Author: Terry Brooks
Terry Brooks was born in Illinois in 1944. He spent a great deal of his childhood and early adulthood dreaming up stories in and around Sinnissippi Park, the very same park that would eventually become the setting for his bestselling Word & Void trilogy. He received his undergraduate degree from Hamilton College, where he majored in English Literature, and went on to earn his graduate degree from the School of Law at Washington & Lee University.
A writer since high school, he wrote many stories within the genres of science fiction, western, and fiction but was unable to finish any project. Then one fateful semester early in college he was given The Lord of the Rings to read. That moment changed Terry’s life forever. In Tolkien’s great work he found all the elements needed to fully explore his writing combined in one genre.
Influenced by J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, The Sword of Shannara was begun by Brooks in 1967. It took him seven years to complete, as he was writing the novel while attending law school. After being accepted for publication by Ballantine Books, it was used to launch the company's new subsidiary, Del Rey Books. Its success provided a major boost to the commercial expansion of the fantasy genre.
Pedigree / Awards
1978 - Locus Fantasy Nominated
Review
The Sword of Shannara is one of the hallmarks of the fantasy genre and a personal favorite of mine. I first read this novel in 1980’s at the height of my Dungeons & Dragons phase. The story appealed to me and I have fond memories of the summer that I discovered Terry Brooks’ magnus opus. I decided to revisit the novel to see if it is as good as I remember but I decided to go with the Audio version this time around.
The novel starts off in typical fashion, a young person learns that his past is not what he thought is was and now he is in danger unless he takes up a quest to stop a great evil. Not wholly original but always a good beginning. In The Sword of Shannara the young person is Shea Olmsford. He is unexpectedly visited one day by the great Druid Allanon. Allanon explains that Shea is the last descendant of elven Jerle Shannara and is the only one left capable of wielding the Sword of Shannara against the evil Warlock Lord. Since Shea is only half elven he stayed under the radar when the Warlock Lord returned to the Skull Kingdom. Since the Sword of Shannara is the only weapon that can kill the Warlock Lord, he eventually discovers Shea’s presence and is looking to destroy him. The Warlock Lord sends a Skull Bearer into Olmsfords’ peaceful town of Shady Vale to kill Shea. Shea is forced to flee before it kills him and his beloved family.
So begins Shea’s and his half-brother, Flick’s, escape and mission to locate the Sword of Shannara in order to stop the Warlock Lord from ravaging their peaceful Shady Vale. As with most fantasy novels the path is never straight but a series of side quests and adventures that introduces the reader to fascinating places and other characters. Terry Brooks littered his story with the typical fantasy archetypes, humans, elves, dwarves, gnomes, trolls, etc. The humans live in Southland and away from the other races. They keep to themselves as they really have no interest or want to get involved with the politics and wars of the other races. As Shea has lived his whole life in the Southland he is unaware of the world around him. Shea’s adventure takes him to new and wondrous places, the reader also learns about this intriguing world.
The first hundred or so pages were a struggle to get through. A lot of it was just an info dump to set up the rest of the story. For me, the story began to take off when Shea teams up with Panamon Creel, a one-handed con man, and Keltset Mallicos, Panamon's mute troll companion. In fact, Panamon Creel and Keltset are my favorite characters of the entire novel. They kinda reminded me of Han Solo and Chewebacca from Star Wars. It still hit me pretty hard when Keltset dies saving the others late in the novel.
The ending and demise of the Warlock Lord is probably the weakest portion of the story. Throughout the story the legend of the Sword of Shannara is built up so that you expect a great battle. The Sword’s power is such that when held it tells the wielder the truth about their lives. In essence, the Warlock Lord is defeated by being forced to confront that he had deluded himself into believing that he was immortal. Poof, he just disappears and the land is saved. Yeah, the good guys win again.
In reality, this novel is solely about the confrontation with the Warlock Lord but it’s strength lies in the adventures and the characters are put through to reach the ending. In this area the novel still stands heads and shoulders above the crowd.
Besides the great story, the other reason this novel is so well known is the controversy that occurred when it was published in 1977 and it still rages today. The Sword of Shannara drew criticism from critics and fans that Brooks’ novel stole much from J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. In 1978, influential fantasy editor Lin Carter denounced The Sword of Shannara as "the single most cold-blooded, complete rip-off of another book that I have ever read" and that "Terry Brooks wasn't trying to imitate Tolkien's prose, just steal his story line and complete cast of characters, and [Brooks] did it with such clumsiness and so heavy-handedly, that he virtually rubbed your nose in it." Fans and defenders of Tolkien have taken up the cause and have blasted this novel at every opportunity. Go ahead and read some the reader reviews on Amazon and you will get a flavor of the pure vile hatred that this novel has created.
In my opinion, this controversy is much a do about nothing and it is highly unwarranted. I am so sick of the Tolkien fanatics decrying every work of fantasy as just another copy of the Lord of the Rings. It is total bunk. Tolkien did not invent the fantasy genre nor were his novels completely original. He also took universal concepts and incorporated them into his novels. I have never been a huge fan of The Lord of the Rings and have not put them on a pedestal that many people have.
The narration of the Audio Book is handled by Scott Brick. Mr. Brick does an adequate job in telling the story and never falters. I just wish they would have gone with someone with more a fantasy type of tone to give it more atmosphere. It felt just like a straight reading versus the higher production values that were used on other classic novels, such as Dune.
Last Word
On the second go around with this novel I enjoyed every bit as much and in some way much more. The characters really appealed to me much more than they did 20 years again. While not as complex as today’s fantasy novels, it is much more epic in scope and has that old school fantasy vibe that creates feelings like when you go back home again.
The Sword of Shannara deserves to be one of the touchstones of the fantasy genre and a must read for anyone who enjoys a good tale.
My Rating
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