Status
Available
Call number
Series
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Collection
Publication
Brilliance Audio (2008)
Description
Eighty years into the future, the United States is a no-man's-land: its landscape blighted by chemical warfare, pollution, and plague; its government collapsed; its citizens adrift, desperate, fighting to stay alive. In fortified compounds, survivors hold the line against wandering predators, rogue militias, and hideous mutations spawned from the toxic environment, while against them all stands an enemy neither mortal nor merciful: demons and their minions bent on slaughtering and subjugating the last of humankind. But from around the country, allies of good unite to challenge the rampaging evil. Logan Tom, wielding the magic staff of a Knight of the Word, has a promise to keep -- protecting the world's only hope of salvation -- and a score to settle with the demon that massacred his family. Angel Perez, Logan's fellow Knight, has risked her life to aid the elvish race, whose peaceful, hidden realm is marked for extermination by the forces of the Void. Kirisin Belloruus, a young elf entrusted with an ancient magic, must deliver his entire civilization from a monstrous army. And Hawk, the rootless boy who is nothing less than destiny's instrument, must lead the last of humanity to a latter-day promised land before the final darkness falls.--From publisher description.… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member SonicQuack
The Gypsy Morph seems a little out of kilter with the rest of the series. This final volume contains all the classic requirements of what makes a true Brooks story, the heart-felt challenges, the epic struggles, the fight of good vs evil and a plot which writhes like a snake, however something is
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amiss. For the first time we have a real sense of exactly what is going to happen and although plenty of new elements are brought in to play, there's no real gasps of surprise. The once fresh scenario of Armageddon's Children is now just the expected background, where more pointers to Shannara would have been welcome. The book is still a good read, guaranteed to be a page-turner, however it lacked the sparkle previous books have created. Show Less
LibraryThing member DonnerLibrary
The Gypsy Morph is the final book in The Genesis of Shannara trilogy, finishing the story began in Armageddon's Children and continued in The Elves of Cintra. Will the boy, Hawk, lead the children to safety? Will the elves survive their journey in the Loden? Will the Knights of the Word survive at
Brooks again masterfully weaves together the separate tales that he has created for each main group of characters, finally connecting them so the reader can gain a different perspective of the whole picture. Although, in a way, we know the outcome of this story, Brooks now fills in the details along the way. Each character is carefully crafted and has a unique personality that fits the role they must play. Brooks builds his world with so much detail that it is almost another character in the story, impacting the choices the other characters must make. Emotions run high in this book with fear and doubt only slightly tempered by hope.
The Gypsy Morph is a a satisfying conclusion to The Genesis of Shannara trilogy. It contains much darkness but finally begins the journey into the light. The Genesis of Shannara books do a great job at bridging the gap between The Word and The Void series and the rest of the Shannara story.
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all? How does the world end?Brooks again masterfully weaves together the separate tales that he has created for each main group of characters, finally connecting them so the reader can gain a different perspective of the whole picture. Although, in a way, we know the outcome of this story, Brooks now fills in the details along the way. Each character is carefully crafted and has a unique personality that fits the role they must play. Brooks builds his world with so much detail that it is almost another character in the story, impacting the choices the other characters must make. Emotions run high in this book with fear and doubt only slightly tempered by hope.
The Gypsy Morph is a a satisfying conclusion to The Genesis of Shannara trilogy. It contains much darkness but finally begins the journey into the light. The Genesis of Shannara books do a great job at bridging the gap between The Word and The Void series and the rest of the Shannara story.
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LibraryThing member Karlstar
Supposedly the last of the the 'prequel' books, describing how the world of the Four Lands came about. The main characters from the previous book, Hawk, Logan and Kirisin try gather all of the humans and elves together to a place of safety, while Findo Gask and his creatures try to kill everyone.
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This is typical Brooks, with a good mix of action, heroism, and misfortune. What's nice about this book is that by now, the heroes have become battle tested, perhaps too much so. I found this to be fun to read. Show Less
LibraryThing member willowcove
Who would have ever seen this storyline coming 30 years ago??
