Tuesday, 1 February 2022 09:08 pm
Book Review: The Elfstones of Shannara
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deckardcanineI don't recall where or when I learned of The Shannara Chronicles, of which this is the second entry. Maybe I'd seen Terry Brooks' name thrown around and wanted to try part of his most successful series. At least, it's the only one I know to have been adapted to the screen. But the fact that the show was on MTV warned me against high expectations of highbrow elements in the high fantasy.
For centuries, the Ellcrys, a sentient magic tree created and tended by Elves (yes, this book capitalizes the races), has kept Demons trapped in another realm. Now it is on the verge of death, and the most powerful demons are beginning to break through, intent on killing every sapient being for "revenge." According to Allanon, last of the Druids, the best bet for stopping them is to send Princess Amberle of the Elven kingdom of Arborlon to take an Ellcrys seed to the Bloodfire, whose location is not recorded. He asks Wil Ohmsford, a quarter-Elven Valeman trained as a Healer, to be her sole escort, because as the grandson of Shea Ohmsford (hero of predecessor The Sword of Shannara), Wil is the only remotely youthful being who can hope to exercise the awesome power of the handheld Elfstones in time of need.
Wil is the most frequent focal character. Allanon gets a few chapters, despite the narration retaining a good deal of his secrecy. The second most frequent focal character is Prince Ander, uncle of Amberle; followed by King Eventine, his elderly father. Their chapters largely concern war against the Demons, who will clearly not be beaten by military force alone, partly because Demons have no higher priority than rage.
It's common for fantasy novels to be accused of cribbing from The Lord of the Rings, but this one takes the cake on that score: Fantastic races with a pseudo-medieval culture fight hopelessly against the forces of darkness while a small party sneaks into dangerous territory to end the war a less intuitive way. And I read that TSoS had already met the same accusation. Oddly enough, it's supposed to be set in a post-apocalyptic future that just happens to involve radiation-based evolution into Elves and whatnot. Sorry, Brooks, I'd prefer that it be another world altogether like Middle-Earth.
If TEoS has one thing over TLotR, it's a stronger feminine presence. In addition to Amberle, we meet Eretria, a Rover (read: Romany knockoff) who's good at stealing but hasn't quite stolen Wil's heart; an innkeeper who accidentally causes them trouble; and the feuding witches Morag and Mallenroh. OK, that doesn't sound like much of an improvement, but I had to cite something.
It certainly doesn't have the edge in writing quality. There is nothing poetic about it; the periodic omission of articles before racial terms is just jarring. There is zero comic relief. The pacing, especially early on, is terrible; Wil doesn't even get a mention for the first 60 pages, and the first focal character dies a few chapters in. I'd hate to have the same editor who let that intro stand. Wil barely even uses the titular artifacts, because it's difficult, uncomfortable, and guaranteed to attract unwelcome attention.
Perhaps worst of all, I had trouble liking the characters. Amberle spends the first maybe third of the book seeming like a short-sighted jerk, to the point that I almost didn't buy her gradually budding quasi-romance with Wil, who sounds significantly older. At the same time, most elite Elves are almost suicidally slow to accept her aid, simply because she had abandoned her assigned post at the Ellcrys. Wil's good at healing on occasion and not much else. Allanon may try to be Gandalf, but his insistence on who does what borders on dogmatic, and he doesn't teach any valuable lesson that I noticed.
The only character to impress me is Stee Jans, commander of the Free Corps. He may be low on education and probably has a criminal past, but you couldn't ask for a better nonmagical ally on the battlefield. If only I cared more about the battle scenes, which skimped on details (not that I really want Demonic gore) and did little to advance the plot. Those were the scenes where I was most likely to realize that I could remember none of the page my eyes had just passed over.
Truly, if I weren't looking for a book that was about the right length (564 pages, including a few illustrations) to finish shortly before my vacation, I would have given up on TEoS. I am not inclined to give Brooks another shot.
