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Dec 17, 2009

Eric rated it:

I read the Shannara books as a young teen and loved them. It was such a letdown when I tried to read them years later and they didn't hold up. Pretty thin, really. But I got suckered in to reading multiple new ones set in that world afterwards. Since I knew the world, they were comfortable and familiar. I kept wanting to recapture the original feeling, but they just weren't very good.

This one is the same thing. The concept isn't entirely bad but the mediocre writing continues. There More...

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May 13, 2010

chucklesthescot rated it:

A group of children are living on the streets of a deserted city,inhabited by the sick,the supernatural and the unwanted while people live in fortified sport stadiums to protect against the forces of evil.When a rival gang are murdered by some new monster the children decide they have to escape.Meanwhile,a protector is on his way to the city to find one special child with the power to defeat the evil.One of the few others to stand against the evil forces is trying to outrun a demon sent to kill More...

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Dec 03, 2008

Chris rated it:

I've loved Brooks' writing for many years now and this new series continues his great tradition of excellent stories with great thoughts and values.

With this novel, Terry begins to bridge the gap between two of his main story threads...that of the world of Shannara and that of the world in the "Word and Void" series.

The characters are approachable and each filled with their own strengths and flaws. As readers, we are taken on a voyage of self discovery along with the characters as the More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

May 16, 2011

Janetlorraine rated it:

I love Terry Brooks' novels, especially his novels about Knights of the Word. I felt like I was waiting forever to see this trilogy begin! I was very interested in what would become of the children and the others in the "Word and Void" series and was disappointed to find a lot of the middle was left unsaid. I hope there will be another book that more fully bridges the gap between this new trilogy and that one. Perhaps the middle would be too desolate to tell, except by including bi More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Nov 30, 2010

Mark rated it:

I feel like my rating is not really indicative of a rating most readers would give this book. Armageddon's Children, being the first in a standalone trilogy (and ending on a cliffhanger, no less) while bridging the gap between the Word and the Void series and the Shannara series, is a fun read for a Brooks fan. However, when I last read the Shannara series was about 15 years ago, and Word and the Void about 7... so it makes it interesting to try and see how all the pieces will fit together in More...

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Nov 05, 2010

Patrick rated it:

Bridging the gap between two well known series of books is a dicey proposition. Isaac Asimov attempted it at the end of his career when he took his Foundation series and his Robot series of books, both highly regarded, and join them together. It was not necessarily a match made in heaven and while it was a interesting idea it wasn't needed or necessary. It seemed like a forced effort and I really felt there was little point to doing it.

Even just trying to make a prequel to a well rega More...

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Jun 29, 2010

Mason rated it:

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0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Feb 27, 2010

Mr. Pirkl rated it:

This book takes place in the world created in the books "A Knight of the Word" and "Running with the Demon" and "Angel Fire East" (I haven't read this one yet). I did not know that when I picked it up from the library yesterday during the 'snow' day. I just knew that it was by Terry Brooks, who I am a fan of, and it said that it was a new series. I didn't know it had the subtitle of "Genesis of Shannara" until I added it here. I loved the Shannara series a More...

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Aug 02, 2009

Andrea rated it:

Having never read Terry Brooks before, I was not sure what to expect from this book. It begins in a post apocolyptic world, where humans are shutting themselves into compounds to save themselves from a world run amok by demons, mutants, and something called once-men, who seek only to destroy and follow orders from the demons not caring if they live or die. The book follows three separate people with the promise that they will all be brought together. (However, they are not, you got to go to t More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jun 23, 2010

Jessie rated it:

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1 comment like

Nov 20, 2009

Monk rated it:

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Apr 26, 2010

Lunaraven rated it:

Brooks is and always will be one of my favorite story tellers. He started off his career with a book heavily influenced by other Epic fantasies, with very little orginality to the plot, only his characters managed to set him apart. Since the debut of Swords, Brooks has come into his own as a writer. Aside from the very basic good v. evil plot found in almost all fantasy, Brooks has managed to create an intriguing world that attempts to blend magic with science in a rather inventive way. His Gene More...

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Jun 19, 2010

Christine rated it:

(Audio Book) The book was a slow start I felt. I liked listening to the parts about the children running around Seattle since I am from Seattle. But I felt the author didn't do a very good job describing the city. I knew area's that he was talking about only because I live here but I felt that people that might not live here would not really get a good picture of the city.

As for the book it just seemed to take awhile for plots to build and I felt like the story was over just as it s More...

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Feb 02, 2012

Autumnjs rated it:

It’s not you, it’s me- I decided to read this book after a cursory search on Whichbook. I like books about the apocalypse, and this seemed like it could be interesting. Mutants! Gangs of kids just trying to survive this crazy post-apocalyptic world! What’s not to like? Well, the story lost me with the introduction of the Elves. To be fair, I rarely seek out or read books from the fantasy genre, and this is the first time I’ve read a work by Terry Brooks, so I tried to be open. I really enj More...

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Oct 21, 2009

Angela rated it:

Armageddon's Children is full of action from the very first sentence. Every main character is in danger and has a battle to fight just to survive much less accomplish the task they are destined to carry out. The demons and once-men control much of the world and take joy in slaughtering and enslaving humans. Much of the human population has taken refuge in compounds, although a few have taken their chances on the streets. Some have been permanently altered from exposure to unnatural toxins and ra More...

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Feb 12, 2012

apoorva rated it:

This wasn't really a hooker for me. It seemed like he had added a few - no scratch that, added MANY things just for the sake of it. It seemed like he set out with big plans but after a while he just ran out of his ideas! The story felt extremely disconnected and I seriously didn't give a damn to what happened to the characters. In the flashback of Logan and Angel it seemed like he had made two copies of it and then just changed the names! Both had almost the exact same past and their personaliti More...

