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Post by Deleted on May 18, 2020 11:05:18 GMT -6
Ahem.
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Post by Deleted on May 25, 2020 22:26:55 GMT -6
...I know that I promised reviews for "Word & Void", and they are still going to happen. I just realized along the way, that it might be more useful for my little experiment here if I finish the entirety of the main "Shannara" series first, and that way have a little break between them - and the grand finale that is supposed to happen in October. What remains of the main series for me to review are: "Defenders", and "Fall", the last quartet of novels that rounds up the 43-year journey. I will still review "Fall", but only as I gear up for the last book, "The Last Druid", perhaps in September. - The reason for that is that I have actually already reviewed those books once, on Goodreads. This is from where my idea sprung to create this thread, by the way: As difficult it was to name flaws in something I liked, I loved the experience of immersing myself into this world of my childhood. My first review, of "The Black Elfstone" (2017) was still rather short: www.goodreads.com/book/show/32025241-the-black-elfstoneBy second review, however, of "The Skaar Invasion" (2018), already goes a bit more into the details: www.goodreads.com/book/show/36196054-the-skaar-invasionThe third istallment in the series, "The Stiehl Assassin" (2019), I didn't like at all: www.goodreads.com/book/show/41948722-the-stiehl-assassinSo, this doesn't sound too good. Is "The Fall of Shannara" a literary trainwreck like "High Druid" was? The third book surely was. But the overall story can maybe still be saved if Brooks decides to make a few bold decisions, and doesn't just content with writing a beefed-up version of Saberhagen's "Empire of the East". ( thegreyelf, not trying to push you into this thread, but - this might be of interest to you!) Myself, I think, overall, enjoyed "Fall" more than I did "High Druid", at least so far: Brooks knows how to play with his readers' feelings of nostalgia, and Brooks - in difference to "High Druid" - keeps strictly following the interior logic of the series. That is to the detriment of the story, but it's also consequential within the established parameters, one has to give him that. My opinion on the upcoming fourth book still stands - it could be a masterpiece, or it could be a lamentable swansong. I tend to think it's going to be the latter, as too much damage has been done to the story, already. ...But I sure hope I'm wrong.
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Post by thegreyelf on May 26, 2020 4:50:57 GMT -6
I'm following; just not familiar enough with Shannara to really chime in.
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Post by Deleted on May 26, 2020 10:44:49 GMT -6
Hehe. No worries - thing is, this might be of some relevance to you, because the plot of "Fall" and of "Empire of the East" are, while not similar, then very much alike. I didn't realize it back in the day, obviously, but now that I'm older, and better acquainted with fantasy as a genre, I'm pretty sure Saberhagen is a bigger influence on Brooks than even Tolkien. Their settings are just so similar, especially when one looks at the later novels. One might argue that some of these similarities are conditioned by the genre of Swords & Planets being a rather narrow one, and that Brooks is consciously and deliberately inserting references to Saberhagen as a literary hommage, but - the fact remains that the similarities are there, especially when one looks at "Fall", and at the later books in the "First Swords" series. By no means is Brooks a copycat, or anything of the kind, but it's like he's writing a vampire novel in the late 20th century: He might as well call it "Dracula".
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Post by thegreyelf on May 26, 2020 11:12:21 GMT -6
I can see that 100%
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Post by Deleted on Jun 16, 2020 14:44:39 GMT -6
Of particular interest to me is also this book that has newly been announced - and that I have promptly preordered: www.penguinrandomhouse.ca/books/576486/small-magic-by-terry-brooks/9780525619963"Small Magic" is a collection of Brooks' shorter works, a compilation that was long overdue, in my mind. Despite me plainly not liking a lot of his shorter fiction, I'm very much looking forward to this. (You can find my reviews of Brooks' Shannara-related novellas earlier in this thread.)
