# Is the Sword of Shannara worth reading?



## Mythic Scribes

Someone gave me a used copy of the Sword of Shannara.  I know that it's thought to be a classic by some, but I've also heard lots of negative things about it.  Some people say it it is a complete Tolkien ripoff.  Is it worth my time?


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## Legerdemain

Depends on how you value your time.  I read VERY quickly so not much time wasted, and I found it enjoyable but completely derivative of Tolkien.  

Lin Carter, a fantasy editor who wrote a review when it came out said "Brooks wasn't trying to imitate Tolkien's prose, just steal his story line and complete cast of characters, and did it with such clumsiness and so heavy-handedly, that he virtually rubbed your nose in it" in his review, and called it "the single most cold-blooded, complete rip-off of another book that I have ever read."

I agree with Linwood, but many authors copy the best, and because he copies so much, it's not bad for an afternoon read.  You may just find yourself with a pencil scratching out character's names and writing "Aragon" or "Gimli" here or there.


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## Aqua Buddha

Sword of Shannara is pure ass.  Shameless literary thievery.  His writing did improve in later books, though.


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## Dwarven Gold

It isn't too bad.  I liked the dwarf with the mace.  He reminded me of my cousin.


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## Vita Numinous

It is very derivative of LotR, but some people seem to like the comfort and familiarity of that, so maybe that's not always completely the worst thing ever.  My son liked it, but I just couldn't manage to get into it, and I'm a speed reader.


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## At Dusk I Reign

Is it worth reading? Short answer, no. Long answer, nooooo!

I first read it in my early teens and enjoyed it. At the time I didn't pay too much attention to how insufferably generic it was, I just got caught up in the story. Years later I returned to it and couldn't believe quite how poor it was. Not merely in terms of plot, but in terms of the basic nuts and bolts. The story may be a shameless rip-off, but it's a positive triumph when compared to the prose. I had come back to it with vaguely-fond memories: I walked away promising myself never to read anything the author published ever again. It's one of the few vows I've ever managed to keep.


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## Ravana

Sword of Sha-Na-Na? Hey… Dusk and I found something we're in complete agreement on. Cool.

About the only thing positive I can say about this book is that I've actually seen something that's an even bigger ripoff of _LoTR_. (No, I can't remember offhand what it was; if I find it again, I'll warn y'all off it.) Brooks might make a good intro to fantasy for a ten-year-old… though I can think of better. Other than that, avoid it.


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## Donny Bruso

Personally I can't read anything Terry Brooks has written. I don't know what it is, I just can't read his particular style. I'd love to leave my opinions on the Sword of Shanarra itself (the weapon not the book) but I'll refrain in case anyone here hasn't read it. I don't want to spoil the surprise for you.


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## At Dusk I Reign

Ravana said:


> Hey… Dusk and I found something we're in complete agreement on. Cool.


I think that's probably a sign that the world is about to end.



Donny Bruso said:


> Personally I can't read anything Terry Brooks has written. I don't know what it is, I just can't read his particular style.


He has a style? I always imagined he just threw alphabet fridge magnets around his kitchen and submitted whatever they spelt out.


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## Donny Bruso

Lol quite possibly. I don't feel qualified to say since after reading the sword of Shannara I boycotted him and now I can't dumb myself down enough to understand what his crayon scribbles are trying to say.


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## At Dusk I Reign

Donny Bruso said:


> Lol quite possibly. I don't feel qualified to say since after reading the sword of Shannara I boycotted him and now I can't dumb myself down enough to understand what his crayon scribbles are trying to say.


 To some degree I feel bad for knocking an author. Brooks had a go, which is more than I can say for myself. I can even forgive his slavish devotion to Tolkien (though wiser minds than mine have deemed him a cynical opportunist). The actual way in which he commits words to the page, however, is the far greater crime in my eyes. I'm barely literate, but even I could compose better sentences than he put to paper in SoS. Some crimes aren't worth forgiving, howevermuch the individual has redeemed himself in later life.

Judgemental? Moi?


