The Sword of Shannara Trilogy

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Terry Brooks: The Sword of Shannara Trilogy

Author	Terry Brooks
Made	Del Rey
Date	2002-08-27
Media	Hardcover
Catalog	Book
Sales Rank	17590
Availability	Usually ships in 24 hours
List Price	US$35.00
Our Price*	US$23.10

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Amazon UK £17.60

Reviews:

Rating 3.5/5 from 87 reviews

A magnificent read

Rating: 5/5 2008-12-01

The first book of the trilogy takes a while to get off the ground, but once it does it's an action packed ride through to the end. This is a must have for any Fantasy or Sci-Fi buff.

Not a cohesive work - the sequels don't follow logically from each other

Rating: 2/5 (2 out of 2 think this is helpful) 2008-11-23

It's difficult to review an omnibus of the first three Shannara books, as they couldn't be more different. Also, if I were reviewing them when I read them at 14, I would unquestionably rate them higher. It was with sadness that, upon re-reading them as an adult, I saw them, naked and unrevealed. These books, the first two of which I thoroughly enjoyed as a teen, were entirely unreadable. The writing wasn't strong, and the cliches were madly overabundant - and I think I'm being kind.

THE SWORD OF SHANNARA is essentially a rewritten LOTR, and the characters are almost one-for-one representations of Tolkien's. Brooks admits that Tolkien's influence on him was immense, and having read more than just the first book in this collection, it seems that Brooks had to get Tolkien out of his system before he could find his own stories (although rumor has it that he was fed a steady stream of sequel ideas by Lester del Rey). SoS has its place in the lexicon of fantasy mostly because it was the first fantasy book to sell well after LOTR, and proved the point that Lester del Rey was trying to make: fantasy can be a major (if too often unappreciated) genre.

Even as a teen I was disappointed by the ending. I remember thinking, that's it? The Warlock Lord faces his awful truth: I'm not really alive, so I can't be, and therefore must depart. Really? Well, how the heck did he get there in the first place?

THE ELFSTONES OF SHANNARA was a reasonably good read, if not a well written book. The ideas were fresh and the story engaging. Tolkien's influence virtually disappeared. This is the best of the bunch.

THE WISHSONG OF SHANNARA was an idea that should not have seen the light of day. It wasn't a sequel that followed logically from anything that came before it. You can't ask yourself this question, and honestly answer affirmatively: Do the events as described have the feeling of necessity? They don't. Instead, they felt forced and entirely unnatural, and not at all organic to the heart of the story. Though to be fair, I had no idea what the heart of the story was.

Another thing: Why is it that only Ohmsfords can save the day? It's something that he never explained well - IMO. And is just absolute nonsense. When the late Robert Jordan was asked if he would write more books about his world he said that he would, but don't expect to see descendants of Rand, Mat, Perrin, Nynaeve, etc., because it wasn't logical, in a fully realized world, that bloodlines were so important. Look at our own world.

In his fantasy written for adults, Brooks doesn't seem to be writing comfortably. What I mean by that is he seemed very comfortable, stylistically, in his Landover books. Those were YA fantasy before YA fantasy truly existed, but his style in the Shannara series was all over the place in terms of tone. Whole chapters would pass, and one would wonder if they were reading a YA book or an adult book. It's always been my impression that Brooks had the some difficulty.

So:

The Sword of Shannara **
The Elfstone of Shannara ** 1/2
The Wishsong of Shannara *

Really, really bad

Rating: 1/5 (1 out of 5 think this is helpful) 2008-09-24

Terry Brooks had a good idea for a story so it's a shame that it turned out as poorly as it did. This may be the worst written book to ever land between hard covers. Good fantasy has an element of rationality; this book is a testament to the "escaping the avalanche..." school of writing. The characters are shallow, the adventures are trite. It's rare that I don't finish a book once I begin to read it, but there was no way I could get through this dribble. If you MUST read this, at least buy a second-hand copy; using paper to print more copies of this is nothing less than a sin.

How can you rate this trilogy one OR five stars?

Rating: 3/5 (1 out of 2 think this is helpful) 2008-08-06

Okay, explain something to me -- almost everybody giving this thing one star (or even two) hasn't even read Elfstones. They whine and moan endlessly about how "this book" copies Lord of the Rings, but only Sword does that to any great extent; or how we're lacking strong female characters, but both Elfstones and Wishsong have those; or better yet, how they couldn't finish Sword - don't post a review about the trilogy, then! Learn to post a review for the proper product, people, it's really not that hard.

Maybe even worse is anybody who says Brooks is "an amazing writer." You folks need to be flogged for obviously NOT having read Sword. The story is fun and the last half of the book is enjoyable, but overall Sword needs a lot of fat trimmed to be anything close to amazing. Elfstones is better in terms of technical "writing is good" rating, but it still has countless flaws. The stories are something you have to dig a bit to enjoy, because his writing is absolutely NOT amazing in these first books. (And in his more recent books where writing is indeed better, the storytelling is somewhat lacking)

I have re-read these stories too many times to count. I enjoy them all to some extent. But rating this trilogy as a single unit is very difficult. Elfstones is certainly four stars on its own. Maybe even 4.5. But Sword has so many painful mistakes in the writing. The story is fun, and once Brooks finally gets past the belief that he needs to hold the reader's hand through everything, somewhat good. But it's got to be his worst work. Maybe some of the latter Landover books were worse - tough to say. Wishsong is all right as I recall, but that's one I haven't read more than a few times and not in the past couple years.

