Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Again subpar, October 23, 2005
The past six years have brought us six new Shannara novels from Terry Brooks. (You realize that it took him four years to write Elfstones?) Each has disappointed in its own fashion, and Straken is no different.
Perhaps my rating is due to nostalgia; the original trilogy and Heritage (a four-book series) were so good that it's probably impossible to sustain that sort of excellence. Maybe with a different author, I would've rated this book a three of five.
But this is Terry Brooks, an author I once celebrated as among the best, who has of late fallen into the trap of over-using themes and characters. He has rewritten the same book several times, trading his ingenuity and characterization for tired storylines and cliched plots.
Straken bothers me for several reasons, but principally I think that it is because Mr Brooks has uncovered one of the mysteries that made his former books so engaging. Like peering into the Druid's mind in Voyage of the Jerle Shannara, we are once again admitted to a previously closed wardrobe: the Forbidding. Imagination surely made it more terrifying than what is portrayed in the 400 or so pages of Straken. Its landscapes, like those of Parkasia, are drab and boring; this is a new world--it should have a bit more verve, even if it is inhabited by demons.
Other concerns are wooden characters, boring villians (the Moric seems surprisingly similar to the Changeling of Elfstones), predictable plot, lack of intrigue, and few plot twists. Almost all of the elements that made his first two series so good are absent from the last two. It saddens me to read one of his books in a night and find myself wishing to finish it rather than savor it. Good books are meant to be read past your bedtime for more than one night.
I have wondered if perhaps Brooks has been attempting to appeal to a younger crowd; his latest heroes have been teenagers. Maybe that explains writing lots of action at the expense of substance and elevating convenience over cliffhanger. Whatever it is, Mr Brooks' writing has become somewhat more forbidding in its own right over the past several installations in the Shannara world. You'd be well-advised to wait for a paperback edition or skip buying altogether in favor of checking this one out at the library.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A touch of the familiar, a touch of the obvious..., September 6, 2005
And so, another Terry Brooks trilogy has come to an end. With Straken, Brooks has now ended his High Druid of Shannara series, and he does it on a pretty good note. This has certainly been his strongest series for quite a while now, but even so, the last book has some major faults that keep it from being wonderful. According to his web site, he is writing a "Pre-Shannara" trilogy next, which is supposedly about the fall of the civilization that led to the way the Four Lands are today. It seems different enough, and I hope that it stays that way, as Straken (not to mention this entire series) shows that he really needs a break from it. Maybe completely changing the focus will help.
When we last left our heroes, Grianne Ohmsford, the High Druid (or "Ard Rhys") had been captured in the Forbidding (an alternate plane where the druids had imprisoned all of the demons of the world) by a demon with ambitions beyond the Forbidding. In fact, they were plans to destroy it and unleash the imprisoned demonic hordes on Shannara itself. Grianne's rival druids had imprisoned her there, ostensibly because of her evil past, but mostly because they are hungry for the power she wields. But they don't know about the demon's plans, and they are unwittingly helping him. Meanwhile, Pen Ohmsford, Grianne's nephew, has sacrificed the woman he loves and a part of his body in order to forge the Darkwand, a way into the Forbidding so he can rescue his aunt. Pen's parents have been captured by the druids and must escape themselves, while Pen's friends fight desperately to come to his aid. But even if Pen succeeds in freeing his aunt, he finds he must still face the demon that has escaped the Forbidding, before it destroys the only thing that stands in the way of waves of demonic invaders.
I have to say that Straken was certainly more interesting than Tanequil was. While the book contains the normal brooding of all of Brooks' characters, it's not as noticeable as it usually is, making for a much more engrossing book. Brooks avoids some of the predictable pitfalls, but he falls into others. The ending is telegraphed a mile away, as Brooks just can't seem to allow a tragic ending, especially where romance is concerned. With Grianne going on and on about how much she fears using her magic after some of her encounters in the Forbidding (where she had to unleash some of the magic she used to wield when she was a villain), you know how she'll end up. Granted, I didn't realize how Brooks would tie things together, but those are just the details. The overarching plot was very obvious.
That being said, the trip was mostly interesting. There's a good deal of action, and Brooks usually excels at those scenes. Some of it is a tad unbelievable (some characters go a very long time with almost mortal injuries that never seem to end up killing them), but it's well-done for the most part. The final confrontation between Grianne and her fellow druids is actually quite good, with just the right amount of power, skill, and luck involved. Two of the more interesting secondary characters, Kermadec and his brother (both Trolls loyal to Grianne) are heavily involved, and that makes for a riveting scene. In fact, the final fifty or so pages, making up the attack on the druid castle and the ultimate battle really gripped me.
Unfortunately, the book continues on from there for a bit, and gets dull and thoroughly superfluous again. The plot that's been hiding behind everything, of the demon wanting to destroy the gate to the Forbidding, is ended almost perfunctorily, with little of interest in it. I'd almost say it was an afterthought, if the characters hadn't been talking about it for two books already. It does give us a reason why Brooks shows so much of the war between the Elves, Dwarves, and Gnomes against the Federation, which seemed completely pointless throughout the last two books, but that doesn't help with the ending. Not only that, but again Brooks, who hasn't been afraid to kill characters before, thoroughly invalidates one of the more tragic and touching scenes he's written by bringing the characters back to life (oh, I'm sorry...I mean that they were never dead). I can say no more without spoilers, but you'll probably recognize it when you get there.
