By Terry Brooks
Note: I am arranging the Shannara books in the suggested reading order by Terry Brooks.
THE SHORT
In short, The Sword of Shannara will never win "Most Original Plotline". This is mainly due to the fact that Brooks actually just imposed his own characters over the personalities that had been created by J.R.R. Tolkien in his Lord of the Rings series. For example, striking parallels can be seen between the plot of TSOS (The Sword of Shannara) and between TFOTR (The Fellowship of the Ring). Even in the characters themselves, it merely reads like one of the familiar remakes of your favourite books. Also, Brooks overdid it with the plot, making it extremely confusing and kind of headache-causing. Too many things happen at too short intervals, all rushing at you as Brooks tries to squeeze a whole world-creating, adrenaline-rushing story into a single book. However, one must applaud Brooks for his creative imagining of a world, although he might have been a bit more elegant in his names. All in all, TSOS suffers from the flaws of a young, up-and-coming writer: Deriving too much from the old books, and not cutting enough new ground itself to be considered truly fantastical.
THE REVIEW
Firstly, there's the protagonist of the journey, Shea Ohmsford. A hybrid between a human and an Elf, one wonders what his whole motivation to be in this adventure is. He doubts himself over and over again in this book, doubting his ability, his future, and on and on. While it may portray a man torn between two sides, it actually conveys a sense of indecisiveness in Shea, giving me the impression that he is weak. There is also never any real character development, as Shea doesn't undergo any life-changing or harrowing experience that teaches him a valuable moral, unlike Frodo in LOTR when he has to resist the temptation of the Ring. Shea also is a burden to the rest of the group, getting poisoned by that creature before the Pass of Jade, getting swept away in the waterfall at the Dragon's Teeth, etcetera, etcetera. Shea seems like a one-off character, with whom Brooks has no intention of expanding and fleshing out to life.
The other members of Shea's company, Flick, Allanon, Menion, Balinor, Hendel, Durin and Dayel, are, on the other hand, too fleshed out. Brooks spends way too much time dwelling on these characters, and deviates attention from Shea to focus on the less important part of this book. At times it seems as though Brooks has completely forgotten who is the protagonist. And due to the many characters in the book, Brooks simply doesn't have enough time to focus on all of them, and it ends up that all of them seem dead and lifeless. We feel absolutely no connection to these characters, and also to all of the secondary characters like Keltset or Pannamon Creel.
The expected epic battle between Shea with the Sword of Shannara versus the Warlock Lord does not live up to its expectations, as the power of the Sword is not invincibility, but the power to make people...see the truth? What? Underwhelming, the Warlock Lord does not give us that awesome sense of doom and death that is present with Sauron.
One of the themes explored in this book is the theme of belief in oneself. Shea has to believe in himself to wield the Sword, and defeats the Warlock Lord when the Lord's belief in himself falters. This is thoroughly fleshed out in this book, and actually gives this book at uplifting tone, that if you believe in yourself, you can do anything. One of the better things in this book, the theme here fits the book very well, creative and original, different from the theme in LOTR. This sets TSOS apart from other high fantasy novels, as Brooks gives this book a new lease of life with this never-before explored theme.
Now let's take a look at the striking similarities between The Lord of the Rings and The Sword of Shannara. First, let's look at the plot. A little man lives in peace, isolated from the rest of the world, until a wizard shows up to tell him that someone thought dead now lives again and threatens the world. The wizard tells the man that he is special and he needs to travel to a safe haven. The wizard then leaves unexpectedly. Suddenly, a mysterious being arrives to remind them of the danger. They race to the safe haven, encountering another man who promises to help them. They then reach the haven, and a company is formed to travel beyond mountains to reach a place where they can find/destroy an ancient artefact. On the journey they lose the wizard, who later comes back unexpectedly. Sound familiar? That's because it's the exact same premise as The Lord of the Rings. One feels let down by the lack of originality displayed by Brooks, for which he has been derided.
Also, the characters are remarkably similar. Too similar. Just take a look at all the strikingly exact characters: Brona/Warlock Lord is Sauron/Necromancer, Allanon is Gandalf, Shea and Flick are the hobbits, Hendel is Gimli, Durin and Dayel are Legolas. Also, the places are very, very similar: Culhaven is Rivendell, Storlock is Lorien.
