The Elfstones of Shannara

Rating:
Summary: One in a million
Review: When I first read The Elfstones of Shannara,I was unprepared for what i would feel while reading it. Terry Brooks has managed in this book to convey the feelings of each character to the reader in such a way that they feel them themselves. If you haven't read the book, it's about a tree called the Ellcrys that protects the world from demons that have the power to destroy it. The tree, after thousands of years of life, is dying, and unleashing the demons upon the Elves who created it. The only hope is Amberle Elessedil, a Chosen in service to the tree, who will carry the seed of the Ellcrys to the mysterious Bloodfire to be changed into a new tree. To protect her, Allanon the Druid calls on Wil Ohmsford,who has possession of the powerful Elfstones of faerie. They know that with the demons following them it will be dangerous, and they know it won't be easy to even find the Bloodfire, but they don't know the extent of the impact it will have on their lives. Definitely a book you don't want to miss, the Elfstones of Shannara combines,plot, characters, emotions, and amazing word choice to bring you a story that will instantly plant itself in your heart.

Rating:
Summary: Nice, but never great
Review: The Elfstones of Shannara gave me the same fealing as the previous one, the Sword of Shannara. It all goes to quick and to easy. The characters don't have the depth you seem to expect when you start reading books from a known writer as Brooks is.

It is a good "holiday" book though, you can drop it anytime, do somtehing else, pick it up and go on. What I liked the best of this book are the huge battlescene's. Their the best I've ever read. The only downside to these scene's is the fact that the main character's are really invincible. They kill 20+ opponents every next scene. But ok, it is fantasy.

One last thing. Allanon makes me very curious. I want to know more about this druid that lives through the ages.

Rating:
Summary: Different...Very Different
Review: This Book is NOT the Sword Of Shannara. It really comes through as a sequel. After the Sword that seems real tricky but the Elfstones does it. It is so different then the Sword. The main character, Wil, has a magic block. And the bad guys in this book are very different. A whole army of demons. And all the deamons are different which makes it really interesting trying to kill them. So Wil is asked to go on a jorney with our old pal Allanon. He decides to go. This books deals a lot more with the Elves then the Sword does and it seems to focus more on the Eastern Part of the world and stays there. It is basicly Wil and Amberlie running around looking for the place to regrow the Elcrys which was a tree that held back the demons but it is weakening. Allanon meanwhile, is back with the Elves fighing deamons with his Druid magic. The battles in this book are really cool just like everything else in the book. Great book, go buy it NOW. Do it. its great. trust meeeeeeee

Rating:
Summary: The Druid Allanon returns and the Elves are in danger
Review: Many years have passed. Flick is now old and the Shannara line continues with Will. The Elves are now in danger. The life tree which inprisions powerful demons behind a shield of magic is dying and those demons are getting loose. Allanon now needs the help of Will and his elfstones to bring a girl to the Wilderun to soak a seed of the tree in a life fire to rejuenate it. This book has many large scale battles that slowly turn into an all-out war. I am a fan of great battle scene so I particularly enjoyed this book I hope you do to

Rating:
Summary: And I thought sequels were inferior
Review: One lonely day on the brink of Spring Break I visited a book store in the local mall. My original peurpose was to purchase Stephen King's 'Dreamcatcher' and the first of the Harry Potter series. With those in hand, and on my way to the check-out counter 'The Sword of Shannara' cuaght my eye. Remembering my mother's suggestion that I read it I dug deep in my pockets and scrounged up enough for the book. I enjoyed the book so I thought I should continue with the series. The only problem I had with the first was that the beginning was slow, but 'The Elfstones' did not share that with the first. The book was engrossing I found myself only stopping to eat, sleep, school, and work(we do chicken right). The story and characters are incredible- far beyond 'The Sword'. But alas the book does have it's fault: the ending is far too depressing. I just finished it not but an hour ago and am now avoiding loose pieces of thread and sharp objects. I only hope 'The Wishsong' will live up to this awesome title. One final note: don't do drugs kids. Thank you and good night

Rating:
Summary: The Elfstones of Shannara
Review: Terry Brooks came up with so many unique places and characters, and discribed them well enough that you could feel the coldness of stone, or the heat of the Bloodfire. This book is the best in the 3 part series, I've read them backwards. :) Wishsong-Elfstones-Sword. I loved the discription of battles, of the evil, and people. Overall a great book.

