Customer Reviews

Straken (High Druid of Shannara, Book 3)

5 star:		(25)
4 star:		(20)
3 star:		(17)
2 star:		(10)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

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.

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

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.

Straken (2005) is the third novel in the High Druid of Shannara trilogy, following Tanequil. In the previous volume, Grianne Ohmsford, Ard Rhys of the Third Druid Order, is locked into a cell beneath Kraal Reach in The Forbidding; her only chance of getting out lies in the hands of the treacherous Weka Dart. Penderrin Ohmsford has obtained the darkwand at the cost of two fingers, but his parents are captives within Panador.

In this novel, Pen travels back from the Tanequil to the bridge, only to find that his friends have been captured by Gnome Hunters. The Druid leaders, Truant Rowan and Pyson Wence, try to talk him into surrendering and Pen agrees provided that his companions are released without harm. After all, he still has to get back to Panador with the darkwand.

Khyber Elessedil hides on another of the ships returning to Panador. She wears a Gnome Hunter cloak and forages through the ship only at night. She is seen once, but distracts the Gnome and glides away before he can identify her.

Grianne makes an agreement to take Weka Dart back to her world if some way can be found. He releases her and removes the conjure collar from her neck. They slip away through the tunnels beneath Kraal Reach. The journey is interrupted only once, but she uses the wishsong magic to destroy a Graumth chasing them; she is frightened more by the strength and insistence of the magic than by the Graumth.

Bek Ohmsford and Rue Meridan escape from their cells with the aid of Trefen Morys, a young Druid faithful to the Ard Rhys. They sneak through Druid's Keep to the courtyard where the Swiftsure is moored. Trefen's companion Bellizen has prepared the airship for launching, but first the escapees must pass through the deadly arrows and bolts shot by Gnomes on the outer walls.

Pied Sanderling rallies the Elves after the fire launcher destroys their airships and kills the King and his sons. Driven from their fortifications, the survivors withdraw into the hills. There Pied sets up an ambush and defeats the Federation pursuers. Then he leads his Elves east to the enclave held by Varden Wick and his Free-Born troops.

Sen Dunsidan, ambitious Prime Minister of the Federation, is being advised by the Moric, a demon wearing the skin of an Elven Druid, Irida Eleri. But Sen refuses all suggestions to directly attack the Elven capital and destroy the Ellcrys, which are maintaining The Forbidding; the destruction of these trees would allow the demons to return to the Four Kingdoms. Moric is beginning to think of abandoning its current guise.

Shadea a'Ru comes to believe that all her henchmen are failing in their responsibilities. She is surrounded by shirkers and losers. If she wants it done right, she must do it herself!

This novel is the final volume in this trilogy. Grianne and Shadea a'Ru have similar experiences with untrustworthy subordinates, but Shadea seems incapable of learning anything from her failures. Grianne, however, shows her ability to adapt by changing the Druid Order.

This series ends in a rather muddled way. However, it leaves plenty of room for another sequence, which may answer some of the outstanding questions. The Voyage of the Jerle Shannara trilogy ended in much the same open-ended manner, so look forward to more volumes in this series.

Highly recommended for Brooks fans and for anyone else who enjoys tales of high adventure and subtle magic.

-Arthur W. Jordin

Straken completes the 3 book series of the High Druid of Shannara. Tanequil (book 2) ends up with Pen Ohmsford's completion of his task to obtain the darkwand to free his aunt, Grianne Ohmsford, Ard Rhys of the Third Druid Council, from the Forbidding. Pen gives himself up to the druids (who swiftly return him to Paranor to let the new Ard Rhys, Shadea A'ru deal with him herself) that have been pursuing him in order to expedite his return to Paranor to attempt a rescue of Grianne Ohmsford. Previously in this series, we learned that when Shadea A'ru sent Grianne Ohmsford into the Forbidding, unbenknownst to Shadea a changeling demon traded places with Grianne in the Four Lands. The demon's goal was to destroy the Ellcrys, an ancient tree with magical powers that protect the Four Lands from the demons trapped in the Forbidding. I thought Jarka Ruus and Tanequil did a wonderful job building up for an an exciting, heart-stopping ending in Straken.

I WAS UTTERLY DISSAPOINTED!!

The main antagonists Shadea A'ru, Pyson Wence, Traunt Rowan, along with the demon showed poor judgment throughout this book, and did not seem tough at all. The main thing I did not like in this book was that it was simply too easy for the Ohmsfords and other protagonists to succeed. I expected much more of a showdown and fight between Grianne Ohmsford and the Druids who plotted against her. In addition, the way that Bek, Rue, Khyber and Pen dispatch the demon is simply ridiculous and much much too easy. The ending of the book with Grianne is interesting, but I felt completely let down by the author when I finished it. I can go on and on about how disappointed I was, but I hope whoever reads this understands my point.

I have been a long time fan of Terry Brooks and have read all of his books. This quite possibly is the worst out of all of them. I didn't give it a 1 star because it still is Terry Brooks and he'll always be my favorite author, but this is one I probably will not waste my time reading again.

I enjoyed the Shannara series, however, I think Mr. Brooks has taken this particular story line as far as practical.

There is nothing wrong with the series, it just seems that I have already been down this road before. The Druid keep, the air ships, the hints at futuristic technology, feuds between druids and so forth.

The characters are likable. The story moves along, but things have become predictable and when it comes down to the confrontation between young Pen and the demon, it seems like this climax could have had more to it.

