Nice enough, fits in well with the Wards of Faerie cover and is a step above Brooks’ last several covers. No complaints here, though I’m not blown away, by any means.
Be warned that the synopsis contains severe spoilers for The Wards of Faerie, the first book in the trilogy, which hasn’t been released yet. I’ll hide it after the jump, so not to tempt readers who don’t want to see it. Read More »
The legendary hero Allanon takes center stage in the first of three gripping new stand-alone eBook short stories set in the world of the fantasy fiction phenomenon that is Shannara—by beloved New York Times bestselling author Terry Brooks.
The history is thus: The once-Druid Brona, seduced by his pursuit of dark magic, was forever transformed into the Warlock Lord—whose evil would be the downfall of the Four Lands and the death of the Races. Against him, the Elven King Jerle Shannara wielded the fabled sword that bore his surname and triumphed. Or so it was believed. But though the Dark Lord was driven out . . . he was not destroyed.
The Druid Allanon knows only too well the prophecy passed down to him by his late master: that eventually the Warlock Lord will return. Now, after hundreds of years, that day seems imminent. And the time is at hand for the Sword of Shannara to once more be brought forth from its sanctuary to serve its ancient purpose. All that remains is for a blood descendent of the Elven house of Shannara to carry the blade into battle.
With ever more portents of doom on the horizon, Allanon must seek out the last remaining Shannara heir, who alone will bear the burden of defending the Four Lands’ destiny. But with agents of darkness closing in from behind, unexpected enemies lying in wait ahead, and treachery encroaching on every side, there can be no certainty of success. Nor any assurance that this desperate quest will not be the Druid’s last.
Shawn Speakman, webmaster for and good friends with Brooks, reveals a bit of what to expect from the short tale:
It features an Allanon that is only hinted at in The Sword of Shannara—sure, a man strong in character, but one filled with doubts about the coming storm that is about to sweep south from the Northland. Fans get an inside point of view look at the last Druid and learn more about the events leading up to the greatest power struggle in the Four Lands.
There’s probably not a lot here that will be of interest to those not already Shannara fans, but it’s nice to see Brooks returning to one of his most beloved characters. Allanon’s always been a mysterious figure, so I’ll enjoy reading a story from his perspective, peeling back the layers of his character through his own thoughts as he searches for the young scion of Jerle Shannara. Good stuff for a Brooks fanboy like me.
‘Allanon’s Quest’ is available now from your favourite eBook vendor, and is the first in a series of short stories dubbed Paladins of Shannara; each volume will tackle one of Brooks’ most famous and loved characters. The next short story will feature fan favourite Garet Jax, last seen in the graphic novel, The Dark Wraith of Shannara. More information is available on Brooks’ website.
Art by Todd Lockwood
One of the most exciting things about the upcoming release of Wards of Faerie, a new Shannara trilogy by stalwart Fantasy writer Terry Brooks, is that, for the first time since The Wishsong of Shannara, in the ’80s, the novel will feature artwork to go alongside Brooks’ story. It’s doubly exciting because they chose one of my favourite artists, Todd Lockwood, to do the art. I’ve always felt that Lockwood and Shannara would be a good mix. Having read Wards of Faerie, I think he nailed the feel and look of Brooks’ characters and world.
The above image is kinda small, but Lockwood also made some detail shots available, to give us a closer look at some of the characters.
Great work. I can’t wait to see the rest when Wards of Faerie comes out this summer. I know Brooks gets a hard time nowadays, and he’s been writing some hit-or-miss novels for the past several years, but Wards of Faerie is one of his better novels and I hope other fans are as excited as I am to see where he takes the trilogy.
Last week, I wrote a cage match between Moiraine and The Dagda Mor for the 2012 Suvudu Cage Matches. Moiraine stomped Terry Brooks’ demon lord into the ground and moved onto the next round to face Jardir from Peter V. Brett’s The Desert Spear. When the editors at Del Rey/Suvudu approached me about the opportunity to co-author the Moiraine vs. Jardir cage match with Peter V. Brett, I couldn’t refuse. Together, Peat and I cam up with a pretty wicked fight between the two powerhouse characters. If you’re into these cage matches, check out the Moiraine vs. Jardir match and defend me and Peat from the Wheel of Time fans ripping us a new one in the comments section!
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Here’s a first glimpse at the cover for The Wards of Faerie by Terry Brooks, first volume in his next trilogy, The Legacy of Shannara, which takes place after Straken, instead of being part of the series of prequel’s he has been working on for years.
The cover’s a bit of a change of pace from his last several (like this one), but it’s a welcome change. I never really groove on Steve Stone’s figure-based covers, so this turn to a more emblematic cover, somewhat reminiscient of the recent George R.R. Martin covers, is aright with me. It’s interesting to see that they’ve dropped the branding in the title of the series by going with a different font (though Brooks keeps its looped Os). In all, a little boring, but should look nice enough with a foil-stamped cover.
UPDATED: Here’s a short synopsis for the book from Shawn Speakman, Brooks’ webmaster and friend:
Wards of Faerie, Book I in The Dark Legacy of Shannara, is the indirect continuation of the story found in High Druid of Shannara. Only one character, Khyber Elessedil, is left from those previous books. She is the Ard Rhys of the Druid Keep Paranor and lives in a world where technology has the upper hand against the Druids and all they stand for. When one of her fellow Druids comes upon information that might lead to the missing Elfstones of Faerie—talismans that might help shift the magic/technology balance back to the middle—Khyber knows she must try to attain them at all costs.
What she finds is a threat much larger than technology.
Sounds good. The prequel books have been hit-or-miss in quality, so I’m sort of looking forward to getting back to ‘present day’ Shannara and dealing with the conflict between magic and emerging science. It’ll be interesting seeing Khyber as a lead character. Surely there’ll be an Ohmsford in there somewhere.
