A review by octavia_cade
The Talismans of Shannara by Terry Brooks

2.0

The characters and quests of the first three books come back together in an attempt to get shot of the Shadowen. On the bright side, because so much of this is plot and there's so much that needs to be covered, there's just not room for Brooks to waste on the miserable never-ending navel gazing that characters such as Par and Walker are all too prone to indulging in. (Hooray!) There is still far more than is warranted, however, and the rot spreads to Wren as well. My favourite of the three main characters, she's barely served in here, getting a much shorter role than the men, and not much of what she has is complimentary. She's fooled by the most obvious trap in the history of traps, and spends far too much time hand-wringing about how it sickens her to kill. (It probably sickens the men in your Elven army too, madam, but carry on letting them sicken themselves to death so that you don't have to compromise yourself, by all means.)

I did like the pace and breadth of this, and I always enjoy a moor cat. Walker was much improved from The Druid of Shannara, I liked him. The ending was a little rushed, however, and I just cannot take the romance between Plum and Golf Boy seriously.