Review of THE ELVES OF CINTRA by Terry Brooks (see his website)

GENESIS OF SHANNARA

Del Rey, August 2007

Time is fast running out for Earth. Monsters and demons have herded ordinary humans into enclaves and are, one by one, picking these off. In the cities, tribes of wild children and gangs battle for territory and survival--but it's only a matter of time before these two are picked off by the invaders. Environmental damage means there's no going back. And Knight of the Word Logan Tom gets his orders fromt the Word. He's to help the legendary gypsy morph lead the way to a new world and a new chance. Fellow Knight, Angel Perez is ordered to contact the elves and secure their help--even though the elves have consciously withdrawn from humanity for centuries.

As the world breaks down around them, even the few constants Logan Tom and Angel had put their faith in begin to shatter. Logan Tom is forced to confront another Knight of the Word--one who has fallen for the power and become too close to that which he had sworn to fight. And a demon hunts Angel, continually tracking her, seeking her, wanting only her destruction. Creating a path to the new world will require the rediscovery of elf-stones lost for thousands of years, surviving in the face of both demons and renegade humans, and overcoming the elves' hatred of humans--a hatred so strong they often don't bother distinguishing between humans and demons.

Author Terry Brooks (see more BooksForABuck.com reviews of novels by Brooks) continues setting the background for his Shannara series of books (which he published beginning in the 1970s). Rather than the high fantasy of Shannara, the books in this GENESIS OF SHANNARA series are a blend of science fiction and fantasy, with the world of science breaking down and the world of magic beginning to assert itself once again. Although magic now lies at the base of any possible solution, science--in the forms of solar-powered cars, medicines against the plague, taser weapons, and the ecological nightmare of business decisions made without consideration of the consequences plays a critical role in the dissolution of the old ways.

Brooks continues to reach out to teen/young adult readers with viewpoint characters that include both adult and young people, with the young being among the most critical for the future. There's a lot of action in THE ELVES OF CINTRA and Brooks manages this well, especially the battle between Angel and her tiger-demon. ELVES is a hard book to put down.

Three Stars

Reviewed 9/22/07

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