The Scions of Shannara
Three hundred years have passed since the death of Allanon, and the Four Lands are sadly changed. The Elves have vanished, and the Dwarves are enslaved. The Southland is no under the totalitarian rule of the Federation, and magic is strictly forbidden.
Yet Par Ohmsford, descendent of the fabled Shea, still has some of the power of the Wishsong. He and his brother Coll have come to Varfleet, where Coll recites the old legends while Par brings them to life with his Wishsong. They are arrested by a Seeker for using magic, but escape with the aid of Padishar Creel, who claims to be the descendent of Panamon Creel.
In their flight to the Rainbow Lake, they are confronted by a hag-woman, but a man calling himself Cogline, the last Druid, drives her off. He tells them that she is a Shadowen – known only in rumors until then – and that the Shadowen are horrors that endanger all life. He also brings a message from shade of the ancient Druid, Allanon, demanding that Par appear at the dread Hadeshorn, where Allanon will reveal more.
Then he leaves to summon the other Scions of Shannara – Wren, who lives in the Westlands and Walker Boh, somewhere in the Eastlands.
After further adventures with the Shadowen, all meet at the Hadeshorn. There Allanon's spirit reveals a terrible future where Shadowen have destroyed all life in the Four Lands. To prevent that, he orders Par to recover the long-lost Sword of Shannara, Wren to discover the vanished Elves, and Walker Boh to bring back the Druids and their ancient, vanished stronghold of Paranor.
All those tasks are manifestly impossible!
Here, in this long-awaited and richly rewarding novel of the Shannara, Terry Brooks again proves himself a master of epic fantasy.
Terry Brooks
Terry Brooks was born in Illinois in 1944, where he spent a great deal of his childhood and early adulthood dreaming up stories in and around Sinnissippi Park, the very same park that would eventually become the setting for his bestselling Word & Void trilogy. He went to college and received his undergraduate degree from Hamilton College, where he majored in English Literature, and he received his graduate degree from the School of Law at Washington & Lee University.
A writer since high school, he wrote many stories within the genres of science fiction, western, fiction, and non-fiction, until one semester early in his college years he was given The Lord of the Rings to read. That moment changed Terry's life forever, because in Tolkien's great work he found all the elements needed to fully explore his writing combined in one genre.
The Heritage of Shannara
The Heritage of Shannara consists of four primary books, and includes one additional book that complement the series but is not considered mandatory reads. The current recommended reading order for the series is provided below.
Main series Shannara
Book Reviews
The Scions of Shannara is the first book of The Heritage of Shannara. In my opinion The Scions of Shannara is one of the weakest Shannara books. When you read it, it's easy to see that it's clearly the first part of The Heritage saga. This book is readable, but the other books in this series are much better. By the way, if you're familiar with the translations (the Finnish translations) and have read them, you should read The Sword of Shannara Trilogy before you begin to read this series. It's good to know what has happened earlier or you won't enjoy this series.