Posts Tagged With: shannara

Nearly forty years ago, during a dark age where epic fantasy was hard to come by, Terry Brooks released The Sword of Shannara. In many ways, similar to The Lord of the Rings: An unaware, peaceful guy (Shea Ohmsford), happy in his own world, is tasked by a wise, mysterious stranger (Allanon) to obtain the Sword of Shannara before the Warlock Lord uses it to conquer Shannara. While some thought the plot too similar to Frodo/Gandalf/The Ring/Sauron, Tolkien’s books would ultimately establish the archtype for all fantasy that followed. And, in the following decades, Brooks would unveil his Shannara mythos in over 25 books (and it’s still going).

For those that wished Tolkien had written much more, Brooks is the perfect author. His books quickly would show their originality. Long-time readers were in for a welcome surprise when he connected them to his Word & Void series and linking high fantasy with the modern world. Since the series is made up of self-contained sequences (trilogies, duologies…), which makes it easier to pick a place to start (though Sword is still the best place). It also makes those who slogged through years of Robert Jordan’s epic one-story series, or those afraid to start, a little more at ease of taking on another never-ending fantasy. However, many Brooks fans probably wish he would go back and revisit some of his classic characters.

In the final analysis, fantasy fans will long remember Middle-Earth, Narnia and Shannara.

Middle-Earth and Narnia. Two of the best known worlds in fantasy. Are there others as good? After first reading Lord of the Rings and everything else Tolkien wrote, I was hooked and wanted something else. Someone recommended the fantasy series by Terry Brooks.

And that was it.

Starting in 1977, Brooks has written over 20 books in the series. Stand-alones. Trilogies. Prequels. Duologies. One could start just about anywhere, but I always recommend starting with the first, The Sword of Shannara, then work your way forward. Then go to the very beginning for what would become the prequel series, The Word and the Void (it was first written as a seperate series and later led to the Shannara books via five other volumes).

Some complain his first book was too much of a Tolkien clone. Maybe, but he quickly came into his own and created one of the great fantasy mythos. I have found them to be much more readable than some others in the genre. Those go on and on and often have massive, tedious books. Each of Brooks’ books, or groups of books, stand on their own, while drawing on others and leading you to a conclusion. Sometimes I wish the gaps in the timeline between each series weren’t so large, but from his perspective it makes it easier to create new stories and characters. Still, fans hope he will revisit some of the classic stories. Once you become hooked, buy the companion reference for a guide to this ever-growing world.

Will you choose to go on this adventure or continue on your boring path?