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Sep 26, 2011

Lori rated it:

This is the first Genesis of Shannara series. This book continues the storyline from the Word and Void series but hints at the beginning of the Shannara series. In this story, the worst has happened and the balance has tipped towards evil. Humankind is slowly being exterminated by demons and once-men. The book contains multiple storylines. One story revolves around the Ghosts, a small group of teens who have formed a family to protect themselves. A second and third storyline revolve aroun More...

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Jul 04, 2011

Eyjólfur Örn rated it:

Quite literally one of the best books (and series) I´ve read in a really long time. Brooks introduces us to a post Shannarra Earth and bridges the gap between his previous works and the modern day world.

A group of children survivors of armageddon living outside the compounds of other survivors must gather their strength and travel out of the world they know to a fantasy world of elves and magic. Aided by tough as nails guardians whilst being chased by hoardes of pure evil the child More...

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Mar 27, 2009

Tom rated it:

We all have those books that we read as teens that will always stay near/dear to our hearts. For me, the Terry Brooks "Shannara" novels are in that category. I read the first of these novels The Sword of Shannara when I was 13 or 14 and it struck a lifelong love of Sci-Fi/Fantasy.

So, it's hard for me to read this book without looking through that lens, but I found it incredibly enjoyable. The only reason I don't give it five stars is a structural, story arc complaint. More...

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Jul 28, 2011

Eileen rated it:

So far, pretty good. I like the characters and their missions so far. But I just got to the elf part. Not making much sense. We'll see how it goes.

Well, I've finished it now. It was OK, but I agree with other reviews about the elf section. What is that? I didn't see how it added to the story line at all. I loved the part near the end when people get to find out their real role and have their purposes revealed to them. The cliff hanger was a really doozy, maybe a bit much, ca More...

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Mar 09, 2010

Seaellem rated it:

On my rounds of end of the world books, had to give this one a shot. "The Sword of Shannara" was one of the fantasy books that I picked up after Lord of the Rings and the Chronicles of Narnia. Stuck with me for long time, reading and re-reading the Sword. So, Brooks has a special place in the library of my mind.

I enjoyed the characters of this book, very well developed and flawed (something that is always endearing to me). Action was pretty constant.

The c More...

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Feb 13, 2011

Zach rated it:

Logan Tom travels the ruined world of America in search of a gypsy morph, a creature able to save the human race, and finds him in the city of Seattle. Hawk, a young boy who turns out to be the gypsy morph, has a vision implanted in his mind. A vision to save him and his young rag-tag family of children. But when he is caught trying to meet his girlfriend in the Compound, a place surronded by walls and designed to protect, but it only leads to death. Hawk and his girlfriend Tessa are thrown off More...

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Nov 30, 2008

Neil rated it:

I hadn't read anything by Terry Brooks since the first Sword of Shannara series that came out when I was in junior high. My curiosity finally got the better of me.

This was everything I was afraid it was going to be and worse. It's derivative and repetitive. Brooks seems to confuse interior waffling by his characters for character development, and this "should I or shouldn't I" and "what's my place in this dangerous world" angst is pretty much all that happens in t More...

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Mar 09, 2011

Dave rated it:

Well, this explains all the unresolved storylines in the Word/Void trilogy, but it almost seems as though too much time has elapsed between this and Angel Fire East. There are a number of things that aren't really explained well, but given the time when these books were written, there may yet be more to the story.

It's a typical Book One from Brooks: several threads that take some time to get moving, some back story that is sometimes necessary (and sometimes very necessary, given the More...

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Jun 22, 2010

Kellie rated it:

This story takes place in a post apocalyptic America where demons, mutants and once-men are overtaking the human race. A small band of street children fight for survival while two Knights of the Word work to defeat the forces of the Void. For me, this book got off to a slow start, but picked up steam about halfway through. There are several intertwined story lines, but I was most intrigued by the story of Logan Tom, the battle worn Knight of the Word and am looking forward to learning where his More...

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Oct 12, 2011

Nathan rated it:

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1 comment like

Jan 06, 2011

Jennifer rated it:

Stupid. I was okay with it at first. At the beginning you're introduced to a post-apocalyptic world, with gangs of orphaned children and a handful of magic-wielding warriors. You mostly follow two characters through a mostly-realistic world, but then, about halfway through the book up pops a bunch of elves. What does this have to do with the rest of the book? Not much. The elf story and the other characters are only loosely linked; I could see where the author is going, but I didn't care b More...

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Jan 16, 2010

Kimberly rated it:

The story tells about before the world of Shannara- when it was still the United States. Terry Brooks certainly has an agenda by blaming the destruction of the world on the demons (even naming the dog after one of the men who started the destruction- Cheney) but the story is really intriguing and I'm looking forward to the other 2 books in the series. As always I am glad that I have waited to start this series until all the books are out. I am not so excited about the sections about elves in More...

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Jun 25, 2009

Jason rated it:

Terry committed the most damning offense in writing this book. I understand the whole "It's a series" argument, but it is damn near unforgivable to leave all of your lines as cliff hangers. While I will read the next book, as you have to to attain any satisfaction, I will be sure to get the book from a used store. The gimmick of getting you to buy the next book to complete the story you originally purchased deserves no less than cutting the author out of royalties by purchasing the More...

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Sep 01, 2011

Francisco rated it:

A well-written novel that displays the author's obvious passion for the genre. Armageddon's Children is part fantasy, part fairytale, and part post-apocalyptic nightmare. I respect the author's intentions with this one and have to give him credit where credit is due in very carefully interweaving a look of the future with the mythology of dream. Brook's has a real talent for using simple language to build wonderful panoramas. While not entirely won over by the faeries, I still enjoyed Brooks More...

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