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A review by nachtfalke
The Skaar Invasion by Terry Brooks
4.0
With a vibe comparable to "Chapterhouse: Dune", this is still a rewarding read - although it's still eons removed from the genre-defining genius that was, say, "Druid of Shannara", also a second book in a four-book series.
I think to have a "serial killer Ohmsford" is an awesome idea; outside of that, I have to confess, though, that the characters don't interest me all too much. Drisker, perhaps, but outside of that, it's too much stuff we have already seen, and he himself is basically a less mystified Allanon. - But that is also what the Shannara series is supposed to do: Druids, Leahs, Ohmsfords, Elessedils, and Creels, put in the blender, set on repeat. There is no shame in recognizing this, what, 27 books into the series, and two books away from the overall, global story's conclusion. This is why you read books like this one.
That said, it DOES get a bit repetitive, and the very forced Dar Leah - Skaar captain romance is the terrible terrible. The title-bearing Skaar themselves are simply not really well thought-through, lamentably.
Redeeming factors are the aforementioned Norman Bates Ohmsford, as well as this new Shea, COGLINE, as well as many, many other moments when we can bask in some well-deserved nostalgia.
Brooks has written better books, and Brooks will have to have a few more aces in his sleeve for the third and the fourth book to round up his literary life's biggest body of work in a way that makes this extended epilogue to "Shannara" more than a footnote compared to the series' earlier and exponentially better entries. But in the meantime, this is great vintage fantasy from one of the genre's defining writers. Just the right sort of book for a slow summer evening. I am happy books like this one still get made.
I think to have a "serial killer Ohmsford" is an awesome idea; outside of that, I have to confess, though, that the characters don't interest me all too much. Drisker, perhaps, but outside of that, it's too much stuff we have already seen, and he himself is basically a less mystified Allanon. - But that is also what the Shannara series is supposed to do: Druids, Leahs, Ohmsfords, Elessedils, and Creels, put in the blender, set on repeat. There is no shame in recognizing this, what, 27 books into the series, and two books away from the overall, global story's conclusion. This is why you read books like this one.
That said, it DOES get a bit repetitive, and the very forced Dar Leah - Skaar captain romance is the terrible terrible. The title-bearing Skaar themselves are simply not really well thought-through, lamentably.
Redeeming factors are the aforementioned Norman Bates Ohmsford, as well as this new Shea, COGLINE, as well as many, many other moments when we can bask in some well-deserved nostalgia.
Brooks has written better books, and Brooks will have to have a few more aces in his sleeve for the third and the fourth book to round up his literary life's biggest body of work in a way that makes this extended epilogue to "Shannara" more than a footnote compared to the series' earlier and exponentially better entries. But in the meantime, this is great vintage fantasy from one of the genre's defining writers. Just the right sort of book for a slow summer evening. I am happy books like this one still get made.