Read the trilogy and rate the trilogy, don't just read Sword and rate the trilogy. Sword is just not a shining example of what Brooks can do. It's fun if you aren't a die-hard LotR fanboy, but you won't really feel the power of Brooks until you've at least read Elfstones as well.

So I give this trilogy three stars. The missing map of the westland hurts this compilation a bit, Sword hurts it a lot, but even so, it's not a bad deal by any means.

Too many LOTR fanboys(girls) here...

Rating: 4/5 (1 out of 1 think this is helpful) 2008-06-06

OK.

I've read every Shannara, Magic Kingdom, and Word/Void book out there from Brooks. I dare say he's my favorite author, I prefer his writing style. A little background for you:

The very first actual novel I ever read (not counting the Outsiders or other forced reading children's classics) was Elfstones of Shannara. I was in grade school and I saw it in the library. The cover looked appealing, so I figured I would give it a go. Mind you, I've not been grade school for 24 or so years, just to give you a perspective on how long ago I read that book.

There was something about it that caught me. I was really captured by the story and what it offered. Never having read fantasy novels like this without being forced, I immediately gained an interest. It wasn't until years later that I learned that Brooks had at least 4 other books out there: Sword (which came out before Elfstones), Wishsong (which came after), First King (after Wishsong) and then the beginning of the Heritage series (quite frankly the best of the entire Shannara set).

As for the books...

SWORD: As a side note, I did try to read LOTR after the fact, and watch the movie...I believe it was Return of the King. I couldn't stand it. There just was no character development. Sure there were similarities to characters, and I'm sure the underlying story was comparable as Brooks himself has admitted this, but the telling of Sword was just better presented than it was in LOTR. Also, I think some are losing sight of the fact that Brooks isn't going out of his way to compete with Tolkien; he admitted that Tolkien was an influence, and with this being his first foray into what would become his signature literary series, he did what most authors out the gate do: Wrote what he knew. I wrote a couple of books when I was younger and I did the same thing: wrote what I knew. So I don't fault Brooks for that, and it made him a better writer when he eventually deviated from that path and went on to create a unique storytelling experience. For those that never read Sword, it's not the most intricate of stories, it's quite basic and linear...but if you want my assessment, Sword simply sets the stage for what comes next in the series.

ELFSTONES: Arguably this is Brooks' best writing of the so-called Sword Trilogy. In it he goes a different route than its predecessor, creating an unlikely protagonist put in a very difficult position: protect a young girl. She is really the one on the quest and he her guardian. He's not fighting the great evil, she is...without any weapons. To say more would spoil it, but as I mentioned, there are good points here, from internal struggles to betrayal to love, plus an ending that sparks a slight emotional reaction from the reader (unless you're cold-blooded). Having read the book now that I'm older and a little more picky, I do have a complaint about the book...the last quarter of the book felt extremely rushed. Events that I felt should have been more detailed and expansive were relegated to a one-page affair, and it did a disservice to the characters involved. Also, some characters were introduced that really didn't serve a purpose; not a big deal, but just a minor annoyance.

WISHSONG: For those that don't know, Wishsong is yet another detraction from the old styles. This time there are two protagonists who are essentially halves of the whole. One has the full power but is vulnerable to its evils; the other has the power of illusion but undergoes a complete transformation in order to contribute to the cause. Know that the events in Wishsong are a direct result to what happened in Elfstones, and a new talisman is introduced to the series which in later stories becomes central to the journey. My biggest complaint on Wishsong is what I felt was a forced attempt to make you feel emotional about the characters. I can't really say more, but the end of the story speaks for itself.

Summary: Brooks started out emulating someone he knew and respected. He ended out with a unique angle on the fantasy genre, and anyone who judges him negatively on Sword without reading the rest of the books that came after is doing themselves dirty. His writing got better and better up until Antrax, then it started to dwindle and taper.

Editorials:

Product Description

Twenty-five years ago, New York Times bestselling author Terry Brooks wrote a novel that brought to life a dazzling world that would become one of the most popular fantasy epics of all time, beloved by millions of fans around the world. Ten more Shannara books would follow. Now, for the first time in one elegant collector’s edition hardcover, and featuring an introduction by the author, here are the first three novels of that classic series: The Sword of Shannara, The Elfstones of Shannara, and The Wishsong of Shannara—the beginning of a phenomenal epic of good and evil.

The Sword of Shannara
Long ago, the wars of the ancient Evil ruined the world. In peaceful Shady Vale, half-elfin Shea Ohmsford knows little of such troubles. But the supposedly dead Warlock Lord is plotting to destroy everything in his wake. The sole weapon against this Power of Darkness is the Sword of Shannara, which can be used only by a true heir of Shannara. On Shea, last of the bloodline, rests the hope of all the races.

The Elfstones of Shannara
The magical Ellcrys tree is dying, loosening the spell that bars the Demons from enacting vengeance upon the land. Now Wil Ohmsford must guard the Elven girl Amberle on a perilous quest as she carries one of the Ellcrys’ seeds to a mysterious place where it can be quickened into a powerful new force. But dark on their trail comes the Reaper, most fearsome of all Demons, aiming to crush their mission at any cost.

The Wishsong of Shannara
An ancient Evil is stirring to new life, sending its ghastly Mord Wraiths to destroy Mankind. To win through the vile growth that protects this dark force, the Druid Allanon needs Brin Ohmsford—for she alone holds the magic power of the wishsong. Reluctantly Brin joins the Druid on his dangerous journey. But a prophecy foretells doom, as Evil nurses its plans to trap the unsuspecting Brin into a fate far more horrible than death.

Thus begins Terry Brooks’s thrilling Shannara epic, an unforgettable tale of adventure, magic, and myth.

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