Why have I never heard of Terry Brooks. The Swords of Shannara, published in 1977, was the first sci-fi novel to break into the New York Times Bestseller list. It spent 5 months on the list and is considered by some of today's top authors to be one of the best science fiction novels of the 21st century. I can't believe this book, and this author has not caught my attention until now. But, better late than never. This book is simply amazing. Although there is a lot of back story and characters that I am not familiar with (Armegeddon's Children being one of Terry's most recent novels), I'm glad that I read this one first. It states on the books flaps that it is a good book for new readers of Terry Brooks to be introduced to his work and worlds.
The book features a world which is destroyed by humanity. The ultimate destruction that we as humans know we are capable of. Human beings are the only species that posses the ability, and desire some would argue, to destroy itself. And Terry Brooks does a masterful job of bringing a world where human excesses bring the about the destruction of the world.
Desolate country landscapes. Burnt out and abandoned apartment buildings and city streets. Gutted buildings and empty stores provide the setting for this amazing story. The plot mainly focuses on three factions: Logan Tom, a Knight of the Word who has been been given the task to find humanity's only hope; the Gypsy Morph. This Gypsy Morph is the off-spring of characters that have appeared in Brook's older novels: Nest Freemark and John Ross. The story of Angel Perez is also told. She is a Knight of the Word and is also given a task. Her's is to find the ancient and secret race of the Elves and try to protect them from the coming doom.
The other character who's story is told is a boy named Hawk. This is a very interesting part of Terry's world. Hawk is the leader of what is called 'street kids' in this post-apoctolyptic world and has carved out a 'family' in the city and refuses to be holed up and confined in settlements which are being built and erected in all the major sporting arenas around the country. For example, Safeco Field is used as one compound which is where Hawk's friend and beloved Teresea lives. The story is the first in what is to be a trilogy. I'm looking forward to reading the next volume, which I just picked up at the library, called the Elves of Cintra. This book will follow Logan Tom and the Ghosts (Hawk's family) hunt for Hawk, also introduced briefly in Armegeddon's Children were the Evles of Cintra, so this next book will delve deeper into that story and Angel's fight with the demon that's been chasing her relentlessly across country.
This story is deep, well written and easy to read. That's what was the most surprising about this book. Is how flawlessly and effortlessly it flowed. It was a joy to read, and Terry's prose is brilliant. I still am disappointed that it's taken me so long to discover Terry Brooks, but I'm certainly glad to have found him now and am looking forward to reading his other novels. Particularly, Running with The Demon, The Swords of Shannara, and The Elves of Cintra. Running with the Demons, is considered by some to be one of the 10 best science fiction novels written in the 20th century. That's quite a claim. And I can't see a book with that sort of recognition being too bad. So, here's to Terry Brooks and the wonderful stories he's given us. And, here's to the wonderful world of science fiction. Which has given us stories such as Star Wars, Battlestar Gallactica, etc. I will write a review and some rantings on the Elves of Cintra and Running with Demons when I finish them. Unti then, keep reading the sci-fi.
Sweet River....
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Saturday, September 13, 2008
Review for The Halfling's Gem
Tolkien rip off or not, the Icewind Dale (Or Forgotten Realms) trilogy is spectacular. It has everything a fantasy fan wants in a novel; Elves, Dwarves, Creatures, magic, wizards, and adventure.
The main characters of the story, as in Lord of the Rings, are a fellowship. They protect each other, learn from each other, and would risk their lives at a moments notice. Although it has a lot of likeness to Tolkien's Lord of the Rings, there are a lot of differences. One in particular that I enjoyed, is the story of Bruenor Battlehammer. This dwarf, the heir to the throne of the long lost Mithral Hall, is the mentor of the Barbarian Wulfgar, and the father figure to an adopted human female named Catti-brie. And the relationship he shares with both of these characters is well developed and has a lot of depth. In particular, the story of how Bruenor met Wulfgar is so cool.
Wulfgar is from a Barbarian tribe who live on the harsh, cold plains of Icewind Dale. During a battle between Wulfgar's Barbarian's tribe and the dwarf, Bruenor comes across an injured Wulfgar who is helpless to defend himself. Instead of taking the expected course of action, which would be to slay Wulfgar where he lay, Bruenor instead decides that he will take this kid (although Wulfgar is a barbarian and huge in size, he is still very young) and teach him the way of the dwarves, elves, humans, and other people of the Forgotten Realms. His intentions is to rid Wulfgar of his narrow-mindedness and prejudices. After years of training and serving under Bruenor, the two become close friends and Wulfgar contiously learns valuable lessons througout the trilogy.
