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A review by js_warren
The Talismans Of Shannara by Terry Brooks
3.0
Another Shannara book, another data point suggesting that what I really enjoyed as a kid isn't quite doing it for me as an adult.
Don't get me wrong; I enjoyed the book and the "Heritage of Shannara" series (the middle two books being the most enjoyable). Brooks has a fully fleshed-out world here, which I respect and enjoy, and the adventures he plays out within them are entertaining. His characters can be a little hit and miss, but more the former than the latter.
But I keep getting hung up on his writing style while I'm reading rather than the story itself. It's something I've mentioned more than once as I've reviewed his books this year: it's so. Damn. Descriptive. Distractingly so.
I'm currently trying to write a book, so maybe this issue is just something I've fixated on because it differs from what I'm trying to do. And by no means am I suggesting that I can do better. But for the love of god, the descriptions are never-ending. I can't count the number of times I've unintentionally zoned out while reading paragraphs upon paragraphs of unnecessary description and started thinking about the details of my own story instead. And then we get to actual action and I'm back to the Four Lands and the continuing adventures of the Ohmsfords, et al. Not an ideal reading experience, although I guess it's given me extra time to ponder my own tale, so it's not all bad.
I get setting the stage. I get describing the characters on it. I get setting the mood. But there has to be a limit. It's almost as if, knowing how much he owes to Tolkien, he spends too much energy trying to emulate the wrong aspects of Tolkien's vivid world-building. Or maybe it's just a stylistic choice that rubs me the wrong way as an adult. Hard to say.
But there's one thing I know for sure: I'm genuinely sick of Brooks writing his characters into an inescapable corner and then having the King of the Silver River pop out of nowhere to save them. If I recall correctly, he's done it at least four times in seven books. C'mon, dude...
Don't get me wrong; I enjoyed the book and the "Heritage of Shannara" series (the middle two books being the most enjoyable). Brooks has a fully fleshed-out world here, which I respect and enjoy, and the adventures he plays out within them are entertaining. His characters can be a little hit and miss, but more the former than the latter.
But I keep getting hung up on his writing style while I'm reading rather than the story itself. It's something I've mentioned more than once as I've reviewed his books this year: it's so. Damn. Descriptive. Distractingly so.
I'm currently trying to write a book, so maybe this issue is just something I've fixated on because it differs from what I'm trying to do. And by no means am I suggesting that I can do better. But for the love of god, the descriptions are never-ending. I can't count the number of times I've unintentionally zoned out while reading paragraphs upon paragraphs of unnecessary description and started thinking about the details of my own story instead. And then we get to actual action and I'm back to the Four Lands and the continuing adventures of the Ohmsfords, et al. Not an ideal reading experience, although I guess it's given me extra time to ponder my own tale, so it's not all bad.
I get setting the stage. I get describing the characters on it. I get setting the mood. But there has to be a limit. It's almost as if, knowing how much he owes to Tolkien, he spends too much energy trying to emulate the wrong aspects of Tolkien's vivid world-building. Or maybe it's just a stylistic choice that rubs me the wrong way as an adult. Hard to say.
But there's one thing I know for sure: I'm genuinely sick of Brooks writing his characters into an inescapable corner and then having the King of the Silver River pop out of nowhere to save them. If I recall correctly, he's done it at least four times in seven books. C'mon, dude...