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Armageddon's Children
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Armageddon's Children
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Armageddon's Children
Audiobook13 hours

Armageddon's Children

Written by Terry Brooks

Narrated by Dick Hill

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

4/5

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Currently unavailable

Currently unavailable

About this audiobook

Terry Brooks is one of a handful of writers whose work defines modern fantasy fiction. His twenty-three international bestsellers have ranged from the beloved Shannara series to stories that tread a much darker path. Armageddon's Children is a new creation - the perfect opportunity for listeners unfamiliar with Brooks's previous work to experience an author at the height of his considerable storytelling powers. It is a gripping chronicle of a once-familiar world now spun shockingly out of control, in which an extraordinary few struggle to salvage hope in the face of terrifying chaos.

Logan Tom is doomed to remember the past and determined to rescue the future. Far behind him lies a boyhood cut violently short by his family's slaughter, when the forces of madness and hate swept our world after decadent excesses led to civilization's downfall. Somewhere ahead of him rests the only chance to beat back the minions of evil that are systematically killing and enslaving the last remnants of humanity. Navigating the scarred and poisoned landscape that once was America and guided by a powerful talisman, Logan has sworn an oath to seek out a remarkable being born of magic, possessed of untold abilities, and destined to lead the final fight against darkness.

Across the country, Angel Perez, herself a survivor of the malevolent death-dealing forces combing the land, has also been chosen for an uncanny mission in the name of her ruined world's salvation. From the devastated streets of Los Angeles, she will journey to find a place - and a people - shrouded in mystery, celebrated in legend, and vital to the cause of humankind . . . even as a relentless foe follows close behind, bent on her extermination. Meanwhile, in the nearly forsaken city of Seattle, a makeshift family of refugees has carved out a tenuous existence among the street gangs, mutants, and marauders fighting to stay alive against mounting odds - and something unspeakable that has come from the shadows in search of prey.

In time, all their paths will cross. Their common purpose will draw them together. Their courage and convictions will be tested and their fates will be decided, as their singular crusade begins: to take back, or lose forever, the only world they have.

In Armageddon's Children, Brooks brings his gifts as a mythmaker to the timeless theme of the unending, essential conflict between darkness and light - and carries his unique imaginative vision to a stunning new level. Prepare for a breathtaking tour de force. To those who are new to Terry Brooks, welcome. And to those who have read him for many years: prepare for a dramatic surprise.

LanguageEnglish
Release dateAug 29, 2006
ISBN9781423322603
Unavailable
Armageddon's Children

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Reviews for Armageddon's Children

Rating: 3.8723176733905578 out of 5 stars
4/5

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  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This was my first Brooks novel and I'm very intrigued. I'm fairly new to the Science Fiction/Fantasy scene and hope to read more. Who would of thought that a demon and and fairies would be in the same story? Fascinating!
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I have long been told that Terry Brooks was a writer i would enjoy, but i really had no strong desire to start reading his mammoth Shannara series. 19 books is quite a commitment to a single author, as such, i just never got around to reading any of them.

    About six months ago, i ran across a copy of Armageddon's Children on the cheap. I read the inside cover and it was pretty clear that this was a standalone book, and a nice introduction into Brooks, with out having to commit myself to a mass reading project. i picked up the book and read it, enjoying the whole plot. Unfortunately, the book ended up not being a standalone. Instead, it was the first book in a standalone TRILOGY. the prequels to the Shannara series... damn you publishing house.. damn you. The other two books are "The Elves of Cintra" and "They Gypsy Morph"

    I searched out and found matching hardback copies of the rest of the trilogy and got sucked into the story with absolutely no effort.

    The series is pretty solid. it details the journey of a band of children living in the pac nw after the world has essentially ended. radiation has created waves of mutation in humans. healthy people are holing up in fortresses for safety, often times made out of the largest populace centers available, stadiums.

    One band of children, led by a boy named Hawk, live in the pioneer square area of seattle. they are fending for themselves and eking out a moderate existence as a surrogate family.

    Hawk has a dream that he will lead the children to a safe world where they can thrive in safety. the children follow him almost like a father figure.

    From an alternate location, Logan Tom, is a Knight of the Word. he hunts demons that roam the planet, seeking to destroy all that exists, seeking dominance over the world. Logan Tom is sent by the essence of existence, the "Word" to find Hawk and help him achieve his goals. He must do this before the world in engulfed in a flaming apocalypse which will destroy everything.

