Rating: 
Summary: Great Book Lord of the rings is better but sit Good Book
Review: Great Book I have the whole set of the books and they all are Great. But the Sword of Shannara is the BEST!!
Rating: 
Summary: Read the original, its called The Lord of the Rings
Review: Here is a quote for one of the top reviews for this book (obviously someone unfamiliar with Tolkein)."In the Sword of Shannara, we learn of Shea Ohmsford & his brother Flick in quiet Shady Vale in the Four Lands...an area virtually sheltered from the rest of the Country, and one where manifestations of dark magic rarely (if ever) come to light. But one day the peace that Shea & Flick have known all their lives is suddenly shattered when Allanon, last of the magical Druids stops to talk specifically to Shea about his bloodline and how he is the last of the Shannara line who can wield the fabled Sword of Shannara against the Warlock Lord. One of the reasons I LOVE this novel was the beginning where Allanon relates a great deal of history of the Four Lands and the creation of the Sword to destroy the former Druid, Brona. The story is quite detailed all without losing the urgency for the need of Shea to act quickly. Reluctantly Shea takes off on the adventure of a thousand lifetimes to help rid the world of the Warlock Lord on his quest to subjugate all within the Four Lands." Remove Shea, insert Frodo. Remove Flick, insert Sam. Remove Shady Vale insert Hobbiton. Remove Four Lands insert Middle-Earth. Remove Allanon, insert Gandalf. Remove "Sword of Shannara" insert "Ring of Power." Remove Warlock Lord (what a generic term) and Brona, and insert Sauron. Thus, by only changing proper nouns, you now have the plot of The Lord of the Rings. If you liked this sequel you'll also like Brownilocks & the Three Buffalos, Little Blue Ridinghood, The Ugly Quackling, The Raisins of Wrath, among others.
Rating:
Summary: Terry Brooks Fan I Am!!
Review: I am a total fan of Terry Brooks, I have been following his writing since I was in the 9th grade (too many years ago) when I read The Sword of Shannara in the first edition hard cover. How I wish I hadn't given that book away....I have read and re-read the entire Shannara Series, the Running with the Demon Series and most recently the Voyage of the Jerle Shannara series, and while at times it can be predictable, I still can't put them down.
Rating: 
Summary: read lord of the rings instead
Review: i can't believe how derivative this book is. almost every aspect of this book is taken from some part of the Lord of the Rings.
Rating:
Summary: Gah, somebody tell me this series gets better
Review: I can't keep reading the first volume in this 3-book conglomeration. It's horrible. The writing is so immature and uninspired that I can't seem to read more than 10 pages at one sitting before I get so bored with it that I want to fling it across the room. I really don't know that, because I can't seem to make myself finish it. Bottom line: save your money.
Rating:
Summary: Well. It is ok but...
Review: I first came across the Sword in 1979 when I found it used in a flea market. I was 13 or 14 at the time, already rooted deeply in Tolkien. I think what attracted me to the book was the Brothers Hildebrandt clunky and disproportionate painting on the cover. I remember the B.H. doing Tolkien calendars so I thought I would give it a try. Turns out that having identical twin brothers paint identical-looking characters for an otherwise identical storyline was highly appropriate.
I must say that I am very glad that Mr Brooks' writing has improved over the years. His "Magic Kingdom" series is wonderful, but his early writings - this series in general and this book (Sword of Shannarah) in particular - is dreadful. As a previous poster wrote, his over-use of exclaimation points gets old... and he writes like he is trying to use EVERY trick he learned in his Creative Writing class in each sentance.
It is lamentable that so many people compare him to Tolkien, or his stories to LoTR, but that is what happens when a writer makes such a blatant copycat storyline.
