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Bearers of the Black Staff (Legends of Shannara) Review

Just finished BEARERS OF THE BLACK STAFF, and it's intriguing the way the Word & Void mythos has really become an integral part of the Shannara series. And its frustrating that we have to wait a whole year for the follow up to this bad boy, since it ends right when the story is kicking into high gear.

I do believe this book (one of a two book short series) does effectively continue the Shannara mythos enough to satisfy its fans, but I think this book somehow manages to remain accessible for those who haven't read any of the series. If you've read Word & Void (contemporary urban mythology), and you've read the classic Shannara novels (fantasy adventure), then the style of writing Brooks utilizes in this book is kind of a merging of both styles. I personally found this appealing.

I can't help but be impressed with how good Brooks is at being a craftsman. He is a master of storytelling.. clear, precise, and experienced. He takes you into his world, and lets you really visualize everything with his words. He is painting pictures that we can see in our imaginations, and he makes it all seem real. He starts off with a few plots... then interweaves them... pulls out some surprises and twists... all the way maintaining a solid architecture that makes for a good time reading. He caught me by surprise a few times, and the whole time I'm thinking... is (this character) going to die? Because, characters do perish in this one.

I read this in three days... a relaxed pace for me... and I wanted more. That's why I hate waiting a whole year for the next book! Not many books grab me from the beginning... but Terry's books always do that for me. That's why he's one of my favorite authors.

BEARERS OF THE BLACK STAFF is a fantasy novel about the survivors of the Great Wars. Having been protected by a barrier from the outside world (a decayed, post-apocalyptic wilderness) for 500 years, their somewhat peaceful existence is thrown into disarray when faced with the fact that their protective barrier is failing. Almost immediately, outside invaders appear with the desire to conquer their hospitable lands. Instead of being allies (after 500 years of hanging out together), the races living in the barrier have become mostly distant and isolated from each other. Also, factions have grown, eager to rule the others through the creation of a pseudo-religion based on the one that delivered them from destruction 500 years earlier. Somehow, with the help of a few would-be heroes and a (for lack of a better word) sorcerer... the survivors must find a way to circumvent their problems to continue their survival in earnest. Political intrigue... machinations... treachery... friendship... budding romance... the fantastic... this story has it all.

I highly recommend this book. I enjoyed the heck out of it.

Bearers of the Black Staff (Legends of Shannara) Overview

For more than three decades, New York Times bestselling author Terry Brooks has ruled the epic fantasy realm with his legendary Shannara series. With each new novel the mythos has deepened, ever more fascinating characters have arisen, and increasingly breathtaking vistas of magical adventure have emerged. Now the evolution of one of imaginative fiction’s most beloved worlds continues in the first book of the new series Legends of Shannara: Bearers of the Black Staff.

Five hundred years have passed since the devastating demon-led war that tore apart the United States, leaving nothing but scorched and poisoned ruins, and nearly exterminating humankind. Those who escaped the carnage and blight were led to sanctuary by the boy savior known as the Hawk—the gypsy morph. In an idyllic valley, its borders warded by powerful magic against the horrors beyond, humans, elves, and mutants alike found a place they believed would be their home forever.

But after five centuries, the unimaginable has come to pass: The cocoon of protective magic surrounding the valley has vanished. When Sider Ament, the only surviving descendant of the Knights of the Word, detects unknown predators stalking the valley, he fears the worst. And when Panterra Qu and Prue Liss, expert Trackers from the human village of Glensk Wood, find two of their own gruesomely killed, there can be no doubt: The once safe haven of generations has been laid bare and made vulnerable to whatever still lurks in the wasteland of the outside world.

Together, Ament, the two young Trackers, and a daring Elf princess race to spread word of the encroaching danger—and spearhead plans to defend their ancestral home. But suspicion and hostility among their countrymen threaten to doom their efforts from within—while beyond the breached borders, a ruthless Troll army masses for invasion. And in the thick of it all, the last wielder of the black staff and its awesome magic must find a successor to carry on the fight against the cresting new wave of evil.

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Customer Reviews

A promising start, but not "epic" enough. - SRB - Texas
This new series has it's work cut out for it. The last series "genesis of shannara" I felt could have been much better and left far too many questions unanswered about the elven and human demons, the knight's lady and the elves/ elcrys. While I thought it was clever to merge the two book series, in the end I didn't feel the author did justice to either series, let along successfully merge them. This is about the last "major" event of the Shannara series. Once we are past this, we're into the regular Shannara world. (So make it count!)

This new series (2 books?) starts 500 years after the sealing of the valley and the destruction of our world by nuclear fire. The characters are very strong in this book, I felt Syder, Pan, Prue and Phryne were all well conceived. There were more than a few twists & turns and I was even surprised a few times by the events. That doesn't happen often. I look forward to the conclusion but surprised it's only a 2 book series as normally the Shannara series are 3 books. There were a few times that I felt a chill up my spine when characters from Genesis series are sort of reverently mentioned. Nice touch. "The Hawk", for example.

I know the below is critical, on the whole it was a decent read, and I am curious to see how it all ends up.

On the negative side, the plot felt rushed and not "epic" enough. As normal, Terry spends (IMHO) too much time on mundane details that take up a lot of pages (eating, walking, thinking about teen age crushes, etc.,) and not enough on the big issues - like the start of the brave new world that becomes the "shannara" world of 20 or so books going back to the 1970's. Instead than 5 pages on Syder scaling the cliff or Phyrne mooning over Pan, how about more pages detailing life in the valley after it was sealed. Maybe it's forthcoming, but we barely get a glimpse as to what has happened to the survivors in the last 500 years. I just don't feel the author has respect for how long 500 years is. I was expecting the inhabitants to maybe disbelieve the myths of their being sealed in the valley. Sort of like generational spaceship inhabitants forget they are in a huge spaceship and think it's just a round metal work they live in. Something like that. Ask the average person on the street what happened 500 years ago and I bet 90% would have no clue. Everyone in this book is a scholar or expert on the last 500 years. I thought it would be nice to find a group that thought "Hawk" was a fictitious religious creation, etc. But no, even with the absence of magic, everyone believes freely that 500 years ago, a savior led them into this magical valley and created an impenetrable force shield to protect them from the nuclear devastation outside (that apparently a lot of people survived).

