Terry Brooks, Armageddon’s Children

Armageddon's Children

Terry Brooks

Del Rey, Sept 2006, $26.95, 384 pp.

ISBN 0345484088

In the not so distant future, wars, the destruction of the ozone layer and the melting of the polar ice caps have caused civilization to collapse. Although the few human survivors think of it as an urban legend, the demons from the Void have risen in ascendancy while the Knights of the Word are hunted to near extinction. The water and soil is poisoned, plagues continually sweep the planet and humanity is at the mercy of the non-humans, those who have been subverted by the demons.

The not-humans led by demons who look like people attack the compounds where humans live. Teens and children with no parents like Hawk and his group the Ghosts band together in tribes to survive outside the compound. Tom Logan, who has spent two decades in service to the Word, is now on the quest to find a child of magic who will be the one to bring the chosen into the Promised Land.

Part science fiction, part fantasy, and totally awesome in its complexity ARMAGEDDON'S CHILDREN is one of the best works of speculative fiction to come along in years. This is nothing like the Shannara books but it is a classic tale of good vs. evil and what happens when malevolence becomes more powerful that its counterpoint. There are many heroes struggling against overwhelming odds to bring light to a dark and dangerous world.

Harriet Klausner