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A review by brittney_tyler
Armageddon's Children by Terry Brooks
5.0
Star Rating: 5 stars
Date: 9/21/23 – 9/27/23
Note: Although this is the first book in the Genesis of Shannara trilogy, it is the 18th in the overarching Shannara reading order that I am choosing to follow so this will not be an in-depth review.
As you know if you been following my reviews, I am currently making my way through several very long, complex, classic, epic science fiction and fantasy series, and I do this by making a concerted effort to make steady progress through them, and the one I was able to get to most recently and the subject of this review is Armageddon’s Children by Terry Brooks, book 1 of the Genesis of Shannara and book 18 of the overarching Shannara reading order that I’m choosing to follow.
This book continues a narrative that was started in the Word and the Void and features a lot of the same or similar characters and themes, although this series happens after the apocalypse has already occurred while Word and the Void happens at the beginning, in other words, they separated by, maybe, a hundred years. Armageddon’s Children, itself, features three main perspectives. Logan Tom and Angel Perez are Knights of the World, dedicated to fighting against the Void, and have been each assigned missions by the Lady, the leader of their order, one to find the hidden Elves and one to find the gypsy morph, which I won’t spoil the nature of. The final perspective is a young street boy, Hawk, who is living in the ruined city of Seattle with a band of street kids called the Ghosts, surviving on what they can gather and scavenge and fighting to protect each other from the other creatures and bands that also inhabit the city. All three of these perspectives are interesting and I suspect that they may start to intersect as the trilogy progresses.
My favorite part about Brooks’s books and this one in particular is his deep dives of traditional fantasy elements: talismans, the responsibility of magic and “being chosen”, and the image of a “Lady” beseeching an individual to fight for her cause. He doesn’t just put them in his narrative because they are established as being the go-tos for the genre, but does discussions of them and why they are such important parts of his narrative and the genre as a whole. This adds added depth to his narrative that I greatly enjoy as I like my books to have a deeper point rather than just a fun adventure, although those are okay for time to time.
One of his biggest ideas in this book is the different ways that people are facing the apocalypse: some are succumbing to it and becoming something “new”, some are surviving day-to-day on what they can scavenge, and some are holing up behind thick, guarded walls/deep, dense forests with harsh rules thinking that will protect them. Brooks explores all three options by not only expressing the benefits but also the pitfalls, even going so far as to allude, using references to other dystopian works, to how the “compound” mentality can become dangerous to a community quickly, chiefly with its “othering” of anyone not inside its walls. As I have stated before, I really like it when authors go “there” with their narratives and make me face topics and issues that I have never considered before, in other words, when they challenge me.
All in all, I really enjoyed this installment into the series and I am excited to keep reading. I actually found the next two books at my mom’s library book sale (my mom works at my local public library if you weren’t already aware) so it won’t be long before I pick them up. 5 stars and one I will be adding to my personal shelves!!!!!
PSA: Although, I feel you can really start with any Shannara series, there are some that are direct sequels to each other and need to be read in order. This is one of those, and I would advise you pick up at least the Word and the Void before this one, which includes Running with the Demon, A Knight of the Word, and Angel Fire East, to more deeply understand the complexities of what is occurring.
Date: 9/21/23 – 9/27/23
Note: Although this is the first book in the Genesis of Shannara trilogy, it is the 18th in the overarching Shannara reading order that I am choosing to follow so this will not be an in-depth review.
As you know if you been following my reviews, I am currently making my way through several very long, complex, classic, epic science fiction and fantasy series, and I do this by making a concerted effort to make steady progress through them, and the one I was able to get to most recently and the subject of this review is Armageddon’s Children by Terry Brooks, book 1 of the Genesis of Shannara and book 18 of the overarching Shannara reading order that I’m choosing to follow.
This book continues a narrative that was started in the Word and the Void and features a lot of the same or similar characters and themes, although this series happens after the apocalypse has already occurred while Word and the Void happens at the beginning, in other words, they separated by, maybe, a hundred years. Armageddon’s Children, itself, features three main perspectives. Logan Tom and Angel Perez are Knights of the World, dedicated to fighting against the Void, and have been each assigned missions by the Lady, the leader of their order, one to find the hidden Elves and one to find the gypsy morph, which I won’t spoil the nature of. The final perspective is a young street boy, Hawk, who is living in the ruined city of Seattle with a band of street kids called the Ghosts, surviving on what they can gather and scavenge and fighting to protect each other from the other creatures and bands that also inhabit the city. All three of these perspectives are interesting and I suspect that they may start to intersect as the trilogy progresses.
My favorite part about Brooks’s books and this one in particular is his deep dives of traditional fantasy elements: talismans, the responsibility of magic and “being chosen”, and the image of a “Lady” beseeching an individual to fight for her cause. He doesn’t just put them in his narrative because they are established as being the go-tos for the genre, but does discussions of them and why they are such important parts of his narrative and the genre as a whole. This adds added depth to his narrative that I greatly enjoy as I like my books to have a deeper point rather than just a fun adventure, although those are okay for time to time.
One of his biggest ideas in this book is the different ways that people are facing the apocalypse: some are succumbing to it and becoming something “new”, some are surviving day-to-day on what they can scavenge, and some are holing up behind thick, guarded walls/deep, dense forests with harsh rules thinking that will protect them. Brooks explores all three options by not only expressing the benefits but also the pitfalls, even going so far as to allude, using references to other dystopian works, to how the “compound” mentality can become dangerous to a community quickly, chiefly with its “othering” of anyone not inside its walls. As I have stated before, I really like it when authors go “there” with their narratives and make me face topics and issues that I have never considered before, in other words, when they challenge me.
All in all, I really enjoyed this installment into the series and I am excited to keep reading. I actually found the next two books at my mom’s library book sale (my mom works at my local public library if you weren’t already aware) so it won’t be long before I pick them up. 5 stars and one I will be adding to my personal shelves!!!!!
PSA: Although, I feel you can really start with any Shannara series, there are some that are direct sequels to each other and need to be read in order. This is one of those, and I would advise you pick up at least the Word and the Void before this one, which includes Running with the Demon, A Knight of the Word, and Angel Fire East, to more deeply understand the complexities of what is occurring.