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. ( )

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. ( )

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! ( )

Logan Tom still dreams of his last night with his family. He dreams of being shaken awake by his father, he dreams of the forces of evil slaughtering his parents, brothers and sisters. He dreams of that scene repeated all over the world as mankind goes mad. And when Logan Tom awakes, the horror begins. Because his dream was real and Logan's only hope lies in traversing the United States in search of someone who may be able to end the madness.

Other reviewers have more knowlege of Brooks as a fantasy writer. I found this a very satisfying stand-alone novel and beginning of the trilogy. ( )

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. ( )