Armageddon's Children
Encyclopedia
Armageddon's Children is the first novel in Terry Brooks
' fantasy
trilogy The Genesis of Shannara, which bridges the events of Brooks' Word/Void
trilogy with his Shannara
series. It takes place in an apocalyptic world around the year 2100 (about eighty years after the novel Angel Fire East
) and details the events during the Great Wars
, a historical conflict referenced frequently in the Shannara books. It is followed by the novel The Elves of Cintra
.
and other monsters, with the remaining humans forced into tightly controlled fortress-like compounds. A group of children, the Ghosts, hide out in the ruins of downtown Seattle. Their leader, Hawk
, is a multi-talented, and unaware that he is a gypsy morph, a magical creature. He has prophetic dreams in which he leads a large group into a new "promised land". He secretly sees Tessa, a girl from the nearby compound at Safeco Field
, though they are forbidden to be together by compound law.
A young Ghost girl named River, sneaks out of the hideout. Hawk tracks her, and finds that she has been secretly visiting a man that turns out to be her Grandfather—a mad homeless man whom everyone else knows as the Weatherman (because of his incoherent meteorlogical ramblings). He is sick with a plague and Hawk grudgingly agrees to take him back to the hideout to have him cared for. Later, Hawk goes to bring medical supplies as part of a trade to one of the competing tribes, the Cats, but while he is away the rest of the gang is attacked by a mutant resembling a giant centipede
. The beast is destroyed by Sparrow and Cheney, but Cheney is mortally wounded. Hawk, arriving just after the battle, cradles Cheney and mysteriously the dog's life is restored. Confused, Hawk sets out to visit Tessa, but is captured by guards at the Safeco compound. He and Tessa are sentenced to death for breaking the law of the compound.
Meanwhile, deep in the Oregon
woods in the Elven
kingdom known as The Cintra
, exists Arborlon
, the largest Elven city in the world, hidden away from men. Long ago in "the time of Faerie", Elves had conquered the demon hordes that ruled the planet, sealing the forces into another world called the "Forbidding". The linchpin of the barrier that keeps the demons in the Forbidding is the Ellcrys
, a sentient tree that resides in the Cintra. The Ellcrys is protected by the Chosen, teenaged guards specially selected by the tree herself. The Ellcrys telepathically tells two of these guardians (Kirisin and his cousin Erisha, the Elven King's daughter) that a force is coming that will forever change the world. The Ellcrys tells them that they must find the three seeking Elfstones and use them to locate the Loden Elfstone—which the tree can be sealed within for protection and transport. The King behaves suspiciously when they tell him of the Ellcrys' message, and refuses to act. Erisha and Kirisin then try to sneak into the library to find out more information about the Elfstones, but are caught.
Elsewhere, there are two remaining Knights of the Word. Angel Perez, who is pursued by the demon Findo Gask and his henchwoman Delloreen. After narrowly escaping death in an encounter with Delloreen after rescuing a group of children, Angel is confronted by a Tatterdemalion, a messenger of the Word, named Ailie. Angel is told of the existence of Elves, and instructed to head north and seek the Loden Elfstone.
The other Knight is Logan Tom
, who is charged by the Native American
O'olish Amaneh
, also a servant of the Word, to find the gypsy morph and give him the bones of Nest Freemark's right hand, and shows Logan how, by casting the bones, they will point in the direction of the gypsy morph. Using Nest's bones as a guide, Logan eventually reaches the Ghost hideout in Seattle. He tells the Ghosts his story, and they come to realize that the gypsy morph must be Hawk, who had just left to meet Tessa. Far to the south, Findo Gask has felt the magic emanating from Hawk when the dog Cheney was healed and identified it as the gypsy morph's as well. Logan is able to gain entrance into the Safeco compound and give Hawk the bones of Nest Freemark. Although Hawk does not instantly realize who he is, he soon recalls his mother, her life and death. But he still doesn't know what he is supposed to do to fulfill his vision.
