The Sword of Shannara
Style: Weak
Attitude: Positive
Age Range: Young Teens
Period: Future
Genres: Fantasy
Synopsis:
First in a series of “Shannara” books.The world is in danger of being overrun by the powers of darkness. Only the mythical Sword of the house of Shannara, wielded by the last of that ilk can save the day. Aided by the druid Allanon, Shea and Flick Ohmsford must retrieve the sword and vanquish the evil lord.Which they do with the help of a thief, a tame rock troll, a few other wandering creatures and some elfstones.Sort of.
Notes:
A very flabby and poorly composed book, far too long for its contents, very badly thought through, and containing far too many echoes of The Lord of the Rings for one to take it wholly seriously (the group which sets out like the fellowship of the ring, the pseudo-mysterious character of Allanon impervious to fire who falls down a fiery pit while fighting a monster, &c.). The story is strung out by separating the group and its members meeting other peoples along the way. Although the world is portrayed as a post-holocaust Earth, this is only referred to in passing with a rather contrived passage past a former city and seems no more than an attention-grabbing point. The dark lord is encountered by Shea at one point and is a bit of an anticlimax. Nothing morally objectionable, but I wouldn't recommend it especially.
Tuesday 1st January 2002