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First King of Shannara (Shannara Trilogy, Prequel)
by: Terry Brooks

Off The Bookshelf's Price: $7.99

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Used Price: $0.01
Collectible Price: $10.00
Third Party New Price: $3.67

Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9780345396532
ISBN: 0345396537
Label: Del Rey
Manufacturer: Del Rey
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 448
Publication Date: January 29, 1997
Publisher: Del Rey
Release Date: January 29, 1997
Studio: Del Rey
Sales Rank: 52730

Related Items:

The Wishsong of Shannara (The Sword of Shannara)

The Elfstones of Shannara (The Sword of Shannara)

Armageddon's Children (The Genesis of Shannara, Book 1)

Editorial Review:

Product Description:
Horrified by the misuse of magic they had witnessed during the First War of the Races, the Druids at Paranor devoted themselves to the study of the old sciences, from the period before the collapse of civilization a thousand years before. Only the Bremen and a few trusted associates still studied the arcane arts. And for his persistence, Bremen found himself outcast, avoided by all but the few free-thinkers among the Druids.

But his removal from Paranor was not altogether a terrible thing, for Bremen learned that dark forces were on the move from the Northlands. That seemingly invincible armies of trolls were fast conquering all that lay to their south. That the scouts for the army--and its principal assassins--were Skull Bearers, disfigured and transformed Druids who had fallen prey to the seductions of the magic arts. And that at the heart of the evil tide was an archmage and former Druid named Brona!

Using the special skills he had acquired through his own study of Magic, Bremen was able to penetrate the huge camp of the Troll army and learn many of its secrets. And he immediately understood that if the peoples of the Four Lands were to escape eternal subjugation they would need to unite. But, even united, they would need a weapon, something so powerful that the evil magic of Brona, the Warlock Lord, would fail before its might...

Amazon.com Review:
Dark forces are on the move from the Northlands, and Bremen, an outcast Druid, learns of the huge Troll armies on the march and the Skull Bearers who act as their spies. To save the Druids, Bremen must convince the people of the Four Lands that their only hope lies in uniting -- and in using the magic they fear above all else.

Customer Reviews

Average Rating: out of 5 stars

Rating:

- Answered a lot of my questions
First King helped to answer a lot of the questions I had about the Sword of Shannara trilogy, such as the history of the creation of the actual sword and how Jerle failed at defeating the dark forces. It also brought into play the black elfstone, giving us a little more information about this mysterious stone.

The book was relatively short for Brooks, considering it was a one book stand alone novel, but this might not be a bad attribute for someone new to fantasy.

If you are new to fantasy and Terry Brooks, this would be a great place to start. But I'd suggest that you also get the Sword of Shannara so that you can go immediately from First King to Sword so that bits and pieces of the history from First King are still fresh in your mind. This will help to makes sense ... Read More

Rating:

- Trying to Recapture the Magic...
In the First King of Shannara, Brooks attempts to provide the back story to a series, and not just any series, but the series that catapulted Brooks to fame and fortune, the Shannara triology. This is indeed and ambitious project, since The Sword of Shannara, and its companion books are among the best loved of all of Brooks works, and any attempt to 'tack on' a prequil could be considered dangerous to his reputation, should it fall short of expectations. Whether or not Terry failed his fans with this book is still undecided. For some, clearly it recaptured the magic. For others, it was some brilliant writing interspersed with a few small bits of predictable drivel. I really think YOU should decide for yourself... because there is enough in this book to make it required reading for Brooks fans. ... Read More

Rating:

- First King of Shannara
I am a huge Terry Brooks fan. This book does not disappoint. I have introduced my grandson to Terry Brooks, and he enjoyed this book as much as I did.

Rating:

- First and last to read
I'll focus on why I rated this book a 3, without using a spoiler.
-1 The idea of a dark power, never resting, gathering an army, to destroy all races... Hello, how many books copycat Tolkien's?
-1 Predictability of the plot. The enemy will live on, people who are single will die, people who are in love will live, the book ends pretty much as it starts, i.e. expect a sequel with similar plot.
+1 The characters are deep, I always love that in a book. There's more than one main character and each one is well depicted.
+1 The language used, particularly for describing surroundings is amazing. One rarely stops to reread an enviroment description in a book, as in this one.

Rating:

- Strong in every area except originality
This book has good style, a well-organized plot, a solid cast of characters and keeps your attention from start to finish. However, Brooks borrows entirely too much from his predecessors in the fantasy genre. One gets the sense that Brooks has taken ideas that he liked from authors who influenced him (Tolkien, MacDonald, LeGuin, etc.) and combined them all into this story. This is a light, entertaining read--just good enough to make me want to read more of Brooks but not good enough to catapult me into total fandom. If you like fantasy, you will probably like this book so don't hesitate to give it a try.

Books : First King of Shannara (Shannara Trilogy, Prequel)