LibraryThing member theokester
The Gypsy Morph concludes the "Genesis of Shannara" trilogy. This trilogy worked to bridge the gap between Terry Brooks's fantasy world set in a more traditional fantasy setting (elves, dwarves, trolls, castles, knights, magic, etc) and Terry's books set in our own contemporary world (his Word and
For the first two books there is a lot of running, scheming and fighting but it was still somewhat ambiguous as to how these young survivors will actually eventually survive. In The Gypsy Morph, that question is often brought to the forefront, especially by the Morph himself (a faerie creature in human form). He knows that he is supposed to help with the gathering of the survivors and that he is to lead them somewhere, but he has no idea where he is leading them or what they will do once they get there.
In many aspects, this series had a lot of elements core to a fantasy-adventure novel. It has the strong, battle weary knight, the unlikely underdog heroes, the overly vile villain, and a seemingly impossible quest. All of this was fun and entertaining. But what it didn't have as a super obvious element was HOW things would finally be resolved.
Brooks really enjoys filling his novels with tension as primary characters are separated and brought to the brink of death and disaster again and again. The book usually had at least two story threads going at one time, each following one or more main character. By alternating these threads, he was able to create a fair degree of tension and then pan over to the other story arc in order to let the tension simmer and come to a boil. By having characters in each arc attached to or anxious for characters in the other arc, it increased our ties to the characters because the reader felt the same tension the characters felt for those who were "off stage" at a particular moment.
In many of Brooks's books (and indeed in many fantasy novels), I've wondered about the possibility of religious allegory. While some writers are very explicit (C.S. Lewis) and others adamantly deny the possibility (J.R.R. Tolkien), I'm not sure if Brooks has taken a stance on the subject. I know he's commented about the Word/Void series being relatable to the troubles in society today and that naturally carries over into this series, but I'm not sure about his stance on religious allegory.
However, this series explicitly brings up and explores the Old Testament story of Moses leading the Israelites out of Egypt. Society is in chaos so there isn't much in terms of organized education, religion or any organization at all really. But the Mother character in the book has told "her children" (the Ghosts) stories over the years. One story in particular has resonated with them…the story of Moses and the Exodus from Egypt. Furthermore, they've come to understand that Hawk (the human form of the Gypsy Morph) will act as their own Moses and lead them to the Promised Land.
This story is brought up a few times throughout each novel and indeed the Exodus that the children and others take is evocative of the flight from Egypt. In this novel, however, there is one particular scene that struck me as drawing very heavily on the Moses story. (*potential spoiler, but I'll try to walk lightly*) Basically the survivors are backed up against a large body of water with very little choice for escape. I fully expected there to be a "Parting of the Red Sea" moment…though that might have been a little too overt and trite. Instead of a duplicate "escape" method, we're given a parallel miracle of sorts that had similar enough characteristics to make me think of the Bible story but was still different enough to make it fit in this story.
At the same time, I felt a little bit robbed by the "simplicity" in overcoming the challenge. Along the journey there were so many fights that seemed insurmountable and were very tense and exciting. This particular fight had a sort of deus ex machina that left me a little less than satisfied. It was still spectacular and fun, but a little anti-climactic. I know that a lot of the book was filled with knock-down, drag-out battles and fights so perhaps extending this one would have been overkill. But I was left wanting just a bit more.
The final couple of chapters of the book wrapped up the end of our own world and the beginning of a new world to come. I felt like the "end of the world" method was realistic enough but felt a little jarring going from the fantasy adventure to the catalyst that ended the world. It worked alright though. I'm still a little worried about the logistics of how the survivors will survive long enough to emerge into a new world, but I felt like it was wrapped up adequately….I'll just have to dive into the next series (Legends of Shannara) to see what happens "500 years later."
All in all, I found this a good conclusion to the series and overall I really enjoyed this series. While it was similar in tone and feel to much of Brooks's other books, it was unique enough that it felt fresh. Setting it in the ~near future also made it more intriguing to me.
If you've read this book/series, let me know your thoughts. If you haven't, give it a try and let me know if you liked it.
