Bloodfire Quest: The Dark Legacy of Shannara – Terry Brooks

I first read Sword of Shannara around the turn of the millenium. My mother had visited a used book store and returned the book, with its cheesy depiction of an elf, dwarf, and man stumbling upon the gleaming aforementioned sword, blade first in an anvil of metal. (for the curious)

I was a nine-year-old apt to judge a book by its cover. And I’ve never felt great about cover art. It took some time for me to get into the Tolkein-esque adventure of Shea and Flick Ohmsford, led by the dark, inscrutable and timeless Allanon, in an attempt to destroy the Warlock Lord, a creature so powerful he sends mind messages in all caps: “MORTAL CREATURE, I AM HERE. BOW DOWN BEFORE ME!” (697)

Afterward, I discovered his next novel, Elfstones of Shannara. To this day, Elfstones ranks among my favorite books of all time. I must admit that some of this is the nostalgia drawn from the fact that somewhere inside I am still a 10-year-old boy in love with Amberle Elessedil, the Elven Princess that Wil Ohmsford escorts on a dangerous journey whilst pursued by the Reaper – which may just be the scariest demon I’ve ever encountered.

Alas, nostalgia. I’ve found that recently, Brooks’ outings have been good, but far outshadowed by other contemporaries (Sanderson, et al). Notable offenders include “Bearers of the Black Staff” which I saw as a compendium of Brooks telling me how interesting his characters were. Even his latest in the Shannara – the High Druid series, was not amongst my favorites. Scheming, unnamed druids, not enough interesting characters dying, and an endless berating of Grianne Ohmsford’s quest for retribution.

But this series has been better. The Dark Legacy of Shannara has featured a lot of milestones. Shannara scions that aren’t perpetually whiny and useless (Thanks, it seems, to their Rover blood), a female Leah character, and a set of interesting druids. The Federation in the south finally has more fleshed out details and characters, and we have a badass Dwarf Chieftain, the likes of which we haven’t seen since the first series.

Brooks gets back to his nook: a crazed, post-post-apocalyptic world with massive, terrible creatures. Ancient, misunderstood magic, embodied notably by Paranor’s borderline evil-green-smoke-of-death guardian. Airships let the characters range all over his vast, teeming world, where the plot is often twisted by third party beings, including characters completely orthogonal to the plot. Sure, some of the characters are familiar archetypes from his universe, but that’s to be expected, and is appreciated in this case. To top it all off, for once, after reading two out of three books, I have no idea how he could possible tie up all the loose ends. It is not at all obvious that the “good guys” are going to win here.

I wonder if they will achieve the status quo, or if this will be the time where the world isn’t “saved” and everything changes. Maybe the ancient magic barriers will crumble for good this time.

They try and sell these novels as being a collision course between technology and magic, the forces that often destroy civilization, but I disagree with that interpretation, even if it happens to be the author’s. Shannara has always been about the gigantic, breathing world, too large for any individual character, even the shades and Faerie creatures to understand, a world of which we’re lucky enough to get a sweeping, enchanting tour.

Wards of Faerie – Bloodfire Quest – Witch Wraith

Terry Brooks is back, and I couldn’t be more happy. My only disappointment is that Witch Wraith doesn’t arrive until July 16, 2013.

 

Elseerian: The Chronicles of Lumineia – Ben Hale

Ben Hale is an independently published writer who has landed on the Amazon Bestseller lists. I finished his first book: Elseerian, on Friday.

Elseerian starts off with the background drama: a cloaked spectre of the Grim Reaper referred to as “Death” is going around killing off heroes, leaders, and basically anyone that gets in the way, spreading a sense of unease and panic.

First, the cliché:

(I would warn for spoilers, but anyone whose read any amount of fantasy will not be surprised by the contents)

Elseerian is an orphan boy with a mysterious past. He showed up on this island where he was taken in by a strange old elf who has taught him to fight. He is great at hiding, running, and fighting, better than anyone in known memory, and as he goes off to be tested, his parent’s swords reveal their magical powers to him. These swords are katsanas – drop the extra “s” and you know exactly what this is. Elseerian picks up skills so fast I can’t tell if it’s interesting or annoying, and the character rarely suffers as a result.

The elves are generic fantasy elves. I would say Tolkien elves, but I think their lore has expanded somewhat since then. They live in and around a giant tree, are agile and fast, live much longer than humans, and interbreed leading to some of the more interesting characters. The dwarves are similarly inspired.

One of his best friends is a beautiful elven girl who makes him promise to stay the same even after they return to the rest of the world. Please let her not be yet another elven princess. Guess what she is? Aren’t you shocked?

One of the bigger mysteries is the identity of Elseerian’s parents, and when it gets resolved at the end, I feel like the mystery wasn’t quite worth the wait.

There’s also a human swordsman named Taryn, who isn’t all that inspired of a character, and seems to introduce us to one of the writer’s more unique individuals. There’s another Elf that warns of an upset past, but doesn’t speak much, so I’m still holding out for her.

The good:

I have to admit, building up of Elseerian’s skills the whole time to make him face the unstoppable Death is interesting, and along the way, some more interesting characters appear: Aléthya, Jack, and Braon. I like Aléthya’s backstory, and am looking forward to learning more about the other two. I will not drop the details so as not to spoil any of the actual surprises here.

Overall:

If you’re less jaded about typical fantasy tropes than I, you might thoroughly enjoy this work. Nevertheless, Hale is a new author, and as such, tells about characters more than he shows, at least toward the beginning, and the writing is weaker for it. However, despite dropping a prophecy-bomb at the end, I will probably pick up the sequels to see where this ends up. One of the unique feels of the book is that of an anime, despite my limited experience with the genre. The super-powerful lead character, the cliché support characters, and the long fight sequences I can almost picture in my head as being an animated show.

That being said, I think the rest of the series has a chance to shine, particularly if Hale lets his characters do the talking.

The Daylight War – Peter V. Brett

“The Daylight War” is the third installment of “The Demon Cycle” by Peter V. Brett.

The Warded Man – The Desert Spear – The Daylight War

Every night, demons rise up out of the earth and attack human settlements, and sink back into the earth to avoid sunlight as day breaks. The only protection that the humans have against these foes are the wards, painted or carved, which channel power and create barriers against their foes.

Meanwhile, legend tells of a Deliverer, who will come again to unite all humanity against their foe and defeat the demons in the darkness.

What I love most of all about this story is its rejection of defaultism. The identity of the Deliverer, or whether or not there is one is still a subject of debate, 75% of the way through the story. The lead characters are all compelling and have their own scarred backstories. Unrequited love triangles abound, and there is a lot of deep discussion of gender roles in this fictional society that mirrors our world. The good and the bad inherent in human behavior and society is demonstrated again and again in this marvellous, enthralling world.

And did I mention the author wrote most of the first book while commuting to work on his Blackberry? Badass.

And I hate him in the best way possible for leaving us at a cliffhanger. I can’t wait for the final installment.