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Fantasy becomes reality at Tattered Cover
By Clarke Reader
creader3@mscd.edu

Photo by Chuck Iversen • civerse1@mscd.edu Benjamin Acimovic waits Sept. 14 for Terry Brooks’ autograph at the new Tattered Cover on East Colfax and Columbine.

Terry Brooks, one of today’s most popular and prolific fantasy writers, visited the Tattered Cover Book Store Sept. 14 to promote Armageddon’s Children, the first book in his newest trilogy.

Brooks entered a room teeming with devoted fans and discussed subtleties such as the pros and cons of film adaptations of fantasy books and what constitutes real science fiction.

Armageddon’s Children, which is a bridge novel between two of Brooks’ most famous series, Shannara and The Word and The Void, is set approximately 80 years in the future, when plagues, drought and “the great war” have wiped out most of humanity.

The ravaged land spawns whole races of mutants, which roam the earth to hunt the last human beings, who are gathered in old sports stadiums called “compounds.”

Logan Tom, the novel’s hero, is one of the last Knights of the Word, an order devoted to stopping the slaughter of the human race. When he learns there is a child in the northwest who can save humanity, he rushes off to find this would-be savior.

Brooks intertwines diverse plot threads to create a vision of earth that is both alien and familiar. He lays the seeds for his envisioned destruction of society in contemporary events, making the story more compelling.

Brooks took the podium to discuss his new book, which is the first in a trilogy (“Surprise!” he said with a chuckle), saying that this was just the beginning of a grander story, which could span nine books.

Brooks gave the crowd what they waited for when he read a chapter from a novel in progress that will be published next year. It was an opportunity for fans to preview his latest work, a temporary satisfaction for the year-long wait before the next release.

Brooks also discussed the possibility of making movies based on his book. He remained elusive but hinted that he has reached a verbal agreement with a major motion picture studio to make his Shannara series into movies, but said it wasn’t a top priority.

“Movies are just a way to bring people to books,” he said with a laugh.

He alluded to only one author who has any real say over the movies based on her books, giving a tacit nod to J.K. Rowling and her authority over the Harry Potter film series.

Questions from the audience ranged from queries about characters in certain books to questions about how to pursue writing as a career.

“If it’s your passion, you do it all the time,” Brooks said. “If you do not love writing more than anything else, you probably can’t do it. You just have to want to do it bad enough.”