Rating:
Summary: Sterling novel; much better than SWORD OF SHANNARA
Review: Well, lots of people have done a general spread on this sterling novel so let me just list the highlights of what I liked:

CONCEPT: It is about 50 years after the Sword of Shannara storyline. A new Evil of Demons and Devils threatens the lands as the barrier which holds them back begins to waver. The only hope is to rejuvenate the Tree of Life, which controls the barrier, and that task falls upon Will omsford, grandson to Shea, and the only remaining servant to the Tree of life; a young reluctant elven woman.

MARKETING APPEAL: great epic story of good vs a primordial evil; runs on the bestselling SWORD OF SHANNARA; a weak boyish hero must assist a young girl, the last of the Chosen of the Ellycrys (that keeps the Evil kept captive), to an unexplored land to seek a means to rejuvenating the Ellycrys; Promises great battles, in the usual Brooks style, and the usual LEVEL ONE story telling level of good vs. Evil;

SCORING: Superb (A), Excellent (A-), Very good (B+), Good (B) Fairly Good (B-) Above Average (C+), Mediocre (C ), Barely Passable (C-) Pretty Bad (D+), Dismal (D), Waste of Time (D-), Into the Trash (F)

DIALOGUE: B+ STRUCTURE: A HISTORY SETTING: B CHARACTERS: B+ EVIL SETUP/ANTAGONISTS: A EMOTIONAL IMPACT: A SURPRISES: A LITTLE THINGS: B MONSTERS: A- PACING: A- OVERALL STYLE: A FLOW OF WORDS: A- CHOICE OF FOCUS: A TRANSITIONS/FLASHBACKS/POV: A COMPLEXITY OF WORDS/SYMBOLISM/THEMES: B+

OVERALL GRADE: A - (at the cusp to an A)

HISTORY SETTING: Pretty good History; the lands are created after a nuclear holocaust; the Faeries of Old return to the world; the other four races which are created are men, trolls, gnomes and dwarves. Some people claim Brooks is a Tolkien rip off but I don't see this too much. The elves, besides being faerie related, have lost much of their knowledge and magic of old. Furthermore, they aren't like the Tolkien elves as they have to sleep, die at the usual human age and are not gay and happy. Perhaps THE SWORD OF SHANNARA has more comparisons so I can't entirely say. Even the dwarves in this story are different, as they are great engineering types but they fear caves. Gnomes, other than having a group of healers called Storks, are barely introduced. Same goes for the Trolls except when an army of them arrives to drive the Demons back from the capitol. I would say that the History is nothing comparable to Tolkien. It lacks complexity and details. It does, however, deal with simple, focused ideas which get the points across. Fantasy setups don't always have to be terribly detailed to be good, I have found. Paranor, the well of knowledge run by the Druids, as well as the division of the Four Lands was done fairly well, in my opinion. And, needless to say, the fight between Good and Evil Faeries may have been adapted from previous legends but it was illustrated quite well.

PACING: The story never let up. Even emotionally, Brooks didn't try to spend too much time on details that would bog the story down and things kept moving forward and forward. Just the way I like it.

EMOTIONAL IMPACT: great love triangle; that's all I will say or I'll spoil it. :)

SURPRISES: many but again, I can't list them.

CONCEPT: Save the Elvish People from the Evil Faeries, who were behind the Forbidding. The idea itself has a smartly crafted fantasy world with a common yet well detailed Evil. The true strength to the novel is the means of how Brooks goes about laying all the points about, as well as the characters.

