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Summary: Scions of Shannara - Terry Brooks rehashes faithfully
Review: This book, although not badly written, is exceptionally uninspired. The characters are rehashes of characters used in his earlier books almost exactly. His plot is somewhat tired as well; the little party on it's quest. As events happen, they don't seem to advance the story much, they are just the obligatory compications. Perhaps the most annoying facet of the story is the references to all his previous books and characters. I think it's nice to have a sense of continuity between series set in the same location, but here it comes across as if Brooks can't quit congratulating himself on everything else he's written previously. Brooks seems to have put little thought into this one. I'm not sure I will move on to the next; I may just reread Robert Jordan's series instead.
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Summary: Don't forget to blink...
Review: This is the first novel I ever read away from the watchful eyes of highschool. I was given a horribly beat-up copy at the beginning of my sophomore year of high-school. It's been four years since, and I can still vividly remember Jacob saying "read the first chapter... then call me in a week when you finish the book." Terry Brooks has written an amazing world that defies all possibility. Seemingly a vast, unfocused world, the Four Lands pull you into a tangle of love, mystery, and excitement. "Scions of Shannara" will pull you in, keep you in, and not let you go. I have to warn you though, you WILL read the next three books in the series as they are written in soap-opera style... cliffhanger after cliffhanger, you'll be wanting more!
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Summary: Time Changes Things
Review: When I read this set in 1994, the year after the quartet was completed, I found it, well, *very* 1990's. It struck me as being soapy and melodramatic with strains of the unecessary and unsuccessful 'darkness' obligatory to all 90's fantasy epics. I missed the high rolling adventure of Shannara as I remembered it.Rereading the first book today I was struck by how fresh, fun and expertly handled this novel is. Tight pacing, concise descriptions, solid characters, a sense of urgency and a ton of rip-roaring swashbuckling action - it's all here. What sets Brooks apart from the loads of dreadful/dreckful S&S authors flooding the bookshelves is his style - lifted directly from the world of Cooper, Smollett, Scott, Stevenson & Dumas. These are engaging and memorable adventure yarns plain and simple, with plenty of heart and some well thought out back history to boot. There's also a serious element of US fantasy, recalling Baum, Kirby & Lucas @ their best. And one can't help but conjure images from Pyle, Wyeth and Parrish as Brooks weaves his magic. I was happily surprised to discover how wrong I'd been. Guess I just had the zeitgeist-blues.
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Summary: Another Brooks Classic
Review: This book is written in typical Brooks fashion; lots of action and suspense. The characters come to life and you actually feel that they are a part of you. Again, the Ohmsford family is at the center of the story. This time, the brothers Par and Coll, as well as Wren and Walker Boh, are each given different quests by the shade Allanon, who has been dead for 300 years. The Shadowen have appeared and threaten to destroy the Four Lands unless they can be stopped. Par is to find the legendary Sword of Shannara, Walker is to find the Black Elfstone which will restore the Druids, and Wren is to discover the missing Elves. Other intriguing characters are introduced, such as Padashar Creel, Steff, Teel, and Garth. The action in this book is intense, and the characters come to life. I have read the first Shannara series, as well as the Landover series and the Word and Void series, and this is book is one of the best.
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Summary: Great book, but...
Review: Seriously, I loved this book, love all the Shannara books in fact. I even started re-reading them almost as soon as I finished the series. But there's one thing that I don't particularly like about this book. It's not the story line, because the story is a masterpiece. As is the writing style. But I find that he puts far too much emphasis on par and coll ohmsford. I mean, yeah, they are important characters, but what about Walker and Wren? I'm just glad that each of them got their own books, because I almost come to the point of passing out sitting up at night trying to read far enough to find out what will happen to Walker next. In my opinion him and Wren are the only ones worth being written about. Par and Coll are just too traditionally-styled characters. But Walker, he truly intrigued me. And I can relate with him as being segregated and misunderstood cause he acted different and had a higher intelligence.:-) But I guess that's why terry wrote druid, isn't it?
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Summary: A Guy, a Girl, and a Crabby Old Man.
