SoS: what about the rest of the series?

[LegalKimchi]

so much has been made of SoS being derivative of lotr,which it is. but there is a whole series of books a afterwards. I actually liked SoS, but understand is faults. so I have 2 questions.
1) are the future books derivative of other work?
2)how quickly does his writing improve?

[Tassie Dave, S&L Historian]

1) I can't think of any works in particular. But there is no ground breaking originality. It is solid epic fantasy. You've seen it before and since in other works. Some better, a lot worse.

2) Elfstones is better than Sword. Wishsong is better than the first 2. So he has improved over the original trilogy. It has been so long since I read Books 4 to 7 that I can't remember if he continued to improve.

[Kevin]

All the plot for every books Brooks have ever written is basically still the same with a questing has to happened in order to save the world.

[J]

I've only read the first 3. As with Tassie, I liked the second book better than the first and found the third to fall between them. Other than following the standard 'going on an adventure to save the world whilst describing a lot of scenery' factor that is common to fantasy, I didn't think the others were derivative. If you liked Brooks' writing style, I'd be willing to bet that you will like the next two books.

One plus for the sequels, that he gets a notch above Tolkein for, is with female protagonist who participate in the adventure. The second one has a male protagonist and female protagonist, where the male is the warrior who has to save the magic user female, but the third reverses this and has a male character that is mostly baggage but with super powers and a female badass.

[Tassie Dave, S&L Historian]

J wrote: "the third reverses this and has a male character that is mostly baggage but with super powers and a female badass. "

I'd hardly class Rone as baggage. He has quite a few heroic moments. Being in a trio that includes the most powerful man on earth and the most powerful elf/woman on earth would make anyone appear less heroic.
Brin is definitely a badass.

[J]

Tassie Dave wrote:
"I'd hardly class Rone as baggage. He has quite a few heroic moments. ..."

Jair is the character that I would consider to be baggage. ;)

Rone is a Leah, he better know how to fight!

[Tassie Dave, S&L Historian]

J wrote: "Jair is the character that I would consider to be baggage. ;)"

That makes more sense. He is the "damsel in distress" for most of the book ;-) Always getting saved by the other characters.
But he is the youngest character, so it is understandable.

I don't know exactly he old he is, but Brin is about 18/19 and Jair is a few years younger than her. So he's probably only 16/17

[Paul]

I have read all of the shannara books. Every series/stand alone book is almost a carbon copy of the first.
A druid comes to find the orphan half elf in Shady Vale and the journey begins. The druid has to go visit the elves to drum up help. The half elf orphan travels to Leah and meets an old friend and they travel East where they run into the king of the silver river who shows the main character visions of what will be. Back to the Druid who’s request for help is always turned down by the king of the elves. Fortunately one of the royal family members believes the druid and decides to go against the king and help out. Back to the main character. They travel east and visit the dwarfs. They have run ins with gnomes and some other bad adventures before the druid shows up and pulls them out of the fire. They go visit the Shadehorn for clues as to what to do next…….. If you have read one of Terry Brooks books you have read them all. Just change a few minor details and you are good to go.

[LegalKimchi]

why did you keep reading them if they are all the same? what kept you coming back?

[S. K.]

Paul wrote: "If you have read one of Terry Brooks books you have read them all."

The Magic Kingdom of Landover: Volume 1

Not the same.

[Kevin]

Yes, even Landover is still basically the same story.

[Joel]

My reading of the Shannara books has been kind of sporadic. However, out of all the ones that I have read, I enjoyed and would recommend First King of Shannara, The Voyage of the Jerle Shannara Trilogy, and Armageddon's Children the Genesis of Shannara series.

I found the Voyage books and the Genesis books to be fun reads. However, it is always good to bear in mind that with Brooks you will be getting fun, light, and quick reads, which I think can be a good thing sometimes. And by the time Brooks wrote Voyage and Genesis, I would say his writing had improved dramatically.

[Paul]

Tastykimchi wrote: "why did you keep reading them if they are all the same? what kept you coming back?"

Well first - I do like them. Most years I watch the movie Groundhogs Day near Feb 2. Most years I watch Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown and Charlie Brown Christmas or Thanksgiving. And every few years I read one of the Shannara trilogies. I can read them, like them, but still think that for the most part it is the same story over and over with minor tweaks.

[Kevin]

Paul wrote: "Tastykimchi wrote: "why did you keep reading them if they are all the same? what kept you coming back?"

Well first - I do like them. Most years I watch the movie Groundhogs Day near Feb 2. Most ye..."

So you don't watch Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown today?

[Paul]

Kevin wrote: "Paul wrote: "Tastykimchi wrote: "why did you keep reading them if they are all the same? what kept you coming back?"

Well first - I do like them. Most years I watch the movie Groundhogs Day near F..."

HAHA Kevin - we actually did watch that one this year.

[Scott]

His writing does improve and the books do get better but honestly I'd have to say that you have to get 7-8 books into the Shannara series before that happens.

I respect what he has done for the genre (I was born in 1970 so I know exactly how many fantasy books were around, or should I say not around, before Brooks and how many came after him) and his place in history but I gave up reading him decades ago.

But he does get better.

[LegalKimchi]

considering I like the classic feel to this, what are the better written versions of this, outside of lotr.

[Richard]

Speaking of the stories being same-sex, don't we usually pick up several redshirt party members along the way?

I only read the first three magic Kingdom books, but what I remember of the plot of those is that the main guy needs to turn himself into the paladin and save the day but he can't. It compared at the time to the plot of most episodes of Voltron in my mind, where the plots seemed to revolve around them being unable to form the giant robot.