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The Sword of Shannara

January 01, 1970

The Sword of Shannara is a 1977 epic fantasy novel by American writer Terry Brooks. It is the first book in a titular trilogy.

The Sword of Shannara
First hardcover edition (Random House)
AuthorTerry Brooks
IllustratorThe Brothers Hildebrandt
Cover artistThe Brothers Hildebrandt
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
SeriesOriginal Shannara Trilogy
GenreEpic fantasy[1]
PublisherBallantine/Del Rey
Publication date
1977
Media typePrint (Hardcover and Paperback)
Pages726 pp
ISBN0-345-24804-X (First edition)
Preceded byFirst King of Shannara 
Followed byThe Elfstones of Shannara 

The novel interweaves two major plots into a fictional world called The Four Lands. One follows the protagonist Shea Ohmsford on his quest to gain the Sword of Shannara and use it to confront the Warlock Lord (the antagonist). The other plot shadows Prince Balinor Buckhannah's attempt to oust his insane brother Palance from the throne of Callahorn while the country and its capital (Tyrsis) come under attack from overwhelming armies of the Warlock Lord. The novel contains themes of mundane heroism and nuclear holocaust throughout.

Brooks wrote The Sword of Shannara over seven years, during which time he also attended law school. Ballantine Books published the novel and used it to launch the company's new subsidiary Del Rey Books. The Sword of Shannara's success significantly boosted the commercial prospects of the fantasy literary genre. Critics derided the novel for being derivative of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. Some accused Brooks of lifting the entire plot and many of his characters directly from Tolkien's work; others praised its execution despite the lack of originality.

Plot edit

Background edit

2000 years before the events of the plot,[2] a nuclear holocaust known as the "Great Wars" ended mankind's hegemony on Earth. These wars rearranged the planet's geography and wiped out 90% of the human population. Only traces of technological artifacts have been found; most advanced technology has been lost, but magic has been rediscovered. During this time, Mankind mutated into several distinct races: humans, dwarves, gnomes and trolls, all named after creatures from "age-old" myths. Also, elves begin to emerge after having been in seclusion and hiding for centuries. Man retreats southward while the other races settle elsewhere: the dwarves in the east, the gnomes in the hills of the northeast, the trolls in the north and the elves in the west. Due to this distribution, the territories, which roughly correspond to the Northwestern United States, are called the Four Lands.

A thousand years later, an Elf named Galaphile gathers all of the people who still hold some knowledge of the old world to the citadel of Paranor. Naming themselves the First Druid Council, they try to bring peace and order to all of the races. The rogue Druid Brona departs with his followers and the Ildatch, a magical tome that controls their minds. Hundreds of years later, Brona convinces all Men to attack the other races, triggering the First War of the Races. Although nearly victorious, he is ultimately defeated by the council and disappears. The Druids divide the Four Lands among the races and become reclusive, withdrawing to Paranor because of their shame at the betrayal by one of their own members.

Several centuries after the First War of the Races, Brona returns as the Warlock Lord, now with Skull Bearers as his servants. Chronicled in the prequel novel First King of Shannara, the Second War of the Races begins with the destruction of the Druid Order. A lone Druid, Bremen, forges a magical talisman to destroy the Warlock Lord; it is given to the Elven King, Jerle Shannara. As it takes the form of a blade, the talisman is named the Sword of Shannara. It succeeds in banishing the Warlock Lord. He is not killed, but his army is defeated by the combined armies of the Elves and Dwarves. Peace comes at a high price: interracial tension is renewed and the Druids have vanished.

Story edit

Five centuries later, Allanon, the last remaining Druid, arrives at the Ohmsford family inn in the Southland town of Shady Vale. He warns Shea, a half-elf adopted by the Ohmsfords, that the Warlock King has returned to the Skull Kingdom in the Northland and is coming for Shea. As the last descendant of Jerle Shannara, Shea is the only one who can wield the Sword of Shannara against the Warlock Lord. Allanon departs, leaving Shea three Blue Elfstones for protection. A few weeks later, the Callahorn prince Balinor Buckhannah arrives and tells Shea that the Warlock Lord's servants are pursuing him. Shea and his adopted brother Flick flee with a Skull Bearer on their trail. They take refuge in the nearby city of Leah where they find Shea's friend Menion, the son of the city's lord. Menion decides to accompany the two, and they travel to Culhaven to meet with Allanon and Balinor.

The council at Culhaven, which also includes the elven brothers Durin and Dayel Elessedil and the dwarf Hendel, assesses the Warlock King's current threat and decide to recover the Sword of Shannara from Paranor. During the party's trek to Paranor, they are attacked by a giant snake, which sends the panicked Shea plummeting over a waterfall. His companions reach Paranor without him and engage in battle with minions of the Warlock Lord, only to find that the Sword of Shannara has already been removed. Learning of the Warlock Lord's invasion of the Southland, the party decides to split up, with some going to mobilize armies and others conducting a search for Shea.

After being captured by gnomes, Shea is rescued by the one-handed thief Panamon Creel and his mute Troll companion Keltset Mallicos. Journeying to the Northland, they reach the Skull Kingdom and pursue the insane Gnome deserter Orl Fane, who has carried the Sword of Shannara. Meanwhile, a disguised Flick infiltrates an enemy camp and rescues the captive Elven King, Eventine Elessedil; at the same time, in Kern, Menion saves a woman named Shirl Ravenlock and falls in love with her. They organize an evacuation of Kern before the Northland army reaches the city.

Balinor returns to Tyrsis to activate the Border Legion only to find that it has been disbanded. Balinor is then imprisoned by his brother Palance Buckhannah, who has taken control of Callahorn's rule. His advisor, Stenmin, has driven Palance mad with poisoned food, making him his pawn. With help from Menion, Balinor escapes and confronts Palance and Stenmin. Cornered, Stenmin kills Palance as a distraction and flees. Now commanded by Balinor, Callahorn's reformed Border Legion marches out of Tyrsis and engages the Northland army at the Mermiddon River, killing many Northlanders before being forced to pull back; the Border Legion retreats to Tyrsis and makes preparations for defense.

During the siege of Tyrsis, Hendel and Menion come upon Stenmin and some of his supporters in an underground passage. Hendel is killed, but Menion kills Stenmin and closes the passage. After three days, the Border Legion is beaten back from the Outer Wall of Tyrsis as a result of treachery—the wall falls when the traitors destroy the locks on the main gate, jamming it open. At the defenders' last stand on the Bridge of Sendic, the Northlanders abruptly break and run.