    There are a lot of sub plots and a large number of characters i do not make mention of. I would highly suggest this series. even if you have no desire to read the whole Shannara series, this prequel set is a solid read and is written in a way that you are never forced to moe on. Shannara is not even mentioned by name.

    funny, i finally get why people spout off at the mouth about Terry Brooks. Perhaps i will pick up his novelizations of Hook and The Phantom Menace and read those soon.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    I'm afraid I gave up on this one. Long winded and meandering lacking much plot and pace. The setting was America and the writing American. I do cringe at "gotten" and the style was not enticing... Sorry :(
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    First go with this series. Decent enough read so I'm off to the next in this series.Well paced, no silly names and really odd creatures.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Set in the future in a dystopian wasteland spotted with civilisations, this book follows several groups of characters are they live out their lives. We see life in a safe zone, the interactions between gangs of children outside of them and a knight's quest. I loved the world building and enjoyed the politics of surviving the outside world the most. I did, however, find my focus slipping at times. I'll read the next book though. This book ends on a cliffhanger.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I like the post-apocalypse twist in these books, the others feel more like LOTR - set in a world seperate from ours. I enjoy how he's brought the setting onto a familiar map, but still kept all of his usual touches.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Very interesting, one of the few books I've ready in a long time that I couldn't put down. Set in a world a number of years in the future from the Word and the Void books by same author. Looking forward to reading the sequel.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Terry Brooks is a well-known fantasy author, most famous for his books about Shannara. Those who enjoyed his previous works will enjoy Armageddon's Children, since it is evident that he continues to learn about his craft and applied that knowledge for this book--the contrast between this novel and his first one, The Sword of Shannara, is quite dramatic. Armageddon's Children is the first in a new trilogy.This book takes place in a post-apocalyptic setting. The world has succumbed to wars, pollution, and all kinds of human excess. Some of the survivors are mutating so that they are no longer recognizably human. Some are going crazy so that they are only called "once-men." Some are holing up in compounds around the world, trying to maintain a vestige of civilization. Complicating their attempts at survival is the appearance of demons—strong, depraved creatures who are fighting for eradication of the human race and the supremacy of the Void, the force of evil.On the side of good are two Knights of the Word. One of them is tasked with finding the gypsy morph--a child born of magic--and protecting him or her as it leads humanity to a new future. The other is tasked with helping the Elves (and yes, there have been Elves hiding in the world all along!) find their own way to the new future.This book was entertaining and absorbing. It combines two of my favorite genres--fantasy and post-apocalyptic. It focused more on the post-apocalyptic, so there is a lot of description of the ruined world and of the survival skills necessary to live in it. I anticipate that as the series continues the fantasy aspect will become more predominate.There are elements in the story that remind me strongly of Brooks' other writing, which is enjoyable as a fan--seeing connections among an author’s work is part of the privilege of a long-time reader. Unfortunately I cannot say too much more without ruining a possible surprise--one which I delighted in finding out when I finally realized it.Armageddon's Children is one of those books that kept me up way past my bedtime, drawing me into reading just another 15 minutes...just one more chapter...okay, just until 11:30. The story was entertaining and easy to follow, without becoming too predictable.The characters could have been developed with a little more depth, but they are already above par for the genre. The number of flashbacks in the text border on the annoying, but they provide useful illustrations and back story.I would heartily recommend this book to fans of Brooks, fantasy, and post-apocalyptic writing. This would likely be a good introduction to any of those three, for those not already invested in any category. The worst I can say about the book is that now I am impatient for the next one in the series!
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I have long been told that Terry Brooks was a writer i would enjoy, but i really had no strong desire to start reading his mammoth Shannara series. 19 books is quite a commitment to a single author, as such, i just never got around to reading any of them.

    About six months ago, i ran across a copy of Armageddon's Children on the cheap. I read the inside cover and it was pretty clear that this was a standalone book, and a nice introduction into Brooks, with out having to commit myself to a mass reading project. i picked up the book and read it, enjoying the whole plot. Unfortunately, the book ended up not being a standalone. Instead, it was the first book in a standalone TRILOGY. the prequels to the Shannara series... damn you publishing house.. damn you. The other two books are "The Elves of Cintra" and "They Gypsy Morph"

    I searched out and found matching hardback copies of the rest of the trilogy and got sucked into the story with absolutely no effort.

    The series is pretty solid. it details the journey of a band of children living in the pac nw after the world has essentially ended. radiation has created waves of mutation in humans. healthy people are holing up in fortresses for safety, often times made out of the largest populace centers available, stadiums.

