The Heritage of Shannara [Paperback]

Terry Brooks (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Del Rey (2003)
• ASIN: B000OVZLBS
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)

More About the Author

Terry Brooks is the New York Times bestselling author of more than twenty-five books, including the Genesis of Shannara novels Armageddon's Children and The Elves of Cintra; The Sword of Shannara; the Voyage of the Jerle Shannara trilogy: Ilse Witch, Antrax, and Morgawr; the High Druid of Shannara trilogy: Jarka Ruus, Tanequil, and Straken; the nonfiction book Sometimes the Magic Works: Lessons from a Writing Life; and the novel based upon the screenplay and story by George Lucas, Star Wars(R): Episode I The Phantom Menace.(tm) His novels Running with the Demon and A Knight of the Word were selected by the Rocky Mountain News as two of the best science fiction/fantasy novels of the twentieth century. The author was a practicing attorney for many years but now writes full-time. He lives with his wife, Judine, in the Pacific Northwest.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Best of the Shannara Books, November 30, 2003

By 

Avid Reader (Willow Springs, MO United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Heritage of Shannara (Hardcover)

The Heritage of Shannara series is, by far, the best of Brooks' Shannara series. The Sword of Shannara is good, but you can see where the author has developed into a better writer with this set of books. The characters are much more three dimensional, the magic is new and unusual, and the plotting is exceptional. Brooks is sometimes accused of being the Stephen Spielberg/George Lucas of the fantasy world, and he's certainly no Robert Jordan or Tolkien, but the books are good on their own merits. I feel like Brooks reached the pinnacle of the Shannara series with this set. The books that follow - The Voyage of the Jerle Shannara - don't come close to being this good. This set of four books in one hardbound edition is definitely worth the price.

26 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I don't think I can recommend this one enough, April 16, 2005

By 

Piotr Wilkin (Warsaw, Poland) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Heritage of Shannara (Hardcover)

After reading the Sword of Shannara, I had my strong doubts about Brooks' writing. Since I have a nasty habit of buying multiple books of the same author at once, I was wandering if the purchase would be worth it. Reading the Elfstones and the Wishsong soothed my doubts a bit. The books were getting constantly better and I certainly wasn't down for a big disappointment.

But nothing could have prepared me for the Heritage of Shannara series. Compared to the (overall really good) books from the Sword of Shannara series, these are absolute masterworks. This time, it isn't four separate stories, but one story in four separate parts. And it is absolutely breathtaking. I must admit, the saga actually merits the adjective "epic" in all possible meanings. Brooks meticulously describes his world, giving it a feel unlike any fantasy world I have ever encountered save Middle-Earth. From the Sword of Shannara, which was an almost exact copy of Lord of the Rings, it seemed that Brooks was chasing Tolkien's ghost. Now, with this series, I might make the heretical statement that he might have caught up. I'm not saying this tetralogy compares to LoTR - Tolkien's masterpiece is uncomparable with anything else in the fantasy genre. But it is a wonderful work indeed.

Brooks develops his characters extremely well. The descriptions, as usually for him, are very convincing and give us a very good feel of his world. And his ability to intertwine plotlines between the various characters, something that many authors (take Jordan, for example) had been unable to successfully do, is absolutely magnificent. He leads three main, independent plotlines, with side events all over, without ever making me feel there's any lack of coherence or casuality.

What is even more important probably is that he managed to transcend the traditional genre cliche and the plot concepts are actually quite innovative. You won't be seeing the typical "hero moves against bad guy and wins against overwhelming odds" cliche very much around here, unlike in the Sword series. This time, the matters which the characters are set to handle run much deeper, the conclusions much less simple and the ways to them less clear. The development of characters is also something you'll surely enjoy here.

You're still having doubts? Don't. This series is absolutely magnificent. You won't regret reading this one bit, I can't really think of a fantasy reader category that would outright dislike this book. If you're wondering what fantasy book to buy and the alternative isn't LoTR, then hesitate no more.

18 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Overall a great addition to the incredible Shannara Epics, August 26, 2003

By 

Jeff Edwards "RadioJeff" (Twin Falls, Idaho) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Heritage of Shannara (Hardcover)

After reading the original 'Sword of Shannara' back in oh, I think it was '78 I have been a HUGE supporter of Terry Brooks as one of THE most talented authors working today, and easily one of the most creative. When I first spotted 'Scions' I nearly fell over with excitement. Even though I admit I had absolutely NO idea what the word 'Scions' meant, I didn't really care! It said, 'Shannara' on the front and that was all I needed. I also admit as I reached the conclusion to this first novel I had NO idea it was book 1 of a series. I recall thinking with around 100 pages left to go, how in the WORLD could he wrap all of this up so quickly? My answer came at the last page when I saw the notice that the story would continue in 'The Druid of Shannara'.This did two things simultaneously: INFURIATED ME for forcing me to wait an additional year to read what happens next & it made me thrilled to know that I wouldn't have to wait 4-5 years before another Shannra novel came out.

I felt that 'Scions' was THE PERFECT way to start off this series. True to the history of the rich tales of the 4 Lands, the Shade of Allanon calls together the 'Scions' of the house of Shannara and charges each of them a task which on the surface seems not just difficult, but downright impossible. Par & his brother Coll are instructed to locate the lost Sword of Shannara. The Dark Uncle, Walker Boh is given the task of returning Paranor to the world and in so doing become a Druid himself -- which he despises, and finally Wren is charged with bringing back the Elves. Elves, WHAT elves? The entire Elven city of Arborlon disappeared -- literally -- years before and nobody has a clue as to what happened to them, and of course Allanon is vague at best in helping them to achieve these goals.

'The Druid of Shannara' has been my least favorite of all the Shannara novels and to this day I can't exactly put my finger on why that is. Maybe it was the pace of the story of Walker traveling to Eldwist to discover the Black Elfstone in order to restore Paranor. I was originally excited to see what would happen to him after his ill-fated trip which cost him his arm, but for some reason, the story just didn't move for me. Maybe I need to read this one again.

'The Elf Queen' is one of my favorite of ALL the Shannara stories. The voyage to the island, the travel through the jungle of demons and finally reaching the fabled destination of Arborlon was a journey well worth taking. Truly the high point of this 4 book series.

'The Talismans' has probably the best opening of ANY Shannara novel to date. Absolutely stunning the way Brooks takes us to the newly restored Druid's Keep and uses the Four Horsemen to trap Walker from leaving. I couldn't have asked for a better way to start off this final novel in the Heritage series. Unfortunately I've felt that with about 60 or so pages left it seemed as though the loose ends were all tied together a bit too quickly for my personal tastes, almost as if Terry was attempting to hit the deadline and wrapped things up way too fast -- but that is just MY opinion.

Overall the Heritage series is a great addition to the incredible Shannara Epics and 3 of the four novels are truly exceptional. Highly recommended, especially for fantasy lovers.