Infiltrating the Warlock Lord's fortress in the Skull Mountain, Shea seizes the sword and learns of its true power: those touched by it are confronted with the truth about their lives. The Warlock Lord materializes and tries to destroy Shea. Although immune to physical weapons, the Warlock Lord is subjected to the sword's power and forced to confront the truth about himself: he had deluded himself into believing that he is immortal, but this is impossible. Faced with this paradox, the Warlock Lord is destroyed.

Without its master, the Skull Kingdom crumbles, during which Keltset sacrifices himself to save his companions. In the south, the Northland army retreats after the Warlock Lord's downfall. Allanon saves Shea's life and reveals himself as Bremen's centuries-old son. Shea reunites with his companions in Tyrsis as peace returns to the Four Lands. Balinor takes up his country's rule, while Dayel and Durin return to the Westland, and Menion returns to Leah with Shirl. Shea and Flick reunite and return to Shady Vale.

Characters edit

 
Depiction of the quest party by The Brothers Hildebrandt.
Left to right: Menion, Dayel and Durin, Hendel (foreground),
Balinor (background), Allanon (background), Shea, Flick.

Main characters edit

  • Shea Ohmsford, the protagonist, Flick's adopted brother and the only remaining descendant of Jerle Shannara. Shea must find an ancient magical sword, the Sword of Shannara, and use it to destroy the antagonist, the Warlock Lord. A major theme of this novel revolves around Shea—part of his quest includes finding a belief in himself.[3] This is a search that every subsequent Brooks protagonist must undergo.[3]
  • Flick Ohmsford, Shea's adopted brother.[3]
  • Menion Leah, a friend of Shea and the Prince of the small country of Leah.[4]
  • Balinor Buckhannah, the Crown Prince of the country of Callahorn and the charismatic commander of the Border Legion.[3]
  • Allanon, the last Druid of Paranor. Allanon has been described as a parallel to Merlin from Arthurian legend.[5]
  • Hendel, a taciturn Dwarf warrior.[3]
  • Durin and Dayel Elessedil, a pair of elven brothers who are cousins to King Eventine. The elder brother Durin is calm and inspires confidence, and the younger brother Dayel is gentle and shy.

Supporting characters edit

  • Panamon Creel, a one-handed "con-man"[3] wanderer whose left hand is now an iron pike. The inspiration for his character came directly from Rupert of Hentzau from The Prisoner of Zenda, by Anthony Hope.[6]
  • Keltset Mallicos, Panamon's mute troll companion.
  • Palance Buckhannah, the brother of Balinor Buckhannah and a prince of Callahorn.
  • Shirl Ravenlock, the daughter of an elder on the governing council of Kern, and a descendant of royal blood.[7] She is one of only two women to appear directly in the book, with the other being the Siren.[3]
  • Shade of Bremen, the deceased father of Allanon. He resides in a lake called the Hadeshorn, just outside of the Hall of Kings.
  • Eventine Elessedil, the king of the elves. He was captured by the gnome and troll army of Brona.
  • Stenmin, a traitor to Callahorn now working for the Warlock Lord.
  • Brona (the Warlock Lord), the former Druid and antagonist of the novel. In days long ago, Brona was a Druid before he was subverted by dark magic.
  • Skull Bearers, "winged black destroyers" who sacrificed their humanity to become the Warlock Lord's most trusted servants.[8]
  • Orl Fane, a "Gollum-like" Gnome who "covets the Sword as Gollum does the ring."[9]

Development edit

Brooks began writing The Sword of Shannara in 1967[10] when he was twenty-three years old.[11] He started writing the novel to challenge himself and as a way of staying "sane" while he attended law school at Washington and Lee University.[10][12] Brooks had been a writer since high school,[13] but he had never found 'his' genre: "I tried my hand at science fiction, westerns, war stories, you name it. All those efforts ... weren't very good."[11] When he was starting college, he was given a copy of Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings to read for the first time. From then on, Brooks knew that he had found a genre he could write in.[11] Writing Sword took seven years, as Brooks worked on it only sporadically while also completing his law school courses and rewrote it many times.[12][14]

Brooks initially submitted his manuscript to DAW Books, whose editor Donald A. Wollheim rejected it and recommended submission to Judy-Lynn del Rey at Ballantine Books instead.[10] Ballantine Books accepted The Sword of Shannara in November 1974.[10] Brooks' editor was Lester del Rey, who used the book to launch Ballantine's new Del Rey Books imprint/subsidiary.[15] Del Rey chose it because he felt that it was "the first long epic fantasy adventure which had any chance of meeting the demands of Tolkien readers for similar pleasures."[16]

In 1977, The Sword of Shannara was simultaneously released as a trade paperback[Note 1] by Ballantine Books and hardback[Note 2] by Random House.[17][18] The Brothers Hildebrandt, who had previously done illustration work for the work of Tolkien, were asked to make the cover. Greg Hildebrandt remembers the Del Reys as being "obsessed with the project. It was their baby."[19] The novel was a commercial success, becoming the first fantasy fiction novel to appear on The New York Times trade paperback bestseller list.[15][20][21]

The original inspiration for The Sword of Shannara was Brooks' desire to put "Tolkien's magic and fairy creatures [into] the worlds of Walter Scott and [Alexander] Dumas".[10] Brooks was inspired by J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings and adventure fiction such as Alexandre Dumas' The Three Musketeers, Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island, Arthur Conan Doyle's The White Company and Walter Scott's Ivanhoe.[10][22]

Brooks decided not to use historical settings like these works.[22] He instead followed Tolkien's use of a fantasy setting:[22]

I would set my adventure story in an imaginary world, a vast, sprawling, mythical world like that of Tolkien, filled with magic that had replaced science and races that had evolved from Man. But I was not Tolkien and did not share his background in academia or his interest in cultural study. So I would eliminate the poetry and songs, the digressions on the ways and habits of types of characters, and the appendices of language and backstory that characterized and informed Tolkien's work. I would write the sort of straightforward adventure story that barreled ahead, picking up speed as it went, compelling a turning of pages until there were no more pages to be turned.

He admits that he was very influenced by The Lord of the Rings when writing it, being his first novel. However, Brooks has said that he has since evolved his own style :[23]

Tolkien approached it as an academic, and he was writing it as an academic effort, not as popular fiction. I’m a popular fiction writer, that's the way I approached it. And I think that you're right, too, about the fact that I was heavily under the influence of Tolkien when I wrote Sword of Shannara and it shows in that particular book. But I've really gotten a long way away from Tolkien these days and not very many people come up to me any more and say, "Well, gee, you're writing an awful lot like Tolkien." They don't say that any more.

