Interesting addition to the world
By Jasmyn9
Antrax is an amazing mix of fantasy and technology. As the crew of the Jerle Shannara explores Castledown, things come crawling out of the woodwork. Castledown is nothing like what they expected and the prize they seek is even further out of reach than even the Druid anticipated. Castledown is heavily protected, and by a type of entity that none have seen before. As the entity searches for those he wants to keep and eliminate the ones he doesn't...well...a whole lot of things happen.
There are lots of traditional fantasy elements, a bit of sci-fi, and lots of action. Tons of characters, so be sure to read this when you won't be easily distracted or you may lose track of who is doing what and where everyone is. As with most of Terry Brooks' series, you need to read this one in order, and while it isn't necessary to read the previous series in the world of Shannara, it would definitely help.
There's a lot of big reveals in Antrax, but there are even more questions that are brought up or left un-answered. Even though there was so much going on, I had a hard time staying engaged with all the moving pieces. While Terry Brooks' books always have a lot going on, this one seemed to be a little more choppy as it jumped around from place to place and group to group.
There were some characters that I really loved, and I was excited to see how the grew and developed through the pages. The Ilse Witch's story in Antrax was quite interesting. She had some pretty big surprises up her sleeve, and the seer shocked me several times. When the story all ends, we don't really have an ending. While some storylines may have seen some version of resolution, there are many threads left hanging for the next story. This world has such a rich history, and I'm really enjoying see how the story continues.