Rivetting!
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Terry Brooks is a highly commended fantasy writer. Starting with the Sword of Shannara through to the First King of Shannara. His style allows readers to embark on an emotional journey from happiness to fear to frustration and more. The Druids holds the key and add pieces of the puzzle through the adventure with their ambiguity in all books. Some of these books provide greater thrilling experiences than others and The Elfstones of Shannara is one of them.
It would be cruel to reveal the plot to potential readers though I would recommend those who are debating this read, should start reading the Sword of Shannara in order to become intimate with the characters especially Allanon, the Druid, who I love despite his mysteriousness and ambiguous past. You will find at least find two characters from the series that touches your heart the most, and each reader have chosen differently who they are. So, what are yours??
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Good right up to the end
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I realy enjoyed the story and the diversity of the charicters. But i found that when i got to the end, it just kind of droped off. I cant describe it better than.. it seemed to lack emotion.
*Spoiler Dont read past here*
After Amberle becomes the elcrys tree, it just seemed to me that Wil was a little upset, got over it in half a page then went off with the other girl.. I mean.. wow it took him a WHOLE 3 days to get over the passing of the one who he loved.
I dont expect it to be a soppy read, but after 500 odd pages of good emotion building i would atleast expect Wil to have some emotional scaring, or to have ran off in total displare to the vale.. anything! not just, oh hey my first choice is now a tree i guess the rover girl will do then. Just a little more emotion.. some dispare, running off.. total hatered for Allanon.
But that said im still a fan.. otherwise i wouldnt read the books :) and enjoy them. I wouldnt say his best, but definatly a good read none the less. every one loved a good seige.
Thanks.
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Good second book
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In this book we now see the Shannara family called again to the help of the Druids. Again the main theme in all of the Shannara books. This book is very similar in structure to the Sword of Shannara but again what make this a good read for me is how the story line is expanded and we explore the world the Terry Brooks has created.
More so with this book you feel you understand more of what the chracter are going through and can imagine your self there. I did enjoy this book as it has some very tense and exciting moments.
If you like the Sword of Shannara you will liike this one even more.
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Another book from Brooks on the future fate of the world
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As with the other books about the world of tomorrow after cataclysmic catastrophes, this too presents an array of people who are alike and yet not the people of today. Wil Ohmsford belongs to that long line of family who get chosen by the Druids to save their world - time and time again. In many ways the books in this series are somewhat similar. All of the heroes are insecure and afraid, yet end up doing what is "right". Along with them are supporters who make their job possible. This should become trite in the end. In some books in this loooong series (sure beats Robert Jordans Wheel of Time series in length) I have been bored and have had to put down the book I've been reading. This was not the case with The Elfstones of Shannara. It's certainly not a masterpiece but a highly enjoyable read. The changes in Amberle are not especially surprising. The ending was about as expected and I guess I like that in books. I want to be able to believe in the closure the author has brought to a book. If it deviates too much from what has gone before I feel cheated. Anyways, I would recommend the series to any fantasy fan and hope that you will enjoy this book at least as much as I have (having read it twice).
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The best in the series.
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THE STORY:
The magical tree known as the Ellcrys is dying. With the fading of the tree's magic, an army of demons is unleashed from beyond the boundary of the Forbidding, devastating the elven kingdom. Allanon moves to join the embattled elves, but simultaneously sends Wil Ohmsford and Amberle Elessedil on a quest to find the seed of a new Ellcrys.WHAT'S GOOD:
This is by far my favourite Shannara book (although I've not read the Jerle Shannara or High Druid books yet). The previous volume was tragically held back by the number of LotR-cloned scenes, but this book suffers from none of that. The battle scenes are the most dynamic and exciting Brooks has written and the demons his most terrifying and sinister villains. The love triangle between Wil, Amberle and Eretria is actually interesting reading, with none of the soppy, dewey-eyed rubbish I feared I'd see. There's a very clever twist to the story too which turns all of you expectations upsidedown. The best scene in this book, however, is a very evocatively written bit in which Wil and Amberle are chased across a narrow bridge over a deep gorge by the monstrous Reaper, in a storm, in an abandoned fortress. Brilliant. There's also a deeply chilling moment in which the elf king wakes in the night to see his beloved dog glaring at him with raw murderous hatred. He thinks it's a dream, but it's not. WHAT'S BAD:
There is some repetition of ideas from 'The Sword Of Shannara' here which might make you want to skip bits of it. The worst of these is Wil's issues with the Elfstones, which are basically the same (ie as annoying) as Shae's similar issues in the previous book.
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