Brooks also made decisions about his novel's characterization and use of magic, saying that the magic "couldn't be dependable or simply good or bad".[10] Also, he wanted to blur the distinctions between good and evil, "because life simply [doesn't] work that way."[10] He wanted to ensure that readers would identify with his protagonist, Shea, which he accomplished by casting Shea as "a person simply trying to muddle through".[10]

Major themes edit

"Ordinary men placed in extraordinary circumstances"[24] is a prevalent theme in The Sword of Shannara. Brooks credits Tolkien with introducing this theme of mundane heroism into fantasy literature and influencing his own fiction. "[M]y protagonists are cut from the same bolt of cloth as Bilbo and Frodo Baggins. It was Tolkien's genius to reinvent the traditional epic fantasy by making the central character neither God nor hero, but a simple man in search of a way to do the right thing. ... I was impressed enough by how it had changed the face of epic fantasy that I never gave a second thought to not using it as the cornerstone of my own writing."[24]

The Sword of Shannara is set in a post-apocalyptic Earth,[15] where chemical and nuclear holocaust devastated the land in the distant past.[25][26] Due to the numerous references in Sword to this catastrophe, Brooks was asked a question about whether he thought that his 'prediction' might come true. He answered:[27]

I don't see myself as a negative person, so I don't think I've ever thought we would destroy ourselves. But it does worry me that not only are we capable of [nuclear war], but [we also] flirt with the idea periodically. One mistake, after all . . . Anyway, I used the background in [The] Sword of Shannara more in a cautionary vein than as a prophecy. Also, it was necessary to destroy civilization in order to take a look at what it would mean to have to build it back up again using magic. A civilization once destroyed by misuse of power is a bit wary the second time out about what new power can do.

Environment plays a role in all of the Shannara novels: "Environment is a character in my story and almost always plays a major role in affecting the story's outcome. I have always believed that fantasy, in particular, because it takes place in an imaginary world with at least some imaginary characters, needs to make the reader feel at home in the setting. That means bringing the setting alive for the reader, which is what creating environment as a character is really all about." However, Brooks believes that Sword was more about behavioral issues and personal sacrifice.[11]

Literary significance and reception edit

The Sword of Shannara received mixed reviews following its publication, most of which remarked on its similarity to J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. Choice stated that the novel was "exceptionally well-written, very readable" and "will be accepted by most teenagers."[28][29] Marshall F. Tymn also thought that it contained quality prose. Tymn believed that Sword followed Lord of the Rings too closely, but he also cited some of the differences, such as the use of a post-holocaust setting with the races which sprang from it, and an "unexpected ending springing from the nature of the sword."[26][29] Cathi Dunn MacRae felt that his strength was "his plot's momentum, maintained through cliffhangers" and "unexpected twists of fortune".[30]

Similarities with The Lord of the Rings edit

Further information: Tolkien Calendars

The Sword of Shannara has drawn extensive criticism from critics who believe that Brooks derived too much of his novel from Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. In 1978, American fantasy editor Lin Carter denounced The Sword of Shannara as "the single most cold-blooded, complete rip-off of another book that I have ever read".[31] He further wrote that "Terry Brooks wasn't trying to imitate Tolkien's prose, just steal his story line and complete cast of characters, and he did it with such clumsiness and so heavy-handedly, that he virtually rubbed your nose in it."[31] Roger C. Schlobin was kinder in his assessment, though he still thought that The Sword of Shannara was a disappointment because of its similarities to The Lord of the Rings.[32] Brian Attebery accused The Sword of Shannara of being "undigested Tolkien" which was "especially blatant in its point-for-point correspondence" with The Lord of the Rings.[33] In an educational article on writing, author Orson Scott Card cited The Sword of Shannara as a cautionary example of overly derivative writing, finding the work "artistically displeasing" for this reason.[34]

Tolkien scholar Tom Shippey writes that the novel is distinctive for "the dogged way in which it follows Tolkien point for point".[35] Shippey located analogues for Tolkien characters within Brooks' novel, such as Sauron (Brona), Gandalf (Allanon), the Hobbits (Shea and Flick), Aragorn (Menion), Boromir (Balinor), Gimli (Hendel), Legolas (Durin and Dayel), Gollum (Orl Fane), the Barrow-wight (Mist Wraith), the Nazgûl (Skull Bearers), and Tom Bombadil (King of the Silver River), among others.[35] He also found plot similarities to events in The Lord of the Rings, such as the Fellowship of the Ring's formation and adventures, the journeys to Rivendell (Culhaven) and Lothlórien (Storlock), Gandalf's (Allanon) fall in Moria (Paranor) and subsequent reappearance, and the Rohirrim's arrival at the Battle of the Pelennor Fields (Battle of Tyrsis), among others.[35] Shippey attributes the book's success to the post-Tolkien advent of the fantasy genre: "What The Sword of Shannara seems to show is that many readers had developed the taste ... for heroic fantasy so strongly that if they could not get the real thing they would take any substitute, no matter how diluted."[35]

Terry Brooks has said that Tolkien's works were a major influence in his writing,[36] though he has also said that Tolkien was not his only influence. Other influences included his editor Lester del Rey, as well as the many different books which he had read over his life. Brooks was also inspired by the mythology and ancient civilizations that he had learned about in school.[11]

Author Gene Wolfe defended Brooks' derivation of material from Tolkien in a 2001 Interzone essay: "Terry Brooks has often been disparaged for imitating Tolkien, particularly by those reviewers who find his books inferior to Tolkien's own. I can say only that I wish there were more imitators—we need them—and that all imitations of so great an original must necessarily be inferior."[37] Dune author Frank Herbert also defended Brooks:[38] "Brooks demonstrates that it doesn't matter where you get the idea; what matters is that you tell a rousing story."

John Batchelor feels that it was the weakest of the 1977 surge in fantasy, ranking it below Stephen R. Donaldson's The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, the Unbeliever, Seamus Cullen's Astra and Flondrix, and The Silmarillion, edited by Christopher Tolkien, while commenting that it "unabashedly copies" Lord of the Rings.[39] The Pittsburgh Press feels that Sword embodies the Tolkien spirit and tradition but is quite able to stand apart from Lord of the Rings.[40]

Book impact edit

The Sword of Shannara sold about 125,000 copies in its first year in print,[41] and this success provided a major boost to the fantasy genre.[42] Louise J. Winters writes that "until Shannara, no fantasy writer except J. R. R. Tolkien had made such an impression on the general public."[43] Critic David Pringle said that Brooks "demonstrated in 1977 that the commercial success of Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings had not been a fluke, and that fantasy really did have the potential to become a mass-market genre".[44] Stephen R. Donaldson's The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, the Unbeliever and The Sword of Shannara ushered in "the era of the big commercial fantasy"[45] and helped make epic fantasy the leading fantasy subgenre.[45] The Sword of Shannara and its sequels helped inspire later versions of Dungeons & Dragons.[46]

Television adaptation edit

The Shannara books were to be adapted by Mike Newell, the director of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, but he left the project.[47] The books eventually were adapted for television by Farah Films and executive produced by Brooks, Dan Farah, and Stewart Till. They began with Elfstones, intending to leave Sword for a later date.[48] The Shannara Chronicles premiered on American television network MTV on January 5, 2016.