4 stars out of 5
****
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Void series). Granted, even though the Word and Void books were set in our current time, there was still plenty of magic, demons and other fantasy elements. The Genesis of Shannara examines the end of our world as it currently exists. Over the course of the trilogy, a handful of people (human, elves and others) must band together not to overcome and destroy the evil forces…but to escape them.For the first two books there is a lot of running, scheming and fighting but it was still somewhat ambiguous as to how these young survivors will actually eventually survive. In The Gypsy Morph, that question is often brought to the forefront, especially by the Morph himself (a faerie creature in human form). He knows that he is supposed to help with the gathering of the survivors and that he is to lead them somewhere, but he has no idea where he is leading them or what they will do once they get there.
In many aspects, this series had a lot of elements core to a fantasy-adventure novel. It has the strong, battle weary knight, the unlikely underdog heroes, the overly vile villain, and a seemingly impossible quest. All of this was fun and entertaining. But what it didn't have as a super obvious element was HOW things would finally be resolved.
Brooks really enjoys filling his novels with tension as primary characters are separated and brought to the brink of death and disaster again and again. The book usually had at least two story threads going at one time, each following one or more main character. By alternating these threads, he was able to create a fair degree of tension and then pan over to the other story arc in order to let the tension simmer and come to a boil. By having characters in each arc attached to or anxious for characters in the other arc, it increased our ties to the characters because the reader felt the same tension the characters felt for those who were "off stage" at a particular moment.
In many of Brooks's books (and indeed in many fantasy novels), I've wondered about the possibility of religious allegory. While some writers are very explicit (C.S. Lewis) and others adamantly deny the possibility (J.R.R. Tolkien), I'm not sure if Brooks has taken a stance on the subject. I know he's commented about the Word/Void series being relatable to the troubles in society today and that naturally carries over into this series, but I'm not sure about his stance on religious allegory.
However, this series explicitly brings up and explores the Old Testament story of Moses leading the Israelites out of Egypt. Society is in chaos so there isn't much in terms of organized education, religion or any organization at all really. But the Mother character in the book has told "her children" (the Ghosts) stories over the years. One story in particular has resonated with them…the story of Moses and the Exodus from Egypt. Furthermore, they've come to understand that Hawk (the human form of the Gypsy Morph) will act as their own Moses and lead them to the Promised Land.
This story is brought up a few times throughout each novel and indeed the Exodus that the children and others take is evocative of the flight from Egypt. In this novel, however, there is one particular scene that struck me as drawing very heavily on the Moses story. (*potential spoiler, but I'll try to walk lightly*) Basically the survivors are backed up against a large body of water with very little choice for escape. I fully expected there to be a "Parting of the Red Sea" moment…though that might have been a little too overt and trite. Instead of a duplicate "escape" method, we're given a parallel miracle of sorts that had similar enough characteristics to make me think of the Bible story but was still different enough to make it fit in this story.
At the same time, I felt a little bit robbed by the "simplicity" in overcoming the challenge. Along the journey there were so many fights that seemed insurmountable and were very tense and exciting. This particular fight had a sort of deus ex machina that left me a little less than satisfied. It was still spectacular and fun, but a little anti-climactic. I know that a lot of the book was filled with knock-down, drag-out battles and fights so perhaps extending this one would have been overkill. But I was left wanting just a bit more.
The final couple of chapters of the book wrapped up the end of our own world and the beginning of a new world to come. I felt like the "end of the world" method was realistic enough but felt a little jarring going from the fantasy adventure to the catalyst that ended the world. It worked alright though. I'm still a little worried about the logistics of how the survivors will survive long enough to emerge into a new world, but I felt like it was wrapped up adequately….I'll just have to dive into the next series (Legends of Shannara) to see what happens "500 years later."
All in all, I found this a good conclusion to the series and overall I really enjoyed this series. While it was similar in tone and feel to much of Brooks's other books, it was unique enough that it felt fresh. Setting it in the ~near future also made it more intriguing to me.
If you've read this book/series, let me know your thoughts. If you haven't, give it a try and let me know if you liked it.
4 stars out of 5
****
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LibraryThing member Toast.x2
I have long been told that Terry Brooks was a writer i would enjoy, but i really had no strong desire to start reading his mammoth Shannara series. 19 books is quite a commitment to a single author, as such, i just never got around to reading any of them.
