By: Terry Brooks Publisher: Del Rey Average Rating: Binding: Mass Market Paperback Label: Del Rey Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 736 Publication Date: July 12, 1983 Release Date: July 12, 1983
Product Description: Living in peaceful Shady Vale, Shea Ohmsford knew little of the troubles that plagued the rest of the world. Then the giant, forbidding Allanon revaled that the supposedly dead Warlock Lord was plotting to destory the world. The sole weapon against this Power of Darkness was the Sword of Shannara, which could only be used by a true heir of Shannara--Shea being the last of the bloodline, upon whom all hope rested. Soon a Skull Bearer, dread minion of Evil, flew into the Vale, seeking to destroy Shea. To save the Vale, Shea fled, drawing the Skull Bearer after him....
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Long ago, the wars of the ancient Evil ruined the world. In peacefulShady Vale, half-elfin Shea Ohmsford knows little of such troubles. Butthe supposedly dead Warlock Lord is plotting to destroy everything inhis wake. The sole weapon against this Power of Darkness is the Swordof Shannara, which can be used only by a true heir of Shannara. On Shea,last of the bloodline, rests the hope of all the races.
Thus begins the enthralling Shannara epic, a spellbinding tale ofadventure, magic, and myth.
The Sword of Shannarais the second volume of the classic seriesthat has become one of the most popular fantasy tales of all time.
"I'm putting down this huge, long, overly-written, derivative, dull, long, book," the fantasy lover with the wavy black hair sai The Sword of Shannara was a very popular book back in the 70s right after the huge success of The Lord of the Rings when everyone wanted to read more fantasy. I wasn't old enough to read it back then, so I came to it much later. I read part of the first book and, knowing how popular it had been, and feeling like it was a classic, I was prepared to enjoy it. About half way through I gave it to my ten year old son.
Conclusion: These are fine for kids (at least this one is, I can't say if all of the later Shannara books are -- probably not). But, do you really want to teach them to write like that? If not, give them C.S. Lewis, J.K. Rowling, Susan Cooper, and Lloyd Alexander. To be fair: This series is wildly popular. Perhaps the writing gets better (it has been 30 years, after all). I have heard that only the first book is too much like Tolkien. But I'll never know for sure because I can't make it through the first one. --FanLit.net
Disappointed I finally bought this book to read (I should have borrowed it from the library). I hadn't read it previously, and I doubt I will read it again. I was, as you can tell by the number of stars, fairly disappointed in this book. My disappointment wasn't based on how much was borrowed from Tolkein (as others have said, that comes with the territory). What bothered me was that it was unrealistic (heh, I know, I'm complaining about a fantasy book not being realistic!). The map provided to describe the world they live in does not show a very big world, yet I am to believe that in a matter of a day or two, one can go from one kind of environment to a completely different, and more deadly environment? Or Shea just happens on the Gnome that happens to be carrying the famed sword? There are numerous other examples. The point is that I am to assume too much. If you are going to borrow from Tolkein, or create a similar story, then you must make your world as believable as Tolkein's world is. For example, there is no question about distances or various environments within Tolkein's world. It doesn't drastically change within a day's journey! That would be impossible within the laws of physics. But if your world does have those drastic changes, then you must explain how they break the laws of physics you otherwise apply to your world whether you write that they apply or not. For example, if your characters breathe normally, that means you have applied several laws of physics to your characters by default.
Maybe fantasy isn't my best domain? :)
Brook's Catapult Brook's 'The Sword of Shannara' is simply a great case of being in the right place at the right time. It was the seventies. Star Wars had just come out to be a smashing success. Dungeons and Dragons was coming along big time. They were making weird cartoon movies of Tolkien (Remember the 1977 'The Hobbit' cartoon?) because people were craving it. Not everyone had read Tolkien at the time. I mean, he wrote everything in 1937. Those books were just starting to be called 'classics.'
So, any high fantasy book was bound to be a big success. Borrowing some of Tolkien's successful elements made it a shoe in. All I can say to that is that they still haven't been sued for anything, so I guess its legal. And clearly, this book is no where near the quality of the Tolkien's work, so I think comparisons aren't all that relevant.
But let compare them anyway, because I can't help myself :)
Is Sword of Shannara like LoTR because they both have a wizard? Not necessarily... Gandalph is a tad different from Allanon, he is a lot more like Elminster. I find Allanon much more like Obi Wan Kenobi, as I find Druids in the world of Shannara much more like Jedi. An "order" of "wizards" who are "reclusive" and "don't tell you everything" and are committed to protecting the "balance" in the world and committed to spreading "knowledge." What was it that Owen Lars called Ben Kenobi? Was it 'crazy old wizard?'
