The Elfstones of Shannara - Terry Brooks

Advantages: The author is a born storyteller and the pages just whizz by
Disadvantages: Doesn't push the boundaries of the genre

...who have yet to discover the Shannara books by Terry Brooks, shame on you! Now's your chance to follow my example and start finding out what millions of other readers have discovered. These books may be predictable good vs. evil adventure stories where completely implausible things happen, even within the conventions of the world created by the author, but they're written with such panache and love and an inimitable gift for pure storytelling that ...
...at the end that you didn't see coming. Other fantasy novels seem to plod on forever, making their 600-800 pages feel a lifetime of work. These just zip past, with all the events happening over a week or two. With Robert Jordan's books for example, the narrative just carries on from one book to another, with no real conclusion having been reached at the end of each. Brooks' books are each a separate story in themselves, with a gap of 30-50 years or ... Read review

Advantages: One of the best books i have ever read!
Disadvantages: None whatsoever

"The Elfstones of Shannara": The Sequel to "The Sword of Shannara" An epic novel of fantasy and adventure; the long awaited sequel… An ancient, ultimate evil threatened the elves and the race of men. For the Ellcrys (the tree of long lost Elven magic) was dying - loosing the spell of the forbidding that locked the Demons away from Earth. Already the fearsome Reaper was free; only one source had the awesome power to defeat it: Ok, so the story ...
...Demons and Fairies - essentially the sides of good and evil, equally opposed, each existing solely to destroy the other. And inevitably, there had to come an end to this era. Neither side could win outright, neither side could be destroyed - so the side of good devised a compromise to not win, but prolong the 'calm' period between wars. The Fairies and magical Elves created within the "Blood Fire" (that's the Earth's life source) a seed. This seed ... Read review

Advantages: Cracking Read!
Disadvantages: Can't think of a single one :)

In essence this book is the foundation of every story in every book that comes afterward. Terry has written well over a dozen books from the Shannara world, but without the events of this book, there could, perhaps, have never been a third book. Thankfully this book was written. It's an amazing story of very powerful magic, a race against time to renew a magical forcefield to keep demons from roaming the land, a race to find 'The Bloodfire' and emerse ...
...tree that is the source of the forcefield Add to this, romance, comedy, thrills, battle scenes, assasinations, and of course Alanon, who uses his Druid powers to help defeat the marauding demons. This truly is a wonderful book, characters you care about, characters that you almost feel as though you know. You can picture them in your head and be there with them when they are on their adventures. Terry has a knack for doing this that is hard to find ... Read review

Advantages: Plot, fantasy and twist at the end
Disadvantages: The other books were never as good

...become a huge fan of the Shannara series, I feel like I can give a good opinion on this book. I am reading them in oder of publishing, so this was obviously the second book I read by Terry Brooks. I cannot praise this book enough. From the fear of the reeper and the changeling, to the forbidding, to elves, to seeds and to many wonderful intertwining stories. I have to say that I did not see the twist at the end coming. Brooks has an ability to really ... Read review

Advantages: Terry Brooks is really able to draw you into the story
Disadvantages: Only book in the Shannara series able to draw me in

I've read several of the Shannara series and none have been able to draw me into the story the way "Elfstones" did. One of the things that get you so caught up in it is that the characters are so young. They still live at home with their parents. Most characters of this genre are in there mid-twenties and thirties. They are well able to take care of themselves. Other than that this is your classic story of good versus evil. Evil tries to dominate ... Read review