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Fantasy. Fiction. HTML:In the far future, unbeknown to humankind, an apocalyptic war is brewing. Fearsome, vengeful Demons rage at the boundaries of the world, held at bay by a spell called the Forbidding. But now that barrier is dying. Evil is beginning to break through. And only the Chosen can banish the Demons back to their realm. Wil Ohmsford is a healer, not a fighter; a man of duty, not great deeds. But this epic battle seeks him out, for he holds the Elfstones: mysterious protective talismans passed down by his grandfather. Wil is recruited to act as guardian to the Elf girl Amberle, who must venture far to deliver a seed that will help the Forbidding to grow again. The fate of civilization rests upon her shoulders�??and the completion of her mission rests upon Wil's. Now, as the forces of darkness descend, Wil and Amberle embark on a perilous journey, placing their faith in each other to survive the bloodthirsty terrors that await. Praise for Terry Brooks "Shannara was one of my favorite fictional worlds growing up, and I look forward to many return trips."�??Karen Russell, author of Swamplandia! "If Tolkien is the grandfather of modern fantasy, Terry Brooks is its favorite uncle."�??Peter V. Brett, author of The Skull Throne "A great storyteller, Terry Brooks creates rich epics filled with mystery, magic, and memorable characters."�??Christopher Paolini, author of Eragon From the Paperback e… (more)
User reviews
The reason that I say that this book suffers from sequelitis is because, like most sequels, it is set after the original book (and in this case, it is fifty years) and it turns out the great evil that was defeated in the original book wasn't actually all that great because there is an even greater evil out there that must be defeated so that everybody may once again live in peace. Also, despite the fact that this is listed as the second book in a trilogy, it appears that a trilogy was never actually planned but came about due to the success of the first book, so a sequel is written so as to capitalise upon that success (something that we see all too often come out of Hollywood).
What is interesting is that I have been forced to think about the idea of 'what is fantasy' recently because somebody actually asked me that question. I had to think about it, and have come to realise that modern fantasy is much different to what the original fantasy stories were. These days they are just a form of escapism and entertainment and do not come very close to what we would consider to be literature.
When considering the origins of fantasy I generally look back centuries before Lord of the Rings was written: basically to the Ancient Greeks. Here we have what could be considered two foundations, first of all that of the myth, and secondly that of the allegory. The best example of the myth would be the Odyssey and with this story the original hearers would actually look up at Odysseus as a character after which they could model their lives. He was a hero in the true sense of the word because he was in fact a role model. These days with modern fantasy, such as this book, we would not be reading it to consider the protagonist as a shining example of humanity for which we can follow. This is certainly the case here, and in Lord of the Rings.
The second form is what I would call allegory, and Plato's description of Atlantis is an example of this. Here Plato is creating an imaginary nation as an example of what he believes a good and just nation looks like. Allegory also takes a different form in that it is also satire. Lucian of Samotosa and Aristosphanes are examples of ancient writers using fantasy in that way, but then there are also modern writers, such as Jonathon Swift and C.S. Lewis. However I hesitate to consider Tolkien to be a form of allegory since he hated the idea.
Tolkien, however, is not necessarily the father of modern fantasy either, because prior to him (and Lewis) we have stories such as Barsoom and Conan which, while not morality tales or allegory, they were fantasy, but more in the sense that they were adventure stories that would appear in boys magazines. The development of fantasy here was in essence the adventure, but in a sense it was taking the unknown to a new level. As the world became smaller, and the unknown (such as darkest Africa) became known writers would expand their horizons: Conan going to the mists of history, before the waters covered Atlantis, and John Carter leaving the confines of this world to explore the countless other worlds beyond our atmosphere.
That, in the end, is what modern fantasy probably is, namely adventure stories set in the unknown, targeted at a specific set of interests. Gone are the morality tales and the allegories – they are not needed anymore in our postmodern world where everything is right, as long as it does not infringe upon the rights and health of other people – morality is no longer objective but subjective, and we see that shift as we move from the 80s fantasy of Eddings and Brooks, to the fantasy of the naughties with the likes of George R.R. Martin.
I liked this book because it was crammed full of adventure, and there were many cliffhangers. Everytime you put it down, it keeps nagging at your brain until you read it again. Over all it is a great book!
There are a lot of similarities to Sword, which I know wind a lot of people up..bringing forth nasty
It’s a fast, fun, fantasy read. Nothing too intricate or challenging, but hey, that’s the best bit sometimes.
Wil, the grandson of Shea, is a healer. Inspired by the death of his parents by a fever, he has been studying at Storlock, and
Amberle is sweet and innocent, and so full of fear. She was delighted and honored to be one of the Chosen, the first woman in centuries, and proud that the Ellcrys spoke to her far more than to the others, but she started to feel that the tree was stealing her identity, or sense of self.
