And because Brooks is worried about the future facing our children and their descendants, he avoids sugar coating, choosing to depict a not-so-distant future that's very dark, very bleak and disturbing. This is not a cheerful book, but it is very powerful.

It's a world where most surviving adults hide out in armed compounds, trying to retain some shred of a civilized existence, and the outsider street kids fight to survive any way they can. One Pacific Northwest tribe, called the Ghosts, is led by a mysterious young man named Hawk, mothered by a physically challenged "Owl" and guarded by a wolfish dog Hawk names Cheney after a "long-dead politician who'd been around when the seeds for the Great Wars had been planted. Owl's book described him as a bulldog spoiling for a fight."

Across country, a Knight of the Word named Logan Tom desperately strives to figure out his mission against evil while Angel Perez, a courageous female Knight of the Word, struggles to do what she can in the fierce battle against a supernatural darkness and, in the Elven world, another crisis brews that's just as upsetting.

The talisman story prop so often found in epic fantasy sagas is there, true, but the Word here is beyond the usual "seek and ye shall find the key to happiness in a magic stone." Armageddon's Children does include magical talismans with life-saving powers like the Gypsy Morph (a wild magic creature) and a Loden Elfstone, but he places the true magic powers in characters that have the ability to change their destinies.

Currently a resident of the Pacific Northwest and Hawaii, Brooks is feverishly working on the second installment of the new series and promoting Armageddon's Children, but he took time to share some thoughts with SCI FI Weekly fans.

The Sword of Shannara appeared in 1977. Now, almost 30 years later, the genre continues to flourish and you're uniting Shannara's Tolkien-influenced world with the urban fantasy of your Word/Void world. When and why did you decide to connect them?

Brooks: I am not even clear. I've been getting requests about Shannara since the first book for more about the pre-history ... but was kind of indifferent to the whole thing. ... Then I wrote Running With the Demon (Word/Void's first book), and I was wondering where it would go next. When I began to think ... you're really writing what could have happened at the beginning of the Shannara world, and began concentrating on tying the two things together. It happened fairly recently ... a gradual process of thinking it through and considering what the ramifications would be. ... Did I really want to do this? There was a lot of considerations. It had to appear seamless, and that's not easy to do. It's a big undertaking. I'm looking at six to nine books before it's done. This story goes three books and then we move ahead, say, 300 or 400 years. It's a journey.

I tell writers when I'm working with them ... that nothing will inform you about your story the way that the writing of it will. Same thing as writing your story will. I learn along the way where the story is going and what the next book will be.Why are quest fantasies still so popular?

Brooks: They are part and parcel of the kind of stories we start out with as children. They are also adventure stories. Most stories are a variation on the adventure theme ... the heart of what storytelling's about. I think that's the basic appeal. Do you think readers must read both [the] Word/Void and Shannara series to understand what's at stake in the new series, or do you hope to integrate enough backstory so new readers won't have to know about both fantasy worlds?

Brooks: I try not to write anything that can't be read by a first-time reader to my work. There are connections, of course. I tend to work in series, and it might be tough coming in on the middle book of a set. But readers do it all the time and tell me it doesn't seem to matter to them. But with Armageddon's Children, you can just take the plunge and go back to the other series when you are ready.What comes first for you? Characters? Plot?

Brooks: Plot almost always comes first, and before plot, the issue I want to explore. I am motivated to write mostly by a need to understand the world and, maybe more to the point, how I feel about it. So characters almost always fill the needs of the story. How do I best look at it? Who can best reveal what needs looking at? But it isn't as if the one can exist without the other. I almost always end up with character and plot developing in tandem.When you finally decided to blend the Shannara and Word/Void world, did you have doubts that one of the worlds would overshadow the other?

Brooks: Doubts?How can you still find humor to insert into such a grim plot?

Brooks: Well, life goes on. Even in the worst situation, our tendency as human beings is to find something to smile about. Sometimes those smiles are even caused inadvertently. But most of the humor comes from the kids (The Ghosts), and we all know that kids are funny no matter what the situation. Sometimes even adults manage the trick.What current world issue most influenced the development of this series?

Brooks: What world issue? You mean you think there is only one? Make that a big plural. Everything I am writing about has its genesis in what we see happening around us now. That was the impetuous for the book in the first place—my personal dissatisfaction with the way the world is going. Not much has changed, either.

