Is it worth investing in terry brooks shannara series? my father inlaw has bought me the first four in teh series.
It depends on whether you think blatant Tolkien plagiarism is bad thing, or a selling point! I think I managed a book and a half in my teens. I had no idea there were that many!
Cheers
Jim
Ive done a little looking up on wikipedia i wasnt aware of his books or the amount he had in his back catalogue.
Im a tolkien fan as well as michael moorcock so a little unsure how to approach the books
Quote from: Jim_Campbell on 19 June, 2010, 05:33:04 PM
It depends on whether you think blatant Tolkien plagiarism is bad thing, or a selling point! I think I managed a book and a half in my teens. I had no idea there were that many!
I think I managed 2 and a bit before jacking it in.
I have read all the Shannara books.
I thought I had made a mistake with the first book 'The Sword of Shannara' as it follows the plot of Lord of the Rings very closely. The true power of the sword itself and how it was used was an interesting idea though.
I had bought a 3 part volume collecting the first three stories though so I went on reading to get my money's worth like. The next two actually took their own route (well okay, they still involved youngsters going out on quests... as most of them do come to think of it...but they had a lot of their own ideas) and were pretty cracking I thought.
As for the other series that follow, a mixed bunch. Largely entertaining although the basic format of youngsters-on-quests got a bit old. It's an interesting world though, actually set in the future and combining a bit of sci-fi with the fantasy elements and magic.
As a child I read 'The Sword of Shannara' and I did not like it. Perhaps the other books in this series is much better, as Mardroid says.
I think I managed the first two of them in my early teens. The only thing that sticks in my mind is that there was an Elf general called Kerrin. Not something I've ever considered re-reading.
I've read 8 or 9 of these and fully intend to read more. Yeah, the early stories wear their Tolkien influences pretty blatantly on their sleeves but that does fade.
The aspect that I particularly like about them is that the storylines are set generations, sometimes even centuries apart with the politics, technology etc. being radically different each time out. It gives the impression of a world evolving in a very natural way. Even to the extent of making certain powerful races extinct in later stories.
I loved these books as a teen. But I hadnt read Lord of the Rings at the time so I didnt have any feelings of Deja Vu. The best one was Wishsong of Shannara. I think there was a girl called Quickening in that one...she was cool...and it was an awesome story. But I only read the original trilogy, was quite surprised to see how many of them there are now!
I think I lasted a chapter and a half of the first one when I was about twelve.
The original three Shannara novels were probably the first ones I read after reading The Lord of the Rings when I was 13. I remember them fondly. Lord knows what I'd make of them now.
I read the fourth book, The Scions of Shannara, some time in my 20s. I don't remember disliking it, but I certainly don't remember being interested in it. I didn't bother geting the next book, which probably says it all.
I'd suggest the original trilogy is probably fine as a bit of derivative light entertainment.
Regards
Robin
Read the first one back in my highschool days. Thought it was okay but never got further than that in the series. Of I read the enitre Lord of the Rings years later and thought one of them is heavily inspired of the other.
So, wasn't ths being considered for a film as well?
Well to be fair if you eliminated all the fantasy books that took something from LOTR the fantasy section in most bookstores would be very small
Quote from: soggy on 20 June, 2010, 03:31:06 PM
Well to be fair if you eliminated all the fantasy books that took something from LOTR the fantasy section in most bookstores would be very small
Hence why I used the words "blatant" and "plagiarism" ...! Seriously, in the first book all Brooks has done is change the names.
Cheers!
Jim
Not only is the first book a blatant rip of LotR, it's also very badly written. I don't rate Brooks as a writer at all, and although I have read a few of his books in the past I can't be arsed to anymore. There are more than enough good writers out their.
I remember being outraged - and bored - as a teenager when I read it. It is effectively the same book. Blech.
I read a couple of the later ones as a teen(can't even recall the names now), I thought they were passable generic fantasy stuff. I think he must've improved as a writer though - I had "Sword Of Shannara" sitting on my shelf for ages but never got past the first few pages. It was unreadable.
Who remembers the art work of the Brothers Hildebrant.
Depending which versions of the Shannara books you've seen they did the cover art.
(http://i409.photobucket.com/albums/pp180/deslilypics/deslilypics2/deslilypics3/gandalfreturn.jpg)
It was at the time not long before and leading up to the film FellowShip of the Ring that I found one of their calendar art books with all their Lord of the Rings art included with alot of background information, how they got models to pose for them and what they were thinking at the time.
I now wonder if Terry Brooks similarity or blatant ripp off of J.R.R. Tolkien's work bothers them as much.
http://www.brothershildebrandt.com/Brothers.htm (http://www.brothershildebrandt.com/Brothers.htm)
I haven't read these as i was more a Dragon Lance kid.
To my great shame (being a mssive Fantasy Fan) I have never actually managed to get through a single Lord of the Rings book, too much damn singing and too many english lesons.
CU Radbacker
Brooks isn't necessarily a bad writer - his Magic Kingdom for Sale was a good fun read in the blessed days before similar humorous fantasy filled half the 'SF' space in any bookshop,and his Phantom Menace novelisation makes the best of a bad brief.
I read Sword (an unsought birthday present) over a very rainy mid-80's Easter in Lahinch, Co. Clare, and was initially horrified by its wholesale LotR steals - didn't read anything as blatant until Eragon, aka Star Wars Ep. IV: A New Dragon. Unlike Eragon, Sword had a pleasing flavour of its own hidden deep down, with its hints of a post-apocalyptic setting (very fashionable mid-80s), and an almost steampunky Morialike underworld, and I ended up enjoying it while despising it. The original reads easy and moves along very nicely, and I had enough enthusiasm to read the next two, and sort-of enjoyed them too. I went no further.