Notes edit

  1. ^ Brooks, Terry (1977). The Sword of Shannara. Ballantine Books. ISBN 0-345-24804-X.
  2. ^ Brooks, Terry (1977). The Sword of Shannara. Ballantine Books. ISBN 0-394-41333-4.

References edit

  1. ^ "Once Over". The English Journal. 66 (8). National Council of Teachers of English: 82. November 1977.
  2. ^ Indomitable summary at Google books. 2008. Retrieved 2008-09-15.[permanent dead link]
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Young Adult Fantasy Fiction, 76.
  4. ^ Young Adult Fantasy Fiction, 75.
  5. ^ Young Adult Fantasy Fiction, 79.
  6. ^ Young Adult Fantasy Fiction, 80.
  7. ^ "The Sword Of Shannara", 330.
  8. ^ Young Adult Fantasy Fiction, 74.
  9. ^ Young Adult Fantasy Fiction, 82.
  10. ^ a b c d e f g h i Brooks, Terry (2002) [1991]. . Archived from the original on 2008-03-21. Retrieved 2008-06-24.
  11. ^ a b c d e Brooks, Terry (1999–2008). "Ask Terry Q&A - Writing". Archived from the original on 2012-09-14. Retrieved 2008-09-14.
  12. ^ a b Brooks, Terry (March 2009). . Archived from the original on 2009-06-07. Retrieved 2009-07-23.
  13. ^ Speakman, Shawn (1999–2008). . terrybrooks.net. Archived from the original on 2000-09-02. Retrieved 2008-08-26.
  14. ^ Sometimes the Magic Works, 189
  15. ^ a b c Clute, John (1999) [1997]. "Brooks, Terry". The Encyclopedia of Fantasy. New York: St. Martin's Griffin. p. 142.
  16. ^ The World of Science Fiction, 302
  17. ^ The World of Science Fiction, 302-303.
  18. ^ Sometimes the Magic Works, 13.
  19. ^ "Greg Hildebrandt On The Sword of Shannara - Del Rey - Suvudu". from the original on 2012-05-15. Retrieved 2012-11-27.
  20. ^ Massengill, David (2001). "18 Seattle books". Seattle Weekly. from the original on 2011-06-13. Retrieved 2008-08-26.
  21. ^ Bleiler, Richard (2003). Supernatural Fiction Writers: Contemporary Fantasy and Horror. Charles Scribner's Sons. p. 154.
  22. ^ a b c Sometimes the Magic Works, 188.
  23. ^ "Terry Brooks - Online Radio Interview with the Author - The Author Hour". from the original on 2012-03-22. Retrieved 2012-03-22.
  24. ^ a b Sometimes the Magic Works, 190.
  25. ^ Young Adult Fantasy Fiction, 81.
  26. ^ a b Fantasy Literature, 55.
  27. ^ Brooks, Terry (2002). "December 2002 Ask Terry Q&A". Archived from the original on 2012-09-14. Retrieved 2008-06-24.
  28. ^ Choice (July–August 1977): 30.
  29. ^ a b quoted from Young Adult Fantasy Fiction, 81.
  30. ^ Young Adult Fantasy Fiction, 77.
  31. ^ a b Carter, Lin (1978). The Year's Best Fantasy Stories: 4. New York: DAW Books. pp. 207–208.
  32. ^ Schlobin, Roger (1979). The Literature of Fantasy: A Comprehensive, Annotated Bibliography of Modern Fantasy Fiction. Garland Pub. pp. 31. ISBN 0-8240-9757-2.
  33. ^ Attebery, Brian (1980). The Fantasy Tradition in American Literature: From Irving to Le Guin. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. pp. 155. ISBN 9780253356659.
  34. ^ Card, Orson Scott (1999). "Uncle Orson's Writing Class: On Plagiarism, Borrowing, Resemblance, and Influence". from the original on 2006-10-30. Retrieved 2006-09-08.
  35. ^ a b c d Shippey, Tom (2000). J.R.R. Tolkien: Author of the Century. London: HarperCollins. pp. 2001 paperback, 319–320.
  36. ^ Sometimes the Magic Works, 188-190.
  37. ^ Wolfe, Gene (2001). "The Best Introduction to the Mountains". Interzone. 174 (December 2001). Archived from the original on 2004-01-13. Retrieved 2008-06-28.
  38. ^ Herbert, Frank (10 April 1977). "Some Author, Some Tolkien". The New York Times Book Review: 15.
  39. ^ Batchelor, John Calvin (10 October 1977). "Tolkien Again: Lord Foul and Friends Infest a Morbid but Moneyed Land". The Village Voice. from the original on 3 March 2021. Retrieved 27 December 2009.
  40. ^ Cunningham, J.R. (4 October 1977). "Young Writer has Tolkien Touch". Pittsburgh Press. from the original on 26 April 2022. Retrieved 27 December 2009.
  41. ^ Timmerman, John H. (1983). Other Worlds: The Fantasy Genre. Bowling Green: Bowling Green State University Popular Press. p. 116.
  42. ^ Barron, Neil; Tymn, Marshall B. (1999). Fantasy and Horror: A Critical and Historical Guide to Literature, Illustration, Film, TV, Radio, and the Internet. Scarecrow Press. p. 360.
  43. ^ Winters, Louise J. (1994). Laura Standley Berger (ed.). Twentieth-Century Young Adult Writers. Detroit: St. James Press. p. 37.
  44. ^ Pringle, David (2006) [1998]. The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Fantasy. London: Carlton. p. 156.
  45. ^ a b Pringle, David (2006) [1998]. The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Fantasy. London: Carlton. p. 37.
  46. ^ Slavicsek, Bill; Baker, Richard; Mohan, Kim (2005). Dungeons & Dragons For Dummies. For Dummies. p. 376. ISBN 0-7645-8459-6.
  47. ^ Brooks, Terry (25 November 2009). "2009 Holiday Letter". Terrybrooks.net. Archived from the original on 11 September 2012. Retrieved 27 December 2009.
  48. ^ Sneider, Jeff (10 September 2011). "Sonar, Farah to adapt 'Shannara' for TV". Variety. from the original on 15 November 2012. Retrieved 13 January 2013.

