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The Elves of Cintra (The Genesis of Shanarra, Book 2)
by Terry Brooks

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<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/62233.The_Elves_of_Cintra?utm_medium=api&amp;utm_source=blog_review" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img alt="The Elves of Cintra (The Genesis of Shanarra, Book 2)" border="0" src="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51YrIc6hJGL._SL160_.jpg" /></a> <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/62233.The_Elves_of_Cintra?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review">The Elves of Cintra</a> by <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/9629.Terry_Brooks">Terry Brooks</a><br/><br/>
  <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/11434645?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review"><h3>My review</h3></a>
  rating: 2 of 5 stars<br/>I have grown steadily disenchanted with Terry Brooks. I recall reading the first Shannara novels and though I recognized the blatant sacking of Tolkien for imagery and characters, he created a wonderful world full of interesting characters. I have watched saddened as he has gradually taken the series into the realm of mere adventure story. I only read the first Knight of the Word novel. I found it almost completely lacking in joy. Plus, once I realized they were prequels to the Shannara books I started to root for the Demons. I wanted John Ross to fail miserably so that the world I had become entranced by could replace the dull work-a-day world I am used to. 
<br/>
<br/>Now Brooks has taken that disenchantment a step further. The first book in this series was moderately interesting, as it shows the transition from our world to the Four Lands of the Shannara novels. We know in general how this ends, enough people escape the coming holocaust to create the world in the books already written. We just don't know how or which characters will survive. But the outcome is never in doubt. So the only purpose in reading these books is to enjoy the journey and there is little joy in it. The world is depressing, the characters two-dimensional, and elegant prose has never been Brooks' strong point. Basically we get a bunch of characters who, individually and separately, get into one form of mortal peril after another, and that is about it. Occasionally there is plot construction or glimmers of the world we will see in later novels. (Didn't I see this done once already? Oh, yeah, Star Wars) And I feel like I have read or seen all of it before. We start with children being chased by "Croakers" which is just a tarted up scene from the average zombie movie. We have a post-apocalyptic gladiator scene which I think I saw in Mad Max and about a dozen other movies and novels, there is an attack by robots brutally carrying out their last command, which has been portrayed in a hundred SF novels/movies not least of was the first Star Trek movie and at least one Star Trek Next Generation episode. And yes I did get the relevance of the robots for later novels, but that only lessened the intensity of my yawn, it did not eliminate it. And the ending was right out of Indiana Jones. I won't spoil it, but the general parameters were as predictable as sunrise.
<br/>
<br/>I'll read the last installment, but I long ago started checking Brooks' books out of the library and no longer spend money on them. I used to live for the next Shannara novel. I can still recall toting "The Sword of Shannara" (the first oversize, paperback edition with the Hildebrandt Borthers cover) from one class to another in 8th grade, reading each chapter twice. I remember taking "The Elvestones" on  family trips. I have gone back to reread those books and they are magical. Now, I read his latest works as I read those form letters in Christmas cards from friends I haven't seen in years. I like to keep up on events, but there is no joy in the camaraderie I once found so fascinating.
  <br/><br/><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/632400?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review">View all my reviews.</a>

Matthew's review
rating:
bookshelves: read-for-pleasure
recommended for: anyone who MUST know how the birth of the Four Lands

I have grown steadily disenchanted with Terry Brooks. I recall reading the first Shannara novels and though I recognized the blatant sacking of Tolkien for imagery and characters, he created a wonderful world full of interesting characters. I have watched saddened as he has gradually taken the series into the realm of mere adventure story. I only read the first Knight of the Word novel. I found it almost completely lacking in joy. Plus, once I realized they were prequels to the Shannara books I started to root for the Demons. I wanted John Ross to fail miserably so that the world I had become entranced by could replace the dull work-a-day world I am used to.

Now Brooks has taken that disenchantment a step further. The first book in this series was moderately interesting, as it shows the transition from our world to the Four Lands of the Shannara novels. We know in general how this ends, enough people escape the coming holocaust to create the world in the books already written. We j...more I have grown steadily disenchanted with Terry Brooks. I recall reading the first Shannara novels and though I recognized the blatant sacking of Tolkien for imagery and characters, he created a wonderful world full of interesting characters. I have watched saddened as he has gradually taken the series into the realm of mere adventure story. I only read the first Knight of the Word novel. I found it almost completely lacking in joy. Plus, once I realized they were prequels to the Shannara books I started to root for the Demons. I wanted John Ross to fail miserably so that the world I had become entranced by could replace the dull work-a-day world I am used to.

Now Brooks has taken that disenchantment a step further. The first book in this series was moderately interesting, as it shows the transition from our world to the Four Lands of the Shannara novels. We know in general how this ends, enough people escape the coming holocaust to create the world in the books already written. We just don't know how or which characters will survive. But the outcome is never in doubt. So the only purpose in reading these books is to enjoy the journey and there is little joy in it. The world is depressing, the characters two-dimensional, and elegant prose has never been Brooks' strong point. Basically we get a bunch of characters who, individually and separately, get into one form of mortal peril after another, and that is about it. Occasionally there is plot construction or glimmers of the world we will see in later novels. (Didn't I see this done once already? Oh, yeah, Star Wars) And I feel like I have read or seen all of it before. We start with children being chased by "Croakers" which is just a tarted up scene from the average zombie movie. We have a post-apocalyptic gladiator scene which I think I saw in Mad Max and about a dozen other movies and novels, there is an attack by robots brutally carrying out their last command, which has been portrayed in a hundred SF novels/movies not least of was the first Star Trek movie and at least one Star Trek Next Generation episode. And yes I did get the relevance of the robots for later novels, but that only lessened the intensity of my yawn, it did not eliminate it. And the ending was right out of Indiana Jones. I won't spoil it, but the general parameters were as predictable as sunrise.

I'll read the last installment, but I long ago started checking Brooks' books out of the library and no longer spend money on them. I used to live for the next Shannara novel. I can still recall toting "The Sword of Shannara" (the first oversize, paperback edition with the Hildebrandt Borthers cover) from one class to another in 8th grade, reading each chapter twice. I remember taking "The Elvestones" on family trips. I have gone back to reread those books and they are magical. Now, I read his latest works as I read those form letters in Christmas cards from friends I haven't seen in years. I like to keep up on events, but there is no joy in the camaraderie I once found so fascinating....less

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