    One band of children, led by a boy named Hawk, live in the pioneer square area of seattle. they are fending for themselves and eking out a moderate existence as a surrogate family.

    Hawk has a dream that he will lead the children to a safe world where they can thrive in safety. the children follow him almost like a father figure.

    From an alternate location, Logan Tom, is a Knight of the Word. he hunts demons that roam the planet, seeking to destroy all that exists, seeking dominance over the world. Logan Tom is sent by the essence of existence, the "Word" to find Hawk and help him achieve his goals. He must do this before the world in engulfed in a flaming apocalypse which will destroy everything.

    There are a lot of sub plots and a large number of characters i do not make mention of. I would highly suggest this series. even if you have no desire to read the whole Shannara series, this prequel set is a solid read and is written in a way that you are never forced to moe on. Shannara is not even mentioned by name.

    funny, i finally get why people spout off at the mouth about Terry Brooks. Perhaps i will pick up his novelizations of Hook and The Phantom Menace and read those soon.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This was my first Terry Brooks and I really enjoyed it. I was concerned about coming in in the middle of things and feeling lost, but it held up just fine without me needing to have read any of the other related books from the world.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    It's been 30 years or so since I've read the Shannara books (what is now called "the original trilogy"). I know Brooks has become something of a byword for Tolkien rip-offs these days, but I enjoyed the books when I was a teenager, and imagine I'd enjoy them well enough today. Not everything has to be original, people! Anyway, this book isn't original either -- it's Stephen King's The Stand, a Manichaean apocalypse-in-progress, but instead of Christian eschatology, it's modern high fantasy eschatology: Good Versus Evil. Several different quest stories, with lots of flashbacks to explain how we got from there (contemporary/ near-future US) to here (magical post-nuclear/post-plague apocalypse). A pretty good airplane read if you like apocalyptic fiction, and I do, so I'll pick up the next two volumes in this trilogy.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This is book one of the Genesis of Shannara trilogy. It is set some time after Angel Fire East, after the world has fallen to the demons and once-men. There are still some free people but the human race is close to total destruction. The book picks up the story of the gypsy morph born to Nest Freemark and introduces the elven race. It is the usual fast paced, well written story that we have come to expect from Terry Brooks but it is quite predictable and there are no surprises.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    My introduction to Terry Brooks was in the "Magic Kingdom" series. They were entertaining enough, so I picked up the first Shannara novel (in terms of publication order) to see if his master series was any good. And it wasn't for me. No harm, no foul.When I found "Armageddon's Children" in the bargain section, I decided to give it a chance specifically because (a) it bore no mention of Shannara, and (b) was mentioned in the text as a good introduction to Terry Brooks for someone who hasn't read Shannara.Only when I finished the book (with an ending that felt more like a stopping place than a conclusion) did I realize that (a) it was part of a series, and (b) that the series was entitled "Genesis of Shannara." In other words, a story that had originally appeared to be a standalone, post apocalyptic novel without any relationship to Shannara turned out to be a mere prequel.And let me say, it is no place for the uninitiated. Too many characters and concepts are introduced without making the reader care about them. Perhaps in other novels that came before, we are told what is at stake and why we should care, but it is conspicuously absent from this volume.I gave the book two stars instead of one because I can't blame Brooks for the way the book was marketed. I gave it two stars instead of five because the book was poorly written.I'm sure there are those for whom Brooks' style is intended, but it is not for those with any attention to detail. Foreshadowing is layered in heavily, and when it pays off, it is done so with a giant finger pointing backward to the setup. It is as if the author has no faith in the ability of the reader to remember something that happened even a few pages back.The plot was trite, the characters one-dimensional archetypes with no personality of their own, and the introduction of elves halfway through led me to abandon the book for months, before forcing my way to the end.If you're a Terry Brooks fan, then this review only made you mad. If you're not, let it stand as a warning--if you want to be a Terry Brooks fan, this is simply not a good place to start.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Who would have ever seen this storyline coming 30 years ago?? 
