Genesis of Shannara: Book One

Armageddon’s Children

by Terry Brooks

Published in 2006

We are introduced to a whole new cast of characters in book 1.

THIS REVIEW IS NOT SPOILER FREE

The story starts up again over 80 years later after the end of the last book in the series, Angel Fire East. The world has changed drastically with the demons and their servants gaining more and more control over the world of men. Human civilization has fallen apart and radiation from nuclear bombs, global warming, and chemicals from pollution and waste have decimated planet Earth leaving a world full of danger and diseases. So begin what is later known as The Great Wars.

This trilogy has more characters than the last one, The Word and The Void, and there are multiple stories threads that are unfolded before our eyes as the story goes on.

1. Logan Tom - Knight of the Word

We are first introduced to a new Knight of the Word, Logan Tom, and through flashbacks we learn that in the early days of the Great Wars, while a young child he lived with his parents and siblings, but their home was attacked by a demon and his soldiers, the once-men, and his family was killed while he made it out with some others. Logan joined a group led by a man named Michael, who taught him how to survive and fight. Logan spent his youth and teenage years with Michael and others and came to accept them as his new family. They would raid the demons prisons that they made for humans and free them. In these prisons, the demons were also conducting experiments upon humans, mostly children; experiments that would change their very nature and humanity. These humans would become monsters. When found Michael and his group would put them out of their misery, but all of the fighting and killing took a toll on Michael and his group. Eventually Michael was killed along with most of the group during a raid gone wrong and once again, Logan was able to escape alive.

Logan wandered for some time until he was summoned by The Lady, the Voice of the Word. Logan was given the charge to be a Knight of the Word which he accepted. Logan was led to Hopewell, Illinois where he met with O’olish Amaneh, Two Bears. In a sad commentary of how much the world has changed, we see how bad off Hopewell is and that while it was a place of happiness and full of life in the previous trilogy, it is now abandoned and it is a desolate place now.

Two Bears explains the conflict between the Word and the Void and how the Knights have always stood against the demons. But this time, it is a losing battle and humanity must be saved. Logan is given a mission to find the Gypsy Morph, the son of Nest Freemark. Two Bears gives Logan the backstory of Nest and how she became pregnant with the Gypsy Morph and that after giving birth she raised the Gypsy Morph as her own child. Then when things started to get bad, the Gypsy Morph was hidden and Nest eventually died and was buried here in Hopewell. Two Bears gave Logan a way to track the Gypsy Morph by using Nest Freemark’s hand bones that he pulled from her grave with magic. Logan was told to go west to the Northwest area and find the Gypsy Morph. He then heads west, leaving Hopewell as well as all of the fond memories we’ve read about there, and we end up leaving them behind for good. Logan uses the bones of Nest Freemark’s hands to track down and find the Gypsy Morph.

2. Hawk and the Ghosts

The Ghosts are a group of children living in what was known before The Great Wars as Seattle, Washington. They are castaways from the main group of humans who have banded together in a compound at Safeco Field. There are other groups of humans who have also abandoned living in the big compound in exchange for more freedom. Hawk is a teenager and is the leader of the Ghosts and along with Owl, they take care of the rest of the group who are younger. They scavenge their supplies from the abandoned buildings throughout the city. There are other groups of mutant humans who the Ghosts have to watch out for and avoid, or they could be killed. Life is hard for humans now, and families like the Ghosts are a comfort for those who have lost loved ones. These substitute families are what comprises life now and each surviving member brings with them a history of death and sadness. They support one another in many ways and seek to find joy and happiness in a dark new world.

One night when Hawk is out, the group suffers an attack from a monster that looks like a giant centipede and Hawk’s dog who was left behind to guard the Ghosts is mortally wounded. The centipede is killed by the Ghosts and when Hawk arrives back he holds his dog and strongly wishes that his dog would live. This act awakens a power within Hawk where he is able to heal his dog and the dog lives. Due to premonitions and dreams from group members, as well as this latest heinous attack, the group has decided to leave Seattle and go live somewhere else. The Ghosts start packing and plan to leave the next day. Hawk goes to the compound to try and convince his girlfriend, Tessa, who lives at the compound with her parents to go with them. He is captured by those in the compound and due to their strict rules of no contact, he is tried and convicted, and he and Tessa are sentenced to death by being thrown off of the top of the stadium to their deaths.