About six months ago, i ran across a copy of
I searched out and found matching hardback copies of the rest of the trilogy and got sucked into the story with absolutely no effort.
The series is pretty solid. it details the journey of a band of children living in the pac nw after the world has essentially ended. radiation has created waves of mutation in humans. healthy people are holing up in fortresses for safety, often times made out of the largest populace centers available, stadiums.
One band of children, led by a boy named Hawk, live in the pioneer square area of seattle. they are fending for themselves and eking out a moderate existence as a surrogate family.
Hawk has a dream that he will lead the children to a safe world where they can thrive in safety. the children follow him almost like a father figure.
From an alternate location, Logan Tom, is a Knight of the Word. he hunts demons that roam the planet, seeking to destroy all that exists, seeking dominance over the world. Logan Tom is sent by the essence of existence, the "Word" to find Hawk and help him achieve his goals. He must do this before the world in engulfed in a flaming apocalypse which will destroy everything.
There are a lot of sub plots and a large number of characters i do not make mention of. I would highly suggest this series. even if you have no desire to read the whole Shannara series, this prequel set is a solid read and is written in a way that you are never forced to move on. Shannara is not even mentioned by name.
funny, i finally get why people spout off at the mouth about Terry Brooks. Perhaps i will pick up his novelizations of Hook and The Phantom Menace and read those soon.
--
xpost RawBlurb.com
About six months ago, i ran across a copy of
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Armageddon's Children on the cheap. I read the inside cover and it was pretty clear that this was a standalone book, and a nice introduction into Brooks, with out having to commit myself to a mass reading project. i picked up the book and read it, enjoying the whole plot. Unfortunately, the book ended up not being a standalone. Instead, it was the first book in a standalone TRILOGY. the prequels to the Shannara series... damn you publishing house.. damn you. The other two books are "The Elves of Cintra" and "They Gypsy Morph"I searched out and found matching hardback copies of the rest of the trilogy and got sucked into the story with absolutely no effort.
The series is pretty solid. it details the journey of a band of children living in the pac nw after the world has essentially ended. radiation has created waves of mutation in humans. healthy people are holing up in fortresses for safety, often times made out of the largest populace centers available, stadiums.
One band of children, led by a boy named Hawk, live in the pioneer square area of seattle. they are fending for themselves and eking out a moderate existence as a surrogate family.
Hawk has a dream that he will lead the children to a safe world where they can thrive in safety. the children follow him almost like a father figure.
From an alternate location, Logan Tom, is a Knight of the Word. he hunts demons that roam the planet, seeking to destroy all that exists, seeking dominance over the world. Logan Tom is sent by the essence of existence, the "Word" to find Hawk and help him achieve his goals. He must do this before the world in engulfed in a flaming apocalypse which will destroy everything.
There are a lot of sub plots and a large number of characters i do not make mention of. I would highly suggest this series. even if you have no desire to read the whole Shannara series, this prequel set is a solid read and is written in a way that you are never forced to move on. Shannara is not even mentioned by name.
funny, i finally get why people spout off at the mouth about Terry Brooks. Perhaps i will pick up his novelizations of Hook and The Phantom Menace and read those soon.
--
xpost RawBlurb.com
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LibraryThing member mmoj
Terry Brooks continues to be one of the premier fantasy writers with his, The Gypsy Morph book. This is the third and final book in the Genesis of Shannara series and was as interesting as the original series. It didn't have as much action as some of his previous Shannara books but id did give a
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much better understanding of what the characters were experiencing during this time. I felt that there was a deeper understanding in the connections between the characters as well. I look forward to reading more of Brooks' work in the future. Show Less
LibraryThing member Linyarai
I liked the first two better, I found this one less exciting and I didn't like how we don't know what happened to Cat and Panther.
LibraryThing member CharlesSchreiber
Enjoyed very much. For me there is one or two sticky moments but the pacing was good and the ending great. I didn't expect a love story but it was great and the magic element was just enough.
LibraryThing member MarkLacy
Not bad, but could have been better. The middle seemed to wander too much, subplots meandering around. The end could've been a bit more dramatic. Enjoyable. Anxious to see where he takes the story from here.
Subjects
Original language
English
Original publication date
2008