The main character, the beloved Drizzt Do'Urden, really shines in this book. His battle prowress, elven powers, and drow abilities make him an unlikely hero, but one who is easy to empathize with and admire. His mind is fixed on tracking down the assassin Artemis Entreri, the one who kidnapped the half-ling Regis in Mithral Hall. Drizzt fought Entreri briefly in the catwalks and chambers of the caverns of Mithral Hall, but did not come to victory. Drizzt, so surprised to see a human who was able to match his agility, skill with a sword, and ability to move quicly unnerves him and he goes on a long journey to not only rescue Regis, but to have a final confrontation with Entrerir. The reader does find out later in the book ***spoiler*** that Drizzt's fight is more with himself than with Entreri. He cannot understand why Entreri choose the life of an assassin and shows no remorse, cruelty, and no mercy. Drizzt on the other hand, coming from a land where most of the drow elves were like Entreri, has found compassion, understanding, patience, and love. So, to Drizzt, he sees in Entreri what he might have turned out like.
This book is a great conclusion to a fantastic trilogy. I'm looking forward to reading the first three books which tells the story of Drizzt in Menzoberranzan and how he came to the surface. Until then, pick up this trilogy, I see on Amazon a new collector's edition is coming out with illustrations, full color paintings ( I saw one of Guenwyhvar and it's awesome), and a foreward by R.A. Salvatore.
The main characters of the story, as in Lord of the Rings, are a fellowship. They protect each other, learn from each other, and would risk their lives at a moments notice. Although it has a lot of likeness to Tolkien's Lord of the Rings, there are a lot of differences. One in particular that I enjoyed, is the story of Bruenor Battlehammer. This dwarf, the heir to the throne of the long lost Mithral Hall, is the mentor of the Barbarian Wulfgar, and the father figure to an adopted human female named Catti-brie. And the relationship he shares with both of these characters is well developed and has a lot of depth. In particular, the story of how Bruenor met Wulfgar is so cool.
Wulfgar is from a Barbarian tribe who live on the harsh, cold plains of Icewind Dale. During a battle between Wulfgar's Barbarian's tribe and the dwarf, Bruenor comes across an injured Wulfgar who is helpless to defend himself. Instead of taking the expected course of action, which would be to slay Wulfgar where he lay, Bruenor instead decides that he will take this kid (although Wulfgar is a barbarian and huge in size, he is still very young) and teach him the way of the dwarves, elves, humans, and other people of the Forgotten Realms. His intentions is to rid Wulfgar of his narrow-mindedness and prejudices. After years of training and serving under Bruenor, the two become close friends and Wulfgar contiously learns valuable lessons througout the trilogy.
The main character, the beloved Drizzt Do'Urden, really shines in this book. His battle prowress, elven powers, and drow abilities make him an unlikely hero, but one who is easy to empathize with and admire. His mind is fixed on tracking down the assassin Artemis Entreri, the one who kidnapped the half-ling Regis in Mithral Hall. Drizzt fought Entreri briefly in the catwalks and chambers of the caverns of Mithral Hall, but did not come to victory. Drizzt, so surprised to see a human who was able to match his agility, skill with a sword, and ability to move quicly unnerves him and he goes on a long journey to not only rescue Regis, but to have a final confrontation with Entrerir. The reader does find out later in the book ***spoiler*** that Drizzt's fight is more with himself than with Entreri. He cannot understand why Entreri choose the life of an assassin and shows no remorse, cruelty, and no mercy. Drizzt on the other hand, coming from a land where most of the drow elves were like Entreri, has found compassion, understanding, patience, and love. So, to Drizzt, he sees in Entreri what he might have turned out like.
This book is a great conclusion to a fantastic trilogy. I'm looking forward to reading the first three books which tells the story of Drizzt in Menzoberranzan and how he came to the surface. Until then, pick up this trilogy, I see on Amazon a new collector's edition is coming out with illustrations, full color paintings ( I saw one of Guenwyhvar and it's awesome), and a foreward by R.A. Salvatore.
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