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I'm a bit over half-way through this and it has been ok, not great. Several logical inconsistencies and other things a proof-reader should have picked up, but still readable enough. But suddenly, around the middle of the book, he introduces Elves!? The creatures and the way he just chucks them in seems a bit sloppy and chaotic to me. I've read worse, but it's certainly not polished or anything.It's frustrating because I'm interested in the story of the 'Ghosts' and the Knights of the Word that Brooks spent the previous half of the book setting up, and now suddenly there are these elves. It's like he didn't really plan out what he was going to write about and just goes off in another direction. Also, things like when he's writing supposedly from the Elves' perspective and talks about one being an "Elven Hunter" - if you were an elf, you wouldn't bother describing yourself as "Elven"! I find it saddening that Brooks's publisher obviously let the book go to press without properly proof-reading it first. Don't they have any decent proof-readers or something? Really embarassing for them.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I wasn't overly impressed with this book. As this follows the Knight of the Word series, we already know what's going to happen from those books, and as it precedes the Shannara series, we already know where it will ultimately end. How it gets there is a little interesting, but this is not up to the quality of other post-apocalyptic novels. The addition of elves that have somehow stayed hidden in the USA for centuries is just a bit implausible. If this book is Brook's warning about how we need to take better care of the Earth and each other, you'll get the point by reading it, but it still feels depressing.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    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 radiation.It is in this ruined world that two remaining Knights of the Word continue to fight against the Void in a futile effort to save mankind. A street kid named Hawk tries to keep his chosen family safe from the dangers that lurk around every corner even as he dreams of the day he can lead them to safety. Hidden away from the humans, the elves watch the destruction of the world and argue among themselves whether or not to even become involved in the battle.Although it is not necessary to have read the Word and the Void series before reading Armageddon's Children, I believe it would be helpful. The events in that series lay the groundwork for the Genesis of Shannara trilogy and characters and events from that series are mentioned in this one.Terry Brooks keeps the story moving at a fast pace and conveys the various emotions of each character strongly. With the fate of the world hanging in the balance, I'm eager to start on the next book in the series, The Elves of Cintra
  • Rating: 1 out of 5 stars
    1/5
    I only read 5 chapters and gave up. I know nothing of Terry brook's other writing so I can't compere this book against his other works. It was disappointing to me for a number of reasons. Firstly the language used is very basic ( I even checked in case I had picked up a Young Adult or teenage book by mistake) This feeling was further reinforced as the main characters all seem to be little more than children/ young adults themselves.To be fair, I have picked this book up after finishing the first 6 Thomas Covenant books so the plummet from the heights of prose in the TC books down to the level found in Brook's work was quite a jolt. The seeming mish-mash of bible story references , demons , the Word, and Knights, set against a post- apocalyptic modern mechanized world did not sit well. After reading some other reviews I find that there are also elves and other High fantasy elements. Maybe I will give this book another go later, but I don't think so.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I had no idea whatsoever about the plot-line of Armageddon's Children. I was pleased to discover it was a return to the Word and Void series, and rather excited to see Brooks venturing in to new territory. No fantasy or current era Earth, but a post-apocalyptic Earth where Man has ultimately doomed himself. Clearly Demonkind who serve the Void are making the most of this scenario. It's rather bleak. The book is very heavy on character development, suggesting several tomes are yet to come (which is great news). As is Brooks' style the main characters (and indeed, as the title suggests) are youthful, discovering as themselves as they are forced to survive. The story divides itself well between four sets of characters, three influenced by the Word in some way and the forth is a storyline used to bridge the Word and the Void series to the Shannara series - it's clever and delightful. This book is a must for those who have read all Brooks' previous work, gripping to the brilliantly crafted cliffhanger at the end.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This is a book I've been waiting for--a continuation of the demon series, connecting it to the Shannara series. I'm calling it horror instead of fantasy, because that's what the tone feels like to me--and because the demon trilogy was horror. Barnes & Noble calls it "dark fantasy," but isn't that really just another term for horror?It's a post-apocalyptic world, a hundred years or so after Angel Fire East. Humankind has gathered into small groups for safety and survival, living in abandoned sports arenas or office buildings. And then there are those on the outside, like the boy Hawk and his little band of children. Mistrusting adults and mistrusted by them, the children form a family of their own, and live by scavenging and bartering.The humans are in danger from territorial disputes with each other, but also from the demons who've gained ascendancy in the lawlessness. The demons have slave camps in which they experiment on humans and turn them into creatures known as once-men. And all that stands between humans and the demons are the Knights of the Word: Logan Tom and Angel Perez.Logan Tom's been waging war against the slave camps, but he has a new mission: to find and protect the gypsy morph--a sort of savior that first appeared in the demon trilogy.Angel Perez's mission of protecting children is also changed, when she's tasked with finding and assisting elves in their quest for the loden stone, with which they can protect and preserve the Ellcrys--a sentient tree that figures prominently in several of the Shannara books.And there are the elves themselves. Young elves serve