‘Armageddon’s Children’ dark, magical take on future

“Armageddon’s Children”

by Terry Brooks (Del Rey, 384 pages, $26.95)

Terry Brooks’ “Shannara” series is one of the longest-running in the fantasy genre. But he’s taking a break from it with his newest, darker take on the world in which we live.

Oh, there’s still magic in “Armageddon’s Children,” but it’s a power that exists in a near-future, post-apocalyptic United States that shares a passing resemblance to Stephen King’s “The Stand.”

Survivors of plagues are holding their ground or on the run from beings of a predatory nature.

Logan Tom, driving out of Indiana, is in service to the Knights of the Word, who knew of the coming nightmare and strove for balance, conflicting with the demons of the Void and their quest for disequilibrium.

Angel Perez is on a mission to find saviors that will take her from the streets of a once-thriving Los Angeles.

And in Seattle are the Ghosts, an underground gang of kids given names that suit their temperaments by their leader, Hawk. He’ll give them newer names when a newer, better day arrives. At his side is a massive guard dog, Cheney, a name Hawk got from a history book’s reference to a politician who was always spoiling for a fight.

And they are all afraid of the “once-men” – humans who made the “I’d-rather-live” choice by letting demons transform them according to their inner natures.

Armageddon’s children are fighting a battle between good and evil, but good and evil are not things that happen to us, Brooks is saying in this simply told, somewhat obvious tale. The world is the way it is – and will be – because good and evil stem from our actions or inactions.