Customer Reviews

The World Of Shannara

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

This hefty tome is a companion to Terry Brooks' Shannara books. Written in the form of a narrative penned by someone with access to the Druid Histories, it attempts (and largely succeeds) in presenting all of the known facts about the world, its history and its inhabitants. It contains fifteen (if I counted right) chapters, each on different subjects, complete with maps, diagrams and sidebars on fascinating subjects.

Overall, I did like this book. I enjoyed that the authors put the information from so many books into a well organized, deeply informing narrative. Having the world condensed and organized so well brought back so much of the fascination I felt when reading the first Shannara books so long ago.

The downside is that the book really should not be read instead of the storybooks. As I read, I quickly realized that the book assumes that the reader has already read the other books, and as such leaves certain information out. Having not read certain book in so long, I found that I had to stretch to remember key facts, so that certain parts would make sense.

That said, though, this book is quite fascinating. I loved the plentiful illustrations, the maps, and (especially) the diagrams of such things as Paranor and Dun Fee Aran. So, if you are a fan of Terry Brooks, then I highly recommend that you get this book!

Everything about this book screams one major thing: RESEARCH. The authors have spent a great deal of time studying the works of Terry Brooks and went to great lengths to include as much as possible about what was available at the time of the printing. Basically nothing was omitted -- that I could see anyway. Details about things I never would have even thought about have been explored in great detail. No stone was left un-turned, so-to-speak.

I have (over the years) developed a basic mental image of what many places and things look like in my minds eye and there are a few that do not meet up with the description I had conjured up in my own imagination, but that didn't stop my enjoyment of learning quite a bit about the history behind the 4 Lands portrayed (along with Parkasia) over the past 26 years in the World of Shannara.

The maps alone were of great interest. Major detail regarding the Druids Keep (VERY well done) and I also very much enjoyed the hundreds of drawings (some color, some black & white) which helped to put a detailed face with the description of many of the best loved Shannara characters over the years such as Garret Jax, The Ilse Witch, The Dagda Mor and even Creepers.

I must admit that since it was written by someone as though they had miraculous never-before-seen access to the Druid Histories it gave the book a more novel-like feel to it, and made it seem much more realistic, as though the authors were documenting a REAL place and not one from a fertile imagination. Very clever and I just cannot get over the incredible attention to detail regarding even some of the most mundane portions of these novels.

Ever wonder about Wren Elessedil and her mentor the Rover Garth? How 'bout the Loden Elfstone for use in time of need. Curious about the Ellcrys Staff, the gift of living wood? What about the history of the Borderlands and those who inhabit that land? It's ALL here -- and a whole LOT more. One thing you do NOT want to do is buy this book expecting an entirely different Shannara tale or something that will add to what has already been written and published. The World of Shannara is nothing more than a companion volume which simply put compiles in one single book the major details regarding ALL of the books (written at the time it was printed). It's a great way to quickly reference virtually any major subject in the vast collection of Shannara tales that have been told. I have no doubt that an expanded edition will be made available within a few years with additional information collected from the more recent novels, but until then, this book will do just fine.

I am very satisfied with my copy of 'The World of Shannara' and as usual, look forward to Terry's next venture into this wonderful fantasy land.

Well, it's certainly interesting. It fleshed out a little of the history I've always wondered about, and clarified the various forms of creepers. The pictures were nice, and as somebody who has a hard time imagining floor-plans and layouts from narration I can use the various blueprints of buildings to understand better the next time I re-read.

There are a few annoying inconsistencies about dates. Also, the alleged connection between Garet Jax and Stee Jans doesn't mesh too easily with what we read in Wishsong. These are quibbles, of course.

I wish, however, that they had deferred release of this until after Morgawr. I could tell that they didn't want to spoil Antrax, so they make reference to things from Ilse Witch but not Antrax. I think Antrax introduced enough new things into the storyline to deserve a place in the companion book. Instead you just read "Bek went away to a distant land on an airship" and "Ice Henge has a city of the Old World, and the city is rumored to contain secrets of the Old World." Well, now we know all about it. I suppose they can release a new companion in a few years and make more money.

