Terry Brooks has received a great deal of criticism over the years because of the similarity of hisfirst book The Sword of Shannara and Lord of the Rings. Whatever else maybe said about Brooks his writing certainly improves from book to book and The Scions of Shannara is no exception.
Set a few generations after the events of a wishsong of Shannara, the world has certainly changed. The elves have inexplicably disappeared, the federation controls most of the land and has enslaved the dwarves and outlawed magic. Most of the events that took place in the previous novels are now considered legends, when they are remembered at all. Par and Coll Ohmsford try and spread the tales of the ancestors, aided by Par’s ability to use the wishsong. The federation of course don’t like this and setout to capture them. Meanwhile The shade of Allanon has been sending dreams to the Ohmsfords that still retain magic, Par, his uncle Walker Boh and his cousin Wren warning them of a threat posed by the shadowan, dreams which they have been ignoring. Cogline, a failed druid is sent to tell them the dreams are real and summon them to meet with the shade so he can set them tasks, recovering the sword of shannara, finding the elves and restoring paranor. However Allanon has often used the Ohmsfords before, can he be trusted? Descendents of other characters from previous volumes are also around.
Brooks has a strong, descriptive style of writing that is easy to read. Most of the story is told from Par’s perspective but there are sections from Walker Boh’s, Wren’s and a few secondary characters as well. These are likely to increase in subsequent novels. The only real criticism I have is the similarities some of the characters have to there ancestors. Par is very similar to Shea, Col to Flick and Morgan Leah to the other Leah’s that have come before.
Overall Scions does a good job of setting the series up for the subsequent three books. 7.5/10.
Set a few generations after the events of a wishsong of Shannara, the world has certainly changed. The elves have inexplicably disappeared, the federation controls most of the land and has enslaved the dwarves and outlawed magic. Most of the events that took place in the previous novels are now considered legends, when they are remembered at all. Par and Coll Ohmsford try and spread the tales of the ancestors, aided by Par’s ability to use the wishsong. The federation of course don’t like this and setout to capture them. Meanwhile The shade of Allanon has been sending dreams to the Ohmsfords that still retain magic, Par, his uncle Walker Boh and his cousin Wren warning them of a threat posed by the shadowan, dreams which they have been ignoring. Cogline, a failed druid is sent to tell them the dreams are real and summon them to meet with the shade so he can set them tasks, recovering the sword of shannara, finding the elves and restoring paranor. However Allanon has often used the Ohmsfords before, can he be trusted? Descendents of other characters from previous volumes are also around.
Brooks has a strong, descriptive style of writing that is easy to read. Most of the story is told from Par’s perspective but there are sections from Walker Boh’s, Wren’s and a few secondary characters as well. These are likely to increase in subsequent novels. The only real criticism I have is the similarities some of the characters have to there ancestors. Par is very similar to Shea, Col to Flick and Morgan Leah to the other Leah’s that have come before.
Overall Scions does a good job of setting the series up for the subsequent three books. 7.5/10.
Hey I found your post blog after searching up for other reviews of Brooks' work. I made it my goal to read all his Shannara stuff. I'm glad to see I'm not the only one.
ReplyDelete