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## ZealPropht

I came upon the Shannara series early in life; my mother was a fan. I tried to read the first book, but honestly, I found it to be kind of boring. I thought maybe I was too young to enjoy the complexities of it, so I recently tried to re-read it. I found that, no, my first assessment was correct. It's a dull, dry story, at least what I managed to slog through of it. Supposedly, his style improves in later novels, but I couldn't bring myself to be that patient to find out. 

On the flip side, I sort of enjoyed his "Magic Kingdom of Landover" series. I'm not much of a fan for the whole "person from our world goes to a fantasy world and becomes a Person Of Importance" plot, but the books weren't terrible.


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## Legerdemain

At Dusk I Reign said:


> To some degree I feel bad for knocking an author. Brooks had a go, which is more than I can say for myself. I can even forgive his slavish devotion to Tolkien (though wiser minds than mine have deemed him a cynical opportunist).


 
I would not knock him as an author.  However, his writings deserve every hard look that is made toward them if they are appropriate.  He as a writer is fine, as I have not written as well as him.  But likewise, there are many great writers writing "Potter and Malfoy: The Love-Story of Two Lost Boys" which will be awful, not because it is poorly written, but because of that the writing itself is.


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## Mdnight Falling

My fiancee thinks it is LOL. I don't find Terry Brooks to be that good a story teller.. I've read several of his books.. the only one I actually liked was the black Unicorn which is the second in a different series. And that was just because of the concept the story had, not the story itself which was dry and unimagined to say the least. Though I do so love Unicorns LOL, so I've actually read that book more then once... But I never bothered to read the rest of that series, and the Sword of shannarah never in all my years of seeing it, caught my eye or made me feel the need to read it... I think I'll stick with my Drow and dragons


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## Mdnight Rising

Swor d of shannara is a very good book....... but if you read this one start with First King of Shannara the  prequel  it fills in alot of questions you will  of  Sword of shannara that are let out if you read Sword of Shannara first . This series is also one my personal  favorites  and i have read them all ...my personal favorite of the shannara series  was wishsong of shannara  again definitiely a good read!!


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## Mdnight Falling

Mdnight Rising said:


> Swor d of shannara is a very good book....... but if you read this one start with First King of Shannara the  prequel  it fills in alot of questions you will  of  Sword of shannara that are let out if you read Sword of Shannara first . This series is also one my personal  favorites  and i have read them all ...my personal favorite of the shannara series  was wishsong of shannara  again definitiely a good read!!


 
Malarky!!!!! I won't read it... get me a new copy of the Black Unicorn and I'll consider looking at a few chapters of this series >.>


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## Mdnight Rising

lol want want want .. got other thigns to pay for fist  but we will see  about a new copy


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## Mdnight Falling

I know but we can get a CHEAP copy online somewhere.. and nu I don't want to read THAT series either -.- I just want THAT ONE book >^.^<


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## Mdnight Rising

lol  i think we can find it at book worm for  just a cpl bucks  no need to go online and wait fo i to be shipped when we can get a copy right up the street .


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## At Dusk I Reign

Mdnight Rising said:


> Sword of shannara is a very good book.......


C'mon now, you know it isn't. Apart from the fact that Brooks has acknowledged he ripped of LotR, his actual writing style is poor beyond belief. He repeats himself numerous times within the same sentence, never mind paragraph, and his breadth of diction makes Goodkind seem like a master of the language. Surely you've read better? Donaldson? Martin? Peake? Throw me a bone, will ya?


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## Philip Overby

I bought the first Shannara book just because it was always mentioned and I got it for like 1 dollar or something.  I didn't read much of it, maybe 20 pages.  I don't remember it being really bad, but I don't remember anything particularly interesting about it either.  Brooks falls into the category of "safe" fantasy in that he seems like a decent writer, but he doesn't try to do anything terribly original or interesting.  Nothing wrong with that, as it seems to work for him.  

I wouldn't say it was worth it if you're looking for something ground-breaking or mind-blowing.  At least my brief experience with the writing anyhow.


