Opinions about the Shannara Series

[ghost8772]

what makes up best of a genre? originality or formula? mold or shattered remains?

I did enjoy the Sword to Talismans run of Shannara, though I still feel the first was more LoTR chewed up and spit back out on the paper. enough of Brooks put into it so it was at least internally consistent and made sense. Elfstones was head and shoulders above its predecessor. and also the reason I felt it wasn't as much YA. several evil creatures, and the ending are a heavy divergence from fairy tale, and even some YA levels (at least compared to the current fare shelved at that level) after the first trilogy, he did stretch the epic quest out over several books. no I don't think shannara is on a level with master literary works, but its also not some of the drek cranked out to fill the shelves at Borders, in the hopes it gets bought.

[JagLover]

Originally Posted by GOLLUM

Who are some of your favourite authors Jaglover??

Robert Jordon, particularly his earlier books (and now the new RJ/BS hybrid)

George R Martin, though tired of waiting, sadly in this case that was a fantasy series I started near the start.

Kate Elliott is not normally an author I would compare to the best, but her new Crossroads series is very good indeed and makes a change from the authors mentioned above with her faster pacing.

Of course there is Tolkein. Imitated so much that his work can seem too familiar, but the original is still the best.

Julian May had a good sci-fi/fantasy hybrid with the saga of the exiles (the many coloured land). Its not even in print in this country anymore which says something I suppose for the declining sales of sci-fi as a genre and why many sci-fi authors have switched to pure fantasy.

Steven Erickson may be very good, but unfortuantly I have only read the first 5 books or so of his series, all spaced apart, which given how hard it is to figure out what is going on to start with, is probably a mistake. One day I will reread the books I have then take it forward and see what I think.

[makku-kun]

I liked them though I started from the second last trilogy, or that would be third last now, non chronologically mind.
So from my first encounter I thought it was a good twist when I realised that the world of shannara came after our own.
I also liked how it mixed up witht the Nest Freemark trilogy.

[Syphon of Oor-Tael]

It's great!
What can I say? I started it when I was a wee one, going so far as to purposefully damage a book in order to claim it for myself from the library. Does that show how much I love it? I think it does.

[RJT_Author]

I agree it's a great series. I've read more of it than other other fantasy series. There are some particularly great moments in the Scions series that really drove me to get more into fantatsy writing myself.

[Kimbo]

It was a long time ago now, but I remember spending many hours engrossed in The Shannara series. Recommended to all!!!!

[Grizzgreen711]

Originally Posted by Thor_Doomhammer

I agree completely with these statements. I have read all of the Shannara series up through the "High Druid of Shannara" series, and I still have to say that SoS was the worst. It almost felt like a chore to read until about chapter 10 or 11....and it still didn't pick up much after that.

For fear of sounding like I am just trying to bash Terry Brooks, I must add that while I found the Shannara books to be mediocre, I did like his Word and Void series. Running with the Demon and Knight of the Word were definitely better than Shannara.

And I agree, the cover art of the books was definitely the best part

I agree totally. Hands down for me, his Word and Void novels are the best ones he has written.

I am impressed however in the way he links this modern day tale of good and evil to the eventual destruction of our world and the creation of the new world known as Shannara. Very interesting to me how he did that.

[Riddick]

I've always liked the Shannara series. Last one I read was the First King of Shannara

[Reivax26]

I have read almost all of the Shannara books and I enjoyed all of them. I will admit that the Knight and Void series are his best work. Running with the Demon is one of my favorite books ever written by anyone.

If you are going to complain about the fact that he has Dwarves, Elves and the other elements of LoTR in his books then you will have to bash every fantasy writer that used those races as a copycat as well. He didn't invent the mythology behind those creatures, he just put them into his setting and used them.

It would be the same if someone complained that every time travel book ever written was a copycat of Well's Time Machine.

[biodroid]

Can one start the series from Elfstones of Shannara? I find the first book to be a bit of a drag.