FAVORITE ACTION PASSAGE: "Far to the west of Arborlon, beyond the Breakline, there was a stirring in the air. Something blacker than darkness of the early dawn appeared, writhing and shuddering with the force of some blow that appeared to strike it. Momentarily, the veil of blackness held firm. Then it split wide, rent by the force from within it. Howls and shrieks of glee spilled forth from the impenetrable blackness beyond, as dozens of clawed limbs spilled forth from the straining toward the light. Then red fire exploded all about and the hands fell away, twisted and burned. The Dagda Mor appeared out of the dark, hissing with rage. His Staff of Power steamed hotly as he brushed aside the impatient ones and stepped boldly through the opening. An instant later, the dark forms of the Reaper and the Changeling followed him. Other bodies pushed forward in desperation, but the edges of the rent came together quickly, closing off the blackness and the things that lived within it. In moments, the opening had disappeared entirely and the strange trio stood alone." (see, doesn't he write great?) :D

WHY IT WORKED FOR ME: Reasons stated above, as well as the love triangle. There was a certain bittersweet quality to the lovestory where Wil had eyes for Amberle and continued to reject the Rover girl. As for audience appeal, I think the main reasons for it being a bestseller are: (1) large epic scale woven with skill, style and emotions; (2) excellent characterization; (3) great battle scenes; (4) great yet simple details on the History of the lands; (5) love triangle that ended bittersweet.

FLAWS: Much more plot oriented than context related. Those who would prefer a Tolkienesque context related world will be disappointed. Amberle and Flick were unimpressive.

COMMENTS: My second time reading it. Years later and still my favorite Shannara novel.

GRADE REASON: Done very well. For the reasons stated above, I have no compunctions in giving it such a high mark.

Rating:
Summary: Terry Brooks Shannara Series (specifically Elfstones of Sha)
Review: Terry Brooks is A great writer in all aspects. People who are comparing him to the writer of the Lord of the Rings are right he does have some similarities but when you try to make up an ancient land with dragons, elves, dwarfs, and trolls you can't miss the similarities between writers when they dicuss almost the same thing. I myself have the entire collection in both paperbacks and almost entire collection in FIRST EDITIONS.

SO IF ANY OF YOU OUT THERE HAVE A FIRST EDITION ELFSTONES OF SHANNARA PLEASE WRITE ME, IT THE ONLY BOOK IM MISSING.

[e-mail]

Rating:
Summary: THE WORST OF THE SHANNARA THREE
Review: Terry Brooks is quite possibly the first writer to copy blatently from the works of J.R.R. Tolkien, the Allfather of Fantasy. And yet Brooks himself has never denied this and he does not even TRY to hide it with his work, which makes it somehow respectable - almost like a work of homage rather than outright thievery. And Brooks himself was one of the pioneers of fantasy as a market genre. The world of the Shannara saga holds an undeniable appeal and an almost Tolkien-esque appreciation for nature. This is the second book in the series, sequel to The Sword of Shannara, and it is, easily, the worst of the original "Shannara three."

This is not to say that it is a total failure, by any means. The world that Terry Brooks has created is colorful and vivid, and a true sense of despair permeates the air. It has a "classic" atmosphere, and yet this offering is severely flawed in spite of its positive attributes. Its greatest failing is in its disappointing ending, and it transforms Allanon into a far less likable character who uses the hero almost as a pawn - though I will not divulge how, of course, for fear of spoiling it. Read it, but be prepared for the ending...

Rating:
Summary: HUMANITY IN DANGER
Review: This book is much better than The Sword Of Shannara in my opinion. It feels as if Terry Brooks has grown as an author and is more comfortable with his medium.

In this novel, the Ellcrys, the holder back of all evil, is in danger and is in fact dying. The demon hoardes are scrambling to get out of their prison as their prison guard, the Ellcrys, weakens. Allanon comes to the see Wil Ohmsford, grandson of Shea, and recruits him to help in the quest to save mankind. Allanon and Wil go to gather up an elven girl named Amberle who seems to be the only thing that can save the day.

Allanon knows about an arcane fact which can save the Ellcrys, and with it, mankind. This novel is the epic quest of these three individuals to save the Ellcrys against unbelievable odds.

This is a good one.