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## Donny Bruso

@Dusk - Terry Brooks Vs. George R.R. Martin is an argument I've been having with a close friend for years now. He swears up and down the Terry Brooks is the greatest writer to ever grace the face of the planet, and that Martin's work is boring and bad. I have given up on converting anyone who thinks that Terry Brooks is an example of great fantasy because of him. Now I simply let them continue in their misguided way while consoling myself with cheap rotgut and the fact that I am, as usual, right, lol.


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## At Dusk I Reign

Donny Bruso said:


> He swears up and down the Terry Brooks is the greatest writer to ever grace the face of the planet, and that Martin's work is boring and bad.


I hope you've slapped him. Repeatedly. With great force.


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## Donny Bruso

I would, but he's the huge dumb brute type(pronounced jock) where I'm the skinny, intelligent, generally wonderful type (pronounced geek) and while I might slap him, the return beating would not be worth it, even for my principles, lol.


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## At Dusk I Reign

Donny Bruso said:


> I would, but he's the huge dumb brute type(pronounced jock) where I'm the skinny, intelligent, generally wonderful type (pronounced geek) and while I might slap him, the return beating would not be worth it, even for my principles, lol.


I would say that people like that are invariably weak-kneed cowards, but experience has taught me otherwise. Moral superiority doesn't count for much if you're left limping home after a savage beating. We can can only hope that he learns the error of his ways. Or that he stays stupid. I vote for the latter. That's punishment enough.


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## Mdnight Rising

George R.R. MArtin is much better in my opinion, and i have been a fan of terry brooks for many a year


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## Mdnight Falling

BOOO Terry Brooks sucks.. cept the Black Unicorn >.>


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## Ravana

At Dusk I Reign said:


> Surely you've read better? Donaldson? Martin? Peake?



The one objection I have to Donaldson's style is one that's actually quite unusual for me to raise: it seems fairly obvious (to me) that he wrote with a dictionary, or at least thesaurus, in one hand, and whenever he got to a word he didn't know, he tried to find a way to include it. Which is an odd objection for me, since I normally encourage breadth of vocabulary. Seriously, though: if you go back through the books, try to spot the words you had to look up the first time you saw them (or may still need to)… and then try to find where he uses that word a _second_ time. (You might also count the distribution of unfamiliar words relative to the alphabet: how many of them begin with 'a' as opposed to, say, 'r' or 't'?)



> I would say that people like that are invariably weak-kneed cowards



Well, really, _everybody's_ "weak-kneed"–in the sense that it's one of the easiest parts of the body to disable. So if you ever do get into a fight with such a person (or anybody)… go for a knee. In fact, that might be the best way to get a "jock" to back off you: they should be absolutely paranoid about taking knee damage.


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## Donny Bruso

@Ravana Yes, I know that knees are wonderful ways to get someone to drop to the ground squealing like a little girl who has lost her favorite doll. However, as I originally started the post, we are fairly close friends, so I don't think doing irreparable damage would be necessary


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## myrddin173

looking at this thread I guess I'm out of the norm when I say that Terry Brooks is one of my favorite authors, (I have all of the Shannara books).  I agree the Sword is derivative of Tolkien, he admits it himself in his book on writing _Sometimes the Magic Works_ but his other books he stands on his own.  Personally I would suggest reading the series and that means reading the Sword as the events therein are referred to but not explained in the later books.  But don't, I repeat don't read First King first read it eighth because it has major spoilers for Sword and the Heritage series.

It's definitely worth your time because it will open you to a, in my opinion, awesome series, which should not be judged by the failings of the first book.


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## At Dusk I Reign

Ravana said:


> Seriously, though: if you go back through the books, try to spot the words you had to look up the first time you saw them (or may still need to)… and then try to find where he uses that word a _second_ time. (You might also count the distribution of unfamiliar words relative to the alphabet: how many of them begin with 'a' as opposed to, say, 'r' or 't'?)