Up to this point, this review has been mostly a rant, and you must be thinking "four stars? How does he give it four stars?" There are some (unfortunately long) dull passages in Straken, but Brooks makes up for it by providing us with a lot of interesting characters, even if their actions don't seem to lead anywhere at times. I've always enjoyed Bed and Rue, Pen's parents, and they are on good display again here. They show determination, courage, and loyalty to each other that make them extremely interesting. They throw themselves into the action despite Bek's vow not to use his magic ever again, and Rue's horror when she discovers that Pen has magic similar to his father's is quickly set aside in order to continue the mission. Rue's love for Bek shows in how desperate she fights for what will turn out to be the rescue of a woman she has never really liked since she caused the deaths of a number of her companions all those years ago.
Add to these any number of minor characters, most of whom Brooks also characterizes very well, and you get one heck of an interesting read for the most part. The strains of the continuing Shannara saga are showing, and Brooks really needs the change that it seems is coming, because this series is running on fumes. Thankfully, some of those fumes are quite powerful in themselves, and make what should be a thoroughly pedestrian read a lot better than the sum of its parts.
David Roy
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
"I Hate That Everything We Do is Dictated by These Secret Keepers...", May 28, 2006
What was shaping up to be the best Shannara-based serial since "The Heritage of Shannara" stumbles on the finish line. Despite a promising start and a strong middle, "The High Druid of Shannara" goes out more with a whimper than a bang, due to several pointless chapters, unbelievable coincidences, the undermining of previously established plot-points and too much stupid behaviour on the part of its antagonists.
Grianne Ohmsford was banished into the world of the Forbidding by her treacherous fellow Druids, under the leadership of Shadea a'Ru. What they failed to understand is that they themselves were being played, as by sending Grianne into the Forbidding, they unknowingly released a demon into their own world who has since been manipulating events in order to secure the destruction of the Ellcrys - the magical tree that stands as a barrier between this world and the demons of the Forbidding.
The only thing that could stop such a thing from happening was Grianne's young nephew Penderrin "Pen" Ohmsford, who was sent by the King of the Silver River to fetch a talisman that could send him into the Forbidding and return with his aunt, before using it again to send back the demon. Gaining possession of the talisman (called a darkwand) cost Pen something he loved dearly, but before he's even had a chance to grieve properly, he finds himself surrounded by an airship fleet of Druids. Discovering that his parents Bek and Rue are held captive at the Druid Keep of Paranor, (and knowing he has to get there anyway if he's to use the darkwand correctly), Pen agrees to accompany them.
Meanwhile, as the self-declared Ard Rhys of the Druid Council, Shadea attempts to maintain her control over the order whilst negotiating arrangements with Prime Minister Sen Dunsidan of the Federation, as the threads of intrigue and manipulation around her gradually become clear. So far so good, up until this point. But after re-establishing the central plot-points of the two previous installments ("Jarka Ruus" and "Tanequil"), Brooks begins to pick them apart.
Throughout the course of the story, no less than five captives manage to escape from imprisonment, despite being outnumbered, exhausted, overwhelmed and under heavy guard. In other words, the heroes continuously benefit from utterly inept security as the antagonists fall to the villain cliché of putting their captives into the hands of useless minions rather than overseeing the dirty work themselves. Later, a group of the heroes manage to dismantle a trap designed to capture the returning Grianne; an easy enough task considering the antagonists neglected to set up any sort of guard around the room that they *knew* she'd be returning in! Such rampant stupidity severely lessons any sort of respect or fear we might have once held toward the antagonists, who here simply become cartoon baddies.
A character called Pied Sanderling, introduced in "Tanequil" continues to add absolutely nothing to the progression of the book. He and his associates never even meet the main cast of characters much less help them out in any way, so then why does Brooks insist on making him the focus of a pointless and cheesy romantic triangle? Why does he continue to dwell on Sanderling's point of view of the Federation/Free-born War when it no longer matters to the central plot of the story? Why focus on skirmishes over the Prekkendorran plain when it is Arborlon and the Ellcrys that are crucial to everyone's well-being?
As the story draws to a close, it gets even more muddled. I was disappointed in the final confrontation between Pen and the demon, which is so anti-climactic that it beggars belief. I was let down by the return of a character who had sacrificed themselves for the greater good, considering that this destroys all the poignancy that surrounded their original decision. I was irritated at the lengthy interaction between Pen and a dragon that ultimately served no purpose except as a final end-joke. I was confused at the abrupt disappearance of the character of Weka Dart, one of Brook's more intriguing creations whom I thought would still have an ace up his sleeve. I was annoyed that one of Shadea's more interesting cohorts was killed off without a second thought.
And I was incredibly disappointed with Grianne's final decision to step down from the Druid Council and leave the work for others, making not only this trilogy, but the previous one "The Voyage of the Jerle Shannara" (which was based around her conversion from Ilse Witch to force for good) rather pointless. Why go to all the trouble of rescuing her if she's simply going to give up her responsibilities and retire from nothing less than life itself?
So although the first two installments in this trilogy had me excited and intrigued, I was sadly disappointed by this final book.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
|
|
Most Recent Customer Reviews
|
![[Start the discussion]](http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/x-locale/communities/discussion_boards/start-new-discussion-sec._V192250339_.gif){kind=small}