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Post by Deleted on Jul 1, 2020 3:06:44 GMT -6
www.facebook.com/authorterrybrooks/videos/697122751020037A new Facebook video by Terry Brooks and Shawn Speakman (his assistant, and a pretty solid writer on his own right), is on. It doesn't reveal all too much news, but is harmlessly entertaining, as podcasts of this kind usually are. - You will hear more from me over the coming weeks again; my review isn't over, but after writing rather spontaneous posts that already summed up my basic thoughts on "Defenders" and on "Fall", I want to make sure I don't simply repeat or rephrase what I already said. I'm pretty motivated, though, and I think we're in for a treat with the "Hawk Cycle", in particular.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 1, 2020 3:33:57 GMT -6
...Interestingly enough, in the videocast I linked to above, Brooks names "Magic Kingdom for Sale: Sold" as his best novel. Guess I'll not be able to skip this series, after all.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 20, 2020 8:25:28 GMT -6
A few thoughts on "Word/Void" (1997-1999).
(Testing a voice-to-speech app for this one. Let's see how this turns out.)
There are two way to approach this series - first, to read it as a prequel to the Shannara series. And, second, to not. I intend to be doing the latter. I have written extensively about how I think that Brooks wanted to end the Shannara wit the second "Grianne" trilogy, "High Druid of Shannara", but I think that book's saving grace, the connection to "Word/Void", might not necessarily have been something Brooks had planned when "Running With the Demon" came out ten years earlier.
I think, for Brooks, Shannara was essentially over by the late '80s, or by the late '90s, whenever he finished "Talismans". His mentor Lester Del Rey had died, and with that, his primary personal connection to the Shannara material. Also, Brooks was already on the list for some successful Hollywood movie novelizations. "Magic Kingdom for Sale", which, to this day, remains one of Brooks' own favorites, had become an equally successful series to "Shannara". Movie rumors for his books were floated already even back then, and the "Shannara" video game, in combination with "The First King", had been a solid success. From a business perspective, Brooks branching out more just made a lot of sense.
"Word/Void", Brooks' attempt to branch out into the horror genre, is heavily influenced by Stephen King, both by his "Salem's Lot", and by "It", which, again, makes it a way more personal, relatable experience than as a pure fantasy tale. For the first time in his writing career, Brooks gets to write about things that might his own life experience in a specific, non-allegorical way: Small towns, suburban families, the perks of growing up. And, of course, especially the novel ends up becoming "deeply American", with its story revolving around the 4th of July.
Lamentably, all of this, we know, and we have seen executed: "Running With the Demon" turns out to be a pretty standard YA horror novel, of the kind that Dan Simmons or Dean Koontz would write. Broosk enriches this scenario by adding his trademark touch, with the quasi-Druid John Ross, and with the magic, demon-plagued tree. As refreshing it is to see Brooks tackle the genre, the result is not necessarily distinguishable from other books from around the same time. (Era, really.) That said, the book is simply executed well; in many ways, it feels like a first-timer, as the genre change Brooks has undertaken seems to demand that, but the story and the characters are written well, and overall pretty enjoyable. I'm not necessarily sure whether the sequels to "Running With the Demon" were necessary, given that the plot of the first book is self-contained, and pretty well rounded up, but I feel at home in "Brooksworld", as I feel at home in all of his (better) books.
I would probably give this to kids that are starting to get interested in Stephen King, these days, as a novel to read before they get into King's considerably darker, more sexually explicit stories. Brooks is in no way inferior to King; sure, he doesn't writer characters as well as King does, but he is less distracted within his own story than King usually is, and he is not afraid to explain the mythology behind his tales in a way that is less contrived than what King does. Brooks is surely missing King's edge, yeah, but that doesn't make "Word/Void" a less rewarding experience, in my mind. It's more straightforward, and it's more"gettable", and has a coherence to its plot that most of King's books honestly are missing.
