Amazon.com Review
Antrax is the second book in the Voyage of Jerle Shannara trilogy, part of an epic started by famed fantasy writer Terry Brooks more than two decades ago with The Sword of Shannara. In this installment, we join the Druid Walker Boh and his companions in the search for Antrax--a powerful and malevolent technological guardian. Walker believes Antrax's magic is potent enough to help restore the Druid council to the Four lands, a struggle that has consumed his life. But while the unlikely heroes journey in the Jerle Shannara across the Blue Divide to the city of Castledown, the Druid's archnemesis--the Ilse Witch--and her band of Mwellrets closely follow in an airship of their own. The race is on, and the prize is the power of Antrax. Meanwhile, Bek Rowe discovers that his destiny is inextricably linked with the Ilse Witch herself.
Mixing several subplots into the main story, Brooks cooks up a satisfying stew of fantasy with just a taste of science fiction. Brooks quickly reels the reader in with nonstop action, and, in classic style, leaves the reader yearning for the third and final installment, Morgawr. --Robert Leavengood
From Publishers Weekly
Continuing the saga begun in The Voyage of the Jerle Shannara: Ilse Witch (2000), bestseller Brooks opens this slick, lightweight fantasy with our band of heroes (Druids, elves, shape-shifters, Rovers, etc.) trapped on an island ruled by the evil artificial intelligence Antrax. Antrax has lured this disparate crew to its underground lair in order to use their assorted magics to expand its influence across the world of Shannara. The expedition's leader, the Druid Walker, wants to steal Antrax's ancient technology, but to gain it, he must engage in deadly combat with the machine. The treacherous seer, Ryer Ord Star, and the young, frightened elven prince, Ahren Elessedil, join the fight. Meanwhile, Bek Ohmsford, a prot‚g‚ of Walker's who's been left mostly in the dark about his own magical potential, must try to convince his sister, the dangerous Ilse Witch, that his version of their shared past is true, as he struggles to keep her from killing him or his friends. Also complicating the plot are the battles of the Rovers to reclaim the group's airship the only means for the adventurers to return home. Some emotionally painful encounters occur with former friends who have been enslaved by Antrax, turned into cyborgs and forced to do the nasty AI's bidding. Brooks's fans are sure to be pleased with this action-packed yarn, which neatly weaves the many plots and characters into a coherent whole. Those readers looking for more depth or less predictability are unlikely to have started on this series in the first place. 12-city author tour.
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