This is a rescue story where young Pen Ohmsford ventures into the forbidding (a prison for demons) to rescue his aunt. At the same time a demon is scheming to destroy the elfcryst that holds the boundary between the real world and the demon prison. I think this was one of the missed opportnities in the book. Because while there is tension regarding this problem, it is almost an after thought when the final confrontation takes place.

However, I must wonder about what is happening in this book. We know that Mr. Brooks is planning to link the Shannara books to the Knight of the Word series, and perhaps this is a transitional novel. I can certainly see where it is possible to make connections between this brighter world and the darker one in the new Word Trilogy.

Of course, I'll keep reading. I enjoy good fantasy and unfortunately, there are not that many people who can really pull it off.

I remember starting my Shannara journey in sixth grade with Wishsong, it was hard at my young age. But I forged ahead and read the previous two books and never looked back. I've been a loyal Brooks reader but I'm so glad this trilogy is over because quite honestly his writing has steadily declined. One reviewer wrote his recent trilogies could be compacted to one book and I agree with another two books.

I could always count on Brooks books to be EPIC sagas. Superb classics. Writing about the personal introspection and feelings of his characters and then zooming way out to write those glorious battles.

And now with this recent book. Not only short and 2-dimensional but: "They smiled at each other across the table, sharing feelings that couldn't be put into words because words would only get in the way." What the hell was that?...

This book really was quite terrible. Just to let everyone know, I have read and thouroughly enjoyed every single Shannara book out there, up until this one. While there are many things wrong with it, to start off it seemed a little short to be the series ender. Becuase of its shortness, Brooks' usually elaborate and gripping story lines are not there. To have Pen's entrance into the Jarka Ruus last for so little with nothing spectacular happen to him was kind of a let down, it seemed to be an after thought after what he been through to get to that point (sorry if I ruin a bit of story line for some people). I was hoping for a little more action in the Jarka Ruus with both Pen and Grianne. And what did happen with the Ulk Bog? Maybe I skipped some paragraph at the end because it got so boring after the creature was vanquished (also another letdown). Why build up the story about the airships if there is not going to be a riveting battle between the two ships?
Overall the series was decent, but Straken was a total letdown for me.

The good news is that Terry Brooks' latest Shannara trilogy, High Druid of Shannara, is a considerable improvement over his previous effort (Voyage of the Jerle Shannara). The bad news is that this one suffers almost as much from sheer "ho hum", as the last one did from sheer implausibility.

Don't get me wrong, I read both trilogies, and was never in danger of chucking the books in the trash (although, a few places in the Jerle Shannara brought me closer than ever before). It simply seems to me that Brooks has lost the sense of wonder that made his earliest efforts so powerful, enchanting, and even genuinely frightening. The longer we go, unfortunately, the more color seems to drain from those visceral, vivid moments - until, like now, even his best efforts seem washed out and stretched thin (like butter scraped over too much toast, perhaps).

Of the three books in this trilogy, this one - Straken - is probably the weakest, with a hurried plot whose clear goal seems to be rushing us to its conclusion within the span of pages allotted to Book 3. Never during the story did I find myself wondering "how are they going to get out of this one?" - or worse, even caring much. The pace of the story was rushed - and rushing does not allow the time necessary to savor the moments that used to make Brooks so unique, and so good.

The mastery of Brooks' writing was always his ability to capture the raw wonder and mystery of his world, allowing us to linger among the shadows and explore - while at the same time, seeding and fulfilling compelling plotlines. His grip of balance and wonder led to a Tolkien-esque immersion in his imagination - and his mythos was defined just enough to add a fascinating connection to our own world. He understood that what makes a great horror film also applies to great writing: less is more. It's not what you show us and explain in depth, and give neat explanations for - it's about those things that lurk at the edges of our vision, only hinting at what might be there, only exposing what is absolutely necessary.

Sadly, those elements are lost to a market that demands neatly packaged, three-book "epic" trilogies; stories that are ironically anything but epic. I read Straken, and I was able to enjoy it for what it is - a brief visit back to that land that Terry Brooks first invited us into so many years ago. But too much of his effort was spent moving us along the rails of the ride to focus on the wonder - I could see that the monsters were all cardboard cutouts, and that the sudden drops were not freefalls - but only dips on the way that would soon straighten out. I miss the freefalls.

I've read every single Terry Brooks release so far except for the Star Wars one. I read Straken primarily because I'm a fan of the Shannara series, BIG fan.

Without spoiling anything, I will say that if you didn't read the Voyage series, you won't be able to fully appreciate what's going on in the High Druid series. You won't get lost or anything - you just won't have a full appreciation of certain characters and events, and why some things are as they are now.

Straken started off very slow, attempting to pick up the pieces left over from Tanequil, the previous version in the series, due to the mandatory year-long delay between book releases. So it tries really hard to tie up loose threads to bring the story back to a sensible medium. The problem is that this approach feels like fluff, as the first few chapters of the book really don't feel that compelling. The "climax" of this entry doesn't feel climactic at all, as Brooks chose to go a different path than what the reader expected to see. Some might see this as smart writing, I see it as a cop-out. To say any more would spoil it, but trust me...it didn't make me happy when I read it.

That said, the ending was top notch. I'd say the last 5 chapters in particular were very well written, and even a slight plot twist that actually gets you emotionally involved, causing you to express feelings for one particular character. It leads one to question exactly what more could be done at this point in the Shannara series.

Would I recommend this book? ONLY if you've read the Voyage series and ONLY if you've read both Jarka Ruus and Tanequil. If you don't read the Voyage series you won't appreciate what's going on, and if you don't read both Jarka Ruus and Tanequil you will be confused.