Sources edit

  • Brooks, Terry (2003). Sometimes The Magic Works: Lessons from a Writing Life. New York: Ballantine. ISBN 0-345-46551-2. OCLC 54854572.
  • del Rey, Lester (1980). The World of Science Fiction: 1926-1976 - The History of a Subculture. New York and London: Garland. ISBN 0-8240-1446-4. OCLC 5500269.
  • MacRae, Cathi Dunn (1998). Presenting Young Adult Fantasy Fiction. New York City: Twayne Publishers. ISBN 0-8057-8220-6. OCLC 38478522.
  • Tymn, Marshall B; Zahorski, Kenneth J.; Boyer, Robert H. (1979). Fantasy Literature: A Core Collection and Reference Guide. New Providence, New Jersey: R.R. Bowker. ISBN 0-8352-1153-3. OCLC 5051748.

Further reading edit

  • Lee, Stuart D., ed. (2022). A Companion to J. R. R. Tolkien (2 ed.). Wiley. doi:10.1002/9781119691457. ISBN 978-1-119-69140-2.

External links edit

January 01, 1970
sword, shannara, 1977, epic, fantasy, novel, american, writer, terry, brooks, first, book, titular, trilogy, first, hardcover, edition, random, house, authorterry, brooksillustratorthe, brothers, hildebrandtcover, artistthe, brothers, hildebrandtcountryunited,. The Sword of Shannara is a 1977 epic fantasy novel by American writer Terry Brooks It is the first book in a titular trilogy The Sword of ShannaraFirst hardcover edition Random House AuthorTerry BrooksIllustratorThe Brothers HildebrandtCover artistThe Brothers HildebrandtCountryUnited StatesLanguageEnglishSeriesOriginal Shannara TrilogyGenreEpic fantasy 1 PublisherBallantine Del ReyPublication date1977Media typePrint Hardcover and Paperback Pages726 ppISBN0 345 24804 X First edition Preceded byFirst King of Shannara Followed byThe Elfstones of Shannara The novel interweaves two major plots into a fictional world called The Four Lands One follows the protagonist Shea Ohmsford on his quest to gain the Sword of Shannara and use it to confront the Warlock Lord the antagonist The other plot shadows Prince Balinor Buckhannah s attempt to oust his insane brother Palance from the throne of Callahorn while the country and its capital Tyrsis come under attack from overwhelming armies of the Warlock Lord The novel contains themes of mundane heroism and nuclear holocaust throughout Brooks wrote The Sword of Shannara over seven years during which time he also attended law school Ballantine Books published the novel and used it to launch the company s new subsidiary Del Rey Books The Sword of Shannara s success significantly boosted the commercial prospects of the fantasy literary genre Critics derided the novel for being derivative of J R R Tolkien s The Lord of the Rings Some accused Brooks of lifting the entire plot and many of his characters directly from Tolkien s work others praised its execution despite the lack of originality Contents 1 Plot 1 1 Background 1 2 Story 2 Characters 2 1 Main characters 2 2 Supporting characters 3 Development 4 Major themes 5 Literary significance and reception 5 1 Similarities with The Lord of the Rings 5 2 Book impact 6 Television adaptation 7 Notes 8 References 9 Sources 10 Further reading 11 External linksPlot editBackground edit 2000 years before the events of the plot 2 a nuclear holocaust known as the Great Wars ended mankind s hegemony on Earth These wars rearranged the planet s geography and wiped out 90 of the human population Only traces of technological artifacts have been found most advanced technology has been lost but magic has been rediscovered During this time Mankind mutated into several distinct races humans dwarves gnomes and trolls all named after creatures from age old myths Also elves begin to emerge after having been in seclusion and hiding for centuries Man retreats southward while the other races settle elsewhere the dwarves in the east the gnomes in the hills of the northeast the trolls in the north and the elves in the west Due to this distribution the territories which roughly correspond to the Northwestern United States are called the Four Lands A thousand years later an Elf named Galaphile gathers all of the people who still hold some knowledge of the old world to the citadel of Paranor Naming themselves the First Druid Council they try to bring peace and order to all of the races The rogue Druid Brona departs with his followers and the Ildatch a magical tome that controls their minds Hundreds of years later Brona convinces all Men to attack the other races triggering the First War of the Races Although nearly victorious he is ultimately defeated by the council and disappears The Druids divide the Four Lands among the races and become reclusive withdrawing to Paranor because of their shame at the betrayal by one of their own members Several centuries after the First War of the Races Brona returns as the Warlock Lord now with Skull Bearers as his servants Chronicled in the prequel novel First King of Shannara the Second War of the Races begins with the destruction of the Druid Order A lone Druid Bremen forges a magical talisman to destroy the Warlock Lord it is given to the Elven King Jerle Shannara As it takes the form of a blade the talisman is named the Sword of Shannara It succeeds in banishing the Warlock Lord He is not killed but his army is defeated by the combined armies of the Elves and Dwarves Peace comes at a high price interracial tension is renewed and the Druids have vanished Story edit Five centuries later Allanon the last remaining Druid arrives at the Ohmsford family inn in the Southland town of Shady Vale He warns Shea a half elf adopted by the Ohmsfords that the Warlock King has returned to the Skull Kingdom in the Northland and is coming for Shea As the last descendant of Jerle Shannara Shea is the only one who can wield the Sword of Shannara against the Warlock Lord Allanon departs leaving Shea three Blue Elfstones for protection A few weeks later the Callahorn prince Balinor Buckhannah arrives and tells Shea that the Warlock Lord s servants are pursuing him Shea and his adopted brother Flick flee with a Skull Bearer on their trail They take refuge in the nearby city of Leah where they find Shea s friend Menion the son of the city s lord Menion decides to accompany the two and they travel to Culhaven to meet with Allanon and Balinor The council at Culhaven which also includes the elven brothers Durin and Dayel Elessedil and the dwarf Hendel assesses the Warlock King s current threat and decide to recover the Sword of Shannara from Paranor During the party s trek to Paranor they are attacked by a giant snake which sends the panicked Shea plummeting over a waterfall His companions reach Paranor without him and engage in battle with minions of the Warlock Lord only to find that the Sword of Shannara has already been removed Learning of the Warlock Lord s invasion of the Southland the party decides to split up with some going to mobilize armies and others conducting a search for Shea After being captured by gnomes Shea is rescued by the one handed thief Panamon Creel and his mute Troll companion Keltset Mallicos Journeying to the Northland they reach the Skull Kingdom and pursue the insane Gnome deserter Orl Fane who has carried the Sword of Shannara Meanwhile a disguised Flick infiltrates an enemy camp and rescues the captive Elven King Eventine Elessedil at the same time in Kern Menion saves a woman named Shirl Ravenlock and falls in love with her They organize an evacuation of