I have not decided what to read next, but I've narrowed it down to three books my dad loaded onto a Kindle for me. They are all fantasies, hopefully not cut from the same cloth. I'll give priority to one of the humorous ones.
For centuries, the Ellcrys, a sentient magic tree created and tended by Elves (yes, this book capitalizes the races), has kept Demons trapped in another realm. Now it is on the verge of death, and the most powerful demons are beginning to break through, intent on killing every sapient being for "revenge." According to Allanon, last of the Druids, the best bet for stopping them is to send Princess Amberle of the Elven kingdom of Arborlon to take an Ellcrys seed to the Bloodfire, whose location is not recorded. He asks Wil Ohmsford, a quarter-Elven Valeman trained as a Healer, to be her sole escort, because as the grandson of Shea Ohmsford (hero of predecessor The Sword of Shannara), Wil is the only remotely youthful being who can hope to exercise the awesome power of the handheld Elfstones in time of need.
Wil is the most frequent focal character. Allanon gets a few chapters, despite the narration retaining a good deal of his secrecy. The second most frequent focal character is Prince Ander, uncle of Amberle; followed by King Eventine, his elderly father. Their chapters largely concern war against the Demons, who will clearly not be beaten by military force alone, partly because Demons have no higher priority than rage.
It's common for fantasy novels to be accused of cribbing from The Lord of the Rings, but this one takes the cake on that score: Fantastic races with a pseudo-medieval culture fight hopelessly against the forces of darkness while a small party sneaks into dangerous territory to end the war a less intuitive way. And I read that TSoS had already met the same accusation. Oddly enough, it's supposed to be set in a post-apocalyptic future that just happens to involve radiation-based evolution into Elves and whatnot. Sorry, Brooks, I'd prefer that it be another world altogether like Middle-Earth.
If TEoS has one thing over TLotR, it's a stronger feminine presence. In addition to Amberle, we meet Eretria, a Rover (read: Romany knockoff) who's good at stealing but hasn't quite stolen Wil's heart; an innkeeper who accidentally causes them trouble; and the feuding witches Morag and Mallenroh. OK, that doesn't sound like much of an improvement, but I had to cite something.
It certainly doesn't have the edge in writing quality. There is nothing poetic about it; the periodic omission of articles before racial terms is just jarring. There is zero comic relief. The pacing, especially early on, is terrible; Wil doesn't even get a mention for the first 60 pages, and the first focal character dies a few chapters in. I'd hate to have the same editor who let that intro stand. Wil barely even uses the titular artifacts, because it's difficult, uncomfortable, and guaranteed to attract unwelcome attention.
Perhaps worst of all, I had trouble liking the characters. Amberle spends the first maybe third of the book seeming like a short-sighted jerk, to the point that I almost didn't buy her gradually budding quasi-romance with Wil, who sounds significantly older. At the same time, most elite Elves are almost suicidally slow to accept her aid, simply because she had abandoned her assigned post at the Ellcrys. Wil's good at healing on occasion and not much else. Allanon may try to be Gandalf, but his insistence on who does what borders on dogmatic, and he doesn't teach any valuable lesson that I noticed.
The only character to impress me is Stee Jans, commander of the Free Corps. He may be low on education and probably has a criminal past, but you couldn't ask for a better nonmagical ally on the battlefield. If only I cared more about the battle scenes, which skimped on details (not that I really want Demonic gore) and did little to advance the plot. Those were the scenes where I was most likely to realize that I could remember none of the page my eyes had just passed over.
Truly, if I weren't looking for a book that was about the right length (564 pages, including a few illustrations) to finish shortly before my vacation, I would have given up on TEoS. I am not inclined to give Brooks another shot.
I have not decided what to read next, but I've narrowed it down to three books my dad loaded onto a Kindle for me. They are all fantasies, hopefully not cut from the same cloth. I'll give priority to one of the humorous ones.