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Post by CynanMachae on Aug 2, 2005 16:44:03 GMT -5
I checked this one out from the library... didn't finish it... his writing style is very similer to mine, and to be honest, not much better  |
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Post by Dred on Aug 2, 2005 18:01:20 GMT -5
Which of Terry's books did you pick up to read? His writing changes styles a bit depending on which book you read and at which series you're reading as well.
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Post by CynanMachae on Aug 2, 2005 18:30:21 GMT -5
The Sword of Shannara. He's detailed but rather brief. I imagine he paints himself into writers block a lot.
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Post by Hinata on Aug 2, 2005 22:25:53 GMT -5
Realize that Sword was his first book, Try reading his word and the void series. . .it's amazing.
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Post by Dred on Aug 2, 2005 22:34:11 GMT -5
His Word and Void series is arguably his best work.
Hinata is right. Sword was his first book. He developed a great deal as a writer after that book. Don't give up on him. Just try something that might tickle your fancy more.
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Post by Shazammm on Aug 3, 2005 8:14:04 GMT -5
Sword was pretty much based off of LOTR......but get the next book in the series and it's COMPLETELY different......much better.
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Post by tinidril on Aug 3, 2005 10:04:19 GMT -5
I read the first 3 Shannara books back when they first came out. There was a dearth of fantasy back then... and so I read it hungrily.
But by the end of the third book I was so irritated by his repetative sentence structure and limited vocabulary (being thoroughly spoiled by Tolkien) that I never wanted to pick up another book by him again.
It was more than just his writing style which I found irksome, it was the almost total lack of wisdom and sense of wonder. This is harder to explain... except by comparison: when I read LotR I kept wondering who and what Gandalf was. He was clearly not your typical "wizard", and I couldn't put my finger on it, but there was something very deep, very 'wonder'ful about him which so intrigued me that I searched every passage, every appendice, and finally (when it was published) found what I wanted in The Silmarillian. There was nothing in Brooks' writing which prompted that kind of yearning.
At the end of LotR I found myself wishing fervently that the world Tolkien had created were real, that I could know and meet elves, dwarves and hobbits. At the end of the Shannara books I found my brow scrunched up with incredulity thinking, "that's it??!" and feeling about as satisfied as a starving man being offered a bowl of whipped cream... tasty perhaps but sorely lacking in substance.
I may only be disappointed because he is the first fantasy author I read which was not a believer. But I have since found non-Christian fantasy authors who, never the less, own great store of wisdom and understanding of human nature (such as Salvatore).
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amodman
Mabinog
[M:395]
The Nightcrawler
Posts: 226
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Post by amodman on Aug 3, 2005 16:29:05 GMT -5
That and Sword of Shannara is almost completely ripped out of LOTR...lol.
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Post by Lady Bookwyrm on Aug 4, 2005 20:40:53 GMT -5
Seriously...I loved his Landover series. I never read anything else of his, though. I couldn't get 100 pages into Shannara, lol.
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Post by tinidril on Aug 4, 2005 22:25:46 GMT -5
Seriously...I loved his Landover series. I never read anything else of his, though. I couldn't get 100 pages into Shannara, lol. Well, perhaps he's learned a thing or two since he published his first series... maybe I will give him a second chance... someday...  |
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Post by whitetrash on Jun 3, 2006 13:47:16 GMT -5
man his writting style has grown so much over the years and i cant wait for his next book
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Post by Dred on Jun 5, 2006 10:47:54 GMT -5
You're quite right about that. The next book and series look to be very promising. If you haven't been to the website recently, the first chapter of the next book has been posted.
Happy reading.
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Post by Danath on Jun 5, 2006 13:16:43 GMT -5
I'm still trying to catch up on my Terry Brooks. Right now I'm up to Morgawr, and then the High Druid series before I get to the Word/Void. Hopefully I can accomplish that before the year is out because Armageddon's Children sounds like it should be a really good story.
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Post by Dred on Jun 5, 2006 20:00:02 GMT -5
oh yes. I would certainly recommend finishing up High Druid and then going through Word/Void before reading Armageddon's Children. This next series does tie in with his Word/Void work so it'll be very helpful to have that basis there.
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Caledvwlch
Mabinog
[M:0]
Never Walk Alone
Posts: 166
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Post by Caledvwlch on Aug 4, 2006 14:52:03 GMT -5
I agree about Sword of Shannara; it completely ripped off LOTR. I did like Allanon, however. I agree that there was no sense of wonder, but I liked the idea (well, thought it was original) that Allanon kind of gives people the cold shoulder sometimes. The Stoic and somewhat Spartan Wizard, as it were.
One of his later trilogies (its name slips my mind at the moment; it has Tanequil and Straken in it) was much better.
On the whole, however, I probably rate Brooks as a 7 or so on a scale of 1-10.
Salvatore is amazing, if slightly predicable in his early books.
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