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Rating: Summary: I WAS going to give this FOUR stars. . .and then. . .eek!!! Review: I honestly did like this last book of the Shannara trilogy the best. And then I thought, now wait a minute! Brooks, instead of copying Tolkien's plots, has now decided to copy his own plots! I mean, I loved that this was FINALLY more original work from Terry Brooks, there are original characters, new types of magic like the wishsong and the Ildatch that I've never seen in a book before. It was refreshing to see, Brooks did get better at originality and creativity as his writing career progressed.However, copying the basic outline of your former plots is like making re-fried re-fried beans! (Yes, I meant to type re-fried twice!) The Ohmsford family is being called on AGAIN by, who else, the last Druid Allanon whom everyone still mistrusts, and AGAIN, they must go on a hopeless quest into the depths of the evil kingdom and AGAIN fight dark, hooded, evil creatures with only glowing points of light for eyes. It gets tiresome to do the same thing all over again with different characters!!! Sword, Elfstones, Wishsong, all are elven magic used to make something impossible happen. When one considers JUST the basic plot, one finds that all three books of the trilogy are IDENTICAL. But, as I said, I did like this one the best. After rewriting his story three times, Brooks came up with some very original things! I mean, imagine being able to sing and make trees explode, poison rise from a dying body, and control a large cat! I also like that this book involves Brin and Jair, the children of Wil and Eretria. I didn't like how Elfstones jumped from Shea to his grandson, I was happy to see, at least briefly, some characters I was familiar with. Also, Allanon was not completely dark, angry and mistrusted this time. Brin felt a sort of kinship with him and he treated her very gently and kindly at times, there was an understanding between them I liked and for the first time I saw how Allanon's life must be very lonely and thankless. Plus, I liked the new characters better. Slanter, Helt and Garet Jax were more believable, trusting and they all worked together, there wasn't so much mistrust in this book. The characters were more multi-dimensional than ever before. Brooks at this point was beginning to come into his own more as an author. His dialogue was better too. And, we can see Brooks' improvement throughout. For example, I liked the end of the Sword of Shannara better than the beginning, the beginning of Elfstones better than the end of Sword, the end of Elfstones better than the beginning, the beginning of Wishsong better than the end of Elfstones and the end of Wishsong better than the beginning!!! So, Brooks' improvement is visible. In fact, I'd say this book could almost stand alone without the preceding two. There were moments of brilliance as well: "The past carries forward and becomes what is to be" as the King of Silver River said. I'm glad we finally got to meet him too. As I have said before, Brooks does have some good points, he tells that if people don't unite to destroy evil, the evil will overwhelm them and they cannot hide. This rings true even today. Also, this trilogy is full of the truth that if we do not change our dependence on chemicals, fuels and nuclear weapons and energy, we are doomed to fall into a near non-existence and lose everything and more we have gained. Brooks is not an idiot, he definitely has some knowledge of the practical world. I'm going to keep reading his works, possibly start on the Heritage of Shannara or The Voyage of Jerle Shannara next. I believe those books will be better than this trilogy, I saw his improvement throughout this series and am sure he will continue to get better. I just hope he stops with the endless hopeless quests, it is a TOTALLY overused theme! But, don't give up on him yet!
Rating: Summary: Much better than Elfstones. Review: I must say that I disagree with the last review.Wishsong is better than Elfstones.In Elfstones,the "bad guyes"were easy as pie .In Wishsong,Brooks resumes the theme of winning by a thread ,translation:the evil peoples are hard.Brin is one of my favorite characters in the whole series so far ,next to Risca ,Foraker,Hendel,Tay ,Raybur and a good deal of other people.It's just so easy to understand her feelings and her thoughts.Anyway ,here is the plot :Brin and Jair Ohmsford ,like most Ohmsfords live in Shady Vale and they bare the power of the wishsong:Wish for it ,sing for it ,and it's your's.Their pleasant lives are disturbed when Allanon the Druid comes to them in need of Brin's wishsong ,for the evil Ildatch book has unleashed the Mord Wraiths upon the Four Lands.Brin must travel with Allanon to the Maelmord,where the Ildatch is kept ,and destroy it with the wishsong .Jair however is making a quest towards Heaven's Well to heal the land that the Wraiths have poisoned.
Rating: Summary: A great book by a great author. I hope he writes more books. Review: Terry Brooks's book, Wishsong of Shannara, is one of the most interesting, intriguing and satisfying books that I have ever read. It tells of a classic battle between the forces of good and the forces of a lone evil. The story shows corruption, adventure, beating the odds, and best of all a world of magic. Fantasy is a great subject, and Terry Brooks takes to a whole new level. My only regret is that I have read almost every book that he has published and wish he would write more.
Rating: Summary: I Love This Book Review: When I was in sixth grade, I picked up a few Terry Brooks novels, but never really fully appreciated them. Now, six years later, I decided to pick up a book written by him again. I wasn't familiar with the Shannara series, so I just grabbed a random book. It happened to be The Wishsong of Shannara. After reading this book I decided to read the whole series. Right now, this is my favorite fantasy book, and I can't wait to read the rest of the series. I love the characters of Brin and Jair Ohmsford. I thought that the relationship between the characters was great and not overdone. I also enjoyed Kimber Boh and Whisper. Even though they were only in the book for a short time, they were still really identifiable characters. I would recommend this book to anyone. The story is great, and it is definetely hard to put down. This was one of those books where I was in a rush to finish it, but sad when it was over. I would say that this work is definetely a masterpiece.
Rating: Summary: A great read! Slightly repetitive yet WONDERFUL! Review: Yes! Finally a book which is almost equal with that of 'The Sword of Shannara'. Although, it had a slightly repetitive look at the beginning, and the bridge scene, the rest of the book was very original. This book intoduces two very interesting secondary characters, which are developed very well. These are Garet Jax the 'Weapons Master', and Slanter the gnome. I especially liked the Slanter character because he was grouchy and grandfatherly at the same time towards Jair, and his constant whining and arguments with Jax were hilarious. Another great aspect of the novel was Rone's sword and his addiction to it's power. There were many great scenes in this book, such as when the heroes try to sneek through a Gnome camp to get to a Dwarven castle, and the climax of the story. Cogline also was hilarious and added comedy to the story. (He reminds me of Fizban from the DragonLance series) There are a few downsides to this book, though. The main one being that Brin and Rone were'nt developed enough. This also goes with the Mord Wraiths. For some reason I didn't find them as frightening as the Skull Bearers from the Sword of Shannara. Also, some of the characters in Jair Ohmsfords party were not developed at all, past their names and skill in battle.
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