction of Faerie into his World and its mythology. It really seems he could have developed his elves (as he did the other races) and the source of magic somehow out of the apocalypse that consumed the old world. Not sure how, and as I said it would have been a bit more difficult. But relying of Faerie and 'Word and Void' seemed like an easy way out. And those were the 2 elements, the 'worlds' that I have not liked seeing blended together. Just my .02

[ML Hamilton]

I liked the series, but I really missed the whole Shannara world. I liked those so much better. I thought the second one in this series got better.