I think you'll need to provide specific examples in order to convince me (rather surprisingly, and despite my posts, my vocabulary is quite extensive).  Admittedly I haven't read the Chronicles in decades, but at the time I wasn't jarred by his choice of words. Then again, I have a distinct feeling we approach books in different ways, so perhaps it's no surprise I didn't notice the things which made your hackles rise.

(Oh, and of all the places to hit, knees are the least important.)


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## Janga

I found Sword of Shannara to be a very cheap Tolkien ripoff. I know most fantasy novels have an element of Tolkien in them, but Brooks just plain stole ideas for this book.

My opinion anyway. If someone gave you a copy of it, go ahead and read a few chapters and see if you want to continue from there.


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## Ravana

At Dusk I Reign said:


> I think you'll need to provide specific examples in order to convince me (rather surprisingly, and despite my posts, my vocabulary is quite extensive).



Ugh… that would require that I go back and look at the books (which I, too, have not done for decades), something I don't care to inflict upon myself. So you're on your own. But I remember his vocabulary–at least at the outset of the series–looking as much like a dictionary exercise as Brooks' does not. (Of course, what might have been "unfamiliar" then and what is now are completely different: you'd probably have to evaluate the vocab more along the lines of "Would this appear in something written by [insert unjustifiably popular author's name here]?")

(I did actually enjoy reading the series, by the way… except for the parts that included the main character.  I absolutely loved the half of _Illearth War_ that didn't involve him; wish there'd been more like it. At least Covenant improved a bit in the second trilogy, as I recall.)



> (Oh, and of all the places to hit, knees are the least important.)



Remind me not to choose you for my next bar fight team.  Eyes and throat are better, sure, but they're harder to get to. In fact, one of the best reasons to make a move at the eyes is because people _will_ defend them–invariably–at which point the knees are easy targets.


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## At Dusk I Reign

Janga said:


> I found Sword of Shannara to be a very cheap Tolkien ripoff. I know most fantasy novels have an element of Tolkien in them, but Brooks just plain stole ideas for this book.


I'm contemptuous of the books for that reason, but it's not a singular crime; the genre would collapse if publishers relied on writers being original. Sad but true.



Ravana said:


> (I did actually enjoy reading the series, by the way… except for the parts that included the main character. )


Poor ol' Covenant, so misunderstood. All he needs is a hug.



Ravana said:


> Remind me not to choose you for my next bar fight team.  .


Just as well - I'm the kind of guy who'd bring a knife to a gunfight.


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## Ravana

At Dusk I Reign said:


> Just as well - I'm the kind of guy who'd bring a knife to a gunfight.



Infantry: "You brought a knife to a gunfight?"
Marine: "You brought a gun to a knife fight?"
Special Forces: "Hey, check out this nifty knife and gun I got off those two guys over there.…"


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## Poppa Weelee

I'm going to attempt to bring balance to this thread. I like Terry Brooks for the _Shannara_ series. Yes, _Sword_ is a shameless ripoff of LOtR, but he explicitly states that in the Foreword, IIRC. It's not news. It's what he does _after_ that makes the series great. I especially like the _Armageddon's Children_ arc. Basically, there are a lot of people who knock Brooks for _Sword._ A lot a lot. A _lot._ But is he worth reading, at least to kill an otherwise uneventful afternoon? You betcha. And now I'm the forum's pariah.


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## myrddin173

Don't worry Poppa, I totally agree with you.


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## Artless

Ravana said:


> The one objection I have to Donaldson's style is...


 
Yes I completely agree. He writes like he is trying to write a book purely to be studied in an English Literature class. It is pretentious, and really bloody annoying.
For the same reason, I sometimes dislike LoTR as well.


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## Artless

I'm not sure if anyone has actually brought this up, but i seem to recall EVERY trilogy set in the Shannara world has the same theme.
The unwilling hero, who is pretty much a whiney adolescent, with friends who are braver than him, goes and saves the world, and has a huge moral something or other
Yawn....
I actually own the three (or is it 4?) trilogy's set in the shannara world... I wish I had've spent that money on something better....
Like beer?


