Scan barcode
A review by weaselweader
The Skaar Invasion by Terry Brooks
4.0
“He took the first breath of his new life”
I’ve said it before about Terry Brooks’ novels and I’m happy to repeat it for THE SKAAR INVASION.
As the Shannara universe enters its fifth decade and the series novel count approaches 40, it is difficult to believe that Terry Brooks’ writing remains as compelling, as imaginative, as thrilling, as provocative, as evocative and as exciting as the day I first drooled over THE SWORD OF SHANNARA. It is no small matter of personal pride for me that I can say I was one of those lucky fantasy lovers who stumbled upon the epic Shannara fantasy when it was actually first published and that I have been an ardent fan ever since I first encountered it in the late 1970s. To say that I was enchanted by Shea Ohmsford and Allanon, not to mention the magnificent illustrations of the Brothers Hildebrandt would be a masterpiece of understatement. As the Ringwraiths did in Tolkien’s LORD OF THE RINGS, Brooks’ imagining of the Skullbearers simply gave me goosebumps. A first edition illustrated trade paperback copy sits with no small pride in a valued place on my bookshelves.
In THE SKAAR INVASION, recently deposed and exiled High Druid Drisker Arc begins a rapidly fading life as little more than a spectre imprisoned in Paranor, the defeated Druid stronghold hidden behind magical walls by a treacherous Clizia Porse. After its astonishing defeat of the Druids, the Skaar invasion force, endowed with powerful and hitherto unknown magic, looks to be on pace to overrun the length and breadth of the Four Lands. It has now fallen to Tarsha Kaynin, an untested enchantress who has inherited the Ohmsford family Wishsong magic to protect herself from her own insane brother who wishes nothing more than to kill her and to defend the Four Lands from domination by the evil of the Skaar forces.
The theme is the time-tested chestnut, “good versus evil”, but in the hands of Terry Brooks, every book seems to be new and thrilling. There’s nothing stale here and every page begs to be turned so a reader can get on with this absorbing new tale of Shannara and the dangers facing the Four Lands. I am looking forward with considerable relish to the conclusion of the Invasion trilogy, THE STIEHL ASSASSIN.
Highly recommended.
Paul Weiss
I’ve said it before about Terry Brooks’ novels and I’m happy to repeat it for THE SKAAR INVASION.
As the Shannara universe enters its fifth decade and the series novel count approaches 40, it is difficult to believe that Terry Brooks’ writing remains as compelling, as imaginative, as thrilling, as provocative, as evocative and as exciting as the day I first drooled over THE SWORD OF SHANNARA. It is no small matter of personal pride for me that I can say I was one of those lucky fantasy lovers who stumbled upon the epic Shannara fantasy when it was actually first published and that I have been an ardent fan ever since I first encountered it in the late 1970s. To say that I was enchanted by Shea Ohmsford and Allanon, not to mention the magnificent illustrations of the Brothers Hildebrandt would be a masterpiece of understatement. As the Ringwraiths did in Tolkien’s LORD OF THE RINGS, Brooks’ imagining of the Skullbearers simply gave me goosebumps. A first edition illustrated trade paperback copy sits with no small pride in a valued place on my bookshelves.
In THE SKAAR INVASION, recently deposed and exiled High Druid Drisker Arc begins a rapidly fading life as little more than a spectre imprisoned in Paranor, the defeated Druid stronghold hidden behind magical walls by a treacherous Clizia Porse. After its astonishing defeat of the Druids, the Skaar invasion force, endowed with powerful and hitherto unknown magic, looks to be on pace to overrun the length and breadth of the Four Lands. It has now fallen to Tarsha Kaynin, an untested enchantress who has inherited the Ohmsford family Wishsong magic to protect herself from her own insane brother who wishes nothing more than to kill her and to defend the Four Lands from domination by the evil of the Skaar forces.
The theme is the time-tested chestnut, “good versus evil”, but in the hands of Terry Brooks, every book seems to be new and thrilling. There’s nothing stale here and every page begs to be turned so a reader can get on with this absorbing new tale of Shannara and the dangers facing the Four Lands. I am looking forward with considerable relish to the conclusion of the Invasion trilogy, THE STIEHL ASSASSIN.
Highly recommended.
Paul Weiss