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A review by futuregazer
The Last Druid by Terry Brooks
2.0
Sometimes series end when authors die. Other times they simply fade out, having never come to a true "finale", especially if they are sagas like this that follow separate events happening hundreds of years after each other. Or, sometimes, authors draw a line in the sand and say "This is the last one" and try to make it special.
I rather recommend against this last one, to be honest. Like a character in a good old science fiction or fantasy TV show, a series can always be revived if it is simply given a line in the sand. I have seen an in-book universe that was literally destroyed in one book pop back in another 10 years later.
I think the Fall of Shannara did little to improve on what it would have been to simply allow the series to fade out after the previous entry, never written in again. Nothing was particularly notable about this send off - a great number of named characters died, evil was vanquished, and once again, the druid order and Paranor are (maybe?) put to rest as they have been before. The only thing that makes us think this is the last time is that Brooks has said it is, and the title of the book is after all the "last" druid. So, we still have the lingering uncertainty and melancholy of a series that fades out, but now....the in-universe reasons seem pretty darn arbitrary. I was sort of expecting something else, like having the land of Shannara be renamed at the end as the Druid order was found specifically not to be needed anymore, as a new "protecting" force had arrived and merged with the nation of the 4 lands. That, while not pleasing to all, would have been a more true "conclusion". This....well, not so much.
I suppose it was good to read one more old Shannara book? But also not - the formula has been getting tired for a while, and many have noticed, which is probably why Brooks wanted to start winding it down I would imagine? But who knows.
I rather recommend against this last one, to be honest. Like a character in a good old science fiction or fantasy TV show, a series can always be revived if it is simply given a line in the sand. I have seen an in-book universe that was literally destroyed in one book pop back in another 10 years later.
I think the Fall of Shannara did little to improve on what it would have been to simply allow the series to fade out after the previous entry, never written in again. Nothing was particularly notable about this send off - a great number of named characters died, evil was vanquished, and once again, the druid order and Paranor are (maybe?) put to rest as they have been before. The only thing that makes us think this is the last time is that Brooks has said it is, and the title of the book is after all the "last" druid. So, we still have the lingering uncertainty and melancholy of a series that fades out, but now....the in-universe reasons seem pretty darn arbitrary. I was sort of expecting something else, like having the land of Shannara be renamed at the end as the Druid order was found specifically not to be needed anymore, as a new "protecting" force had arrived and merged with the nation of the 4 lands. That, while not pleasing to all, would have been a more true "conclusion". This....well, not so much.
I suppose it was good to read one more old Shannara book? But also not - the formula has been getting tired for a while, and many have noticed, which is probably why Brooks wanted to start winding it down I would imagine? But who knows.