On the subject of plot, Brooks is able to create a masterful and engaging plotline, but unfortunately he squeezes it into one book. As such, what would have been an excellent plot for two or three books, is instead far, far too rushed for TSOS. Everything comes at the protagonists quickly, leaving them with hardly any rest and us no spaces to breath. While some elements of the plot are original, one feels that it definitely could have used a few resting places.
In conclusion, TSOS is not the most original high fantasy novel, borrowing heavily from LOTR, but it certainly has a few creative elements. These give a few glimpses into the mind of Brooks, whose full potential has not yet been realized.
Rating: 7.2/10
Advice: Certainly not to be at the top of your "To-Read" list, but it certainly merits a place there. Perhaps at the middle.
I have to give Terry Brooks credit for trying to create his own fantasy series. However, the lack of originality in The Sword of Shannara kind of betrays the sense of wonder that Brooks had been trying to create.
Next week: Watch as a scandal plays out in Bohemia, and a speckled band is more than it seems... I return to the late 19th century with Sherlock Holmes and his Boswell, Dr. Watson, as they solve a series of the best mysteries of all time. However, are these mysteries worthy of the great detective? Or are they merely brain puzzles, not smart enough to challenge him? I review The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes next week!
The expected epic battle between Shea with the Sword of Shannara versus the Warlock Lord does not live up to its expectations, as the power of the Sword is not invincibility, but the power to make people...see the truth? What? Underwhelming, the Warlock Lord does not give us that awesome sense of doom and death that is present with Sauron.
One of the themes explored in this book is the theme of belief in oneself. Shea has to believe in himself to wield the Sword, and defeats the Warlock Lord when the Lord's belief in himself falters. This is thoroughly fleshed out in this book, and actually gives this book at uplifting tone, that if you believe in yourself, you can do anything. One of the better things in this book, the theme here fits the book very well, creative and original, different from the theme in LOTR. This sets TSOS apart from other high fantasy novels, as Brooks gives this book a new lease of life with this never-before explored theme.
Now let's take a look at the striking similarities between The Lord of the Rings and The Sword of Shannara. First, let's look at the plot. A little man lives in peace, isolated from the rest of the world, until a wizard shows up to tell him that someone thought dead now lives again and threatens the world. The wizard tells the man that he is special and he needs to travel to a safe haven. The wizard then leaves unexpectedly. Suddenly, a mysterious being arrives to remind them of the danger. They race to the safe haven, encountering another man who promises to help them. They then reach the haven, and a company is formed to travel beyond mountains to reach a place where they can find/destroy an ancient artefact. On the journey they lose the wizard, who later comes back unexpectedly. Sound familiar? That's because it's the exact same premise as The Lord of the Rings. One feels let down by the lack of originality displayed by Brooks, for which he has been derided.
Also, the characters are remarkably similar. Too similar. Just take a look at all the strikingly exact characters: Brona/Warlock Lord is Sauron/Necromancer, Allanon is Gandalf, Shea and Flick are the hobbits, Hendel is Gimli, Durin and Dayel are Legolas. Also, the places are very, very similar: Culhaven is Rivendell, Storlock is Lorien.
On the subject of plot, Brooks is able to create a masterful and engaging plotline, but unfortunately he squeezes it into one book. As such, what would have been an excellent plot for two or three books, is instead far, far too rushed for TSOS. Everything comes at the protagonists quickly, leaving them with hardly any rest and us no spaces to breath. While some elements of the plot are original, one feels that it definitely could have used a few resting places.
In conclusion, TSOS is not the most original high fantasy novel, borrowing heavily from LOTR, but it certainly has a few creative elements. These give a few glimpses into the mind of Brooks, whose full potential has not yet been realized.
Rating: 7.2/10
Advice: Certainly not to be at the top of your "To-Read" list, but it certainly merits a place there. Perhaps at the middle.
I have to give Terry Brooks credit for trying to create his own fantasy series. However, the lack of originality in The Sword of Shannara kind of betrays the sense of wonder that Brooks had been trying to create.
Next week: Watch as a scandal plays out in Bohemia, and a speckled band is more than it seems... I return to the late 19th century with Sherlock Holmes and his Boswell, Dr. Watson, as they solve a series of the best mysteries of all time. However, are these mysteries worthy of the great detective? Or are they merely brain puzzles, not smart enough to challenge him? I review The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes next week!
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