The Sword of Shannara - Terry Brooks > Reviews

Advantages: Great fantasy fiction, character development top notch
Disadvantages: Similar stories done before, stereotypical characters

...through reading this book and the story is near enough identical to Lord of The Rings, but, don't discard it because of this. What i found with LOR is that it was over descriptive and i couldn't get into the book, but with this it wasn't the case. Thoroughly enjoyed this title the story and character development is just right. Basically the story consists of there being an evil Warlock that is making his way towards conquering cities and towns. ... Read review

Advantages: Easy to read
Disadvantages: You know Brooks is a fan of Tolkien!

...similarities with this series and the Lord Of The Rings, but then if you read any high fantasy you will find some similarity with LOTR. It has fairly standard characters, there's the ignorant youngster, the all knowing powerful magic user and of course the villains lead by an age old powerful and evil warlock. who happened have nearly been destroyed years ago, but was now getting his forces together again. Sound Familiar? The characters although ... Read review

Advantages: Will keep you quiet on a long train journey.
Disadvantages: Not that good, not that bad. It's nothing special.

I picked this up in the shop, after remembering reading it many years ago, and on the grounds of some of the quotes on the cover. I was particularly impressed by one promising that it turned the fantasy genre on its head. It would seem that me and the critic who wrote that have slightly different opinions on what turning the fantasy genre on its head might mean. I'm not saying that it's a bad book; I did quite enjoy it. But it's certainly nothing ... Read review

Advantages: Great plotline and character depth
Disadvantages: Similarities to Lord of the Rings!

...hear anyone say Lord of the Rings? I started the book hoping for it to be your typical - mystic quest, as the start of a series of books that may or may not interest me but i decided to give it a shot anyway. It starts with a council of all different races deciding how best to save the world from the armies of evil, just like Lord of the Rings, and the fate of the word lies in the hands of one unlikely soul by the name of Shay and his brother Flick ... Read review

Advantages: This one started the series, read for continuity sake. A good book.
Disadvantages: Too much detail in places, and begins slowly.

...many moons ago, I found the Elfstones of Shannara, read it and was hooked. After reading it, I started looking for more Brooks. I discovered that Elfstones was the second novel in the Shannara series. OK, read the first book. Off the bat, I noticed that Sword wasn't as fast paced as Elfstones. It was a good book with good character development and a good story. It wasn't a great book like Elfstones. Still, it had it's good points. We are introduced ... Read review

Advantages:
Disadvantages:

The Sword of Shannara was Terry Brook's first offering to the literary world - and what an offering it was! The book, and it's subsequent eight continuation novels, has been a favourite of many fantasy fans and continues to remain so, even 20 years after the first was written. We follow the journey of two young men as they race against time to find the fabled lost sword of Shannara in order to destroy the evil Warlock Lord and stop his reign of ... Read review

Advantages: Excellent introduction to the world of Shannara
Disadvantages: some parts difficult to imagine

The Sword of Shannara, is a brilliant fantasy epic. The plotlines are very strong, the characters are brought to life very well and Terry Brooks has an incredible eye for detail. He is able to take his reader to The World of Shannara and capture their imagination. I was drawn into the Sword of Shannara and found myself hoping that Shea Omsford would come through all the evil and dangers he faced both in his surroundings and in his inner self. I couldn't ... Read review

Advantages: Good storyline
Disadvantages: wasn't capitivating and didn't flow very well

... It started out well, the setting was starting to come together nicely and I thought that this was going to be another great fantasy book, but I was wrong. The characters didn't really seem very real to me, I know they're fictional, but for a book to be any good you've got to be able to imagine the characters as real people, that is one of the key items, in my opinion to draw your readers in. I felt that the story didn't flow very well, it seemed ... Read review

The sword of Shannara book is a must for all you fantasy readers, you think you know were this book is taking you then he totally changes direction. It is a kind of book that you can put down(not that you want to) and pick back up and get right into it again.