(spoilers below)

Also, I really had a hard time with Syder's happenstance meeting with a sympathetic mercenary that has 500 year old machine guns and ATVs in perfect working order. Please, 500 years... my car stops working after about 10 years even if I pamper it. 500 years indeed. It was just too much of a crutch for me. The previous set of books leaned heavily on left over 21th century tech (and some of that not actually real) like ATVs that had solar cells that would let the characters drive all over the country without gasoline or flechette guns that could wipe out multiple foes instantly & never needed maintenance or reloading. It's time to wean off this tech now that we are 500 years later and squarely in the shannara world. And don't get me started on the "tracking device" that gets used by several people.

Answers we still don't have and aren't even addressed:

1. Where is the elcrys in this book? It's not even mentioned?!
2. The lady hasn't spoken to her knights in 500 years? Fickle chick....
3. Still no explanation for the dual demons (human and elvin) and supposedly the human demons are still around?
4. Where is the "Shannara" in all this? Supposedly an old elven family. Would it kill Terry to give us a "Shannara" character?
5. Apparently a lot of people lived thru the great wars, apparently more are living outside the valley than in (troll army of several thousand, for example). Doesn't this sort of negate the whole 500 yeas spent in the happy valley? Just seems odd to find that the life extinction level event didn't actually extinguish life outside.

Disappointing - klymber01 -
Definitely not up to Brooks standards. This could have been soooo much more. He had a wealth of directions he could take and he decided on an easy, tired formula. I LOVE Terry Brooks and have read every one of his books multiple times, which is why I found this such a disappointment. I hope he picks it up in the next installment. I wish he would go back to the W&V series. Another reason this book bugged me was the blatent preaching and humanity hatred. He has been in the NorthWest way too long.

Page turning as usual, but lacking something... - 124C41- - Chicago, IL
I'm proud to say I've stood by Mr. Brooks' work since I was introduced to it when I was just graduating the eighth grade, and walked alongside his characters ever since. There's something to say about a man who can write a story that even after all these years I still find as engaging as ever and can become utterly captured in its story until the wee hours of the morning with the sad realization that I have to be awake for work in 5 hours.

But still, there's something missing.

It's rather hard to put a finger on, as the thought squirms away. It seems to me that his stories as of late seem to be getting shorter and shorter, however well written and honed to a finer point. The characters are not so much lacking depth but description, which I really don't mind as I've never really enjoyed reading two whole pages about the physical but do so enjoy them in regards to the mental aspects of the individual, leaving more to the imagination which, I would endeavor, is the writer's intent to jog the reader's imagination. The plot is not lacking excitement nor thrill but suffers from a slight amount of predictability. The setting could be a bit more open, but being contained in the environment it is is to be expected and the social structures created within predictable if one has ever read Mr. Brooks' other writings or, well, payed any kind of close attention to humanity in the real.

Which is why I find one of the characters slightly out of touch with the way everything else has played out over the course of five hundred years. This individual has no qualms in doing the dirty work, somehow keeps a sunny disposition even in the most dire of circumstances, delivers some of the best lines in the book and is still one of the most interesting to read. This person's character and disposition, however entertaining, contradicts somehow the world as it's laid out before us and may disappear before we're able to learn of the history and circumstance that may have lead to such an interesting personality. I'm suddenly reminded of Garet Jax, for those of us that remember.

Don't let my ranting fool you however, I still finished the book in less than forty-eight hours. I guess you could compare his writing to the progression of a chef's cooking; it tastes and looks better every time you get a new dish, but dammit all, the portions keep getting smaller.

Good, but could of been great - W. Reagan -
This could have been one of Terry's best works. It has so much promise, but so many negatives. I wanted to give it 2 stars, but that felt too harsh for a fine return to this fantasy world.

Some of the negatives include the excessive walking around the characters do. Seems like the Knight of the Word spends most of the book walking between the old world and the valley and between each different race's camp/headquarters/center of power. In addition, Terry REALLY missed the boat on exploring more of the old world and what has changed. Whenever there would be a passage or remark regarding the old world and how things changed since the great war, I found myself riveted to the page, eagerly soaking up every word and reading some passages twice to get everything. To me, that is the most fascinating part, what has happened out there. Even slight mentions of the old buildings, etc. grabbed my attention. I want to know what the world has become, I want to know how things have changed out there, and that is the fascinating part. Way too much time is also spent on the elves and the daughter's time walking around the elven city and contemplating how her father is doing, and her mother/step mother. That story line was boring and dragged on to much. It sure is convenient that the "relics" of power we have come to know have vanished; only one staff now (convenient when an army is attacking) and the Elfstones remain lost for the majority of the book (convenient when the valley is going to get attacked). Shame that in all of Terry's recent books, the people have to struggle to find that one thing of power that will help.

Even with all these negatives, there are some great moments in the book. I found it to be one of the best novels in the Shannara series since the Voyage series. Inch is a phenomenal character that I fell in love with. The Knight of the Word is an excellent Knight in his thoughts and philosophies, the glimpses of the world are riveting, the descriptions of the trolls are awesome. Overall, an excellent addition to the series, but it just could have been that much more. So close.

*** Product Information and Prices Stored: Sep 06, 2010 14:09:04

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Monday, September 6, 2010