Kern before the Northland army reaches the city Balinor returns to Tyrsis to activate the Border Legion only to find that it has been disbanded Balinor is then imprisoned by his brother Palance Buckhannah who has taken control of Callahorn s rule His advisor Stenmin has driven Palance mad with poisoned food making him his pawn With help from Menion Balinor escapes and confronts Palance and Stenmin Cornered Stenmin kills Palance as a distraction and flees Now commanded by Balinor Callahorn s reformed Border Legion marches out of Tyrsis and engages the Northland army at the Mermiddon River killing many Northlanders before being forced to pull back the Border Legion retreats to Tyrsis and makes preparations for defense During the siege of Tyrsis Hendel and Menion come upon Stenmin and some of his supporters in an underground passage Hendel is killed but Menion kills Stenmin and closes the passage After three days the Border Legion is beaten back from the Outer Wall of Tyrsis as a result of treachery the wall falls when the traitors destroy the locks on the main gate jamming it open At the defenders last stand on the Bridge of Sendic the Northlanders abruptly break and run Infiltrating the Warlock Lord s fortress in the Skull Mountain Shea seizes the sword and learns of its true power those touched by it are confronted with the truth about their lives The Warlock Lord materializes and tries to destroy Shea Although immune to physical weapons the Warlock Lord is subjected to the sword s power and forced to confront the truth about himself he had deluded himself into believing that he is immortal but this is impossible Faced with this paradox the Warlock Lord is destroyed Without its master the Skull Kingdom crumbles during which Keltset sacrifices himself to save his companions In the south the Northland army retreats after the Warlock Lord s downfall Allanon saves Shea s life and reveals himself as Bremen s centuries old son Shea reunites with his companions in Tyrsis as peace returns to the Four Lands Balinor takes up his country s rule while Dayel and Durin return to the Westland and Menion returns to Leah with Shirl Shea and Flick reunite and return to Shady Vale Characters edit nbsp Depiction of the quest party by The Brothers Hildebrandt Left to right Menion Dayel and Durin Hendel foreground Balinor background Allanon background Shea Flick Main characters edit Shea Ohmsford the protagonist Flick s adopted brother and the only remaining descendant of Jerle Shannara Shea must find an ancient magical sword the Sword of Shannara and use it to destroy the antagonist the Warlock Lord A major theme of this novel revolves around Shea part of his quest includes finding a belief in himself 3 This is a search that every subsequent Brooks protagonist must undergo 3 Flick Ohmsford Shea s adopted brother 3 Menion Leah a friend of Shea and the Prince of the small country of Leah 4 Balinor Buckhannah the Crown Prince of the country of Callahorn and the charismatic commander of the Border Legion 3 Allanon the last Druid of Paranor Allanon has been described as a parallel to Merlin from Arthurian legend 5 Hendel a taciturn Dwarf warrior 3 Durin and Dayel Elessedil a pair of elven brothers who are cousins to King Eventine The elder brother Durin is calm and inspires confidence and the younger brother Dayel is gentle and shy Supporting characters edit Panamon Creel a one handed con man 3 wanderer whose left hand is now an iron pike The inspiration for his character came directly from Rupert of Hentzau from The Prisoner of Zenda by Anthony Hope 6 Keltset Mallicos Panamon s mute troll companion Palance Buckhannah the brother of Balinor Buckhannah and a prince of Callahorn Shirl Ravenlock the daughter of an elder on the governing council of Kern and a descendant of royal blood 7 She is one of only two women to appear directly in the book with the other being the Siren 3 Shade of Bremen the deceased father of Allanon He resides in a lake called the Hadeshorn just outside of the Hall of Kings Eventine Elessedil the king of the elves He was captured by the gnome and troll army of Brona Stenmin a traitor to Callahorn now working for the Warlock Lord Brona the Warlock Lord the former Druid and antagonist of the novel In days long ago Brona was a Druid before he was subverted by dark magic Skull Bearers winged black destroyers who sacrificed their humanity to become the Warlock Lord s most trusted servants 8 Orl Fane a Gollum like Gnome who covets the Sword as Gollum does the ring 9 Development editBrooks began writing The Sword of Shannara in 1967 10 when he was twenty three years old 11 He started writing the novel to challenge himself and as a way of staying sane while he attended law school at Washington and Lee University 10 12 Brooks had been a writer since high school 13 but he had never found his genre I tried my hand at science fiction westerns war stories you name it All those efforts weren t very good 11 When he was starting college he was given a copy of Tolkien s The Lord of the Rings to read for the first time From then on Brooks knew that he had found a genre he could write in 11 Writing Sword took seven years as Brooks worked on it only sporadically while also completing his law school courses and rewrote it many times 12 14 Brooks initially submitted his manuscript to DAW Books whose editor Donald A Wollheim rejected it and recommended submission to Judy Lynn del Rey at Ballantine Books instead 10 Ballantine Books accepted The Sword of Shannara in November 1974 10 Brooks editor was Lester del Rey who used the book to launch Ballantine s new Del Rey Books imprint subsidiary 15 Del Rey chose it because he felt that it was the first long epic fantasy adventure which had any chance of meeting the demands of Tolkien readers for similar pleasures 16 In 1977 The Sword of Shannara was simultaneously released as a trade paperback Note 1 by Ballantine Books and hardback Note 2 by Random House 17 18 The Brothers Hildebrandt who had previously done illustration work for the work of Tolkien were asked to make the cover Greg Hildebrandt remembers the Del Reys as being obsessed with the project It was their baby 19 The novel was a commercial success becoming the first fantasy fiction novel to appear on The New York Times trade paperback bestseller list 15 20 21 The original inspiration for The Sword of Shannara was Brooks desire to put Tolkien s magic and fairy creatures into the worlds of Walter Scott and Alexander Dumas 10 Brooks was inspired by J R R Tolkien s The Lord of the Rings and adventure fiction such as Alexandre Dumas The Three Musketeers Robert Louis Stevenson s Treasure Island Arthur Conan Doyle s The White Company and Walter Scott s Ivanhoe 10 22 Brooks decided not to use historical settings like these works 22 He instead followed Tolkien s use of a fantasy setting 22 I would set my adventure story in an imaginary world a vast sprawling mythical world like that of Tolkien filled with magic that had replaced science and races that had evolved from Man But I was not Tolkien and did not share his background in academia or his interest in cultural study So I would eliminate the poetry and songs the digressions on the ways and habits of types of characters and the appendices of language and backstory that characterized and informed Tolkien s work I would write