Scan barcode
A review by weechito
The Sword of Shannara by Terry Brooks
3.0
It’s hard to review a book that is so intertwined with my introduction to and love for an entire genre. My foundational fantasy authors were Weis and Hickman (their Darksword series, specifically), but soon enough a friend introduced me to Terry Brooks by giving me a copy of The Sword of Shannara for my birthday. I hadn’t experienced Tolkien at this point, and this first book sucked me right in. The world was massive, there were suggestions that it took place not in some mysterious medieval world but rather in our own future, and the quest was twisty and turny in ways that my young mind had never before encountered. When I finally did get around to reading Lord of the Rings, I noticed the obvious similarities, but I was genuinely bored. Tolkien did it first, I thought, but Brooks did it better.
Fast forward. Years later, here I am, giving it another read, and I find myself torn. Is this an obvious retelling of Tolkien? Mostly yes. Is the writing overwrought and even clumsy in places? Again yes (but I’m pretty forgiving of that—“good” writing is important, but so is a good story. You can’t polish a turd, as the saying goes. Tolstoy himself couldn’t fix the Twilight series. Early Brooks may not be the best writer there ever was, but he’s serviceable, and he would go on to prove with the second book in this series that a good story adequately told is sometimes plenty good enough). Is the “futuristic” setting just a gloss over what is still essentially Yet Another Medieval Europe? Sure.
But all that aside, this is still a fun book. Sure, Tolkien did it first and (I admit now) better, but I’m always game for a fast paced piece of popcorn entertainment. This is about as popcorn as 70’s and 80’s fantasy gets. It’s a quick read, despite its size, and it’s fun. And I can’t help but remember how it got me into fantasy. Shannara was a gateway drug for me. Honesty, if we want more young readers to get into fantasy, we need more books like this, not less.
Fast forward. Years later, here I am, giving it another read, and I find myself torn. Is this an obvious retelling of Tolkien? Mostly yes. Is the writing overwrought and even clumsy in places? Again yes (but I’m pretty forgiving of that—“good” writing is important, but so is a good story. You can’t polish a turd, as the saying goes. Tolstoy himself couldn’t fix the Twilight series. Early Brooks may not be the best writer there ever was, but he’s serviceable, and he would go on to prove with the second book in this series that a good story adequately told is sometimes plenty good enough). Is the “futuristic” setting just a gloss over what is still essentially Yet Another Medieval Europe? Sure.
But all that aside, this is still a fun book. Sure, Tolkien did it first and (I admit now) better, but I’m always game for a fast paced piece of popcorn entertainment. This is about as popcorn as 70’s and 80’s fantasy gets. It’s a quick read, despite its size, and it’s fun. And I can’t help but remember how it got me into fantasy. Shannara was a gateway drug for me. Honesty, if we want more young readers to get into fantasy, we need more books like this, not less.