"Epic fantasy at its' very best"
The last wizard of the age, Walker, gathers a merry
band of adventurers to find the lost gemstones of
Shannara. They travel by the airship, the Jerle Shannara
to the land where the gems are supposed to be only to find
the Isle Witch in an airship of her own with her reptilian
allies. While the battle ensues and the Jerle Shannara is
taken over by the witch's reptilian force, the survivors
escape including Walker. Walker knows there is more in the Castledown than just
the Shannara gemstone. Hidden in a vast under-underground
complex is an artificially intelligent computer, built
before the apocalypse when science held reign and all the
races were one. Walker wants the knowledge contained in
the computer but Antrax feeds on magic to power it and ward
off intruders. Walker sees that Antrax is a two edged
sword and has to decide what to do about it before the Isle
Witch finds him. THE VOYAGE OF THE JERLE SHANNARA: ANTRAX continues the
adventures that began in THE VOYAGE OF THE JERLE SHANNARA:
Isle Witch. It is a spellbinding epic even with a major
flaw. The plot stops in the middle of the action, forcing
the reader to buy or obtain from the library the last
installment to read what happened next. There are many
characters in this book that are admirable especially Ares
who acts bravely in spite of being so very scared of what
is in front of and behind them. Harriet Klausner
Reviewed by PNR Group Member
Posted July 20, 2001
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A new novel by Terry Brooks is always a cause for celebration. For more than twenty years, the New York Times bestselling author of the classic Shannara epic has proven himself one of the modern masters of fantasy, winning the hearts and minds of devoted readers around the world. In his last acclaimed novel, Ilse Witch, a brave company of explorers led by the last Druid, Walker Boh, traveled across unknown seas in search of an elusive magic. Yet perhaps Boh and his team were lured there for sinister, unforeseen purposes . . . Now in Antrax, as the crew aboard the airship Jerle Shannara is attacked by evil forces, the Druid’s protégé Bek Rowe and his companions are pursued by the mysterious Ilse Witch. Meanwhile, Boh is alone, caught in a dark maze beneath the ruined city of Castledown, stalked by a hungry, unseen enemy. For there is something alive in Castledown. Something not human. Something old beyond reckoning that covets the magic of Druids, elves, even the Ilse Witch. Something that hunts men for its own designs: Antrax. It is a spirit that commands ancient technologies and mechanical monsters, feeds off enchantment, and traps the souls of men. With the Jerle Shannara under siege and Antrax threatening the bold and unwary, the Ilse Witch finds herself face-to-face with a boy who claims to be the brother she last saw as an infant. Now a young man, Bek wields the magic of the wishsong and carries the Sword of Shannara upon his back. Unsure whether to trust Bek or to slay him, the Ilse Witch takes him prisoner. One has come pursuing truth, the other revenge. Yet both seek Walker Boh–with the fate of the Four Lands hanging in the balance. Return to the world of beloved novelist Terry Brooks, where creatures drift up from the earth like mist, a hypnotic song can kill, a sword can cut through a veil of lies–and one man, the true heir of an ancient magic, must choose between betrayal and redemption.
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