FB

What a great sequel to the first book in the series! Mr Brooks has abandoned the majority of characters from the first book while still retaining the shape and feel of the world. An exploration of the Westland awaits the readers when a threat from the deep past of the Elves announces itself once again.

This book continues the amazement first experienced in the quest for the sword of Shannara while not leaving a new reader lost attempting to puzzle out what happened previously. The reader can see that Mr Brooks has become more accomplished in his writing style and story development. The book progresses at a fast pace that will leave readers enthralled as the story unfolds.

Highly recommended. First read over 30 years ago. This book has lost none of the sense of wonder over this time period. An amazing installment in the Shannara catalogue!

See the Riftwar from the other side of the Rift. Journey to Kelewan and meet a people previously known to the readers as invaders. Meet Mara of the Acoma and experience the trials and tribulations of this young woman as she grapples with the testing nature of ruling her house and managing the machinations of the great political game within the Empire of Tsurannuanni. Watch her transform from a naive former religious trainee to a skilled ruler with a high level of political nous. On this journey you will meet a vast range of characters, both those extremely loyal to Mara and those harbouring great hatred and ill-will towards our main character.

Having being exposed to the land of Kelewan during Feist's Riftwar saga it is lovely to see a greater exposition of this land through the eyes of natives rather than the characters from Midkemia. The reader gets a greater sense of what drives these peoples, where their will to conquer comes from and this makes the Riftwar saga all the more rounded as a whole. At its heart, this is a story of growing up in the midst of hardship and loss, while also being a story of progression and endeavour while being beset with troubles.

The combination of authors, Feist and Wurts, appears to be a match made in heaven. While retaining the fast paced action and storyline progression of the earlier Feist works, this book (and series) exhibits the exemplary characterisation that one has come to expect from Janny Wurts. The story flows through the characters rather than around them. The characters are three dimensional and appear to leap off the pages as you experience their individual journeys.

I can't recommend this book (and series) highly enough. The authors have created a masterpiece that on the whole is greater than the sum of its individual parts. I thoroughly recommend this book, it is one of the greatest completed fantasy stories written.

And so it begins, the start of one of the greatest sagas in fantasy fiction. The wheel turns and as it does the reader is introduced to a whole host of characters that one cannot but become fond of. The characters jump off the page at you so real is the characterisation, which the author should be wholly commended for. You can understand their motivations, their fears, their reasons for a particular course of action and their manipulations. This book feeds the reader information that is relevant to this book in particular while cautiously dropping little tidbits of information about the world for the reader to wonder about at a later stage. This of course makes the book a joy to experience on a subsequent re-read, where the real value in the Wheel of Time saga exists. It constantly rewards the re-reader as aha!!! moments continue apace.

While this book is the beginning of a 14 book journey, and of course it takes a valiant effort to stay the course, it is totally worth it as this is a very enjoyable introduction to this world. Unlike the other books in the series that cannot be self-contained due to the nature of series', this book completes its own story while laying the groundwork for the rest of the books to continue. So in effect, it can be read on its own and the reader stop there should they choose so. But one must wonder why anyone would do so after such an introduction to the story.

Read the book, meet the characters, discover a world that is undergoing change, experience the horrors that this change brings about and finally, uncover a story that will enthrall you and captivate you as your own personal Age will have come and passed.

Another fantastic addition to the fantasy world that houses the Shannara descendants. The author has found a way to bring a great sense of tension to the latest installment in this initial trilogy. Again, another whole host of characters for the reader to become acquainted with. Set in the Eastland, where the reader has not had much introduction to and finds themselves thrust straight into the action that becomes more and more unrelenting as the tension escalates in all aspects of the story. A thoroughly enthralling read and worthy addition to the Shannara canon.

Remains a fantastic read 30 years after first reading this book!