The Measure of the Magic (Legends of Shannara, #2)

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The Measure of the Magic (Legends of Shannara #2)

by Terry Brooks (Goodreads Author)

3.91 of 5 stars 3.91 · rating details · 2,350 ratings · 206 reviews

The Legends of Shannara series will continue to connect the Old World with the world of the Four Lands. The first book Bearers of the Black Staff will be set 500 years after the end of The Gypsy Morph. The second book The Measure of the Magic will be released in August 2011.

Kindle Edition, 391 pages

Published September 1st 2011 by Hachette Digital (first published January 1st 2011)

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Apr 24, 2013 Robin A. Burrows rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: read2013

This book is the continuation of the story from Bearers of the Black Staff. It is what happens to the descendents of the Hawk after the protective barrier around their valley fails.

I love how Terry Brooks is able to make me become so completely attached to his characters even when I still have a "book hangover" from a previous book. It is an especially good talent since his characters only appear in a few books before he starts over with new characters.

In this book I loved Prue and the Elven Pri...more This book is the continuation of the story from Bearers of the Black Staff. It is what happens to the descendents of the Hawk after the protective barrier around their valley fails.

I love how Terry Brooks is able to make me become so completely attached to his characters even when I still have a "book hangover" from a previous book. It is an especially good talent since his characters only appear in a few books before he starts over with new characters.

In this book I loved Prue and the Elven Princess. I loved the red dove and how Sider Ament helps Aislinne. I especially liked the point of view sections from the Rag Picker.

I listened to the audio book on my drive and I couldn't tell how close I was to the end of the book on my drive, so I was afraid the book would end before everything was resolved. But Terry wraps everything up and leaves the ending open for another set of books because the important stories of several characters continue if I remember the history of the world correctly.

I loved the dragon and it's reaction to the elf stones. I was sad at the death toll in this book. I'm sure other books had a higher death count with bigger wars raging on, but a lot of important characters died in this book. I was especially sad about the last (protagonist) who died.

I wondered if the dragon was the same dragon from Landover...because the dragon in Landover was one of the last dragons (and it could travel between worlds) and our king of Landover was alive during the same general timeframe as the Word and Void books. I like the idea that it might be the same dragon.

I also found myself wondering if the black staffs were made out of a branch of the Ellcrys (or a similiar tree).

And the King of the Silver River! He's the only character who appears in most of the books. I found myself wanting to know more about his story. He seems old and sad which means he probably has a story to tell. He always helps out our heroes in little ways, but in this book he helped out Prue quite a lot. She paid a price for it, but I wondered what price he paid for providing so much help to her. In situations like that powerful creatures often are not at liberty to use their powers so directly except to occassionally save heroes in desperate situations. Of course, he's around in books set later in the history of the world, so he probably didn't get in too much trouble for interfering with Prue and Pan, but every time I see the King of the Silver River in the books, I find myself wanting to know more about him.

The Measure of Magic ends on a hopeful note, with another journey yet ahead of the protagonists. Of course that made me want to immediately start reading the rest of the story about their journey. Maybe it will be continued with a future book.(less)

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Oct 21, 2012 Jimmy rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: audiobooks-itunes, fantasy

I liked this book better than the first. The struggle for those living in the valley and the danger they must face was more intense and more of “well that’s it, its over” if the Bearer of the Black Staff and those chosen to aid him are not able to overcome the frightening and near impossible struggles that they are not prepared for. For me, the Ragpicker was fantastic because it brought back all the cold-hearted evil the Knights of the Word had to battle against in the Word & Void trilogy. I...more

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Aug 29, 2012 Jed L rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Brooks has a tendency to allow his second book in a series be a let down. Perhaps it is because he is best at setting the stage, introducing characters and developing the plot(s). But when it comes to adding depth, introducing new characters and trying to keep multiple plot lines coherent, it begins to unravel a bit. The last criticism I will leave is that Brooks consistently reminds his readers of plot elements from his first book. Perhaps it is because I just read the first one in that series,...more