I'd certainly give it a go - just grit your teeth and ignore the fact that Allanon actually is Gandalf.
I've read the first three, and remember the second one - Elfstones of Shanara - as the best, as it had the best bad guys (particularly the Reaper). Didn't read LOTR till a few years later so missed most of the 'parallels' I'd say they would be easier to pick up on these days.
So, I hear Elfstones of Shannara is being considered for a film.
ThryllSeekyr wrote QuoteWho remembers the art work of the Brothers Hildebrant.
Depending which versions of the Shannara books you've seen they did the cover art.
In my version of "Sword Of Shannara" Darrell K.Sweet was an illustrator (cover only).
I have a artbook - "Brothers Hildebrandt: Tolkien years". Its superb. They also did many illustrations for "Magic the Gathering" card game.
I also read these before I read the Lord of the Rings, so I don't think the "borrowing" had as much impact, even after I read Tolkien's works. Also, because of my age (I was probably 10 or 11), the quality of the writing didn't matter to me as long as there was enough high adventure going on.
I have read a lot of Brooks' work since then and have never been bothered by his writing - but then again, when reading this type of fantasy I go in with a certain sort of mindset. That said, the Shannara series isn't very memorable to me; it's become a kind of mishmash in my brain to the point that I can't recall what scenes belong to what novel...
Quote from: M.I. on 23 June, 2010, 09:43:19 AM
ThryllSeekyr wrote
QuoteWho remembers the art work of the Brothers Hildebrant.
Depending which versions of the Shannara books you've seen they did the cover art.
In my version of "Sword Of Shannara" Darrell K.Sweet was an illustrator (cover only).
I have a artbook - "Brothers Hildebrandt: Tolkien years". Its superb. They also did many illustrations for "Magic the Gathering" card game.
Now I'm confused. I just did a web search for
Darrell Sweet's art work in that series and was shown this.
(http://i409.photobucket.com/albums/pp180/deslilypics/deslilypics2/deslilypics3/deslilypics4/oldfriend1.jpg)
So could some one further enlighten me here?
They are the books I had. Ahhh seeing them again makes me remember I did actually very much enjoy them. Especially Wishsong... Might just see if I can dig these out from whatever crevasse they are residing in...
Quote from: ThryllSeekyr on 23 June, 2010, 02:51:59 AM
So, I hear Elfstones of Shannara is being considered for a film.
Nah. I think you can get a cream for it now.
I wonder why the Dragonlance Chronicles aren't as reviled critically as this...anywhere you read reviews, there is a faction that blasts 'Sword', yet overall the Chronicles are pretty beloved. I love the Chronicles - I've read them more times than I've read the LOtR (four times vs three) - but the writing is pretty awful and there are several elements stolen directly from Tolkien...
Anyway...at least Terry Brooks has never tried to pass his stuff off as something more than what it is, unlike that kid who wrote Aragorn (now that is a series that should be blasted, yuck...).
To answer my own question. I read in the attached article that Darrell Sweet did the cover art on the second two books of that series and perhaps the rest.
The first book is definitely all the work of Brothers Hildbrant including this piece found inside....
(http://i409.photobucket.com/albums/pp180/deslilypics/deslilypics2/deslilypics3/deslilypics4/sword2.jpg)
So, I'm not so sure if the other guy ever did work on any other version of the first book as M.I. says. The other artbook Hildebrant : The Tolkien Years must be the very same calendar art book I mentioned earlier. A good book if you like their work.
(http://img-fan.theonering.net/rolozo/images/hildebrandt/the_tolkien_years.jpg)
Their art work in general reminds of those vintage Walt Disney cartoons with all it's brightly coloured backgrounds and larger than life characters. Something about these pictures that help me define the overall look also made them seem more pleasant than they should have been.
Am I alone in always having disliked the Hildebrandt's garish fantasy stuff? I like the SF movie posters (Star Wars, Barbarella etc.), but not much else.
Quote from: TordelBack on 24 June, 2010, 07:08:36 AM
Am I alone in always having disliked the Hildebrandt's garish fantasy stuff?
I don't like much of the Hildebrandt's work - too soft, not enough grit - too happy!
urk, that looks very Disney doesn't it, like if Uncle Walt had made Lord of the Rings.
CU Radbacker
Thought I'd mention it here first, because this is the topic I found when I Googled for Shannara Chronicles on this forum. Because I just saw this advertised on the ScyFy channel.
Read More about it Here. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Shannara_Chronicles)
Quote from: ThryllSeekyr on 19 December, 2015, 10:23:37 PM
Thought I'd mention it here first, because this is the topic I found when I Googled for Shannara Chronicles on this forum. Because I just saw this advertised on the ScyFy channel.
Read More about it Here. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Shannara_Chronicles)
Not seen it advertised , will keep my eyes open.
I never liked the Hildebrandt's work - reminds me of the kind of Dungeons and Dragons artwork that inspired Games Workshop to insist that they provide their own artwork for the British editions (back when GW licenced D&D from TSR).
Seeing those covers a page or two ago, Elfstones is the one I read from the school library all those decades ago.
Brothers, Hilderbrant for all it's misgivings, I still find their work comforting. I like the lightness of it wonder if Shannara might have be been animated in their particular art style.
I have their the book they that describes and how they once made a Lord of the Rings calender.