3. Angel Perez - Knight of the Word

We are introduced to a second Knight of the Word, Angel Perez. She lives in Los Angeles and like Logan Tom, she has been called by The Lady to be a Knight. Angel has been helping the children escape from the various compounds in the area as they are attacked and overrun by a demon and his armies. This demon is one we’ve read about before, Findo Gask. He is back and causing more chaos like before in the previous story.. In her attempt to rescue the children in the last compound, Angel is attacked by Findo Gask’s second in command, Delloreen, a powerful demon in her own right. Angel barely escapes after disabling Delloreen and then takes the children to meet up with the others she had previously rescued. When Angel meets up with her group, she encounters a messenger, Ailie, who is a tatterdemalion sent by The Lady, to give Angel a mission. Angel accepts the mission to find the Cinta Elves in Arborlon and tell them they need to find the Loden Elfstone to move the Ellcrys. Angel is surprised to hear that Elves are real, but heads north anyways. The Elves have lived hidden deep in the forests and mountains of the Northwest.

4. Kirisin and the Elves of Cintra

Kirisin is a young Elf who has been chosen by the Ellcrys, a giant magical tree, along with eleven other Chosen to care for the tree for one year. During that time, the Ellcrys speaks to Kirisin telling him that he needs to get the three Elfstones to find the Loden Elfstone. The Loden allows the Ellcrys to be transported safely to another location. The Ellcrys warns him of a danger coming and that action is needed. Kirisin recruits his cousin, Erisha, to help him find the three Elfstones, which are seeker stones and can help locate the Loden.

It All Comes Together

Logan Tom arrives in Seattle after a long cross country journey and using the bones he is led to the Ghosts hideout, but only right after Hawk leaves to go talk with Tessa. Logan convinces the Ghosts that he is there to help. When Hawk doesn’t come back, Logan Tom goes out to find him. Hawk is in a cell in the compound. Logan gains entry to the compound and they agree to let him visit Hawk. Logan tells Hawk that he was led to him by his mother’s bones and that Hawk is a magical being, the Gypsy Morph. Logan tells him the story of how is a Knight of he Word and how The Lady has tasked him to find Hawk and that he must lead the last of humanity to safety. Hawk grabs his mother’s bones and through magic he is shown what he must do. Hawk realizes he is the Gypsy Morph. Logan Tom leaves him and tells Hawk he will come back with help to break him and Tessa out before they throw them off the top.

Logan goes back to the Ghosts and tells them to pack their things and meet up at his transport vehicle. He takes one of the Ghosts, Panther, to cause a distraction so he can sneak in and rescue Hawk. Logan makes it back to the cell, but Hawk and Tessa are gone already taken to the top of the stadium.

Hawk and Tessa are at the top of the stadium waiting to be tossed off the edge. Hawk's point of view in the book ends with he and Tessa being thrown off the edge and falling through the air.

As the Ghosts are preparing to leave, they see a flash of light from the top of the stadium. Then they also notice ships in the harbor with what looks to be an army coming ashore. Findo Gask has arrived with his army, as he has felt the Gypsy Morph’s magic awaken.

Wrap Up

This novel contains a lot of story set up and character introduction all throughout the story. With 4 main characters being introduced along with their situations and motivations requires a lot of time spent on going back and forth between characters and their stories. The trick is to give equal amount of time, or at least enough time, with each character to not only flesh out the character but move the overall story forward. Terry Brooks does a good job with this in this first novel of this trilogy.

The cliffhanger ending with Hawk and Tessa literally falling off of a cliff and the pending invasion sets up a great start for the next book. One of my criticisms of the previous trilogy was that the individual books were set too far apart from each other, with time jumps of 5 years and then 10 years. This led to a lack of consistency for the overall story in my opinion and it seemed disjointed at times. The time jumps were jarring as we were reintroduced to the characters and all the changes that happened in the interim all at once in the first few pages. This story seems to be set up differently and that, at least for books 1 & 2, it won’t be the case as the story will flow seamlessly from book 1 into book 2.

Overall I give this book a 4 out of 5 rating, with the re-readability level being medium but this might change after reading the whole trilogy.

Next up in the Genesis of Shannara trilogy is book two - The Elves of Cintra!