Most Helpful Customer Reviews
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
It'll end in tears (and demons), 11 Oct 2006
This review is from: Armageddon's Children (Genesis of Shannara) (Hardcover)
Many years ago I read some of the Shannara stories but I have to confess, I found them okay but not very memorable. I can remember books by Fiest, Eddings etc, but nothing stuck from Terry Brooks.
It wasn't until I picked this up and read the reviews that I realised that it linked into the Shannara stories and some of Brooks' other works, but you can read this in isolation.
This is a blend of post apocalypse survival with more then a bit of dark fantasy slung in. While the remains of mankind try to survive a holocaust, they have to defend themselves against emerging demons and those of mankind who are turning towards the emerging darkness.
I enjoyed this far more then I thought I would, with an interesting slant on the usual post apocalypse stuff. I was engaged quickly and keen to keep turning the pages to find where it was going. It does end on a bit of a cliffhanger which was a little frustrating and this probably pushed me to a three star score rather then four and it will be a frustrating wait until the next one.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
How it all began..., 18 Mar 2007
This review is from: Armageddon's Children (Genesis of Shannara) (Hardcover)
I have not been reading Terry Brooks in years, and I have to say "finding" him again with this book was a most pleasant surprise.
If you have read the Shannara books, please be wary and do not approach this book with the same ideas: this is no fantasy, or at least, not fantasy in the classic sense: the story unfolds in a post-apocalyptic scenario like has been told hundreds of times, but Mr. Brooks manages to add a new soul to it, avoiding all clichés you could expect.
The book unfolds "slowly", but this slowness does not affect the eagerness to go on, to turn page after page: as I see it, it is simply the price we have to pay to get to know well the main characters that will star in the next books, and once again I have not been disappointed by the level of insight that we are provided on each of them.
What truly crowns this book as a must-have for any Shannara fan, however, is the hints you get in the beginning (and the confirmations you get later on) that this story might have to do more with the world we learnt to know in the Shannara series than you might expected by a first glance.
The only warning I feel to give concerns the ending: this is a major cliffhanger, so if you think this may be a bother and maybe spoil a truly good story, then you might want to wait for the whole trilogy to be published before buying this book.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
32 of 35 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Great First Book For the Pre-Shannara Trilogy, 28 Mar 2006
This review is from: Armageddon's Children (Genesis of Shannara) (Hardcover)
Those of you who read Terry Brooks will know what to expect from this book. It will be written tightly with precise brush strokes of storytelling from a masterful writer. What I am going to tell you is simple: More than any other Terry Brooks book, I cannot wait for Book Two of this trilogy to be released! The first book centers around the destruction of the world and those who have been called upon to save a sliver of it. The two Knights in this book are written extraordinarily real - I honestly felt their plight and what it means for them to serve the Word. The story is dark and eager to be told, the characters real, and the only bad thing about this book is the wait for Book Two! Note: New readers to Terry Brooks can read this book without having read a single thing from the man! So buy it, enjoy it as I did!
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
|