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The Gypsy Morph (The Genesis of Shannara, Book 3) | 
 enlarge | Author: Terry Brooks
Publisher: Del Rey
Category: Book
List Price: $27.00
Buy New: $14.98
You Save: $12.02 (45%)
New (30) Used (6) from $14.98
Avg. Customer Rating:  13 reviews
Sales Rank: 130
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 416
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.4
Dimensions (in): 9.3 x 6.6 x 1.3
ISBN: 0345484142
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9780345484147
ASIN: 0345484142
Publication Date: August 26, 2008 (New: Last 30 Days)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
Terry Brooks won instant acclaim with his phenomenal New York Times bestseller The Sword of Shannara. Its sequels earned Brooks legendary status. Then his darkly enthralling The Word and the Void trilogy revealed new depths and vistas to his mastery of epic fantasy. Armageddon’s Children and The Elves of Cintra took Brooks’s remarkable mythos to a breathtaking new level by delving deep into the history of Shannara. And now, The Gypsy Morph rounds out–with an adventure of unforgettably imaginative scope–the first phase of a new chapter in this classic series.
Eighty years into the future, the United States is a no-man’s-land: its landscape blighted by chemical warfare, pollution, and plague; its government collapsed; its citizens adrift, desperate, fighting to stay alive. In fortified compounds, survivors hold the line against wandering predators, rogue militias, and hideous mutations spawned from the toxic environment, while against them all stands an enemy neither mortal nor merciful: demons and their minions bent on slaughtering and subjugating the last of humankind.
But from around the country, allies of good unite to challenge the rampaging evil. Logan Tom, wielding the magic staff of a Knight of the Word, has a promise to keep–protecting the world’s only hope of salvation–and a score to settle with the demon that massacred his family. Angel Perez, Logan’s fellow Knight, has risked her life to aid the elvish race, whose peaceful, hidden realm is marked for extermination by the forces of the Void. Kirisin Belloruus, a young elf entrusted with an ancient magic, must deliver his entire civilization from a monstrous army. And Hawk, the rootless boy who is nothing less than destiny’s instrument, must lead the last of humanity to a latter-day promised land before the final darkness falls.
The Gypsy Morph is an epic saga of a world in flux as the mortal realm yields to a magical one; as the champions of the Word and the Void clash for the last time to decide what will be and what must cease; and as, from the remnants of a doomed age, something altogether extraordinary rises.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 8 more reviews...
 Could have been so much more... falls short. September 5, 2008
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
I can only give this book (and series) a solid 2 stars. Its keeps you on the edge of your seat at times but it could have been SO much more. Terry has attempted to join his 2 successful series (Knight of the Word & the Shannara series) together to tell the epic story of the Great Wars - the wars that sundered the planet and ended civilization as we know it and gave rise to the world of the Shannara books. The problem is it doesn't feel very epic. I have been reading Terry's books since the first ever Sword of Shannara release - thats a long time ago! My kids are older than I was when I first read that book!
Terry spends a lot of time inside his character's head on trivial details that aren't relevant to the epic end of the world story this should be. We have 10 pages on Panther's emerging feelings for the half breed Kat and 2 pages about Findo Gast - the antagonist of the entire series! We get a lot of pages with useless, irrelevant dialogues like this:
"Panther stands at edge of the campfire and stops when he sees the plate of food. How had it gotten there? Who had left it? Was it for him? Surely he was hungry, having been on scout patrol all day. But something seemed odd. This food seemed to appear out of nowhere, or had he simply not noticed before in his weariness. He approached the food cautiously. Maybe if Kat were here she could tell him what to do. He missed her, more and more. In a swift move, he picks up the plate of food and eats it down. It tastes good, really good. "Man this is good food, really good", he says to no one in particular. But then he comes to a stunning realization - though he has eaten the food - he will need more tomorrow!"
So, now to be fair I made that sample up (grins) - but there are hundreds of pages of that encompassing that level of minutiae - and honestly - do we care? I want to know about the demons, the elves, the elcrys, the lady of the word, the end of the world - but we get page after page of this. Its like Terry was having problems thinking of what to say and needed to stretch it out. At times its like reading a juvenile fiction book. The demons are barely covered and we barely get to see Findo in this book at all.
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Terry really misses the opportunity to blend these 2 series together better. It feels more like a TV episode where a guest star from 1 series that stops by on another series - interesting - but incongruous. Its like Kramer from Seinfeld stopping by on Friends and doing his Kramer thing and then leaving. Example: We have 2 sets of demons - the elves' fantasy genre demons that are locked away in the Forbidding. These are the more fantasy demons that want to rule the world and such. Then we have the human form demons from the Word & the Void series - but they don't mix well. In fact we don't even address why they are separate? I thought maybe we'd learn that the human form demons were minions of those in the Forbidding - here to push the human into destroying the world. But no, sadly we are left with 2 separate races of demons that seem to have similar goals but don't see to have anything to do with other.
Then we have the Lady of the Word and the Elcrys - I thought surely we'd discover they were one & the same. They are both semi-relgious, mystical figures that personify themselves as female to their chosen ones and ask them to carry out vague and dangerous quests. Surely I thought when the elven city was restored Logan would stand before the Elcrys and realize this was the Lady he served. It makes sense? The elcrys presents herself as a human woman to her human chosen so they would accept her more? And she has done this as she needs help from the humans to save the elves & life in general. But no - the elcrys and the lady are just 2 entirely separate semi-relgious, mystical figures that personify themselves as female to their chosen ones and ask them to carry out vague and dangerous quests. What a waste of an opportunity.
