Terry Brooks

Cookie Jar

When looking for a book I always come across his books.
There are usually a good few titles which puts me off buying them as I dont know where to start.

Any one recommend him? And if so what will I start with??

eVeNtInE

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Cookie Jar

Yeah same here... dont think Ive ever not enjoyed a book:rolleyes:
Thanks will check that out.:D

Ronanc1

I was much the same as yourself cookiejar a couple of months ago i decided to pick up one of terry brooks books, just as you said for the fact that there's generally loads of them on the shelves, so i picked up one of the very first ones as i try to always jump in at the start,

And i have to say it was the most monotonous piece of crap Ive read in a long while, the plot was really fit full and moved awkwardly and introduced random plot pieces like "magic elfstones" that were some how supposed to be earth shatteringly powerful yet were introduced in the most haphazard of ways and only dealt with slightly. basically it was all over the place

I hate to be the kill joy seeing as eventines already given it a thumbs up but maybe it was the book i picked up or not but id really not bother with them.

ixoy

Terry Brooks is what I see as entry-level fantasy. It's easy to read but not particularly deep and it's full of the usual tropes and clichés. Generally moves along at a decent pace but it's not very original..

I'd say that if you are set on reading him, I'd go for the Landover series instead. It's got a slightly more refreshing tone and direction than the Shannara series (and I've red ten of those).

Other than that if you want to dip your toes into fantasy, there's better places to start with - Raymond E. Feist's "Magician" would be one of my first choices.

Cookie Jar

Thanks for the replies... was in bookshop again and never bought it, maybe I will someday.

@ixoy I bought Magician a couple of weeks ago but still havent read it. Must take it back out.:D

Ronanc1

I'll also add my recommendation to ioxys, Magician is a fantastic read, so too are few others of feists.

The_Hat

Ah, I enjoyed the 'Voyage of the Jerle Shannare' series, thought Antrax was just awesome. Only other Brooks I read was Sword of Shannara which, yeah, was essentially Lord of the Rings.

Manach

Ixoy's comments ++.

He also wrote a guide to fantasy writing I believe?

kthxbai

The most infuriating thing about Brooks is how lazy he often gets. This is a shame, because he has some fantastic ideas- such as

setting his Shannara series in our post-apoclyptic future- combining Tolkenian fantasy with dystopian sci-fi

. The "Voyage of the Jerle Shannara" trilogy, in particular, was a fantastic example of this. Moreover, despite the pedestrian plot, "Elfstones" was a fantastic read- I could really see the effort he put into writing it, and "Armaggeddon's children" was wonderfully atmospheric.

His main problems are his same-y plots, use of deus ex machanica, and the fact that, despite being set over generations, his world seems to more or less remain the same. With just a little more effort, Brooks could be a great writer. As it is, his books are entertaining, but lack a certain, at the rist of sounding clichéd, magic.

Pugsley

Ronanc1 wrote: »

I'll also add my recommendation to ioxys, Magician is a fantastic read, so too are few others of feists.

Third the notion for Magician! Great starting point for fantasy readers.

Currently reading last book of the Darkwar trilogy (Wrath of a Mad God) and have really been enjoying the trilogy so far.