Eretria is strong, able and full of herself, yet she still manages to be somewhat vulnerable. When you learn what Cephelo has planned for her you can't help but feel bad for her, and even more so when you learn how she came to be in Cephelo's camp. I loved how protective she was of Wisp
Allanon, as before, was the puppet master, getting people to do what he wanted to save the world. Oh, in some ways I like Allanon, and he does seem to love the world. He will do anything to save the races,but if you are the instrument he chooses to use to save them, don't count on him trying to save you. He would sacrifice any person to save the world, though he doesn't seem to care much for the individual person.
I found the way that Eventine favored his older son to be very annoying. Why couldn't he love both his children? This one flaw made him seem far less heroic then he might have otherwise. Especially because of how obnoxious Arion is. Arion is arrogant and condescending. He begins to damage his relationship with Ander because Amberle turned more to Ander for comfort after the death of her father, rather than to Arion. From there Arion continued to try to diminish Ander's part in the kingdom, and is stupid enough to be angry at Ander for standing with Amberle when she was the best hope the world had, and she disliked that even more than any of the others. Sadly, Eventine's behavior even managed to throw a shadow over his legacy from the last book.
I was saddened to learn that Balinor had no children, though I did like Stee Jans a lot, and he probably wouldn't have come, or at the very least, he wouldn't have been so prominent a character, had Balinor had children who were willing to come to the aid of the elves. I was also somewhat disappointed that we didn't learn what happened to Panamon Creel, or what happened to Menion, especially after the big deal that the Sword of Shannara made of his instalove with Shirl Ravenlock. I was disappointed that we didn't see Durin and Dayel again. We were in their home after all. I was also somewhat taken aback when we didn't get to see Shea again, though I was delighted we got to see Flick. Poor Flick, he knew that Allanon couldn't be trusted to take care of Wil, but Wil went with him anyway. Not that he really had much of a choice since otherwise they likely would have had only a few more months or maybe a year til they were all killed by demons, but still, Flick was right when he told Wil not to trust Allanon.
I was glad to see that Keltset's sacrifice was not in vain and the trolls came to the aid of the elves, though from the looks of the trailers, the TV show probably ruined that.
The plot was more unique--or at least less obviously pulled from the Lord of the Rings then was that of the Sword, and I was glad to see some strong women for main characters, but I thought there were more points where the plot was weak in this book than in the Sword.
One thing that I forgot to mention in my review of the Sword is that I really like the way that all the races (except for the elves) are referred to as men or as mankind, even the gnomes, even when they are fighting for an evil cause and willing to wipe out everyone else, their humanity is still acknowledged.
Overall I still really like this series, though as with the last book, I don't know how a conflict could possibly be more dangerous than this one was.
All of the characters in this book were great. I had no one favorite. Although at first I was not jiving with Wil. I thought he came off as weak and I felt that Amberle was going to have to carry all of the weight for the both of them. Yet, there were a few moments where Wil really did step up when it counted. I flew through the rest of this book and I can't wait until the next one arrives in the mail so I can read it. I will also be checking out the other books by Mr. Brooks.
Wil Ohmsford, the last of the Shannara bloodline is recruited by Allanon, the last of the Druids, to escort Amberele on her misson to save the Ellcrys, a misson that
It's not a bad story and I enjoyed it, though there are times when it got a little cliched. It's a well worn story and Terry Brooks does a good job of telling the tale. It was worth re-reading. I do intend to continue reading this series.
The second book in Brooks' epic Shannara universe by publication, he abandoned the Tolkien imitation of his first book to really find his own vision as an author. While there is groundwork laid in the first book- the
Before the Old World, with its technology and superweapons (our world), there was the time of Faerie. The King of the Silver River had his origins in this time, as did the "real" inspirations for much of human mythology. These creatures lived in magic and used it as naturally as breathing- and they went to war, those who reveled in evil and destruction against those who did not.
In the city of the Elves, there is a special tree, the Ellcrys. And she is dying. And with her dying it is revealed that she was the answer to the war in Faerie- for the Elves were one of the Faery races, and used their magic to seal the "Demon" races away in the Forbidding- the Forbidding that is maintained by the Ellcrys. She must be reborn- one of her Chosen must take her seed to the Earthfire to bathe it, so the Forbidding can be made anew.
But the Demons, the strongest, are already breaking free. Most of the Chosen are slaughtered. Allanon, last of the Druids, is needed to hold the line with the now all-but-human Elves, whose nature embraced change and evolution. So he turns to Wil Ohmsford, grandson of Shea, and inheritor by him of the blue Elfstones, the seeking stones that protect the bearer, to guard the last Chosen on her journey.
Wil may look like an Elf, as did his grandfather- but Wil is but 1/8th Elf. The Elfstones don't always work for him- and he can feel something inside him changing as they do. And he finds himself falling for the young Elfmaid, and desperate to protect her. And in the Westlands of the Elves, it is war- steel against tooth, claw, magic, and the savagery of ages imprisoned.