Four out of five stars.
I first read Terry Brooks as an older teen on vacation in
Nebraska visiting my grandparents. There really wasn’t much else for a shy girl
to do in Nebraska but immerse herself in reading. It was my first venture into
epic fantasy as most of my other picks were classics. The Sword of Shannara was unlike anything I’d ever read before and
it hooked me on the fantasy genre forever after, making me a lifetime fan of
Terry Brooks.
Now as an adult and a fantasy writer, I welcomed the chance
to preview the latest Shannara novel. A chance I was given by Net Galley. (If
you don’t know Net Galley, you should. It’s a review service where librarians,
teachers, and reviewers can get advance copies in exchange for their opinion on
the books.)
The High Druid’s Blade
is more the saga of the main character’s life than the usual quest. Paxon Leah
is a descendant of both the Leah and Ohmsford families and has inherited the
famous Blade of Leah. When his sister is
kidnapped by the evil sorcerer, Arcannen, Paxon must discover the magic that
rests in the blade and free his sister. Everything grows more complicated as
Paxon is invited to become a protector of the famous druids.
This book is full of twists and turns, some of which were predictable,
but that didn’t limit the fun of the read. Plenty of magic and plenty of action! I was
glad to see a departure from the usual formula in the Shannara books. No big
quest to save the world, instead more development on the inner life of the
druids at Paranor and the politics behind the Federation. More focus on the
life of the main character as he finds his place in the world. Vulnerable and
uncertain, Paxon is a hero in the making.
In Arcannen, Brooks has the makings of one of his more
complex villains. This guy knows how to take a bad situation and make it worse.
The only complaint would be the amount of distance from the
characters. Instead of being shown their personality thought their actions or conversations,
we were told all about them. While a quicker way to get things done which no
doubt saved on word count, this kept me from discovering the characters for
myself and instead spoon-feed me their life stories. Often whole scenes and
events were skimmed over with summaries instead of being full of life and
details.As for instance Paxon's training to be a druid protector.
It made the characters feel a little flat and kept me having a true
connection with them. But as that has been the style of writing since the beginning
of the Shannara series, it’s a small tradeoff to make for another adventure in
this old friend world of magic.
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