In the first chapter, Logan Tom begins his trek across the Indiana flats and reflects: "The real enemies are the once-men, humans subverted not by radiation and chemicals, but by false promises and lies that went something like this: Do you want to know what it will take to survive? A willingness to do what is needed. The world has always belonged to the strongest. The weak have never been meant to inherit anything. You choose which you want to be in this life. By your choice, you are either with us or against us. Choose wisely."Is the either/or proposition reflected in this passage the major problem at the core of the battle of good vs. evil, not only in your fantasy epics, but in the world today?

Brooks: Politically, we have become a nation of "take no prisoners." How many times have you seen reflected in a discussion the implication that if you are not for us, you are against us? There seems to be no willingness to find a middle ground or consider the possibility of compromise. Everyone has become entrenched in their beliefs about what is right and wrong. The truth is, nothing is so simple. Would that it were.How does one become a Knight of the Word in the real world?

Brooks: I'll hedge a little bit. Most writers will tell you, if they're being honest, ... that they identify with all of their characters. ... If you're a right-thinking person you're trying to do right by other people, trying to find ways to reach them and make a difference ... to give them an idea how you see how the way things are happening and make them step back to think their own thoughts.

What's the most difficult challenge in writing a series that reflects such a dire future for the world as we know it?

Brooks: I know the situation is dire, but so are most of those which form the core stories in the Shannara series, not to mention Word/Void. So this is really nothing new. World-ending scenarios are familiar stomping ground. But I think of myself as an optimistic writer. I don't write stories when the last line blows up the world. I write stories in which the threat of destruction is met and overcome by unexpectedly brave and determined people who are otherwise as ordinary as you and I.Global warming, terrorism, eco-hazards, war, supernatural terror ... Armageddon's Children and adult survivors must battle foes that are almost impossible to beat. The Knights of the Word have super powers, and the children have faith in their survival. Is faith at the core of this series' theme?

Brooks: Faith in ourselves is what keeps all of us going. If we didn't think we could overcome the darkest of threats, we would all just sink back into the primordial mire.What's next?

Brooks: I am about halfway through the second book, but this one is giving me more problems than the first. I think when I wrote the first, I was more than ready to take it on and had the setup clearly in mind. But this book is a bridge/middle book, and much of it develops what the first began. Sometimes sustaining the story is harder than beginning it. I have changed it several times, which means, I guess, I am learning as I go. But I do love this series. There is so much to say. I have hopes for this book. But then I have hopes for all of them.

The next book has a strong focus on the Elves and the struggle that they will be facing to survive the coming firestorm. Also, the Ghosts will have a new set of problems, but I think I should save discussion of that for later.

On the movie front, I am in serious negotiations for Shannara. Looks like it might happen. But it will likely take months to finalize.You mentioned that you identify with Logan Tom the most. But who's the character that worries you the most? The fiendish leader of the Demons, Findo Gask?

Brooks: I don't really worry so much about characters as situations. Writing about some things is very hard. When you find a situation that you think you maybe don't want to write about because it is too hard or cuts too close to the bone, then you know you have to write about it.As the series develops, will Gask or a major dark character assume more weight?

Brooks: Yes, they are eating way too much. A diet is in their future.You've mentioned the influence of J.R.R. Tolkien and J.K. Rowling upon the current fantasy boom. Philip Pullman, Neil Gaiman, Charles de Lint, Ray Bradbury, Ursula K. LeGuin, Gene Wolfe, Jane Yolen, Terry Pratchett, Christopher Paolini, Christopher Priest, Kelly Link, Jeff Vandermeer, Howard Waldrop and many others continue to add new dimensions to the word "fantasy." Do you think the best fantasy should offer more than just an opportunity to escape the grim realities of the world? What's the most important thing fantasy should do?

Brooks: Fantasy should always, always reflect some integral part of our own world and humanity. You start by telling a good story, and then you work in the part that involves holding up a mirror to ourselves. This is who we are—dwarves, trolls, demons and the rest. Don't think we aren't. Read this and think about how we are in our own lives. Maybe we can improve just a little.Finally, if words fuel action, what's the Word from Terry Brooks, a true Knight of the Word?

Brooks: Be kind and considerate of others. Sorry, that's six words.