Rating: Summary: Brooks's best since Elfstones Review: Terry Brooks has done a wonderful job with this book. The characters are very likeable and realistic, especially Quickening. Even Pe Ell is someone you will miss in the next books. Also, Brooks finally weaves a sense of human emotion that we haven't seen since Elfstones. Everyone can relate to the fears of Walker Boh, and anyone that has ever been in love can't help but smile at Quickening and Morgan Leah. The ending was once again predictable, but it was still one of the most emotional things I have ever read. I recommend this book to all fantasy fans.
Rating: Summary: Finally detail on the Northland. Review: This is just as good as Scions.It has just as much character detail,and just as good a plot .It even has detail on the Northland that Brooks has not revealed yet.Urdas,Kodens,Uhl Belk,all sorts of things Brooks has not previously put in.A nice little love story put in too,but not as vivid as the evil Stackpole's work.It was nice to know that the King of the Silver River has a daughter.It began slow ,but I still loved it . The Stone King Uhl Belk has stolen the Black Elfstone,which is the only thing that Walker Boh can bring back Paranor and the Druids with .Accompenied by Quickening ,Daughter of the King of the Silver River(one of my favorite characters)Morgan Leah,the tracker Horner Dees,and the assassin Pe Ell ,(who darkly plans to murder Quickening)he sets out throught the Northland to retrieve it. I was in to this book so much that I wanted to call out to the characters when they made mistakes.I reccomend Brooks' new series to any Brooks fan!
Rating: Summary: Far better than Scions, moves the story right along Review: I finished reading Druid about 3 days ago, and it was just plain awesome. Scions, which I read probably a week ago, was far less engaging and uninteresting for much of the book. I liked Druid because it has much more action, drama, and is just overall more complete feeling. Walker Boh starts to finally be interesting, Morgan Leah matures, and Pe Ell and Quickening make excellent additional characters to the world of Shannara. Difficulties, conflicts, triumph, love, victory and loss, all of these can be found in Druid of Shannara and make for an excellent book. I had to give it a 4 out of 5 however because I found Elfstones to be far better, so to give Druid a 5 would be an injustice to Elfstones. So, though this book is awesome, you need to read Scions first for it to make much sense. If you didn't like Scions much, try Druid anyway, I think you will be pleasantly surprised.
Rating: Summary: What a book! Review: The Druid of shannara is perhaps the finest of the heritage of shannara series. While the entire series is an interesting, well written adventure, the Druid showcases Mr. Brooks' finest talents. In many ways darker and meaner than the rest of the series, it is not overly so. Pe Ell, a master assassin working for the evil Shadowen, is quite possibly the most sinister character Brooks has ever created. despite the heroism of the protagonists and the 'righting the wrongs' theme, the assassin's shadow looms over the heroes through the whole book. The line drawn between the members of the little band of people is often toes, sometimes crossed and never certain. It creates an excellent air of tension and provides for excellent dialogue and conflict for the characters. This conflict, coupled with the continuing self doubt and inner struggle of the druid, Walker Boh, provide for some of the best parts of the story. The characters always seem as though they are on the edge of personal and world wide tragedy, and remain human through out. The characters react as human beings would in every situation. The feeling of reality prevails and engrosses the reader totally. I cannot recommend this book enough.
Rating: Summary: Not as good as the others. Review: This book was not as good as the other Shannara books. In this book, Brooks presents us with a bleak, darker story than in his other books. I liked that. Also, the Morgan Leigh-Quickening relationship was beautiful. Problem 1: The relationship between Morgan and Quickening is a rehash of Will-Amberlee in ELFSTONES OF SHANNARA. Problem 2: Brooks has an unneeded, character which causes only problems in the plot rather than adding to it. Problem 3: The book is maybe 100 pages to long. In SWORD OF SHANNARA, Brooks needs the 700+ pages to tell the whole story. In this one, he doesn't need even the 370. The result is repetition and boredom because the party reaches Eldwist to soon and Brooks doesn't seem to know what to do once he gets them there. Problem 4: Brooks doesn't do good enough describing Eldwist. All in all, it's a pretty good book. The opening chapter is worth the cost of the book for fans of the Shannara books. The Christ motiff was also a good addition. Thats why I give this book 3 stars. I would give it 3 and a half if I could.
Rating: Summary: a little too plodding Review: First off, this is a good story overall. However, if you look at a high level to determine what happened, you find that the tale could have been better told in a more direct and less plodding manner. As I read through it, I discovered that Mr. Brooks essentially repeated the same descriptions and sentiments multiple times while the story was in Eldwhist. I felt that the added description just for description's sake did nothing to further the plot or enhance the characters development. That being said I still recommend this book. The Heritage of Shannara series is better than the original trilogy and you will not be disappointed if you read them all. You have to read this book to understand what goes on later on.
Rating: Summary: Good but predictable Review: When taken on it's own, this book is a revised retelling of the Elfstones of Shannara. The same overall motivations and plot events occur and there is roughly the same event. At times, Terry Brooks seems lost in the plot events. Adding characters late in the story, then wrapping up their parts of the story much too quickly. It was almost as if he wrote himself into a corner and looked for a quick way out. When put into the context of the entire Heritage of Shannara story, this was great. Too big to be just a few chapters and too small to be a stand alone story; this book fits nicely into the overall conspiracy of the Shadowen and the Heritage of Shannara story. Overall, I would say the Heritage stories are a more polished and entertaining version of the original Shannara trilogy. They are fast moving and exciting with none of the long winded intorspective tangents of the original books.
Rating: Summary: The Impact of Nature Review: A review by: Jackie Quickening, the daughter of the ancient King of the Silver River, finds walker Boh dying after an attack by the shadowen Rimmer Dall. She heals Walker Boh and tells him that the Elfstone is in the hands of the Stone King, who seeks to turn the entire world to stone. They have to travel through the Charnal Mountains into the perilous, unknown land beyond. By doing so the face horrible creatures and magic which the Stone King has set to guard his citadel. This story was rather fascinating. Quickening is an elemental. " He used the tree as her body. The unicorn's fur as her hair. A dove for her heart..." She was the Kings own creation. I found it somewhat slow to read and had some old English I was not familiar with. But I was rather fond of the exciting danger." He fell forward, gasping for breath, and the axe-blade rock dropped from his nerveless fingers." I would recommend this book to all readers who enjoy fantasy filled with action and danger.
Rating: Summary: I loved this one Review: All the Shannara books are good reads and very entertaining, but this is one of, if not my favorite. The story of Walker Boh has so many dark nuances, so much internal conflict, that to read it is almost refreshing. The story isn't simple, there isn't just a hero, there is confusion and anger and irony. It truly is a great book, and as always, Brooks has created an almost tangible world for the reader.
Rating: Summary: Excellent book, can't put it down Review: Come on people the book is incredible. it leaves just enough to your imagination to captivate you and make it hard to stop reading. the storyline is great, twists and turns many. albeit predictable sometimes but not always. He's constructed a written world in which the characters of the story are not the only players - the world goes on outside the focus of the story and you see it happening as you go along. certain people that enter and leave the story before you realize they were probably a very complex being. overall i think the book had great depth and i think some have underrated it.
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