Posted by Terry Brooks created an interesting world in this series. Before getting too far into all of this, I will let you know that I have not read all of the books so this is more of a review of the first book and the overall feel that I got from the series. This is not to be confused with the TV series by the same name: The Shannara Chronicles. The TV series is loosely based on the books but is a very different beast, more so even than LOTR was with the movies.
So, the books. The first three books can be found in The Shannara Chronicles Trilogy.
What I liked about the Series. The characters were easy to recognize and follow. The problem was that they were the same archetype as LOTR. In the first story, you had the the main character, his, not brother, brother, a wizard, dwarf, ranger, and a friend who just decided to tag along as well as two elves for good measure. There was even a Gollum esk character. Then you had the standard thought dead but returned enemy in the wastelands that is gathering an army to conquer all the remaining lands. The story wasn’t exactly the same but there was enough similarity to make it feel a little like the author had taken LOTR, bleached it and then applied enough tie dye that it was different enough not to cause legal issue.
The story is interesting enough but I found it a bit too predictable thanks to it’s similarity to the LOTR archetype.
If you are just looking for a Post Apocalyptic, but so far in the future that it might as well be an original world, book with magic and underdogs who save the day. Give the The Shannara Chronicles Trilogy a look. If you want something that is fresh, you might want to pass it for another day.
For the Ibooks versions, follow the links below:
Terry Brooks The Shannara Chronicles Trilogy
If you would like to take a look at my own publications, click the link below or head to my Bibliography page by clicking the link at the top of this page.
J.G. Johnson 