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3.8 AVERAGE
3.8 AVERAGE
I am a big fan of the Shannara world by Terry Brooks. And Grainne Ohmsford is one of the most intriguing characters I've run into in this epic fantasy series. Tanequil continues the story of her involuntarily journey into the Forbidding, a land full of demons and other nasty evil things, and her nephew Penderrin's search for a way to bring her back.
Penderrin finds himself searching for a magical talisman that will allow him to enter the Forbidding, find his aunt, and bring her back. But as any reader of epic fantasy well knows, magical talismans come with a very high price. Terry Brooks does an excellent job of showing that payment isn't always a physical sacrifice, sometimes it's emotional as well. Penderrin's experiences as he obtains the Tanequil were some of my favorite of the book.
Meanwhile, Grainne finds out the same thing in a slightly different way. Not all punishment is physical, and she begins to lose herself to the magic of the Forbidding. Enemies and allies in unexpected places really brought this realm to life. It truly is another world within Shannara, and I can see why the elves first sealed it away. I can't wait to find out if she will be the same person or something completely different by the end of the series.
Penderrin finds himself searching for a magical talisman that will allow him to enter the Forbidding, find his aunt, and bring her back. But as any reader of epic fantasy well knows, magical talismans come with a very high price. Terry Brooks does an excellent job of showing that payment isn't always a physical sacrifice, sometimes it's emotional as well. Penderrin's experiences as he obtains the Tanequil were some of my favorite of the book.
Meanwhile, Grainne finds out the same thing in a slightly different way. Not all punishment is physical, and she begins to lose herself to the magic of the Forbidding. Enemies and allies in unexpected places really brought this realm to life. It truly is another world within Shannara, and I can see why the elves first sealed it away. I can't wait to find out if she will be the same person or something completely different by the end of the series.
Just OK. As a middle book, it feels more like moving things around and not a lot happening. Lots of traveling around but for no big reason. Still, I’m glad to have picked up the Shannara books after so many years away.
The first book of this trilogy was great, but, this one really suffered from middle-book-syndrome. There really only seemed to be 100-150 pages of actual forward momentum so I found myself just wishing that Terry Brooks would just get on with it.
3.25/5
3.25/5
Very much enjoyed this. Had to get used to a new narrator, Paul Boehmer, but he did a pretty good job.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Book #21 of 2008. The latest read in the Shannara series holds true to form. A great escape that swept me away for a weekend. The Rock Trolls are great. It got a little sappy with the latest Ohmsford, Pen, and the blind Rover girl, Cinnaminson in one spot, but generally you get at least one super-sappy spot in each trilogy in the series. Evil forces are out to do the unthinkable, something that will destroy life as the people of the Four Lands know it - and you really feel the impact of how terrible that can be.
adventurous
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
5 star - Perfect
4 star - i would recommend
3 star - good
2 star - struggled to complete
1 star - could not finish
4 star - i would recommend
3 star - good
2 star - struggled to complete
1 star - could not finish
When I first started reading the Shannara series of books, I longed for more stories about the original characters. Now, every story is split into trilogies of books, and I wish that they'd go back to single stories.
If this trilogy was compressed into a single book, it might be tolerable. As it is, there is so much filler that makes it very hard to care about anything. The war between the Federation and the Freeborn has been raging for decades, and now all of a sudden we are supposed to care about what is happening with it. There is absolutely no tie-in to the story of the druids other than to have people talk about it. None of the characters involved in the war are anyone we care about, so what is the point of including it other than to add more chapters to a book. Shadea takes on a consort to further her cause. The only cause that was further by this was to add even more useless chapters. He did nothing to advance her standing, and added nothing at all to the plot.
Another major issue I have with this series is why is so much sacrifice happening for a character that we don't really like to begin with? Grianne was the Isle Witch, a truly despicable person, before she was "saved" by her brother. Since that time, she hasn't done anything to redeem herself other than say she's sorry and won't do it again. Not my choice of someone worth dying over.
In the Jarka Ruus, the Druids were misguided. They didn't like Grianne so wanted to get rid of her. It was stupid, but at least somewhat believable. They've gone from being misguided to completely evil in this book. Their motivations for wanton killing and destruction are never explained and completely baffle me.
Then there are the heroes. Pen is supposed to be the protagonist of the story (I think...) but he is nothing more than a whiny child who does what he wants regardless of others. His only motivation is a love interest one that was thrown in just because all Shannara books have to have a love interest. He constantly argues with his companions just because he loves this girl. Tagwin has been more or less sidelined and is just along for the ride. Kermadec and his brother bicker for reasons as yet unknown. All this makes it really hard to give a damn about any of them.
If this trilogy was compressed into a single book, it might be tolerable. As it is, there is so much filler that makes it very hard to care about anything. The war between the Federation and the Freeborn has been raging for decades, and now all of a sudden we are supposed to care about what is happening with it. There is absolutely no tie-in to the story of the druids other than to have people talk about it. None of the characters involved in the war are anyone we care about, so what is the point of including it other than to add more chapters to a book. Shadea takes on a consort to further her cause. The only cause that was further by this was to add even more useless chapters. He did nothing to advance her standing, and added nothing at all to the plot.
Another major issue I have with this series is why is so much sacrifice happening for a character that we don't really like to begin with? Grianne was the Isle Witch, a truly despicable person, before she was "saved" by her brother. Since that time, she hasn't done anything to redeem herself other than say she's sorry and won't do it again. Not my choice of someone worth dying over.
In the Jarka Ruus, the Druids were misguided. They didn't like Grianne so wanted to get rid of her. It was stupid, but at least somewhat believable. They've gone from being misguided to completely evil in this book. Their motivations for wanton killing and destruction are never explained and completely baffle me.
Then there are the heroes. Pen is supposed to be the protagonist of the story (I think...) but he is nothing more than a whiny child who does what he wants regardless of others. His only motivation is a love interest one that was thrown in just because all Shannara books have to have a love interest. He constantly argues with his companions just because he loves this girl. Tagwin has been more or less sidelined and is just along for the ride. Kermadec and his brother bicker for reasons as yet unknown. All this makes it really hard to give a damn about any of them.