- I can wholeheartedly recommend this series, and I hope it gets more love in the years to come.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 2, 2020 8:54:48 GMT -6
Lately, Brooks and Speakman have been increasing their social media presence. - "Speakman", meaning Shawn Speakman, who writes books that seem to echo Brooks' influence when your read their sales pitch/description, but are quite good on their own behalf. Speakman moonlights as Brooks' personal assistant, and does most of his online stuff. The reason for the high number of videos they put out is to promote not just the upcoming last Shannara book, but also this event: terrybrooks.net/2020/07/announcing-shannara-con/An online event following the book's release in autumn, apparently designed to become a regular thing if things work out right. I like the concept, and I love the recent videos, but I'm not sure if a Shannara con would necessarily be a place for me, given that I don't like the "Fall" series all too much so far. Still, might be looking to attend - since it's a virtual event, and all.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 8, 2020 1:31:55 GMT -6
This reviewer echoes a few thoughts of my own. Brooks is perhaps not the Babe Ruth of Fantasy, in that he doesn't make the headlines - but he's perhaps the Benny Bengough of the genre: He's rarely on the front page, but the story isn't complete without him. Honestly, I think he gets some things wrong as well, mainly the notion that fantasy was "dying" in the late 1970s - but I agree that the repeated dismissals that Brooks has experienced over the five decades of his career, first as a supposed "Tolkien copycat", then as a "bad writer", are not entirely justifiable. Especially looking at the later books in the Shannara series - which I deeply dislike, as you know - this has less to do with the books being "bad", and more with Brooks apparently being forced to pander to the "Sailor Moon" and "Harry Potter" generations of readers. I can already disclose, even when looking at my upcoming review of "Fall", that I don't judge Brooks' legacy all too harshly; but I'm frankly happy that he's leaving Shannara behind, and apparently has already gone on to try new things.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 17, 2020 13:33:08 GMT -6
Posted this on Reddit, this morning, in a thread concerning possible continuity and editing errors in the Shannara books:
https://www.reddit.com/r/shannara/comments/i8dtfg/lineage_question/
In all modesty, I think these are more or less the complete "bloopers" we find in the novels, at least the ones that have some wider effect or notoriety. What I wrote on Reddit is true - I don't mind them, at least not terribly. It's a by product of having a series that grows organically, over the years. If at all, then what I take from this is that Walker Boh should have gotten way more airtime than he ended up getting. There are so many questions left open about the character that burning him off to make way for Grianne seems an even worse decision, in retrospect.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 12, 2020 13:34:07 GMT -6
I'm still with this one, and I will finish the full review eventually. Thing is, I feel like I've written myself a bit into a corner - especially about "Defenders" and "Fall", I think I've said most of what I wanted to say already. So, it's difficult to pick up the pen just again. I will go the full way, though, even though perhaps the looks into the novels that are still on the list will be a bit more brief than what I wrote about some of the earlier ones.--- www.nytimes.com/1977/04/10/archives/some-arthur-some-tolkien-some-arthur.htmlThis is the first more prominent review of "The Sword of Shannara", from the NY Times, back in 1977. - Written by a certain Frank Herbert, no less. Lamentably, the process of digital archiving seems to have killed some of the lines in the first few paragraphs of the article; overall, though, Herbert's review is still readable. As to its content and context - keep in mind that the article itself is already telling: "The Sword of Shannara" is reviewed next to Italo Calvino's "The Castle of Crossed Destinies". The genre wasn't just different, 50 years ago, but YA-oriented epic fantasy was still pretty much a novelty. I think Herbert enjoys the book very much for the door it opens there, and not necessarily uniquely in comparison with other, more adult-oriented fantasy.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 16, 2020 11:59:17 GMT -6
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Post by Deleted on Oct 13, 2020 6:44:52 GMT -6
My heart is bleeding.
The content of the last Shannara novel ever, has leaked online.
Not sure what to think of it; sure as hell not gonna spoil it... Yet.
I was nine or ten years old when I first read "Sword". First I was Flick, then I was Will, then I became Walker. In a month, I'll turn 38, and yet, this... Stings... In a strange way.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 20, 2020 12:41:16 GMT -6
A first review of "The Fall of Shannara: The Last Druid", promoted as the last book ever in this series, as I give it on Reddit:
(Mind you that there are small spoilers ahead.)
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Post by Deleted on Oct 22, 2020 14:17:06 GMT -6
Brooks has generally up'ed his media presence in 2019 and 2020. This is the best interview I've seen of him in quite a while. (From last night, actually.)