Unfortunately, Logan is unable to save Hawk from his sentencing--Hawk and Tessa are thrown from the top of the compound. Elsewhere in the city, Owl and the Ghosts are preparing to abandon Seattle, Sparrow sees what she believes is a demon invasion army coming in from the ocean.
Terry Brooks
Terence Dean "Terry" Brooks is an American writer of fantasy fiction. He writes mainly epic fantasy, and has also written two movie novelizations. He has written 23 New York Times bestsellers during his writing career, and has over 21 million copies of his books in print...
' fantasy
Fantasy
Fantasy is a genre of fiction that commonly uses magic and other supernatural phenomena as a primary element of plot, theme, or setting. Many works within the genre take place in imaginary worlds where magic is common...
trilogy The Genesis of Shannara, which bridges the events of Brooks' Word/Void
Word/Void
The Word & Void series by Terry Brooks is a trilogy of dark urban fantasy novels primarily set in Illinois in the late 20th and early 21st century....
trilogy with his Shannara
Shannara
Shannara is an epic fantasy series of novels written by Terry Brooks, beginning with The Sword of Shannara in 1977 and continuing through Bearers of the Black Staff which was released on August 24, 2010, as well as a prequel, First King of Shannara...
series. It takes place in an apocalyptic world around the year 2100 (about eighty years after the novel Angel Fire East
Angel Fire East
Angel Fire East is the third and final novel in the Word & Void series by Terry Brooks, written as a prequel to his Shannara series. It was first published in 1999 by Ballantine's Del Rey division. The novel takes place around Christmas in 2012, ten years after the events of A Knight of the Word...
) and details the events during the Great Wars
The Great Wars
The Great Wars are a fictional conflict from the Shannara series by Terry Brooks.According to legend, the Great Wars were a result of several things. These things were common to most societies: territorial dispute, political disagreement, and so on...
, a historical conflict referenced frequently in the Shannara books. It is followed by the novel The Elves of Cintra
The Elves of Cintra
The Elves of Cintra is the second novel in Terry Brooks's epic fantasy trilogy The Genesis of Shannara. The series bridges the events of Brooks' Word & Void series with his acclaimed novel The Sword of Shannara and the subsequent trilogy. It takes place in an apocalyptic world around the year 2100...
.
Plot summary
The world, now ravaged by nuclear war and plague, lies in ruins, overrun by DemonsDemons (Shannara)
Demons is a common name for many different creatures in the Shannara series of epic fantasy novels by Terry Brooks. The 'true' demons were sealed long ago within an alternate universe, named the Forbidding; this prison is 'maintained' by the Ellcrys, a sacred Elven tree; if she dies, the Forbidding...
and other monsters, with the remaining humans forced into tightly controlled fortress-like compounds. A group of children, the Ghosts, hide out in the ruins of downtown Seattle. Their leader, Hawk
Hawk (Shannara)
Hawk, also known as John Ross Freemark in Angel Fire East, is a fictional character from Terry Brooks' Genesis of Shannara trilogy of novels, written as a prequel to his Shannara series...
, is a multi-talented, and unaware that he is a gypsy morph, a magical creature. He has prophetic dreams in which he leads a large group into a new "promised land". He secretly sees Tessa, a girl from the nearby compound at Safeco Field
Safeco Field
Safeco Field is a retractable roof baseball stadium located in Seattle, Washington. The stadium, owned and operated by the Washington-King County Stadium Authority, is the home stadium of the Seattle Mariners of Major League Baseball and has a seating capacity of 47,878 for baseball...
, though they are forbidden to be together by compound law.
A young Ghost girl named River, sneaks out of the hideout. Hawk tracks her, and finds that she has been secretly visiting a man that turns out to be her Grandfather—a mad homeless man whom everyone else knows as the Weatherman (because of his incoherent meteorlogical ramblings). He is sick with a plague and Hawk grudgingly agrees to take him back to the hideout to have him cared for. Later, Hawk goes to bring medical supplies as part of a trade to one of the competing tribes, the Cats, but while he is away the rest of the gang is attacked by a mutant resembling a giant centipede
Centipede
Centipedes are arthropods belonging to the class Chilopoda of the subphylum Myriapoda. They are elongated metameric animals with one pair of legs per body segment. Despite the name, centipedes can have a varying number of legs from under 20 to over 300. Centipedes have an odd number of pairs of...