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Aug 27, 2012 Ely rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The Measure of the Magic is the second book of 'Legends of Shannara'. It continues from where the Bearers of the Black Staff left off introducing a new antagonist. Bearers of the Black Staff had a great set up but unfortunately my expectations were to high for the The Measure of the Magic. Of course that doesn't mean it wasn't a good book. Most of the events that happened through out the book were just amazing and filled with emotion. Like 'Bearers of the Black Staff' The Measure of the Magic ha...more

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Apr 08, 2012 Ryan Lawler rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I have always been a big fan of Terry Brooks. The Shannara novels were amongst the first fantasy books that I read, and I have always turned up to the book store every August to purchase the latest offering from Brooks. There has been plenty of reason for optimism over the past 5 years – the new Landover novel and the Genesis of Shannara novels have been some of Brooks’ best work, and my expectations for concluding novel in The Legends of Shannara series were very high. Unfortunately The Measure...more I have always been a big fan of Terry Brooks. The Shannara novels were amongst the first fantasy books that I read, and I have always turned up to the book store every August to purchase the latest offering from Brooks. There has been plenty of reason for optimism over the past 5 years – the new Landover novel and the Genesis of Shannara novels have been some of Brooks’ best work, and my expectations for concluding novel in The Legends of Shannara series were very high. Unfortunately The Measure of Magic was a massive let down, a boring and uninspired conclusion to a series that failed to cash in on the superb foundations that had been laid previously.

Sider Ament has been killed. The magical veil protecting the valley has fallen, trolls have amassed outside the valley waiting for a chance to strike, and the responsibility for leading the inhabitants of the valley back into the wider world has fallen to young tracker, and newly appointed Knight of the Word, Panterra Qu. While this premise has the makings of a very exciting story, we were promised by Brooks that this series would clearly define the transition from the world of the Word/Void to the world of Shannara. It was a very bold promise that was not adequately fulfilled, and having invested so much of my time into these five transitional Shannara books, I feel like the series was cheated out of the ending it deserved.

Not only did we not get the story we wanted but the story we did get was well below par, something made more apparent given the quality Brooks has produced over the past five years. To put it a bit more bluntly I became very bored reading The Measure of Magic, which is quite concerning as I don’t think I have ever been bored reading a Brooks story. We get a generic coming of age story as Panterra Qu accepts the Knight of the Word mantle. We get a generic coming of age story as Prue Liss is called upon to make a personal sacrifice for the greater good. We get a generic coming of age story as Phryne Amarantyne accepts responsibility for the Elfstones. We get a generic coming of age story as Xac Wen strives to prove himself to his peers and his heroes. After playing with some heavy and controversial themes in the previous book, to see this book populated by such generic character arcs is a massive let down. The one redeeming feature of this book is it’s villain, the Ragpicker. He is a cold, calculating and vile demon who hunts down Knights of the Word just for fun. His scenes are by far the most interesting in the book – he exudes an air made up of equal parts malevolence, power, and competence, and it is fascinating to watch how easily he can manipulate entire villages just by playing on their hopes and fears. In just one book Brooks established the Ragpicker as one of the most capable villains in the Shannara universe and it would have been nice to see how he would have developed over the course of an entire series rather than just the one book.

The writing here is pretty good, a style that has become well refined after twenty five years of Shannara. The world building is as strong as ever and the action scenes continue to be both vivid and exciting. The pacing is good, the story is easy to read, but it feels like there is far too much unnecessary prose here. This is a book that is twice as long as needed to be, which is a shame because there were so many sub-plots from the first book that were left untouched, and many more from this book that were left unresolved.

The Measure of Magic an uncharacteristically mediocre attempt at a novel by Terry Brooks. While there are some great scenes with some epic action sequences, they are interspersed by boring character development and relationships that refuse to evolve. It’s not a bad read by any stretch of the imagination, and I have read much worse, but I expected more from Brooks on this outing. If you are looking for resolution of the various plot threads established over the past five years, you will end up feeling disappointed. However, if you can go into this story without expecting the overall genesis of Shannara to be resolved then I think you can glean quite a bit of enjoyment out of this book.(less)

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Mar 01, 2012 Jason rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This Legends of Shannara duology is a prequel to the classic Shannara trilogy but a sequel (about 500 years after) to The Genesis of Shannara trilogy, which is several decades after the Word/Void trilogy.