the sort of straightforward adventure story that barreled ahead picking up speed as it went compelling a turning of pages until there were no more pages to be turned He admits that he was very influenced by The Lord of the Rings when writing it being his first novel However Brooks has said that he has since evolved his own style 23 Tolkien approached it as an academic and he was writing it as an academic effort not as popular fiction I m a popular fiction writer that s the way I approached it And I think that you re right too about the fact that I was heavily under the influence of Tolkien when I wrote Sword of Shannara and it shows in that particular book But I ve really gotten a long way away from Tolkien these days and not very many people come up to me any more and say Well gee you re writing an awful lot like Tolkien They don t say that any more Brooks also made decisions about his novel s characterization and use of magic saying that the magic couldn t be dependable or simply good or bad 10 Also he wanted to blur the distinctions between good and evil because life simply doesn t work that way 10 He wanted to ensure that readers would identify with his protagonist Shea which he accomplished by casting Shea as a person simply trying to muddle through 10 Major themes edit Ordinary men placed in extraordinary circumstances 24 is a prevalent theme in The Sword of Shannara Brooks credits Tolkien with introducing this theme of mundane heroism into fantasy literature and influencing his own fiction M y protagonists are cut from the same bolt of cloth as Bilbo and Frodo Baggins It was Tolkien s genius to reinvent the traditional epic fantasy by making the central character neither God nor hero but a simple man in search of a way to do the right thing I was impressed enough by how it had changed the face of epic fantasy that I never gave a second thought to not using it as the cornerstone of my own writing 24 The Sword of Shannara is set in a post apocalyptic Earth 15 where chemical and nuclear holocaust devastated the land in the distant past 25 26 Due to the numerous references in Sword to this catastrophe Brooks was asked a question about whether he thought that his prediction might come true He answered 27 I don t see myself as a negative person so I don t think I ve ever thought we would destroy ourselves But it does worry me that not only are we capable of nuclear war but we also flirt with the idea periodically One mistake after all Anyway I used the background in The Sword of Shannara more in a cautionary vein than as a prophecy Also it was necessary to destroy civilization in order to take a look at what it would mean to have to build it back up again using magic A civilization once destroyed by misuse of power is a bit wary the second time out about what new power can do Environment plays a role in all of the Shannara novels Environment is a character in my story and almost always plays a major role in affecting the story s outcome I have always believed that fantasy in particular because it takes place in an imaginary world with at least some imaginary characters needs to make the reader feel at home in the setting That means bringing the setting alive for the reader which is what creating environment as a character is really all about However Brooks believes that Sword was more about behavioral issues and personal sacrifice 11 Literary significance and reception editThe Sword of Shannara received mixed reviews following its publication most of which remarked on its similarity to J R R Tolkien s The Lord of the Rings Choice stated that the novel was exceptionally well written very readable and will be accepted by most teenagers 28 29 Marshall F Tymn also thought that it contained quality prose Tymn believed that Sword followed Lord of the Rings too closely but he also cited some of the differences such as the use of a post holocaust setting with the races which sprang from it and an unexpected ending springing from the nature of the sword 26 29 Cathi Dunn MacRae felt that his strength was his plot s momentum maintained through cliffhangers and unexpected twists of fortune 30 Similarities with The Lord of the Rings edit Further information Tolkien Calendars The Sword of Shannara has drawn extensive criticism from critics who believe that Brooks derived too much of his novel from Tolkien s The Lord of the Rings In 1978 American fantasy editor Lin Carter denounced The Sword of Shannara as the single most cold blooded complete rip off of another book that I have ever read 31 He further wrote that Terry Brooks wasn t trying to imitate Tolkien s prose just steal his story line and complete cast of characters and he did it with such clumsiness and so heavy handedly that he virtually rubbed your nose in it 31 Roger C Schlobin was kinder in his assessment though he still thought that The Sword of Shannara was a disappointment because of its similarities to The Lord of the Rings 32 Brian Attebery accused The Sword of Shannara of being undigested Tolkien which was especially blatant in its point for point correspondence with The Lord of the Rings 33 In an educational article on writing author Orson Scott Card cited The Sword of Shannara as a cautionary example of overly derivative writing finding the work artistically displeasing for this reason 34 Tolkien scholar Tom Shippey writes that the novel is distinctive for the dogged way in which it follows Tolkien point for point 35 Shippey located analogues for Tolkien characters within Brooks novel such as Sauron Brona Gandalf Allanon the Hobbits Shea and Flick Aragorn Menion Boromir Balinor Gimli Hendel Legolas Durin and Dayel Gollum Orl Fane the Barrow wight Mist Wraith the Nazgul Skull Bearers and Tom Bombadil King of the Silver River among others 35 He also found plot similarities to events in The Lord of the Rings such as the Fellowship of the Ring s formation and adventures the journeys to Rivendell Culhaven and Lothlorien Storlock Gandalf s Allanon fall in Moria Paranor and subsequent reappearance and the Rohirrim s arrival at the Battle of the Pelennor Fields Battle of Tyrsis among others 35 Shippey attributes the book s success to the post Tolkien advent of the fantasy genre What The Sword of Shannara seems to show is that many readers had developed the taste for heroic fantasy so strongly that if they could not get the real thing they would take any substitute no matter how diluted 35 Terry Brooks has said that Tolkien s works were a major influence in his writing 36 though he has also said that Tolkien was not his only influence Other influences included his editor Lester del Rey as well as the many different books which he had read over his life Brooks was also inspired by the mythology and ancient civilizations that he had learned about in school 11 Author Gene Wolfe defended Brooks derivation of material from Tolkien in a 2001 Interzone essay Terry Brooks has often been disparaged for imitating Tolkien particularly by those reviewers who find his books inferior to Tolkien s own I can say only that I wish there were more imitators we need them and that all imitations of so great an original must necessarily be inferior 37 Dune author Frank Herbert also defended Brooks 38 Brooks demonstrates that it doesn t matter where you get the idea what matters is that you tell a rousing story John