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Last note: the book just ends. Yes the children and elves and few adults do arrive safely at the happy valley and are shielded from the nuclear destruction of the rest of the world. But we never get to see the elves receive their thanks from the Elcrys. The Knights of the Word never receive their pardon & thanks from the Lady. Its just over. I guess they stay in the valley for a few hundred years while the radiation subsides? This isn't really a Genesis of Shannara - there is no mention on anything Shannara - related. I thought we'd find out that Logan and Cimarlin would marry and their bloodline would produce the Shannara lineage - the combination of elfstone magic and the magic of the word but no. There is no real connection between these books and the Shannara books other than the omnipresent elf stones & the king of the silver river.
I guess we'll get another book series soon picking up where this one stopped abruptly. I don't mean to be so critical but for a series that chronicles events that Terry has eluded to for over 20 years, it falls pretty short where it could have soared.
 I'm officially an insomniac! September 4, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
As with every single Terry Brooks novel I've read, I enjoyed "The Gypsy Morph" immensely. My work schedule only allows me to catch up with my reading in the evening, and since starting this book a few days ago, I've become an insomniac! Reading well into the night until the words are all but blurred and swimming on the pages. Even now, it's past one o'clock in the morning, and having just finished the book, I'm still thinking about it and can't get it out of my head!.
"The Gypsy Morph" brings you through a wide range of emotions: joy, fear, anger, and sadness. At one point in the story, I found my self grinning from ear to ear, while in another, on the verge of tears. Only a handful of masterful writers can involve you in the characters so deeply, that you experience their emotions right along with them. And Terry Brooks is certainly a master of his craft.
Without fail, for every one of Terry's books I've read, I've always been disappointed to turn the last page and find that there's no more. He has this uncanny ability to wrap up his stories without closing them completely. He gives you just enough to get his point across and leaves the rest of the story open for the reader to come to his/her own conclusions. Although I admire this, it can also be very frustrating!
But that aside, it was a wonderful, exciting trilogy. And Gypsy was a fantastic end. I can't wait to visit Landover again next year! It's about time!
A Powerful Conclusion! September 3, 2008
Two years ago, Terry Brooks set out on epic undertaking to merge his wildly famous Shannara Series with his urban fantasy Word and the Void Trilogy. The result is the exciting and breathtaking Genesis of Shannara Trilogy which now comes to a powerful conclusion.
The boy named Hawk has fully embraced his role as The Gypsy Morph, a human created from wild magic who is destined to save a remnant of mankind from the coming apocalypse. Joined by Logan Tom and Angel Perez, the last two Knights of the Word, Hawk will now lead this group to their new home, all the while fighting off the army of demons and once-men who are out to stop them.
Meanwhile, Kirisin Belloruus, one of the mysterious Elven people, is charged with saving the Elves from the imminent destruction. He must place the Elves and their ancient city of Arborlorn within the magical Loden Elf stone, and then protect them until he can meet up with Hawk and the others. Unseen dangers and death lie around every corner and an entire race of people depend on his survival.
For years Terry Brooks has been considered one of the most important fantasy authors of our time and The Gypsy Morph reminds us why. No one mixes fantasy, suspense, mystery, and intrigue like Brooks and all of these elements are on full display here. Merging two series that were never intended to be merged is quite a feat, and Brooks not only succeeds but does so in brilliant fashion.
As always, Brooks gives us memorable and engaging heroes that stir our hearts as they face insurmountable odds and death defying challenges. The villains are everything we've come to expect: ruthless, evil, and utterly frightening. Terry Brooks also proves once again that no character is untouchable and he refuses to sacrifice good storytelling for the sake of the characters. Unlike many other contemporary fantasy writers, Brooks reminds us that good storytelling doesn't have to be saturated with profane language, sex, and unnecessary gore.
The Gypsy Morph gives us just the right amount of closure for this trilogy. However, fans will be pleased to know that the story is not over. Terry Brooks has stated that there are at least five or six more novels to come as he continues to tell the story of Shannara's early history. We'll have to wait a while longer though for the next Shannara book. Next summer Terry Brooks will treat us with a long overdue Landover novel that is sure to please his die hard fans. If you are looking for epic fantasy done right then look no further.
Again, satisfying and sad September 2, 2008
The Gypsy Morph once again shows the creative brilliance of Terry Brooks to weave a story that plays out in our minds as we read it. Terry's ability to interweave The Genesis series into all previous Shannara titles is incredible and yet, he still manages to keep us guessing at the end of the trilogy, more specifically, who factors into the lineage of future characters we all know and love.
Terry Brooks long ago, captured me with the Elfstones of Shannara, to the point of where I must curse him for creating an insatiable thirst for more works that make the world of Shannara.
 Fun read September 2, 2008
Terry Brooks never disappoints. To put things in proper perspective, my favorite Brooks books are the Word/Void series and the Magic Kingdom series, Running with the Demon being my top favorite. Gypsy was easier and more fun to read than Brooks' other Shannara books, perhaps because of the simpler story line and less-foreign location and charactor names. As usual, the book is full of inspiring characters struggling to survive the brutal surroundings, finally reaching the ray of hope among the ruins. It was also less violent and merciless compared to the last 2 Sharnnara series, the Voyage of Jerle Shannara and High Druid, which were both somewhat uncomfortable to read at times. I agree with reviewer Aaron and was really glad that most of my favorite charactors in the book didn't get killed off!
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