Review: I have heard many good things about Terry Brooks and his Shannara books in general. Some have said he ranks right up there with Tolkien and Jordan. Others have said that the Shannara series is the greatest fantasy epic ever concieved. So apparently, I guess all of these people were lying. Maybe it's just my short attention span, but I found this book to be bliblically boring. The main character Par Ohmsford is your typical reluctant farmerboy turned powerful hero-demigod. Par doesn't seem too bright; in fact, he constantly gets in life-threatening misadventures but always manages to escape thanks to conviencely placed friends and/or his own supermagical abilities. Personally, I think Par is a bit of a weakling. I mean, he literally sings things to death. I don't know, but that's just not what comes to mind when I think of "cool supermagical abilities". And also? Walker Boh? Throughout the whole book he has a ten foot pole up his magical orifice. Apparently, he wants to live in peace, and he doesn't want to be a part of all of this crazy misadventure. That's fine and all, but does he have to talk about it all the time? Blah blah, I shun society, blah blah I'm such an outcast, blah blah no one loves me. I started skipping his parts after the giant cat became more interesting than he was. The only interesting character was MAYBE Wren. But we got only around TWO PAGES of her. All in all, you should read this book. If you're, you know, into the kind of fantasy that is really pointless and cheesy.
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Summary: The Scions of Shannara
Review: I was really impressed with the immediate response from seller by e-mail. And the quick shipping. Thank You
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Summary: Wonderful.
Review: I expected that Brooks' new series not to be as good .I expected it to get repetiteve.I was wrong .It is not at all repetetive ,in fact ,Brooks added some political detail that he lacked in the other books,but it isn't pointless political
detail.Brooks still has his superb detail in magic ,which is one of the reasons that he is one of my favorite authors.It also was perfectly legitimate to write it.Anyone might wonder what life is like in the Four Lands after all the Druids are gone .This is the plot:The Four Lands have drastically changed since the death of Allanon.The Elves have vanished and Callahorn,The Dwarves ,and the Southland are in the hands of the Federation,where magic is strictly illegal.Par Ohmsford still has the power of the Wishsong ,causing himself to be pursued by Seekers (Federation police).While he flees,he stumbles upon Cogline ,a once Druid.Cogline tells him that he ,his cousin Wren,and his uncle Walker Boh are needed by the shade of Allanon.Par finds Walker and they meet Wren at the Hadeshorn.Allanon tells each of them to do one thing :Par to recover the Sword of Shannara ,Walker to bring back the Druids and the keep of Paranor ,and Wren to find the vanished Elves .
This book is about Par,his brother Coll,Morgan Leah,Steff and Teel the Dwarves,and a couple others on there search for the Sword of Shannara.P.S.The next one is about Walker etc.
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Summary: Overshadows the original trilogy
Review: In this book, Terry Brooks sets the stage for a wonderful epic. I won't attempt to detail it here. Read it for yourself. I will say that several characters are introduced that play almost no part in this book. You may wonder where they are and what happened to them. This book also concludes with many loose ends still dangling. So you should approach is as merely a component of the entire epic story. Don't even bother trying to read this one apart from the others in the heritage of shanara line. While still remaining true to the world he created, Terry Brooks has spun a tale that surpasses his first works. I guess we as readers should not be surprised that Mr. Brooks has become a better storyteller over time. I felt that this book had all the excitement and fun of the original Shanara trilogy, with none of the slow moving plodding painful ebbs in the storyline.
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Summary: ok, but keep reading, they get better...
Review: in perfect honesty, the only real reason why i read this book was because there was nothing else. yea, i thought terry brooks was ok, but his first book was boring, and his last far-feched. i admit the second one was ok, but not a master pice. this book is better. most of the characters are very intresting, and the plot is excelent, but i thought a little something was lacking. this is mostly because brooks is just laying the foundation for 3 of the best books i've ever read. by far Walker Boh is one of, if not the best book character ever, and Wren isn't bad either. sadly Par seems to be the typical ohsmford, but Col isn't bad. let me put it this way, you have to read this book. if your dissapointed with it, just wait till the next one and your mind might be changed
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