The Measure of Magic picks up immediately after Bearers of the Black Staff (BOTBS), where the magical seal protecting a valley of humans, elves, and mutants has suddenly eroded, opening up passages to an outside world saturated with hardened creatures that have survived 500 years of post-nuclea...more

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Sep 14, 2011 Lighthearted rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy

With the death of Sider Ament, Panterra Qu becomes the new Bearer of the Black Staff. Pan doesn’t know what power the Staff holds or how to call upon its magic but he has to trust that he will know what to do when the time comes. He has to because he must rescue Prue from the Trolls, he must protect the valley from invasion, and he must help Phryne . . . .

While Pan searches for her, Prue Liss searches for him. She strikes a deal which will enhance her innate ability to sense danger but the cost...more

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Aug 08, 2011 William Bentrim rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The Measure of the Magic by Terry Brooks

This is the second of a two book series that is a pre-history of Shannara.

The Sword of Shannara was one of my all time favorite books. This book does not share that distinction primarily due to an assumption that all readers are up to speed on this long running (1977) saga.

The story is well written with colorful prose and excellent characterizations but they are not characters I was familiar with. It was nice to see The King of the Silver River again bu...more

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Dec 28, 2011 Ranting Dragon rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: garrett

http://www.rantingdragon.com/the-meas...

This review contains slight spoilers for The Bearers of the Black Staff.

The second half of the Legends of Shannara duology by Terry Brooks, The Measure of Magic continues the story begun by The Bearers of the Black Staff. Five hundred years after the events of the Genesis of Shannara trilogy, the barrier of magic hiding the survivors led to safety by the gypsy morph Hawk has fallen. With the fall of the barrier comes an entire new world filled with dangers...more

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Sep 06, 2011 Amanda rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Well, things make a little more sense now, since discoverying this is the 2nd of 3 books. I was under the impression this was a two-book set-up, so as I'm running out of pages and wondering how this is going to get all neatly resolved in a short amount of time, I did a little recon and found out there's still one more book to go. Which is good.

I flew through this pretty quickly, as I'd wanted to do over the long weekend. One of the things Terry does well that I really appreciate is write strong...more

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Aug 25, 2011 Jeff Miller rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is the second book in the Legends of Shannara duology which is another of the prequel series that takes place before the original Shannara trilogy.

I read this latest book after just finishing "Bearers of the Black Staff" the first book in this short series. I quite enjoyed the first book which in many ways was standard Fantasy fare but written capably. Brooks is very good at creating solid characters that you care about and want to find out what happens next. "The Measure of the Magic" does...more

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Jul 03, 2011 Albert Riehle rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

An uncharacteristically weak ending to this set of books. That may say more about where Brooks has set his own bar than this book though. The Measure of the Magic had some great characters and scenes that will have fans clapping, but overall it failed to measure up.

The hasty, fortuitous conclusion was the worst part. A great villain got a weak death, the protagonists seemed more lucky than anything else and their journeys taught them nothing that helped them in the end.

I'm pretty disappointed...more

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Aug 31, 2012 Branwen rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy-science-fiction

Holy crap was this book good! Usually Terry Brooks' arcs fall into the three book range, not the two book range, so in this case there was SO MUCH that happened in this book, since it was the last and final one in the 'Legends' series. This was an excellent, excellent seriesm and I would reccomend it to any epic fantasy fan. A beautiful story!

***
In her dreams, she was flying again, borne on the back of the dragon, his great wings spread out beneath her, his body undulating as it soared over acre...more

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Aug 26, 2011 Robert rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Disclaimer-If you read the review and feel there is a spoiler in it, please let me know and I will remove that section. Also, if you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask. Thank you.

The Measure of the Magic is the second and final book in the Legend of Shannara duology. The first book is Bearers of the Black Staff. There are many books in the Shannara series beginning with the Shannara books and continued with the Heritage of Shannara books, The Voyage of the Jerle Shannara trilogy, High Dru...more

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Sep 06, 2011 Richard rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Alternate worlds, Fantasy/Sci fi lovers

Recommended to Richard by: Mr. Brooks before he finished the first one.

