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Series · epic fantasy

Genesis of Shannara

by Terry Brooks

The Genesis of Shannara series by Terry Brooks has 3 books and is best read in publication order, starting with Armageddon's Children (2006).

Books
3 books
First published
2006
Status
completed
Last checked

Start here: Armageddon's Children (2006) — then read straight through in publication order.

Cover of Armageddon's Children, the first book in Genesis of Shannara

Reading order

The order the books were released — the default way to read the series.

  1. Armageddon's Children

    Novel

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  2. The Elves of Cintra

    Novel

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  3. The Gypsy Morph

    Novel

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About the Genesis of Shannara series

Terry Brooks's Genesis of Shannara trilogy is the direct sequel to Word and Void and the missing link between that contemporary trilogy and the entire Shannara saga, opening around the year 2100 in a world devastated by nuclear war and plague. Armageddon's Children follows Hawk, leader of a group of orphaned street children called the Ghosts hiding out in ruined Seattle, who is secretly a gypsy morph -- a magical being of immense, unrealized power -- and the son of Nest Freemark, the Word and Void trilogy's protagonist, now dead and remembered only as a legend among the surviving Knights of the Word. Two of those Knights, Logan Tom and Angel Perez, are sent to find and protect Hawk while a group of Elves in Oregon, guardians of a mysteriously endangered Ellcrys tree, search for the magical Elfstones that will let them save it. The Elves of Cintra and The Gypsy Morph carry both threads forward as demons, mutant creatures, and the collapsing remains of human civilization close in, building to Hawk fulfilling his true nature and the Elves' desperate migration to a hidden refuge.

The trilogy directly explains how the post-nuclear America of Word and Void becomes the fantastical, magic-suffused Four Lands of the Original Shannara Trilogy, tying Brooks's two separate storylines -- one set in our own world, one in a far-future one -- into a single continuous history.

How to read this series

Read in publication order -- Armageddon's Children (2006), The Elves of Cintra (2007), The Gypsy Morph (2008) -- which is also the internal chronology. Read the Word and Void trilogy first: Genesis of Shannara is its direct sequel, and Hawk's identity as Nest Freemark's son only carries weight if you already know her story from Running with the Demon, A Knight of the Word, and Angel Fire East. No other Shannara reading is required, since this trilogy exists specifically to bridge Word and Void's contemporary setting into the Four Lands' far future, chronologically ahead of everything else in the saga.

Frequently asked questions

What order should I read the Genesis of Shannara trilogy in?

Publication order: Armageddon's Children, The Elves of Cintra, The Gypsy Morph — also the internal chronology.

Do I need to read Word and Void first?

Yes — Genesis of Shannara is its direct sequel, and Hawk's identity as the son of Nest Freemark, the earlier trilogy's protagonist, is central to the story.

How does Genesis of Shannara connect to the Shannara series?

It bridges the nuclear-devastated near-future setting of Word and Void into the far-future Four Lands of the Original Shannara Trilogy, explaining how one world becomes the other.

Who is Hawk?

A gypsy morph — a being of immense, unrealized magical power — who leads a group of orphaned street children in post-apocalyptic Seattle, unaware for most of the trilogy of his true nature or his mother's history.

Where does Genesis of Shannara fit in the Four Lands' overall timeline?

It's chronologically the earliest part of the Shannara saga, set centuries before the events of the Original Shannara Trilogy, even though it was written and published decades later.

Reading order last verified .