Over the past month or so I have I read through the first two books of Terry Brooks’ Original Shannara Trilogy. In between each book I read several other books so as not to burn myself out on endless quests (I’d advise you try the same, except for the most hardcore fantasy fans - who have probably already these books anyway). While these books may not be for everyone, they were entertaining enough - here are my thoughts on them…
The Sword of Shannara
I mainly just wanted to get that first book behind me, enabling me to read the rest of the Shannara books, and in the process gather whatever information that might be helpful to know as I continue on with the series. The biggest criticism often thrown at this book is that is nothing but a cheap rip-off of Tolkien. For the most part, this is an accurate assessment - it is a derivative of Lord of the Rings, and at times my mind even played tricks on me, registering character names as their Tolkien equivalents. The story is similar, albeit with less depth and development… which isn’t necessarily that bad of a thing, especially if you head into the book in the right state of mind - looking for a fun fantasy adventure story, just not something overly original. I have never seen anything where Brooks takes offense to the criticism about similarities between his story and Tolkien’s and, from what I’ve read, he is a fan of Tolkien and freely acknowledges The Lord of the Rings as his main influence when writing The Sword of Shannara. While certainly not the best fantasy book I have read (not even in the top 20 or 50, to be honest) it does have some merit and played a role in the popularization of the fantasy genre, and is therefore worth the time to at least give it a shot if you are fan of the genre.
The Elfstones of Shannara
In the second book we finally see something a little more original (or what can be called “original” in relation to the epic fantasy genre, circa 1982, anyway). While based firmly in your typical fantasy world of elves and trolls, Brooks begins to break away from Tolkien. Though another quest novel where the ending can be surmised from the beginning, it gives the impression that you haven’t read this “exact” story before. Taking place a couple generations after Sword, Elfstones could conceivably be read first (in fact, the rumored movie of the series begins here - probably due to the first book’s resemblance to Lord of the Rings). All in all, Brooks provides a much better offering his second time around.
…
In conclusion - for fantasy fans, these books are, for the most part, light and fun entertainment. For someone who doesn’t read a lot of fantasy, there are much better places within the genre for you to explore before jumping into this series. I will be continuing on with further Shannara books, but they are not heading to the top of my to read pile just yet (I have seen several pretty favorable reviews of Brooks' most recent offerings in the Shannara universe, the Genesis of Shannara Trilogy, so I plan on slowly working my way through his recommended reading order until I get to them).
The Sword of ShannaraI mainly just wanted to get that first book behind me, enabling me to read the rest of the Shannara books, and in the process gather whatever information that might be helpful to know as I continue on with the series. The biggest criticism often thrown at this book is that is nothing but a cheap rip-off of Tolkien. For the most part, this is an accurate assessment - it is a derivative of Lord of the Rings, and at times my mind even played tricks on me, registering character names as their Tolkien equivalents. The story is similar, albeit with less depth and development… which isn’t necessarily that bad of a thing, especially if you head into the book in the right state of mind - looking for a fun fantasy adventure story, just not something overly original. I have never seen anything where Brooks takes offense to the criticism about similarities between his story and Tolkien’s and, from what I’ve read, he is a fan of Tolkien and freely acknowledges The Lord of the Rings as his main influence when writing The Sword of Shannara. While certainly not the best fantasy book I have read (not even in the top 20 or 50, to be honest) it does have some merit and played a role in the popularization of the fantasy genre, and is therefore worth the time to at least give it a shot if you are fan of the genre.
The Elfstones of ShannaraIn the second book we finally see something a little more original (or what can be called “original” in relation to the epic fantasy genre, circa 1982, anyway). While based firmly in your typical fantasy world of elves and trolls, Brooks begins to break away from Tolkien. Though another quest novel where the ending can be surmised from the beginning, it gives the impression that you haven’t read this “exact” story before. Taking place a couple generations after Sword, Elfstones could conceivably be read first (in fact, the rumored movie of the series begins here - probably due to the first book’s resemblance to Lord of the Rings). All in all, Brooks provides a much better offering his second time around.
…
In conclusion - for fantasy fans, these books are, for the most part, light and fun entertainment. For someone who doesn’t read a lot of fantasy, there are much better places within the genre for you to explore before jumping into this series. I will be continuing on with further Shannara books, but they are not heading to the top of my to read pile just yet (I have seen several pretty favorable reviews of Brooks' most recent offerings in the Shannara universe, the Genesis of Shannara Trilogy, so I plan on slowly working my way through his recommended reading order until I get to them).
1 comments:
I'm a fan of the Shannara series--I haven't read them all but plan to! The next set of books, I think collectively called the Heritage of Shannara, I thought were better. They seemed a little more complex and mature. All in all the series is my escapist literature!
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