Wards of Faerie: The Dark Legacy of Shannara

I've read many a blog and article questioning what has happened with Terry Brooks. Indeed, the quality of his writing has evolved over the years, and while some sense of evolution is welcome, it seemed that the formula never did.In every Shannara book prior to the Legends of Shannara duology and the Genesis of Shannara trilogy, you could always count on specific things to be present:- At least one Druid, usually conflicted about something- At least one Ohmsford or Shannara, usually conflicted about their destiny- At least one Leah, usually conflicted about their responsibility- At least one accompanying Elf, usually conflicted because they know they will be dead mid-book- At least one Rover, usually conflicted about their feelings which are often incompatible with the Rover nature- At least one magic element, usually conflicted in how it's used- At least one villan, usually conflicted in how it's defeated- At least one Elven King, who along with the council is just conflictedIs this a bad thing? I don't know. Honestly I don't think it really matters up or down. But what it did do was create a sense of familiarity. Some don't like that familiarity; some people want constant change and "newness" in stories from writers. Truthfully, I would like to see Brooks dish out three books a year: a Shannara, a Landover, and something new (since Word has effectively been bridged). Being a partial author myself I know how challenging that schedule would be.I admit to hesitating to purchase this book. In years past I would not have wasted a second clicking the Buy Now button. But I've been burned before. The Genesis of Shannara books were so far in the opposite direction that I couldn't stomach finishing them as easily as I could the previous Shannara books. Legends of Shannara was similarly challenging, and felt more like Word/Void books than Shannara books. I admit, I did read the whole Word/Void series. But I didn't like it nearly as much as I enjoyed Shannara. I wondered why that was, and after reading Dark Legacy, I went back to read First King. Then it hit me. I'll get to it at the end.Wards of Faerie is the first in another trilogy called the Dark Legacy of Shannara. Brooks himself has stated that he wished he'd not called  The Elfstones of Shannara (Sword of Shannara)  by that name, because this trilogy is specifically around the search for the missing sets of Elfstones beyond the blue ones, the Seeker Elfstones. Allanon mentioned in a couple of interactions that there were different colored Elfstones for different purposes, but there was never any details as to what they were or how they worked. The Dark Legacy is an attempt to tell that story. In some ways I agree with the decision and in some I don't.It all begins when a Druid finds evidence of the fate of the other Elfstones; bringing the information back to the Ard Rhys, a search begins to locate them so that the Races can benefit from the magic, as administered by the Druid Order.Let's start with the good. The story telling is decent and reminiscent of the Voyage series; other reviewers have noted various things thrown in together to create the story, and this is true. The Ellcrys, the Elfstones, the Ohmsfords, a Leah, the Druids, Paranor, the Federation, the Chosen, the Hadeshorn, Mwellrets, airships, Trolls...all of these make an appearance, and it's just the first book. It's like Brooks took all of the feedback from people and wrote a story to attempt to appeal to all of them. The result is a bit chaotic: I found it difficult to attach to any of the characters, and I skipped past all of the parts of the Federation talking to each other. One chapter in particular is nothing but a two-way conversation between Federation members and I couldn't stomach it. Khyber Ellesedill (  The High Druid of Shannara Trilogy  ) comes across as a completely different person from the person who was worried that she would not master the Druid magic many years prior, and didn't seem the person to take up the ritual to become Ard Rhys. Aphenglow dominates the book but Brooks never takes the time to really tell us who she is. She's more a plot device used to advance the story without any real details behind her; same with Arlingfant.This last sentence is key. The main difference between Shannara that was and Shannara that is: Brooks does not develop the characters anymore. They're just presented with no real substance, no real flavor. It makes it difficult to follow when you don't attach to the characters; and in truth, all I was doing with this book was paying attention to the magic and the battles, rather than actually caring when a character eventually was killed. If you get an opportunity I encourage you to go back and read  First King of Shannara (Shannara Trilogy, Prequel)  as well as  The Sword of Shannara Trilogy  and then  The Heritage of Shannara  Trilogy. You'll notice key points in each book where the characters are detailed enough that you can literally imagine them in your mind. This is noticeably absent in Dark Legacy. For example, take this excerpt from  The Druid of Shannara (The Heritage of Shannara) , which introduced a character called Quickening:""Her eyes fluttered open, coal black as they peered out from her delicate white features. She was small boned and finely wrought like a piece of paper art smoothed and shaped so that the edges and corners were replaced by curves. Her hair was so white it seemed silver; there was a glitter to it that suggested the presence of that precious metal."The sheer form of writing is exactly what drew me to Brooks in the first place. The ability to bring a character to life and create the image in the reader's mind with three sentences permeated all of the early Shannara books and even some of the Word/Void books. That style of writing died starting with the High Druid trilogy; it was there but almost half born. Genesis and Legends both seemed pale in comparison, and Dark Legacy continues the frustrating lack of character development. To this day I still have no image in my mind of what Aphenglow's appearance is.I am not suggesting you avoid the book. It will be interesting to see where Brooks takes it. But if you were hoping for a full-on return to what brought Brooks to the dance you will be disappointed at least partially. It's good for what it is, cliffhanger notwithstanding.

