The Elfstones of Shannara: Book Two of the Shannara Trilogy (The Shannara Trilogy Book Two)

Rating:
Summary: The book that got me into Shannara
Review: I read Sword and was kinda disappointed. I decided to give its sequel a shot and was pleasantly surprised. While this book still has your forgetable main heros, it redeems itself in that category with two cool characters, Stan Jees and Garet Jax. The plot has more originality and makes the book more interesting. It also shows new evils with the witch sisters, the Dagda, the Reaper, and the demons(very neat). Highly Recommended.

Rating:
Summary: A personal favorite of mine
Review: My addiction to the world of Shannara started a long time ago with the Sword of Shannara (original one with the Brothers Hildebrant picture in the middle) and still continues to this day.

Elfstones has and will always be one of my favorites though. The internal struggles Wil goes through along with the struggles the Elves face with the collapse of the wall that keeps the demons out makes for a wonderful plot and Terry Brooks does a great job in telling his story.

Not many books can bring a tear to my eye but the sacrafice made at the end did the first time and still does with every re-read.

I had a chance to meet Mr. Brooks at a small book signing for Elf Queen. He took the time to talk to me and the others there and has a genuine love for his work and it shows in his writing.

Rating:
Summary: Good read for all
Review: This book was the first of the initial trilogy that I read, and I still think it's the best. It has a near-perfect blend of suspense, intrigue, hierarchal rivalry, and romance. Also, it has one of the most intriguing, exciting, and well written large-scale fantasy war scenes I've ever encountered.

This book is NOT a clone of the first book, The Sword of Shannara, as some might be led to believe. True, something goes wrong, then Allanon appears. However, he is not the main character, and with all due respect to him, one large reason he is there is to simply tie in this book with the rest of the series.

A note to all people interested in this book but turned off by all references saying it's too much like Tolkien, only worse: people don't realize that the two series are not comparable. The two authors' writing styles are different. Brooks' works tend to focus on the here-and-now, using more dialogue and action. Tolkien tends to focus on the Big Picture, using tons more detail. Neither style is bad. It's the reader's taste.

FINAL NOTE: Good literature has no specific demographic. The Elfstones of Shannara is a good read for all. It has plenty of action and intrigue, while maintaining a definite mature atmosphere.