This tuesday will be the season finale of the Shannara Chronicles on MTV, and while I've been watching it I decided to read ahead in the series and start with Antrax, the second in the Voyage of the Jerle Shannara trilogy. Set five hundred years after the events of the original triology including the current TV series, The Voyage of the Jerle Shannara tels the story of an expedition aboard an airship named after the famous elf king who gives the entire series it's name. I chose this book because it features cyborgs called wronks and I wanted to know how it fit into the otherwise magical world. The entire series takes place in a post apocalyptic world where technology has been lost, and the knowledge to get it back is held by an artificial intelligence known as Antrax which was created to preserve the knowledge that was feared to be lost in the impending apocalypse. Ultimately one of its creators was desperate enough to give Antrax a final command to protect its secrets at all costs, which unfortunately translated into it destroying anything that came near, meaning the information is protected, but absolutely nobody can ever get to it, so it's a bit counterproductive. Worse still, Antrax has gotten more desperate, especially since its original power source started to fail, and it discovered that it could replace its power source with magic. It also discovered that it can combine machines with flesh to create servants, though it generally prefers to use full machines known as creepers. It hunts humans and has actually masterminded the voyage of the Jerle Shannara specifically to find magic sources and it hit the motherload when the unfortunate crew reaches its destination. Antrax had been drawing energy from Kael Elessidil and his elfstones, but as Kael started to die, it sent him out to find a replacement, baiting the Druid Walker Boh to collect the treasured knowledge who unwittingly brings more magic users to feed Antrax.
This book begins with the Ilse Witch remembering her origins as Grianne Ohmsford and how she believed her brother Bek died. Confronted by Bek she struggles with the realization that her whole life since has been based on a lie. This plotline switches back and forth between the perspectives of Grianne and Bek. Grianne hunts down Bek, trying to deny the truth with such determination that she will not rest until she hears him retract all that he said to her. Grianne's power is the Wishsong, an Ohmsford/Shannara family trait that allows certain members of the family to sing anything into being and Grianne uses it to transform a wolf into a monster that tracks down Bek. Bek has recently discovered that he also has the power of the Wishsong and tries to persuade Grianne to come back to him, while a shapeshifter named Truls Rohk tries to protect him and teach him how to use his magic.
Meanwhile, Rue Meridian is the point of view character regarding the Jerle Shannara itself. The airship itslef was taken over and Rue is the only one who has a chanc of taking it back. She succeeds, but since they were attacked by the Black Moclips, a federation airship, that becomes her primaary focus.
Meanwhile a handful of the crew made it to Antrax's base Castledown and they want to complete their journey. Walker Boh was the first to be cut off, and Ahren Ellesdil, an elf prince seeking the elfstones and all but doomed to take his uncle's place runs away in fear and ends up paired with the seer Ryer Ord Star to try and find Walker, only to find out their magic was the problem and try to rescue Walker.
Meanwhile, Quentin Leah, the Highlander, Bek's adopted cousin, desperately tries to survive the wronk of his former mentor Ard Patrinell. Antrax determined that while Quentin and his sword have magic, but the only one who has a chance of capturing him is to attach Patrinell's head and sword arm to a cybernetic body, preserving his tactical and muscle memory respectively.
The book is actually these four stories told seperately yet intertwined. All four came from the Jerle Shannara, and all must return so they can go home. This book is in the middle of a trilogy, the first book being the journey to the distant realm of Parkasia where this all takes place, west across the sea from the Four Lands. The next book is about their journey home, but Antrax is all about the destination, the knowledge of the old world and the one who protects it.
This is a good read, and it will help you understand Steel Golem, my story of events in Parkasia five hundred years earlier, concurrent with the events of Elfstones of Shannara/Shannara Chronicles season 1. So read this story, read my story and watch the finale of Shannara Chronicles this tuesday!
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