And they both have young inexperienced characters who leave their home to flee for their life on a quest. Some might suggest this could only come from Tolkien's work. Well, how about Lucas' work? Was Luke not a similar character who had to flee for his life on a quest? I mean, Tolkien, while good at using this device did not patent it. Both Lucas and Brooks borrow it here. I wonder if Tolkien didn't borrow it from someone?
Where did Brooks borrow the battle scenes from? Well, they are very reminiscent of Tolkien. This is for sure. Just not very good compared to him at all, but they remind you of Tolkien. While Tolkien displays madness, anguish, grief, esprit de corps, not to mention inspiring songs into the fray giving a masterpiece of literature, Brooks just tries to describe some ridiculous tactics that probably would have failed in real life. Tolkien wins here.
Now, I feel Brooks borrowed Brona's 'floating cloak' from Lucas. Lucas employed cloaks with the Jedi, and when Kenobi dies, it leaves only a cloak. I feel this had to be invovled.
But the whole Sword of Shannara being a sword of truth, I think Brooks made up this on his own. Kind of silly, but it conveyed an interesting thought that we all hide our own faults to protect ourselves in a fabricated cocoon. This is true, though we might not want to admit it. This is his idea, and his alone.
So, in conclusion, is this an original work? Yes, but he borrowed stuff from Lucas and Tolkien (but who hasn't borrowed SOMETHING from Tolkien!). Is it a brilliant work? Not at all. Is it a good work? Yes. The characters are good, and the story has its moments, but it is far from a masterpiece. The Sword of Shannara has been called a Tolkien clone and worse, and this is fine, but if you want to look at it that way, you will hate it. I don't find it to be a Tolkien clone, but a book with borrowed elements. This isn't the same, especially when you have your own things thrown in, and borrow from more than one source like Brooks did.
But, you know, I read books and decide I like them based on their own merits. I don't waste my time thinking about comparisons while I read them (this comes later). I just read for my own enjoyment. You should too. For this reason alone, this book is worth a look, especially if you can't find a good book written in the last few years you haven't already read.
Appreciated for what it is... So I finally started on Terry Brooks, long overdue for a self-professed fantasy fan! I decided to read his books in the order he wrote them, and hence this was my introduction to his work.
After completing it, I had much the same thoughts as many of the negative reviewers on this site. Sword of Shannara is such an unbelievable rip-off of Lord of The Rings that I was shocked it could even get published. And while LOTR can be difficult and annoying to read at times, Shannara really didn't seem to bring anything spectacular or new to the story, other than make it more action-packed and easier to follow. So what gives? I thought.
But keep in mind, I'm reading this book in a post-LOTR Peter Jackson movie world. And I'm also reading it after finishing other popular high-fantasy series, like Goodkind's and Hobb's. In other words, in my known world, high fantasy has always had NY Times Bestseller List potential. And authors have taken the cornerstones of the genre and worked their creative genius, giving us new and exciting ways to enter the fantasy world. Ways that might have similarities to what Tolkien did, but certainly not carbon-copies. And all this because Terry Brooks wrote Sword of Shannara.
Love him or hate him, my in-depth research (read: 10 seconds on Google) has afforded me the history of Brooks' literary career, and what he set out to do. Sword of Shannara is little more than a creative experiment. Brooks wrote it, with LOTR in mind, to ease the doldrums of being a law student. And once Ballantine got behind it and the book took off, the rest is history--a history that includes the genius of Goodkind and Hobb and George R.R. Martin, etc. Tolkien may have paved the road, but Brooks built the high--speed thruway. And having now finished the second book in the series, it's clear that he has the ability to write his own totally creative and original stories. Sword of Shannara is an homage to the forefather of the high-fantasy genre, which is how it should be read.
So while Sword might not be the greatest high-fantasy story I've ever read, I appreciate it for what it was in 1977.
A Wonderful Fantasy! I read this book when I was in college and soon my whole family (7 siblings) plus my mother, had all read this book and we all loved it! I now have 6 children myself and I am reading it to my older kids and we are loving it together. I love the characters, the adventure, the storyline . . . and good triumphing over evil! I have read pretty much all of the Shannara books now and enjoy them all.
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