Book Review: Sword of Shannarah by Terry Brooks
It is hard to for to really say anything too negative about this book – it is the first fantasy adventure I ever read and it is what got me interested in the genre to begin with. I read it in elementary school, and thought that I would give it another go. It was still a really entertaining read, but I was BLOWN AWAY by how much of a rip off this book is of LOTR. It is literally like reading LOTR light. Some people say Star Wars is a copy of LOTR, but that is not what I mean. This is basically the exact same story.
Quick rundown of the plot of this book: 2 hobbits are chased out of there safe village by a ringwraith, but not before a mysterious and powerful wizard had warned them of their danger and instructed them to flee to some other city. Upon arrival in the city, a fellowship consisting of 2 hobbits, 2 elves, 1 dwarf, 2 men, and 1 wizard unite to travel to kill the Warlock Lord in Mordor. one of the hobbits is the one who carrys the burden of ultimately needing to kill the Warlock Lord with the Sword of Shannarah. Eventually the hobbit has to separate from the group and face the final part of the journey solo, as the remaining fellowship defends the biggest free city against a massive army consisting of gnomes and trolls.
Long story short – this book rules. It is written like Angels & Demons or some other page turner, but in fantasy format. I enjoyed it very much. It gets a rating of 9 for easyness to read, and 6 for quality.
Also – last summer I read a prequel to the Shannarh series. It is a trilogy called “Genesis of Shannarah” – the first book is all I have read, titled “Armageddon’s Children”. I liked this book about as much acutally. Basically, the premise is that we are in a post-apocolpytic America in an epic battle of good vs. evil. Not quite as much fantasy though – more man vs. deamon, with some elves thrown in. Ultimately the adventure appears to be leading to some epic event that changes the landscape of earth as we know it, and leading into the original Sword of Shanarrah series. What makes this series particularly interesting though, is that most of it takes place in Seattle after it has been nuked. The elves live in the forests east of the Oregon Coast. I recommend this book as well.
Wednesday, June 10 at 8:40 am
So I guess the book is just that good to where everyone simply shrugs off the plagarism? Or does everyone in the fantasy genre accept the fact that they are lucky to have had tolkein to follow and these books are more like homoges(sp?) to LOTR?
Wednesday, June 10 at 11:28 am
I think fantasy novels are kind of like romantic comedys – if you love the genre nobody really gives a shit if they are all identicle.
However, this particular book took it to a new level, as it seems Terry Brooks literally just outlined the plot of LOTR, changed some names around, put Mordor on the north end of the map and let it rip.
It is somewhat enjoyable to look for all of the pieces that are blatant plagarism – I recommend reading it.
Wednesday, June 10 at 8:23 pm
It’s all the same, but different enough that it’s worth reading.
Over the span of 800 pages, you develop a rich history and understanding of each of the characters. Sure, they often have identical story arcs, but it’s like reading blogs on the same topic. Each tells a different story.
My friend said this was his favorite author, and you might have swayed me enough to give it a go.