The Sword of Shannara

The Sword of Shannara is a 1977 epic fantasy novel by American writer Terry Brooks. It is the first book of the Original Shannara Trilogy, followed by The Elfstones of Shannara and The Wishsong of Shannara. Brooks was heavily influenced by J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings and began writing The Sword of Shannara in 1967. It took him seven years to complete, as he was writing the novel while attending law school. Ballantine Books used it to launch the company's new subsidiary Del Rey Books. Its success boosted the commercial expansion of the fantasy genre.

This is one of my brother's favorite books.  I remember him reading it.  Being several years younger than him, it was quite sometime before I could read it and when I could, I had other interests.  He is such a fan of Terry Brook's Shannara series that he included in his daughter's name Shea.  When I began to read The Sword of Shannara I was quite excited as my brother is quite the reader and has proved to have a great opinion of literature in my opinion.  I was disappointed this time.

I commented to my brother after beginning this book that Brooks must have been very influenced by Tolkien.  He agreed.  As I read further into the book I commented to him that I liked the story better when it was told by Tolkien.  The Sword of Shannara is not just influenced by Tolkien but is a poor retelling of the Lord of the Rings in my opinion.  Brooks changed the name of the characters but the characters remained the same to me.  Shea is Frodo.  Flick is Samwise.  I could continue.

I will continue on with the Shannara trilogy to see if Brooks develops these characters more and creates a story more varied.