I’ve heard the Shannara series mentioned a lot my entire life. Terry Brooks lives in Seattle, where I grew up, and my college took great pride in local authors, even genre authors like Brooks and Herbert. But I’d never actually read any Shannara.Sword of Shannara was listed in Appendix E in the 2014 Dungeons and Dragons Player’s Handbook, the fifth edition answer to AD&D’s famous Appendix N. When Fifth Edition first came out, I was excited to see some favorites of mine like Throne of the Crescent Moon by Saladin Ahmed and Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson listed among Serious Classics of the Fantasy Genre. So, when I started reading more from Appendix N, I decided I’d also read the books from Appendix E I hadn’t yet since the ones I knew, I loved.When I picked this book, I made a big mistake before starting. I checked out the Goodreads reviews. Which would have you believe that the book is a beat for beat retelling of Fellowship of the Ring with character names swapped. In reality, most of the similarities between Sword of Shannara and Lord of the Rings are in that both are epic fantasy that roughly follow the Hero’s Journey structure and feature protagonists who start off humbly, not knowing the role they will come to play in events that will shape the fate of the world. In other words, epic fantasy.Sword of Shannara tells the story of Shea and Flick Ohmsford, adopted brothers and sons of their town’s innkeeper. They are started out of their town when they meet the druid Allanon who tells Shea he is the last descendant of Jerle Shannara and the only one who can wield the titular Sword of Shannara against the Warlock King who is growing in power and threatens to take over the Four Lands.I really enjoyed the characters here, from Menion Leah, the rakish adventurer who finds a quest worth questing for, to Keltset, a troll with a mysterious past. I enjoyed the pacing Brooks employed to move action forward but allow some immersion in places like the Mist Marsh.I liked this one a lot, and I’m looking forward to reading other Shannara books in the future.