Batchelor feels that it was the weakest of the 1977 surge in fantasy ranking it below Stephen R Donaldson s The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever Seamus Cullen s Astra and Flondrix and The Silmarillion edited by Christopher Tolkien while commenting that it unabashedly copies Lord of the Rings 39 The Pittsburgh Press feels that Sword embodies the Tolkien spirit and tradition but is quite able to stand apart from Lord of the Rings 40 Book impact edit The Sword of Shannara sold about 125 000 copies in its first year in print 41 and this success provided a major boost to the fantasy genre 42 Louise J Winters writes that until Shannara no fantasy writer except J R R Tolkien had made such an impression on the general public 43 Critic David Pringle said that Brooks demonstrated in 1977 that the commercial success of Tolkien s The Lord of the Rings had not been a fluke and that fantasy really did have the potential to become a mass market genre 44 Stephen R Donaldson s The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever and The Sword of Shannara ushered in the era of the big commercial fantasy 45 and helped make epic fantasy the leading fantasy subgenre 45 The Sword of Shannara and its sequels helped inspire later versions of Dungeons amp Dragons 46 Television adaptation editThe Shannara books were to be adapted by Mike Newell the director of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire but he left the project 47 The books eventually were adapted for television by Farah Films and executive produced by Brooks Dan Farah and Stewart Till They began with Elfstones intending to leave Sword for a later date 48 The Shannara Chronicles premiered on American television network MTV on January 5 2016 Notes edit Brooks Terry 1977 The Sword of Shannara Ballantine Books ISBN 0 345 24804 X Brooks Terry 1977 The Sword of Shannara Ballantine Books ISBN 0 394 41333 4 References edit Once Over The English Journal 66 8 National Council of Teachers of English 82 November 1977 Indomitablesummary at Google books 2008 Retrieved 2008 09 15 permanent dead link a b c d e f g Young Adult Fantasy Fiction 76 Young Adult Fantasy Fiction 75 Young Adult Fantasy Fiction 79 Young Adult Fantasy Fiction 80 The Sword Of Shannara 330 Young Adult Fantasy Fiction 74 Young Adult Fantasy Fiction 82 a b c d e f g h i Brooks Terry 2002 1991 Author s Note Archived from the original on 2008 03 21 Retrieved 2008 06 24 a b c d e Brooks Terry 1999 2008 Ask Terry Q amp A Writing Archived from the original on 2012 09 14 Retrieved 2008 09 14 a b Brooks Terry March 2009 Ask Terry Q amp A March 2009 Archived from the original on 2009 06 07 Retrieved 2009 07 23 Speakman Shawn 1999 2008 Terry Brooks Biography terrybrooks net Archived from the original on 2000 09 02 Retrieved 2008 08 26 Sometimes the Magic Works 189 a b c Clute John 1999 1997 Brooks Terry The Encyclopedia of Fantasy New York St Martin s Griffin p 142 The World of Science Fiction 302 The World of Science Fiction 302 303 Sometimes the Magic Works 13 Greg Hildebrandt On The Sword of Shannara Del Rey Suvudu Archived from the original on 2012 05 15 Retrieved 2012 11 27 Massengill David 2001 18 Seattle books Seattle Weekly Archived from the original on 2011 06 13 Retrieved 2008 08 26 Bleiler Richard 2003 Supernatural Fiction Writers Contemporary Fantasy and Horror Charles Scribner s Sons p 154 a b c Sometimes the Magic Works 188 Terry Brooks Online Radio Interview with the Author The Author Hour Archived from the original on 2012 03 22 Retrieved 2012 03 22 a b Sometimes the Magic Works 190 Young Adult Fantasy Fiction 81 a b Fantasy Literature 55 Brooks Terry 2002 December 2002 Ask Terry Q amp A Archived from the original on 2012 09 14 Retrieved 2008 06 24 Choice July August 1977 30 a b quoted from Young Adult Fantasy Fiction 81 Young Adult Fantasy Fiction 77 a b Carter Lin 1978 The Year s Best Fantasy Stories 4 New York DAW Books pp 207 208 Schlobin Roger 1979 The Literature of Fantasy A Comprehensive Annotated Bibliography of Modern Fantasy Fiction Garland Pub pp 31 ISBN 0 8240 9757 2 Attebery Brian 1980 The Fantasy Tradition in American Literature From Irving to Le Guin Bloomington Indiana University Press pp 155 ISBN 9780253356659 Card Orson Scott 1999 Uncle Orson s Writing Class On Plagiarism Borrowing Resemblance and Influence Archived from the original on 2006 10 30 Retrieved 2006 09 08 a b c d Shippey Tom 2000 J R R Tolkien Author of the Century London HarperCollins pp 2001 paperback 319 320 Sometimes the Magic Works 188 190 Wolfe Gene 2001 The Best Introduction to the Mountains Interzone 174 December 2001 Archived from the original on 2004 01 13 Retrieved 2008 06 28 Herbert Frank 10 April 1977 Some Author Some Tolkien The New York Times Book Review 15 Batchelor John Calvin 10 October 1977 Tolkien Again Lord Foul and Friends Infest a Morbid but Moneyed Land The Village Voice Archived from the original on 3 March 2021 Retrieved 27 December 2009 Cunningham J R 4 October 1977 Young Writer has Tolkien Touch Pittsburgh Press Archived from the original on 26 April 2022 Retrieved 27 December 2009 Timmerman John H 1983 Other Worlds The Fantasy Genre Bowling Green Bowling Green State University Popular Press p 116 Barron Neil Tymn Marshall B 1999 Fantasy and Horror A Critical and Historical Guide to Literature Illustration Film TV Radio and the Internet Scarecrow Press p 360 Winters Louise J 1994 Laura Standley Berger ed Twentieth Century Young Adult Writers Detroit St James Press p 37 Pringle David 2006 1998 The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Fantasy London Carlton p 156 a b Pringle David 2006 1998 The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Fantasy London Carlton p 37 Slavicsek Bill Baker Richard Mohan Kim 2005 Dungeons amp Dragons For Dummies For Dummies p 376 ISBN 0 7645 8459 6 Brooks Terry 25 November 2009 2009 Holiday Letter Terrybrooks net Archived from the original on 11 September 2012 Retrieved 27 December 2009 Sneider Jeff 10 September 2011 Sonar Farah to adapt Shannara for TV Variety Archived from the original on 15 November 2012 Retrieved 13 January 2013 Sources editBrooks Terry 2003 Sometimes The Magic Works Lessons from a Writing Life New York Ballantine ISBN 0 345 46551 2 OCLC 54854572 del Rey Lester 1980 The World of Science Fiction 1926 1976 The History of a Subculture New York and London Garland ISBN 0 8240 1446 4 OCLC 5500269 MacRae Cathi Dunn 1998 Presenting Young Adult Fantasy Fiction New York City Twayne Publishers ISBN 0 8057 8220 6 OCLC 38478522 Tymn Marshall B Zahorski Kenneth J Boyer Robert H 1979 Fantasy Literature A Core Collection and Reference Guide New Providence New Jersey R R Bowker ISBN 0 8352 1153 3 OCLC 5051748 Further reading editLee Stuart D ed 2022 A Companion to J R R Tolkien 2 ed Wiley doi 10 1002 9781119691457 ISBN 978 1 119 69140 2 External links editAuthor s Note for The Sword of Shannara Archived 2008 03 21 at the Wayback Machine The Sword of Shannara Chapter One Official website Artwork for early editions Archived 2007 07 03 at the Wayback Machine by The Brothers Hildebrandt How Terry Brooks Saved Epic Fantasy A Dribble of Ink Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title The Sword of Shannara amp oldid 1223577591, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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