In the day and age where nearly every fantasy story is book one, or volume one, it is kind of humbling to read a book and actually have the story end. But of course in the case of The Sword of Shannara this is a blessing and a curse.

            The story begins through the eyes of an unknown traveler named Flick Ohmsford. Flick is on his way back to his homeland when he runs into a dark traveler by the name of Allanon. This dangerous looking man claims to be searching for Flick’s brother, with information that is vital to the survival of the world. It is after this that we learn Flick’s brother Shea, is the main point of interest in this story. I won’t give away why he is special, but lets just say only he can use the legendary Sword of Shannara and thus he must embark on a quest to obtain it.

            This knowledge takes the two brothers away from their homeland and into potentially dangerous territory. Under constant threat of the Warlock Lord, Shea, Flick, and a group of adventurers must reach the druid’s keep known as Paranor, and reach the Sword of Shannara before the Warlock Lord has a chance to sick his unstoppable army onto this world.

            I am not going to lower Terry Brook’s score simply because some of his ideas have been done before. Yeah there are the dwarves, the elves, and army of gnome creatures, but that doesn’t bother me. For you see, even if an idea has been done before it is how it is written by the author that determines whether or not the book will be entertaining. And that is precisely what The Sword of Shannara is; entertaining.

            I was captivated by this book from beginning to end. It is the kind of book that as soon as you finish it, you have to run out and buy the next in the series just to say you have it; just to know you can read another amazing book when ever you need it.

            Now you probably noticed I said buy the next in the series. Yes there are a series of Shannara books, but the original trilogy (The Sword of Shannara, The Elfstones of Shannara, and the Wishsong of Shannara) are all individual stories. When you get to the end of the Sword of Shannara, don’t be afraid that it won’t end in time and you will have to buy another just to see what happens. This is, from beginning to end, a complete story. It doesn’t require that you read the one before it, or have any knowledge of the land. It is the ultimate pick up and read epic fantasy.

            I also really liked Terry Brooks’ explanation as to how this fantasy world came to be. I won’t spoil it though; I just wanted to say it is worth noting.

            As I said before the fact that this story begins and ends in one book is both good and bad. It’s good because you get a sense of closure and don’t have to wait years for the next installment, however the downside is that you really want it to go on. When I saw that the sequel wasn’t a direct continuation, I was saddened.

            But all good things have to come to an end, and the later books do carry over some characters and ideas.