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juneburkholder's review against another edition
4.0
I was able to get through about a third of the book before I put it down for school, meaning for me that the some events in that part are blurred and somewhat remembered. As such, I'll do what I can to review what I actually remember.
It was interesting how the individual books in this tetralogy feature their own quests but still maintain the same over-arching story, with little snippets in between of the perspectives of other sets of characters on their own quests. Pertaining to Walker Boh's side, I'd say it was pretty good, all things considered. The book felt slow and static at times, though with these books I usually blame my powerful ability to become distracted for the sluggish effect. I felt like I knew each of the characters in this book pretty well, something I felt was lacking a couple books ago in Wishsong. When I'm reading it's usually hard for me to maintain how each character looks physically, so it was very beneficial to me that Brooks would give me a specific sense for each character to distinguish by. The quest was fascinating, so I won't spoil those details here. The payoff in the last fifth of the book was great, the fates of each of the characters justified. I'm excited to begin the next chapter of this series, Elf Queen of Shannara, pretty soon, once I get through a few other books I've been putting off for some time.
Thanks for reading this review, I hope you have a great day :)
It was interesting how the individual books in this tetralogy feature their own quests but still maintain the same over-arching story, with little snippets in between of the perspectives of other sets of characters on their own quests. Pertaining to Walker Boh's side, I'd say it was pretty good, all things considered. The book felt slow and static at times, though with these books I usually blame my powerful ability to become distracted for the sluggish effect. I felt like I knew each of the characters in this book pretty well, something I felt was lacking a couple books ago in Wishsong. When I'm reading it's usually hard for me to maintain how each character looks physically, so it was very beneficial to me that Brooks would give me a specific sense for each character to distinguish by. The quest was fascinating, so I won't spoil those details here. The payoff in the last fifth of the book was great, the fates of each of the characters justified. I'm excited to begin the next chapter of this series, Elf Queen of Shannara, pretty soon, once I get through a few other books I've been putting off for some time.
Thanks for reading this review, I hope you have a great day :)
thedayoflight's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
kleo11's review against another edition
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
ombm31329's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
ramblingbard's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
jaredpence's review against another edition
3.0
Better than expected! The messiah figure is fascinating because she has the power to compel people to do things and heal things, but at the same time she is human or at least has an intriguing relationship to her humanness. I was completely taken with how complex the assassin character is, and I like the allusions to the ancient ruins that seem like New York City.
One big question I have: what's the point of Carisman? He was magical, but it wasn't really explained how or what his magic was, and then *spoiler alert* he gets killed almost randomly and very few of the characters seem to care at all. His purpose in the book was very obscure. Does he come up again in the later books of the series?
One big question I have: what's the point of Carisman? He was magical, but it wasn't really explained how or what his magic was, and then *spoiler alert* he gets killed almost randomly and very few of the characters seem to care at all. His purpose in the book was very obscure. Does he come up again in the later books of the series?
jasmyn9's review
3.0
We're starting to really see Terry Brooks writing grow and turn into what I have loved about some of his more recent books. In The Druid of Shannara we break away from Par and Col, the brothers we followed for the majority of the first book in the series, and instead we watch as Walker Boh embarks on a quest for the black Elfstone. We still got to see a little of the brothers, but there were absent for most of the story. Walker is a very reluctant hero and it takes losing just about everything for him to really make the first step in his quest.
His adventure is the best in the Shannara series so far. Going up against an entity that is very god-like and quite alien to what I had seen before, it was a fresh change from some of the traditional fantasy elements. I loved watching as Walker really began to embrace who he was (finally!!) and how much he was able to do and help once he had.
What did I wish I saw more of? Well, our third group that is searching for the elves. We see them for just a little bit to check in, but I kind of miss watching all the characters in one book so I can keep track of what they are all doing better. - See more at: http://hotofftheshelves.blogspot.com/2015/09/the-druid-of-shannara-by-terry-brooks.html#sthash.goUGIedo.dpuf
His adventure is the best in the Shannara series so far. Going up against an entity that is very god-like and quite alien to what I had seen before, it was a fresh change from some of the traditional fantasy elements. I loved watching as Walker really began to embrace who he was (finally!!) and how much he was able to do and help once he had.
What did I wish I saw more of? Well, our third group that is searching for the elves. We see them for just a little bit to check in, but I kind of miss watching all the characters in one book so I can keep track of what they are all doing better. - See more at: http://hotofftheshelves.blogspot.com/2015/09/the-druid-of-shannara-by-terry-brooks.html#sthash.goUGIedo.dpuf
ferrisscottr's review against another edition
3.0
My first re-read of this book since I first read it the week it was released 25-30 years ago.
It essentially a quest book where we have Walker Boh (along with Morgan Leah, Quickening, Pe Ell and a few more adventurers) searching for the Black Elfstone in order to restore Paranor and the Druids to the Four Lands.
It's got some decent characters and I did enjoy the book but found the pacing a little hard to deal with.
It essentially a quest book where we have Walker Boh (along with Morgan Leah, Quickening, Pe Ell and a few more adventurers) searching for the Black Elfstone in order to restore Paranor and the Druids to the Four Lands.
It's got some decent characters and I did enjoy the book but found the pacing a little hard to deal with.
catherine_dalton08's review
adventurous
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0