With over thirty books to his credit, Terry Brooks certainly knows how to tell a tale. And what a tale this is, continuing the Legends of Shannara begun in his student days. It will really help you to have read at least the last 3 or 4 books before starting this one, although you will quickly pick up the story line as you go.

Maybe because I have read all the previous novels and am familiar with the fantastic world Mr. Brooks has created and that is continuing to evolve, this one seemed a little...more

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Sep 15, 2011 Darth rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This was mildly better than okay. Not terrible, but not great by any stretch either.

It picks up RIGHT after the action in the last novel, and things continue in motion.

I wont wreck any surprises that come up, but there really werent any in my opinion, just a lame Deus Ex Machina, or two. Reminded me a bit of one of the Landover novels, but I cant recall which - been too long since I read them.

I will probly still read whatever Brooks grinds out next, but I think he is missing the real potentially...more

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May 09, 2012 Mike Ogilvie rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: sci-fi

This was the 2nd book in the Legends of Shannara. (It wasn't until after I was done reading that I realized that "Legends" is a duology and not a trilogy.)

The story picks up where the first one left off but has a storyline all to its own that's captivating and (importantly) satisfying at the end. It stays focused on the saga of the Drouge troll army as it tries to invade the valley along with the political and social struggles of the valley's inhabitants and protectors. There's a new threat to t...more

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Feb 06, 2013 Sarah Carter rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Dec 19, 2012 Jeramy Smith rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shannara is franchise fiction from Terry Brooks. Shannara readers go to that world for a familiar set of powers, beings, elements, etc. You are not reading this for literary value, you are reading it for fun.

This book was not fun. 75% of what I read before I gave up, was internal monologue by characters stating obvious things. There is a really bad use of the deus ex machina with the King of the Silver River that is 100% a corner being written out of (same reason I stopped reading Hunger Games b...more

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Nov 29, 2011 Rose rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I usually don't bother writing reviews for books. Normally I check reviews on books before I read them before I decide if I want to invest any time into them. That is, unless it's an author I have been reading for a long time. I've read pretty much every book Terry Brooks has written (and own most of them). This is the first time I've been disappointed, and was compelled to write about it.

For some reason this book felt like a YA novel to me (I have nothing against YA novels, I read them from tim...more I usually don't bother writing reviews for books. Normally I check reviews on books before I read them before I decide if I want to invest any time into them. That is, unless it's an author I have been reading for a long time. I've read pretty much every book Terry Brooks has written (and own most of them). This is the first time I've been disappointed, and was compelled to write about it.

For some reason this book felt like a YA novel to me (I have nothing against YA novels, I read them from time to time, but this just isn't what I was expecting). It's been at least a year since I read Bearers of the Black Staff, but I recall it being a lot more interesting. I've also read a lot of dark fantasy since Bearers, so maybe that's why the book felt like it was directed at younger readers.

(view spoiler)

It almost seemed like he rushed to finish it, as though he was bored writing about these characters and just wanted to move onto his next book. It felt like this book and Bearers could have been one book because the ending was just...blah. All of the 'final confrontations' were incredibly boring, and lasted maybe a paragraph. It actually would have been better if it had spanned to a third book instead of the ending we got. According to Brooks' website this is the final book in a duology, so I'm not sure where people are getting this third book thing from.

Maybe I was a little hard on this book...because I really do like Terry Brooks. I guess my expectations were just high after reading his books for the last twelve years, or maybe I am just outgrowing them. I still have every intention of buying his new books in the future just because I've been reading them for so long.(less)

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Nov 20, 2011 Darcy rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2011, audio-book, fantasy

I think this is the first book that I have been really disappointed with. I am not sure if it is because of the story, which I found to be quite boring, or if it was the narrator, as he is awful with female voices.

I did find the story to be quite boring until the last quarter of the book. What I did like is that the Knight of the Word books are starting to collide with the Shannara series. I can see how the one would lead to the other.