Rating: 
Summary: Good, entertaining reading
Review: I first read the Shannara books in junior high (early 90s) and instantly fell in love. They were the first epic fantasy books I'd ever read, the only other real fantasy book I'd read at that time being "The Hobbit." For the next decade, I'd read the Shannara books as they emerged, never feeling inclined to pick up the LOTR trilogy. For some reason, it looked boring to me when I was in high school. Then, in 2001, I decided that I'd better read the trilogy before the "LOTR: Fellowship" film came out. I really wanted to see the movie but felt that it would be bad form to see the film without having read the book. So, I galloped through the trilogy, and it completely reframed how I viewed the Shannara books. In short, the LOTR trilogy completely blew me away. Aftwards, it almost made me sad to compare the two series. I spent a while feeling pretty negatively towards Mr. Brooks for what I felt were unforgivably blatant Tolkien rip-offs: Allanon/Gandalf, Elessedil/Elendil, Shady Vale/the Shire, wonderful elves/wonderful elves, etc., and all the other issues that Amazon reviewers have taken umbrage with. I've since changed my tune. When all is said and done, when I go and re-read the Shannara books, they never fail to keep me up til 2:00 a.m., just as the LOTR trilogy does when it assumes a place on my night table. Mr. Brooks's works are, simply put, darn good pieces of storytelling -- when I'm lost in the pages of "The Elfstones..." at 1:30 a.m., it's not because I've been awake mentally critiquing Brook's characterization of the hero in the epic journey. It is not Brooks's fault that he must write in Tolkien's shadow; Brooks certainly knew that his work was bound to draw comparisons (favorable and not so) to LOTR, and I think he has made the best of it. A recycling of themes, tropes, stock characters, etc., is inevitable in any literary tradition, movement, or genre, so I cannot fault Mr. Brooks for creating & populating the Four Lands in the manner that he has. When I re-read the books in the Shannara series, I do so to enjoy them on their own terms and for their own merits. My main criticism of the Shannara franchise is the sheer number of books. I suspect that the quality of Mr. Brooks's writing in the most recent books falls below that of the original Shannara trilogy & Heritage series. I should say that in fairness, I've not read the latest one; I tried reading the "Ilse Witch: Voyage..." and could not make it through. I just couldn't read it for some reason, and I haven't tried the other two. All good things must eventually come to an end, and perhaps Mr. Brooks would have done well to end Shannara with "The Talismans...". Extending a series just to extend a series is not always a good thing.
Rating:
Summary: The Saga Begins
Review: I have been a fan of Terry Brooks for the last 18 years. I had originally purchased all three of his novels seperately in paperback when they were first published. I always knew that someday I would buy the hardbacks. When I got around to it a few years ago, they were no longer in print. Fast forward to the present. I am jumping for joy for the re-release of all three books in one hardback. If ever this novel is sold to a movie company & have great screenplays written, these stories will give the "Lord Of The Rings" a run for it's money. All the elements of Wizards and Elves, Dark Lords and Magic. Good vs evil, is all there. Every page is so masterfully written, it's hard to put down without wanting to know what's going to happen next. This saga about the "Elfstones" and their magic is too powerful to ignore.
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Summary: OK, so it's not LOTR...what IS??
Review: I have to say, I LOVE the hardback omni-edition. The weight of it satisfies something in my heart. I don't always replace my paperbacks with hardback books, but this one is a definite buy. The Shannara books hold a really special place in my heart. I used to teach ninth grade English. 25% of my grading system was based on each student's outside reading, and the writing they did about that outside reading. And you all know that the average 14 year old boy is going to categorically REFUSE to pick up a book, and so are a lot of the teenage girls. The Sword of Shannara was my "failsafe" deal. I would hand the most recalcitrant kid in my classes this enormously fat little book, brand new, purchased by me, and agree that if they would just read THIS ONE BOOK, that I was personally giving to them, that would be good enough for the WHOLE YEAR. Other kids would beg for the same deal. I would agree, but they had to buy their own books. Terry Brooks never failed me once. Every single kid I ever handed that book to (including my own siblings as teenagers!) not only read it, they kept reading Shannara books until they ran OUT of Shannara books. By then, they were hooked. I run into them from time to time, those former students, and the conversation invariably turns to 'what are you reading right now?' And the answer has never been nothing. It's ranged from the latest best sellers to Dante Aligheri's Commedia, from Mark Twain to Harlan Ellison, from TWOT to Star Trek. But there was always an answer. So what if Shannara's not LOTR? NOTHING IS! Hell, the TWOT isn't LOTR, and it's about 13 times longer at this point. I really don't believe it's possible to write fantasy, and not rewrite, at some level, LOTR. The point is, Terry Brooks wrote a fabulous book. A book that for 20 years (until HP1 was published) was unmatched in my experience for getting kids to read, and to keep reading. It's BRILLIANT. Because he wrote about fun, engaging characters, that talk in normal English (unlike Frodo, Aragorn and Gandalf, who admittedly take a little wading through at 14, hm?) High adventure. Loyal friends, and dangerous enemies. Ultimate sacrifice. All of it. I love it. And while LOTR is always ONE of the 3-4 I always have on my nightstand, at least once every couple of years, Shannara joins it there. As it deserves to. (And if the writing style seems a little immature, I suggest you go back and read "Carrie." It's not exactly "The Wastelands." All writers grow. Get a grip, there.)
Rating:
Summary: LOVED it
Review: I love the way Brooks writes. He keeps the readers attention, but he dosen't make them feel overwhelmed with all the information.
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