Overall, it's interesting, but nothing spectacular, and if I weren't starved for good brain-candy I'd have waited for the paperback version. A few short stories would have changed my mind, but that is not to be, I guess.

This is a coffee-table companion book to Terry Brooks' ongoing Shannara epic fantasy series. It's by the same lady who did The World of Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time. It has the same format of that book, in that it's a history of the world with illustrations of characters, places, and events sprinkled throughout. But it's different in that it makes reference to all of the Shannara books, from the First King prequel all the way up to the recent Voyage of the Jerle Shannara trilogy.

I really liked this book because it covers a lot of ground. It includes: 1) An overview of the history of the world. There is a brief tantalizing hint that Terry Brooks' Word and Void series might actually be a prequel to the Shannara books, in that demons are blamed for setting off the Great Wars that destroyed the Old World of Man, otherwise known as our modern-day world. 2) A history of the Druids, complete with blueprints of Paranor and profiles of key figures such as Allanon, Bremen, Walker Boh, Cogline, and founder Galaphile. 3) A chapter on the mysterious Realm of the Dead and Hall of Kings. 4) A history of the Southland, home to Man and the Federation, and a place that has not been featured much in the books. 5) An outline of the Ohmsford and Leah families, complete with a giant Ohmsford family tree. 6) A history of the Borderlands, from the kingdom of Callahorn to the Free Born. 7) A history of the Northland, home to Trolls and the former lair of the Warlock Lord. 8) A history of the Eastland, including the evolution of the dwarf nation and it's battle with human and gnome invaders. 9) A history of the Westland, including a long look at the Elves and a chapter on Wing Riders and Rovers. 10) A brief overview of the new continent of Parkasia featured in the Jerle Shannara books and of Faerie creatures such as the King of the Silver River and demons like the Furies.

My favorite parts: 1) The full map of the world. 2) The beautiful pictures of Amberle Elessedil and the Ellcrys Tree, the Meade Garden of the Dwarves, fighting Rocs, and the big-breasted witch sisters of the Wilderun. 3) Pictures and background on the Trolls, Dwarves, Southland Federation, and Skull Bearers. My least favorite parts: 1) A silly portrait of Brin Ohmsford that made her look like a mall brat. 2) No pictures of Gnomes, Urdas, Spider Gnomes, or Mwellrats. 3) The repetition.

All in all, this is a great companion book. But you should only get it if you've read all the books, otherwise there are spoilers galore.

Shannara has long been a powerfully epic fantasy series, and it now comes even more fully to life with the publication of this book. Richly detailed, beautifully illustrated, and every bit as absorbing as any of the novels, this tome brings into full view the cast and breathtakingly detailed world spawned from Terry Brooks' imagination.

Descriptions of all the major characters, as well as details on their homelands and histories. Ever wondered just exactly what Paranor's lyout was like? Its in here. Maps, sketches, and detailed descriptions.

This is without a doubt a must-own for any true Shannara fan.

If you ever wonder you was the Blacksmith who forged the Sword of Shannnara? Or wanted to know more about the early Druids, then this book is for you. This book gives you a fairly comprehensive if somewhat cursorary look at the world of Shannara. Even things in Isle Witch are included but Anthrax is not. It is not quite as in depth as I had hoped but there are many little intersting tidbits that make it worth buying if you are a true Shannara fan. The biggest problem is the organistion is frustrating. The book is divided into the different lands and basically written as a history of these lands. So if you want to know more about Shea you have to read in the Southland portion until you come across it. This is all well and good if you want to read it cover to cover but if you just want to get some refresh your memory on certain characters it is hard to find them if you can't remeber where they were from. In addition, there is no index and many minor characters aren't even mention. Still it does help the reader to better visualize the world of Shannara and is an all around fun read.