One other thing that I forget is how in each of these books t...more

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Sep 22, 2011 Michael Davis rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Just as good and just as well thought out as the more recent ones tying all of the Shannara tales together, this one seemed especially tragic to me. There have definitely been similar elements in each of the predecessors - always a recipe for high drama and interesting stories - but this one is laden with grief and loss. I believe the next one may be the last, the one that truly connects what happened in the so-called modern world with the first of the Shannara saga, which would be a shame. I ne...more

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Sep 05, 2012 Angela Montgomery rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Typical Terry Brooks. Ho hum writing. Good, fast story. Flat, indistinguishable characters. (They all seem to think the same, unless they're evil in which case they're, well, evil.) He is prone to deus ex machina. This series is a continuation of The Genesis of Shannara trilogy. The last book in that trilogy ends with Hawk sacrificing himself to magically protect the valley. It then states that eventually he returns to rejoin his life. In the Legends of Shannara, however, they are all awaiting h...more

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May 26, 2013 Michael Kelly rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

It's hard to fault Brooks' writing. The only comment I would make as a slight criticism would be that he seemed to pack far more story into far fewer pages in his earlier novels. It's not that those early books were short (they weren't), nor that the story doesn't progress in this one (it does); it's simply that the words-to-action ratio seems to have stretched a bit over the years.

Nevertheless, I thoroughly enjoyed this. The tension and set-up of the first book in the series gets properly paid...more

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Aug 09, 2012 Sergio rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I find that I don't understand what exactly Terry wants to accomplish with his latest efforts in the Shannara universe. I ask myself if it serves any purpose to read about what happened so many centuries before the original trilogy. Much of the story that forms the basis for this book and Bearers of The Black Staff was only implied in those three volumes. After reading this latest duology, I'm convinced that the story/universe would have been better served if these books had not been written and...more

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Jun 13, 2012 Pam rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: brooks-terry

Another excellent book by Terry Brooks, although I only gave it 4 stars because it seemed a bit predictable.

When last we left our friends from the Bearers of the Black Staff, Prue Liss had been captured by the Trolls and was being held captive. Panterra Qu (Prue's fellow human tracker), Tasha and Tenerife (two Elven trackers), and Phryne (the Elven princess) had returned to the valley, along with a Troll named Arik, to warn the Elves and humans of the Troll army outside the valley amassing for t...more

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Sep 18, 2011 Drew rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

An average Shannara novel. It isn't as bad as the High Druid trilogy (which, I'm sorry, I hated) but never reaches even the heights of Bearers of the Black Staff. It feels a bit rushed and the overall thought at the end of the book was "...why this story?" - it all just feels a bit superfluous, unnecessary.
But even an average Shannara novel is worth the escape it provides. It might be comfortable and well-worn, but that's not necessary a bad thing in the right mood.

More thoughts on the measure...more

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Aug 18, 2012 Chris rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

500 years has past since the hawk brought the different races to safety in the valley, a mist surrounding and protecting them from the world. But now the mist is dissipating, and evil is coming.

I have read and re-read all the Shannara books many times; they are some of my favorites. As with any long running series you find some books outstanding and some a little less so. Both books in this series I found very entertaining but not as well written as many of the others, disjointed at times with...more

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Feb 13, 2012 Erich rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I always appreciate Brooks' ability to create vivid worlds for his characters to play out their adventures. I find that with most of the books in this series it takes a little while to really get into the story, especially with all of the different story perspectives that are unfolding. That said, I find myself getting thoroughly drawn in even with the knowledge that it's only book two. The downside of Measure of the Magic was I felt the ending fell short of providing the reader with a proper cu...more

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Oct 04, 2011 Jennifer rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: author-terry-brooks, fantasy

It took me a month to get through this book! I fell in love with Terry Brooks in his urban fantasy books (The Word & Void novels and Genesis of Shannara), but the books that followed return to his more classic fantasy roots. In "The Measure of the Magic" there was entirely too much inner dialogue by characters either reiterating events that just happened or pining of their feelings. I'm amazed anyone in the book survived to the end as much time as they spent examining their feelings instead...more

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About 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...more

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Books by Terry Brooks

The Elfstones Of Shannara (The Original Shannara Trilogy, #2)

The Sword of Shannara (The Original Shannara Trilogy #1)

The Talismans Of Shannara (Heritage of Shannara #4)

The Wishsong of Shannara (The Original Shannara Trilogy #3)

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