the Ellcrys for a year, and it's usually an uneventful life, but then the Ellcrys speaks to Kirisin, warning him of impending doom and telling him the steps to save the Ellcrys and with it the elves.Armageddon's Children is quite definitely the first in a trilogy--some issues are resolved by the end of the book, but most are not. I wasn't specifically aware of that when I started reading, but I wasn't surprised--most of Terry Brooks's books come in trilogy form.I found each of the plot threads exciting, and the characters engaging, if tending toward the young-ish side.The only thing that really gave me pause was the romance between Hawk, who's in his late teens, and a young settlement girl, who's 11. Creeped me out a bit. Still, it's not a huge part of the story, and most of the time I could pretend she was a few years older, so it didn't ruin the book for me.I'm looking forward to the next book in the series, The Elves of Cintra.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This was my first Brooks novel and I'm very intrigued. I'm fairly new to the Science Fiction/Fantasy scene and hope to read more. Who would of thought that a demon and and fairies would be in the same story? Fascinating!
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This book was a really great change from the typical Shannara stuff we'd been used to recently. All new characters, all new world (possibly...) doom and gloom abounds. It's fast paced, exciting and pretty damn scary in parts. Highly recommend, and can be read without having read the previous Shannara books.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I love this book!!! It's the start of a new series about the creation of Shanara!! It shows a slowly decaying world due to nuclear warfare and such. The creatures that haunt our world are very cool and the use of known cities (such as LA, and Seattle) that have fallen into ruin is very eerie!! If you are a Shanara fan I definately recommend it and I think that others will enjoy it too!!!
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Awesome, this is seriously some of his best writing!!!
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I'm frankly amazed that anyone could give this book a 5...let alone a fairly large percentage of people. Have you read books before? Don't get me wrong; Brooks writes some acceptable action sequences and has some fast moving plot that keeps things interesting at times, but his characters are incredibly cliche and one dimensional and at other times the writing is just plain boring. Normally, the plot is coherent, linear, and fast-paced enough in his fantasy works that I can look past this stuff. However, this particular novel also suffers from an identity crisis. It's a great marketing feat for an author to bring two series' together, and get some cross-readership. It turns out it's not quite as great of a literary feat. The world that he creates is not real enough to be identifiable and not fantastical enough to be alluring. His allusions to things like Gandalf and Dick Cheney are really out of place in the writing. Maybe a small thing, but it left me scratching my head wondering why he threw those in. This introductory novel also spends many pages with blatant character backstory on characters that in an epic sense, seem very unimportant. Instead of learning about them through their interactions and through small kernels of relevant knowledge, you are deluged with long rants on each character's past. At times, I felt like Brooks had just copied down his character profiles into the novel. I mean, shouldn't authors learn how to make this stuff a bit more subtle? "Instead of having reader's come to conclusions about characters indirectly, I'll just tell them exactly the one dimension this character excels in and why and heck, let's even name some of them based on this dimension." Finally, the elven storyline in the book appears out of nowhere. No tie ins, allusions, references, hints. Just bam!, we have elves in this chapter. I actually had to check whether some pages had been ripped out, because I felt like I had started another novel. I can think of several ways this could have been smoother.There are some good things in this novel. The haunted druid/knight characters are always a bit more interesting and you can tell it's who Brooks likes. In every novel I've read of his, that's usually the most interesting/round character. Logan Tom is not a bad "main"ish character and I actually think sticking with him a bit more would have served the book better. In addition, the book picked up a bit in the second half, after we didn't have to slog through character dumps as much.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    My friends have been trying to get me to read Terry Brooks for years, so I finally thought I 'd humor them.While I normally like the fantasy genre, I really can't say that I was very impressed with this book as a whole. The story had potential, but I really didn't think that he blended the whole elves and fairies thing in with the post apocolypse theme very well. In addition, I was really disappointed that he made no attempt to conclude the book. I hate blatant baits to try to get you to read the next story. ps, I would like to say thanks a lot to the person who wrote the big fat spoiler in their review, this didn't help much either.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Quite good work that will theoretically tie together the Shannara series to the Nest Freemark/Knight of the Word. Rather grim and depressing, but interesting to see how the events begun in the Knight of the Word seris have played out. The Elves did not have much of a role here, in fact their presence was more distraction than anything else. Hopefully Brooks will cut this thing off at a trilogy.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Pretty dark, and a little slow.