. The beast is destroyed by Sparrow and Cheney, but Cheney is mortally wounded. Hawk, arriving just after the battle, cradles Cheney and mysteriously the dog's life is restored. Confused, Hawk sets out to visit Tessa, but is captured by guards at the Safeco compound. He and Tessa are sentenced to death for breaking the law of the compound.
Meanwhile, deep in the Oregon
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
woods in the Elven
Elves (Shannara)
Elves are one of the races in the Shannara series of epic fantasy novels by Terry Brooks. They are the only race of the faerie creatures still in the World, though they now have become mortal. Though Elves usually refers to the Westland Elves, Elves can be split into two: the "Land Elves" and the...
kingdom known as The Cintra
Willamette Valley
The Willamette Valley is the most populated region in the state of Oregon of the United States. Located in the state's northwest, the region is surrounded by tall mountain ranges to the east, west and south and the valley's floor is broad, flat and fertile because of Ice Age conditions...
, exists Arborlon
Arborlon
Arborlon is the capital city of the Elves in the fictional Shannara series of novels by Terry Brooks. In the Original Shannara Trilogy, the first 3 books, Arborlon is located in the Westland of The Four Lands. In The Elfstones of Shannara, the defense of Arborlon is one of the central plot lines...
, the largest Elven city in the world, hidden away from men. Long ago in "the time of Faerie", Elves had conquered the demon hordes that ruled the planet, sealing the forces into another world called the "Forbidding". The linchpin of the barrier that keeps the demons in the Forbidding is the Ellcrys
Ellcrys
The Ellcrys is a fictional sapient tree with silver bark and crimson leaves that was "created by the bonding of earth and life". She appears in two novels of the Shannara series. She is the magical linchpin of the barrier that keeps the Demons that once overran the Four Lands trapped in an...
, a sentient tree that resides in the Cintra. The Ellcrys is protected by the Chosen, teenaged guards specially selected by the tree herself. The Ellcrys telepathically tells two of these guardians (Kirisin and his cousin Erisha, the Elven King's daughter) that a force is coming that will forever change the world. The Ellcrys tells them that they must find the three seeking Elfstones and use them to locate the Loden Elfstone—which the tree can be sealed within for protection and transport. The King behaves suspiciously when they tell him of the Ellcrys' message, and refuses to act. Erisha and Kirisin then try to sneak into the library to find out more information about the Elfstones, but are caught.
Elsewhere, there are two remaining Knights of the Word. Angel Perez, who is pursued by the demon Findo Gask and his henchwoman Delloreen. After narrowly escaping death in an encounter with Delloreen after rescuing a group of children, Angel is confronted by a Tatterdemalion, a messenger of the Word, named Ailie. Angel is told of the existence of Elves, and instructed to head north and seek the Loden Elfstone.
The other Knight is Logan Tom
Logan Tom (Shannara)
Logan Tom is a fictional character from Terry Brooks' Great Wars trilogy of novel, written as a prequel to his Shannara series. A Knight of the Word, Logan's first appearance is in the book Armageddon's Children.-Biography:...
, who is charged by the Native American
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
O'olish Amaneh
O'olish Amaneh
O'olish Amaneh is a fictional character from Terry Brooks' Word/Void and Genesis of Shannara series, both prequels to his Shannara novels....
, also a servant of the Word, to find the gypsy morph and give him the bones of Nest Freemark's right hand, and shows Logan how, by casting the bones, they will point in the direction of the gypsy morph. Using Nest's bones as a guide, Logan eventually reaches the Ghost hideout in Seattle. He tells the Ghosts his story, and they come to realize that the gypsy morph must be Hawk, who had just left to meet Tessa. Far to the south, Findo Gask has felt the magic emanating from Hawk when the dog Cheney was healed and identified it as the gypsy morph's as well. Logan is able to gain entrance into the Safeco compound and give Hawk the bones of Nest Freemark. Although Hawk does not instantly realize who he is, he soon recalls his mother, her life and death. But he still doesn't know what he is supposed to do to fulfill his vision.
