Armageddon's Children takes place in a world that Knights of the Word have long feared. The long waged war between the Word and the Void that began with Running with the Demon and continued through A Knight of the Word and Angel Fire East has tipped in favor of the demons. The Earth is in ruin, its land and water polluted, it's inhabitants in hiding from the demons and once men that hunt them. But the Word still has hope-- the legendary gypsy morph is still in the world. The wild magic that chose Nest Freemark as its mother in Angel Fire East is the key to saving the earth.

Armageddon's Children focuses on three protagonists. Logan Tom, one of the last Knights of the Word is charged with this seemingly impossible task of finding and protecting the gypsy morph, another Knight, Angel Perez is visited by a tatterdemalion who sends her out to find a community of elves. The Ellcrys, a sort of magical tree that protects them, feels threatened by the demons and needs to be moved and Angel must assist them.

As both Knights make their way on their respective tasks we see how people live in this new world through the viewpoint of street kid named Hawk, the leader of a group of street kids who call themselves the Ghosts. While many people live in huge compounds on the site of old sports complexes Hawk and his family live in the ruins of the cities along with croaks and spiders, humans who have been changed by the poisons in the environment.

Like the previous trilogy, Armageddon's Children features interesting characters and an interesting premise-- how our modern world transforms into one of demons and magic. I did find some of the narrative to drag on a bit with Brooks adding in more character information than I thought necessary. Also, I had hoped for a bit more mystery around the identity of the gypsy morph as I knew early on who it was.

My Recommendation
I really like the premise behind Armageddon's Children, but when compared to the last trilogy I was somewhat disappointed. While the characters drew me in, I had wanted less predictability and more action. If you followed the Word and the Void series, Armageddon's Children is worth checking out to see where the story is going. Hopefully the next book in the series will live up to the past.

Armageddon's Children by Terry Brooks
Published by Del Rey
416 pages

Armageddon's Children by Terry Brooks is available at Amazon.com

I reviewed Armageddon's Children from my own personal library