Peter Brett might ring a bell, as well - "The Painted Man" is one of the more successful fantasy books of the last ten years. Like Brooks' works, more of a YA genre piece, but entertaining enough,
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Post by Deleted on Oct 27, 2020 15:46:22 GMT -6
Some longer text coming some time next week, to wrap this very long thread up.
But before that, some stuff I wrote on Reddit, regarding the possibility of further Shannara sequels by other authors:
In [the above] interview with Peter Brett, the author of "The Warded Man", that recently aired on the DelRey Youtube channel, he makes it very clear that he's actively looking for a replacement to continue his series. He explicitly used the phrase that new Shannara books could be coming under the supposed label "Terry Brooks presents".
To be quite blunt, I don't see that happening, any time soon.
First, because continuing the universe after this point would devalue Brooks' own work, and the ending he gave the setting. If the circle of the Leahs, Ohmsfords, and Elessedils is bound to continue, anyway, the whole "Grianne Saga" would lose in meaning. And even if the new series worked with the premise that the Druids don't make another comeback, or that we don't see classic Brooks Party characters again, then it would still mean that all the books since 2000 could essentially be skipped because the last new element into the series that cannot be explained in two to five sentences is the Black Elfstone. So, that's a big argument for it not to happen.
The second reason is a practical one - writers want to write. Getting into Shannara, at this point, however, means to be close-reading 30 books before you even get to write a single page, at least if you want to do things with the proper diligence. That's a lot of time to spend on what might end up being a one-off experiment.
Now, what I can see is Brooks, who's still writing at a frantic pace, doing one or two more in the next few years. Brooks is 76 now, and he has a publishing schedule set until well into 2023, and there's still that Galaphile book for him to write. I think we're going to see that one, at the very least.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 28, 2020 1:26:10 GMT -6
Some longer text coming some time next week, to wrap this very long thread up.
But before that, some stuff I wrote on Reddit, regarding the possibility of further Shannara sequels by other authors:
In [the above] interview with Peter Brett, the author of "The Warded Man", that recently aired on the DelRey Youtube channel, he makes it very clear that he's actively looking for a replacement to continue his series. He explicitly used the phrase that new Shannara books could be coming under the supposed label "Terry Brooks presents".
To be quite blunt, I don't see that happening, any time soon.
First, because continuing the universe after this point would devalue Brooks' own work, and the ending he gave the setting. If the circle of the Leahs, Ohmsfords, and Elessedils is bound to continue, anyway, the whole "Grianne Saga" would lose in meaning. And even if the new series worked with the premise that the Druids don't make another comeback, or that we don't see classic Brooks Party characters again, then it would still mean that all the books since 2000 could essentially be skipped because the last new element into the series that cannot be explained in two to five sentences is the Black Elfstone. So, that's a big argument for it not to happen.
The second reason is a practical one - writers want to write. Getting into Shannara, at this point, however, means to be close-reading 30 books before you even get to write a single page, at least if you want to do things with the proper diligence. That's a lot of time to spend on what might end up being a one-off experiment.
Now, what I can see is Brooks, who's still writing at a frantic pace, doing one or two more in the next few years. Brooks is 76 now, and he has a publishing schedule set until well into 2023, and there's still that Galaphile book for him to write. I think we're going to see that one, at the very least. Shawn Speakman, Terry Brooks' personal assistant and editor, has since responded:
Happy to hear that - even though Brooks' own account seemed to indicate otherwise. - Myself, I find myself strangely indifferent to the concept: I would sure have love to see more, but, as always, only if it's well done.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 30, 2020 12:13:57 GMT -6
...Aaaaaaaaand: Brooks's own, grand finale. The "ShannaraCon" digital event. Will watch it later tonight. Seems nice.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 4, 2020 5:16:31 GMT -6
This is the best long-form interview featuring Brooks that I've listened to as of yet, also because he gets pretty candid with respect to both the series, and to his relations to Faulkner and to Lester Del Rey. If you're into "Shannara", and into the current state of things, this is perhaps the one you want to check out.
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