Unfortunately, Logan is unable to save Hawk from his sentencing--Hawk and Tessa are thrown from the top of the compound. Elsewhere in the city, Owl and the Ghosts are preparing to abandon Seattle, Sparrow sees what she believes is a demon invasion army coming in from the ocean.
Characters in "Armageddon's Children"
- Logan TomLogan Tom (Shannara)Logan Tom is a fictional character from Terry Brooks' Great Wars trilogy of novel, written as a prequel to his Shannara series. A Knight of the Word, Logan's first appearance is in the book Armageddon's Children.-Biography:...
, Knight of the Word - Angel Perez, Knight of the Word
- HawkHawk (Shannara)Hawk, also known as John Ross Freemark in Angel Fire East, is a fictional character from Terry Brooks' Genesis of Shannara trilogy of novels, written as a prequel to his Shannara series...
, leader of the Ghosts tribe - O'olish AmanehO'olish AmanehO'olish Amaneh is a fictional character from Terry Brooks' Word/Void and Genesis of Shannara series, both prequels to his Shannara novels....
(Two Bears), a Native American messenger for the Word - Nest FreemarkNest FreemarkNest Freemark is a fictional character from the Word/Void trilogy of novels by Terry Brooks, written as a prequel series...
, a deceased warrior for the Word, and Hawk's mother - Findo GaskFindo GaskFindo Gask is a small village in Perth and Kinross in Scotland, just off the main A9 road. It is in Strathearn, the valley of the River Earn.There are nearby remains associated with the Roman Road to the south and the Roman Frontier on the Gask Ridge....
, the demonDemons (Shannara)Demons is a common name for many different creatures in the Shannara series of epic fantasy novels by Terry Brooks. The 'true' demons were sealed long ago within an alternate universe, named the Forbidding; this prison is 'maintained' by the Ellcrys, a sacred Elven tree; if she dies, the Forbidding...
commander of a Void army - Kirisin Belloruus, an Elf and a member of the Chosen
- Erisha Belloruus, the Elven King's daughter and another Chosen
- Cheney, Hawk's dog
- Owl (Margaret), a member of the Ghosts
- Candle (Sarah), a member of the Ghosts
- Panther, a member of the Ghosts
- Bear, a member of the Ghosts
- River, a member of the Ghosts
- Chalk, a member of the Ghosts
- Fixit, a member of the Ghosts
- Sparrow, a member of the Ghosts
- Squirrel, a member of the Ghosts
- The Weatherman, River's grandfather, homeless grandfather
- Tiger, leader of the Cats tribe
- Persia, Tiger's ill younger sister
- Tessa, member of Safeco Field compound and Hawk's illicit girlfriend
- Ethan Cole, Chairman of Safeco Field compound
- Helen Rice, member of Anaheim compound
- The Preacher, minister to a community of elderly in the Midwest
- Ailie, a Tatterdemalion sent by the Word
- The Lady, the voice of the Word
- Arissen Belloruus, King of the elves and Erisha's father
- Simralin Belloruus, Kirisin's Elven sister
- Biat, an Elven Chosen
- Raya, an Elven Chosen
- Jarn, an Elven Chosen
- Giln, an Elven Chosen
- Culph, an Elven historian
- Delloreen, a demon and Findo Gask's second-in-command
- Klee, a demon under Findo Gask
- Arlen, a demon under Findo Gask
- Tyler Tom, Logan's brother
- Megan Tom, Logan's sister
- Juan (Johnny) Gonzales, mentor to Angel Perez
- Michael Poole, a warrior for the Word
- Fresh, a warrior for the Word
- Robert, a warrior for the Word
- Jena, a warrior for the Word
- Wilson, a warrior for the Word
- Rye Ducey, an elven warrior for the Word
Trivia
- The book went through several titles, including Gypsy Morph, Child of Wild Magic, and Born of Wild Magic before Brooks finally settled on Armageddon's Children.