Terry Brooks couldn't write a shopping list. But he can steal a narrative like a hot damn. Tolkein's corpse is still wondering where its wallet went.

Lord of the Ripoffs.

This is the first Terry Brooks/Shannara book that I have read and I would say the book is strictly ok. I did not really find the first half engrossing and agree with a lot of people that have mentioned the similarities to LOTR. The similarities are very distracting if you know about the LOTR plot. Also, one other important minus point is that sometimes I found myself skipping ahead a paragraph or so, to just not read the long description of scenery to get to the point where something actually happens. I hardly ever do that if I really like a book/think it's excellent. Basically I had moments when I was thinking "get on with it already".

In terms of plus points, despite the above I found that the book does get better. I did get engrossed in the plot later on and wanted to find out about whether Shea was successful and when he wound finally find the Sword. I liked the sections with the two thieves and how the rock troll was more intelligent than he seemed.

As for characters, Allanon is irritating and I only found him tolerable when his character seemed more human as opposed to just being easily angered and not that nice. Some of the characters did seem to be useless/one-dimensional. Durin and Dayel, the two elves were useless. Hendel was not focused on as much as Balinor and Menion. I would have liked more character development there. The inclusion of the two elves especially seemed forced. Menion and the Valemen were likeable. I did not like Shirl who I thought was a very cliche portrayal of a female character.

Overall, I don't give a 1 or 2 star rating because I don't think the book is terrible. It gets better and I got more engrossed in the story as it went along, although moreso in the 2nd half. The book also did make me want to read the 2nd book and carry on with the series, which I will. So overall, I say this book is standard fare but can still draw your interest nonetheless.

there was a book in my high school art classroom called the art of the brothers hildebrandt. it had all these cool paintings of guys with swords and dragons and all sorts of neet stuff including all of the covor art and interior illustrations for the sword of shannarra. as a freshman in high school i had never given much thought to reading anything beyond a school book or some lame thing assigned by a teacher. but based on the cool hildebrandt paintings i began a quest to find the novel the sword of shannara and read something for pleasure for a change.

i suppose in a roundabout way i owe the brothers hildebrandt my love for reading and not terry brooks. long story short, i found a copy of the sword of shannara (not an easy thing to do in a small southern utah town full of nothing but sagebrush and jackrabbits) and read it, fell in love with it, and also fell in love with reading. since then i have been reading a book or two everyday. i have over four thousand books in my collection now. and my hardcover collectors copy of the sword of shannara is not only signed and personilized by terry brooks himself but also the brothers hildebrandt. it is one of my most prized possessions.

and so in my opinion the original hildebrandt cover done in 1977 should have never been replaced by the computer generated piece of nonsense that they are using as a covor now.

but i suppose i am just partial to the hildebrandts. i would have never found my favorite hobby and passtime in the world if not for those two wonderful artists. thanks guys. and thank you terry brooks for opening up the eyes of a young boy.

but after sword, the other shannara novels kinda suck.

brian d

I just couldn't take it. I don't demand revelatory originality in my escape reading, but this was such an obvious rip-off of LOTR, I couldn't stomach it. Every single element was a blatant substitution for something from Tolkein, and so obvious it was distracting!

Instead, I found The Belgariad, Vol. 1 (Books 1-3): Pawn of Prophecy, Queen of Sorcery, Magician's Gambit and got my fantasy fun. Sure, it's archetypal to the point of cliche, but with its own internal logic and some satisfying psychological insights, so I was able to enjoy it on its own terms, not as a thinly veiled copy of something better.

Yep, just like many of the other one/two star ratings have said, this is a badly written imitation of Lord of the Rings. If you have read that, there is no need to read this. I understand that the 'Tolkien Template' has been used often, by many authors, but this is so blatant, so obvious and thinly veiled, it's a deterrent to enjoying the story.

Spoiler Alert

Our story so far...

Two naive young men who live in a community isolated from the great big world out there are contacted by a powerful and mysterious stranger who tells them that they must go on a quest to a city in order to obtain an object of great power, because it is the only thing that can stop the evil Warlock Lord. On the way they meet up with a woodsman who helps lead them on their journey, despite the fact they are not sure they can fully trust him. On they way they are attacked by a many-tentacled water monster. Barely escaping, they are magically assisted by a classic deus-ex-machina character who moves the story along. Once they reached the Dwarf city of Alar, I thought things were getting a little better. But then...its the creation of the Fellowship of the Sword! About the only non-tolkien idea I have seen so far is the concept that this world is somehow a post-nuclear war Earth. Planet of the Apes must have been on the telly while he wrote that chapter.

End Spoiler Alert

That's the first 165 pages or so. Sound familiar? If you have read the Lord of the Rings or even just seen the Rings movies it should be. If you haven't read it, or seen the movies, then maybe, just maybe, you can find some enjoyment in this. Just know, however, that this story has been done before, and in a much richer and better written manner by Mr. Tolkien.

Having heard so many good things about the author Terry Brooks i was extemely eager and excited to read the Sword of Shannara. But then i did, and was completely dissapointed.And here is why:
His introduction of most of his characters is decent, and i do point out,MOST of them.And only the intoduction is decent. All throughout the book, Brooks does not allow the reader to get to know his characters,he does not speak of them much(personalities, backrounds...information)or includes many conversations between them.
Also, his story moves quickly, too quickly for the reader to keep up, and enjoy a good read.His writing style is very technical and cold,he prefers to be Terry Brooks telling the story, rather than having his characters telling and living it.
As to the copycat mention, i spotted many similarities to lord of the rings, but that is something quite common in many science fiction writers i suppose.Similarities in both the plot and in the characters.