Before you by, go to the store and read at least the forword by Terry Brooks, the only part of the book he wrote. He comes accross a saying (as I understood it): "...although the fans wanted it I couldn't be bothered with it in the past and still could not be bothered with this work today except the publisher assigned someone to write the book so I said, what the hell..." That seems to be the feeling I got leafing through it as well.

Agreed, the artwork is nothing like the old book covers and in fact the artwork in this differs in the depictions from the older covers to some extent. Also, the art of the people had a rather 'sameness' and 'blocky build' to them - like all the folks came from athletic 'football families'. I never pictured the characters they way the appeared. The map - not at all what I had expected: 1) its got a crease down the middle, 2) the world seems greatly distorted in connection with every other map of the world I'd ever seen in the original books .. did the projection of the world change? It must doesn't look right - and there are many details missing - certainly not what I'd expect from a book that seemingly wants to be a sort of 'encyclopedia shannarra'. Some of the maps are very detailed - nice to see so much work there, but then there is the renderings of Paranor - which don't look like any pictures seen from the books or at all like the descriptions - at least the ones I've read in the books (and I just finished 'First King' 2 months ago).

The text parts, also read somewhat shallow. Nothing too surprising. There are some additional details in sections on some folks, but it seems much has also been left out - complete it is not. Brooks suggested to the authors to 'go with it' and yet they didn't fill in any of the gaps at all. You get data missing being 'several generations', in the family tree. Brooks suggested they should fill it in (based on reading his foreward) but the authors didn't do that - why not?
While the book seems quaint, I think a collection of fans could probably put together a much better, 'comprehensive' and 'accurate' version of what this book wants to be (or what we wanted it to be). To bad copyright restrictions would prevent it from being anything other than a bootleg-underground document and that any 'group of fans' isn't the official voice of Brooks for filling in the missing parts in family trees, background stories, etc.

This is a good memory-refresher for fans of the Shannara series. Considering that it now spans a grand total of eleven books, with more evidently to come, there's quite a lot of history that is all tied up in it. together. This book can serve as a good reference point.

The various chapters handle numbers of people or important places: Druids such as Allanon, Walker Boh, and Bremen; the Eastland, and its Dwarf and Gnome inhabitants; the Skull Kingdom; the two families, Ohmsfords and Leahs; the terrifying evil forces like the Reaper and Warlock Lord, and pretty much anything else in Shannara.

The main problem with "World of Shannara" is that it provides nothing new -- no hints of future events, no analyzation of the stories or characters, no breaking-down of the influences that helped spawn it (most notably "Lord of the Rings"). So while it's a good reference work, it's not really much more than that.

The illustrations are a mixed bag. Some illustrations, like the Sword on display in Paranor, or the Hadeshorn, are very beautiful, detailed and haunting. There are also acceptable ones, usually more simply drawn against a pseudo-parchment background. And unfortunately some of them are lifeless generic fantasy art, like the illustration of Brin Ohmsford, who looks like a teenage girl at the Renaissance Faire. However, the biggest bonus is probably the maps of various parts of Shannara, and definitely the cross-sections of some of the buildings.

Overall this won't tell you much (aside from cross-sections and maps) that you wouldn't find in the Shannara series itself. But you might want to keep it handy in case you occasionally need to be reminded who did what where, when, and why.

I have read all Shannara and Word and the Void books - they were simply amazing. Then I read the World of Shannara - an excellent compendium of just about any significant place, person or event in the entire epic story - and I relived every part of the story. All the books I have read, some parts forgotten, came back upon reading the World of Shannara.

Written in an immersive, encyclopedian style and beautifully illustrated I can recommend this work to anyone who has read any or all of the Shannara books.

The book, text itself wasn't all that bad though i thought the illustrations just slaughtered the world of Shannara. There were way to many of the illustrations the like that adorn the newly printed Shannara books. They look like a cheap 1970s computer graphics, just horrible. The real illustrations also were'nt exactly qaulity work either. The info wasn't too bad (which is why I'm giving it two stars and not just one). Shame on Mr. Brooks for picking that particular artist.