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## Poppa Weelee

You show me a fantasy novel/series that doesn't follow that basic formula, and I'll show you hateful lies!


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## Artless

Ermmmmm Do you really want me to?
Cause, you know, I can think of a few of the top of my head...
Like, say, the series you mention in your signature? 
Or G.R.R.M, or Katherine Kerr, or the rest of my bookshelf that isn't Shannara?


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## Poppa Weelee

Yeah, after I posted that I thought of, like 12 series, but for obvious reasons I couldn't retract my statement. This is the Internet for cat's sake! But I stand by my statement that _Shannara_ gets better after _Sword_.


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## Donny Bruso

Poppa Weelee said:


> ! But I stand by my statement that _Shannara_ gets better after _Sword_.


 
Well when you start off with a novel that is a shameless example of plagiarism and write it with a crayon on construction paper you really have nowhere to go but up...


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## Poppa Weelee

I mean "interested enough to have kept me reading for the last decade or so." I read _First King_ almost exactly ten years ago, and I'm still eating his Shannara novels up like candy. Anxiously awaiting _Bearers of the Black Staff_ Book 2.


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## Edgemaker

For me after Reading the Lord of the Rings, and then hearing about the Sword of Shannara, personally it was like having a gourmet feast and then being offered a candy bar.


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## Kaellpae

I heard about this series after I posted here about a world I was wanting to create. Very similar and both in the Northwest U.S. so I looked a bit into it. I will definitely read it and I won't have anything to compare it to as I haven't read Tolkien. I plan to fix that, but when I was in 4th grade I tried reading a copy of The Hobbit and couldn't get past the first few chapters.

Definitely going to be giving them all a second chance though, now that I'm solidly into fantasy and old enough to know better.


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## Dante Sawyer

Donny Bruso said:


> Well when you start off with a novel that is a shameless example of plagiarism and write it with a crayon on construction paper you really have nowhere to go but up...


Hahah, so true. SoS really isn't good. Not only is it a ripoff of LotR, but even if the idea was original the writing isn't very good. I read this last year for a lit class and it's not something I would recommend. I don't even really think Brooks is that great in his later works. He's better, but just as lacking as in SoS. Read Mistborn or The Dark Tower. Much better choices.


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## Kaellpae

I agree with Dante for The Dark Tower. Definitely worth your time.


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## myrddin173

I've never read the Dark Tower.  When I first read Sword I didn't think it was reminicent of Tolkien, then again I hadn't read LotR yet.  Although I am an avid Tolkien fan, the Shannara books hold a place near and dear to my heart; they are the reason I got into Fantasy so I will always defend their merits.


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## Angharad

I read the Sword of Shannara when I was a teenager, many years ago, and I loved it.  I haven't revisited it since, so I don't know how I would feel about it now.  I tried to read The Dark Tower recently and it was so boring I couldn't get through it.


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## Thistlefizz

I read it when I was about 10 and I loved it.  I recently tried to re-read it and was... disappointed.  I am glad that I read it before I had read _Lord of the Rings_, because I was able to read it without knowing that it was so derivative of _LotR_.  At the time, I really enjoyed the story and it was one of the first fantasy books that I ever read.  After reading _The Sword of Shannara_ I couldn't get enough of fantasy books.  So I'm glad the book is out there because without it, there's a chance that I might not have given fantasy a real chance.  But, I do wish that I hadn't tried to re-read it as an adult.  A bit of my childhood innocence died when I realized that _Shannara_ didn't live up to my memory of it.

Would I recommend against reading it?  No.  But I would counsel people to keep in mind that it's not the best pieces of fantasy out there.  And if they have a deep and abiding loyalty to Tolkein they might want to stay away from it to avoid getting headaches from how angry they might get.


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## Anomander

I read like a couple of pages, and upon seeing Gandalf (with another name), and the same plot already given, I stopped reading. I guess it's a complete ripoff. And I imagine he's made a lot of money on this ripoff...


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