Like many others I have been reading the works of Terry Brooks for several years. Wards of Faerie is Terry's newest installment of a long and entertaining series of books. If you have read all the books up until now you will understand the basic concepts the book sets forth. If this is your first Terry adventure you may at times feel lost.I personally loved this novel. The characters are true to their ancestors. The Ohmsfords twins, Redden and Railing, are country folk that are destined for bigger things. This has always been the case of the Ohmsfords except maybe in the case of Grianne. The twins have the power of The Wishsong a powerful magic passed down the generations that allows things to happen through the voice. This may sound like a dream come true for lovers of musicals, but this is a different type of magic entirely. The twins are asked to join a crew of adventurers, including the high druid of of the 4th Druid Order, Kyber Elessedil. They set out on a quest to recover a long lost magic. Magic thought lost several centuries past. It is unclear what the magic does, only that it once existed and that there are 4 sets of three stones and are usable only by the elves.As this is the first book in a trilogy it would be expected to be mostly character development and scene setting. While this does take place the book is fairly fast paced and full of action. Many character with surnames Brooks fans will recognize are introduced and adds a touch of nostalgia to the story. I found the book to be very entertaining and hard to put down. For the first time Terry will be releasing this trilogy within a one year time period. Generally readers would have to wait a full year for the next novel to be released.If I had any critiques of the book it would be that there are certain elements that would be very unclear to non-fan readers. Terry mentions the black elfstone several times in the book, but never explains what is does. To those that have never read any of the previous book this relic would remain a mystery.Overall Terry has done an amazing job with this recent novel and I eagerly await the next installment, The Bloodfire Quest, due on March 19th. (Available for hardcover pre-order now, Kindle edition pre-order will be close to the release date.)

For fans of Brooks' Shannara series here comes a new trilogy expanding on the world and happenings. Set in a volatile period of Elven history, where science and technology is getting rediscovered by the races just as the magical power is slowly waning (the exception being the handful of druids still very much invested in it), it goes sufficiently far to be an intriguing volume drawing you into the new trilogy.A quest for finding long lost elfstones is one of the main threads in the book, the other being the defence of the druid order as such. While there is a partial resolution to the one part, the book is more or less only a scene setter to the other one.As the book is a scene setter for the rest of the trilogy, most of the characters are covered only vaguely - the exception being Aphenglow Elessedil, the female protagonist (elven druid). With her you get a reasonably well developed, rounded character.The book finds a reasonable balance between scene setting, character development and action sequences, and while the high number of characters only allows some of them to be developed fully (and some disappear before getting there), it all remains intriguing enough to look forward to the second and third installments to the trilogy. While I have read other Shannara works by the author, doing so is not essential (even if somewhat helpful) for one's enjoyment of the book.

Overall an enjoyable read,my only criticism is that the author keeps explaining various characters history,which I feel detracts and slows the pace of the story line,I know this might help readers who may reading Terry Brooks for the fist time ,but surely this would encourage them to find and read his earlier shanara epics.

Possibly the most brilliant thing Terry Brooks has done with his Shannara works is the creation of a world that spans thousands of years and evolves as a real world would.In this book we find ourselves roughly a century on from the events of the previous novels (previous in terms of chronology in the series not in written order) and the world has moved on again. Science is catching up with magic and a struggle for power is coming soon. To think that the Shannara series started with small little hamlets and kingdoms and now encompasses federations and cities shows how far these books have gone. With the addition of newer books that acted as prequels we have been with the Shannara series through the destruction of an old world, the rise of a new and the countless rise and falls of different powers be they the druid council, kingdoms or even the rule of magic itself.In all of the fantasy series I have ever read this is the first one to encompass so much change and it is the reason why every time you pick up a new Shannara series you can be sure that though instantly familiar as part of Terry Brook's world you are still in for a ride that feels just as fresh as ever.This book is the first in a trilogy of which the Druids undertake a quest to find a magic lost to the world since the time of the faerie. Whilst they are out on their quest however they leave themselves open to attack from the federation of men who want to see the druids and all magic wiped from the world.What follows is the beginning of what appears to be another gripping adventure for the Shannara world and possibly the beginning of a completely new era for the residents of the four lands.This was an enjoyable book as per usual and I am thoroughly looking forward to reading the next. Terry Brooks has wonderfully set the scene with this book, teasing us with what might be to come but leaving us with great amounts of questions that need to be answered.All in all a great book and I recommend to all Terry Brooks fans. For those who have not read his books I know that Mr Brooks does writes his novels so you can pick up any of the series and start afresh but I do recommend reading the previous novels to get a full history of this world.

I have read every one of the Shannara books and loved them all. I was therefore understandably thrilled when the third book of the latest trilogy was released - downloading the lot to read in one sitting. Sadly the book let itself down.The ending was poor, with far too many loose ends and convenient fixes. The beginning was also poor and far too drawn out, with a focus on word count, rather than quality. The middle was better written, but sadly only to the point of mediocre.The biggest let down though was the complete absence of plot - new plot, anyway. It seemed more like a mail-merge of the previous books than anything vaguely original. I have read the other books. If I want to read them again, then I can. I do not need to read what seems like a schoolchild's attempt to combine them into a new trilogy.Disappointed.

I considered myself a real fan and loved the original Shannara books back in the day. However was disappointed with this and felt it lacked that magical spark the original series had. I felt it to be written to a three-book formula which has become the norm in this genre of fiction. Is it that having found an original storyline the author/ess is compelled to do it to death over and over again to keep the pennies rolling in. I think I am becoming bored with this format of storytelling, where I cannot get the whole storey without committing to at least three books, with the second usually being a very iffey padding piece. Not sure I liked any of the characters sufficiently to pay another £10 to find out what happened to them, so sad.