Product Description

The rightful High Druid of Shannara has been banished to the harsh world called the Forbidding by a treasonous fellow druid. Her only hope for rescue is her nephew Pen - but Pen is under seige as well. Both he and his parents are sought by the druids, who want to make sure that their magic will never help the real leader to return. Yet there is worse to come. For the dark magic that banished the High Druid into the Forbidding allowed the simultaneous transference of a fearsome denizen of the Forbidding back into the druids' world. And now there is a terrible peril in the Four Lands - a creature that can take on any shape, can kill at will, and is only the harbinger of a much greater, devastating invasion to come ...

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #28855 in Books
• Published on: 2005-05-03
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 464 pages

About the Author
Terry Brooks first novel, THE SWORD OF SHANNARA, began the post-Tolkien huge boom in epic fantasy in 1977. It was a NEW YORK TIMES bestseller for five months. Since then he has written seven more SHANNARA novels, five MAGIC KINGDOM light fantasies and the KNIGHT OF THE WORD dark fantasies series. Terry Brooks divides his time between Seattle and Hawaii with his wife, Judine.

Customer Reviews

One of his best!
As Terry becomes older and writes more, as all writers, he gets better; but heres the difference from he and other writers. As he grows older he gets better and better at the same rate where as many writers slow down and stop eventually. His novels are just an example this; with this novel being one of his best yet. Some may say that if you write too many books you'll run out of ideas but Terry just keeps on rolling with each new series. I eagerly await the arrival of the final book in the series and implore you that this is not the beginning of a spiral downwards as one reviewer percieved but his steady climb upwards! It's a great novel for all ages and brings the reader into first person, feeling what the character feels and worrying for him/her as much as though they were family, whilst feeling much fear and hatred for the enemies and hating every part of their enemies malicious beings!

I sense the downward spiral beginning
Terry Brooks made his name with the Shannara series, coming back to it again and again in various trilogies (and one four-parter). It got to the point where even some of his fans were saying "enough!" They all started sounding the same with small differences (the Jerle Shannara trilogy took place across the sea, for one thing). Then, Brooks came out with Jarka Ruus. While still very similar in content, Brooks appeared to be taking the series in a bit of a new direction. Now, we have the second book in the High Druid of Shannara trilogy, Tanequil It's a step down from the first book, but not too bad. Average is probably the best word for it (though I'm sure Brooks wouldn't think so).

There's one major problem with Tanequil, which is that it's kind of boring. It reads very much like all the other Shannara books (the main characters spend a lot of time brooding about their situation), but the action is much less. Thus, we spend a disproportionate amount of time in the characters' heads, and it isn't that interesting. Either the villain is musing over her plans for Grianne or ultimate power, the Prime Minister of the Federation is going over what he intends to do with a new weapon, or Pen is brooding over what the cost of his little expedition has been in lives and heartache. What's even worse is that he repeats himself a little bit. Why Shadea has to tell the reader multiple times that her current relationship is one of convenience that she's willing to throw away as soon as it's no longer useful is unclear. This has always been a problem with Brooks, but he's always made up for it with exciting action scenes. This time, he doesn't. Compared to the rest of the books, there's relatively little.

Even worse is that Brooks is either way too predictable or he thinks foreshadowing should be done with a hammer instead of a scalpel. He never states anything just for atmosphere's sake. Everything he says is going to be used or addressed at some point. When Pen visits the Troll city and he mentions (seemingly in an off-hand manner) the layout of the city and how they are mobile creatures, ready to move at a moment's notice, you know that it's going to be a plot point eventually. Other writers might use this to paint a broader picture of Troll society, but Brooks doesn't bother. If it's there, it's going to be used.

The last problem is that the most interesting character in the series, Grianne, is barely in the book, relatively speaking. She doesn't appear for over one hundred pages, and then she's only in a few sections after that. She's imprisoned the entire time, though at least Brooks makes good use of that to further the plot and give her some more hardships to endure. As I said in my review of Jarka Ruus, Brooks hasn't really dealt with redemption, so her storyline has a lot of potential. In the little space that she inhabits in Tanequil, she is put through the wringer and it's fascinating to see how she deals with it all. It's just not enough to carry the rest of the book.

On the plus side, Brooks does bring back Bek and his wife, Rue, Pen's parents. They were two of the most interesting characters in the earlier trilogy, and I was disappointed when they didn't appear in Jarka Ruus. They both get to demonstrate their devotion to each other as well as their quick wit and intelligence when they are set upon by the Druids. Sadly, none of the other characters shine, though I can't really point to any of them and say that they were done badly. Instead, they just sit there on the page and I found myself occasionally wishing Brooks would go back to somebody else. This generally happened with Shadea, who suffers from being one of the least interesting villains I've read in quite a while.

Finally, I have to give kudos for the demons and the Forbidding. The atmosphere in the Forbidding is very tight, and when Brooks reveals the ultimate plan, it brings the book up to another level. There's another villain besides Shadea, and the book really accelerates when he's on the screen. Unfortunately, he's only there when Grianne is, which means he doesn't get a lot of time. Sure, he's sort of a cliché, but he's miles above Shadea. If Brooks continues the demon storyline to a satisfying conclusion, the last book should be a rocking read.

Tanequil isn't really bad enough to avoid if you're following the Shannara series. It just sort of sits there, taking up room until the next book. If you read the first book and enjoyed it, this won't turn you off of the series. It'll just make you wish the third book was already here. I hope Brooks doesn't let us down.

David Roy

Im not that sure......
I have been a big fan of Terry Brooks since I was very young (started reading Sword of Shannara when i was 10) and have observed how the books have changed over the years. He created legends from the first 3 Shannara novels, which all of the Shannara books following have been based on. However the legends which he created now seem so far away and part of a golden age of Shannara story telling. Dont get me wrong, I loved The Heritage series of Shannara novels, but since the start of where increased technology seemse to be introduced into the world (and less belief and useage in magic), it seems slightly less.....well magic. Anyway, to the book: Tanequil starts off slower than his other books. You do not get thrown strait into the action for a while and I think this may deter some of his younger fans. However I am older now and appreciate this far more than I would have done had I been younger. This gives you time to explore whats been happening in the four lands and how the characters are developing. However this books is like wine and matures through time; the more you read through the story the more you enjoy it. This is another aspects of the Shannara novels which has changed because its one of the few Shannara novels that has not left me hooked throughout. Every other Shannara novel has left me gasping for more and more of the story until its finished, but Tanequil leaves you wondering and wondering and well..... wondering for over half the book before the pace speeds up and the core of the plots and the characters are uncovered and developed. However once it gets hold of you, it does not let you go after that. There are of course discrepinses (which may be fixed or at least smoothed out in the third book). For example the Straken Lord sounds like a more sinister and evil apparition than the Warlock Lord and the Dagda Mor was in previous books, yet when the forbidding collapsed in the second Shannara book, there was no sign of this almighty and terrifiyingly powerful malevolent spirit. Anyway dont let my pesimism get in the way of a good read. i will certainly still be reading every Shannara novel which continues to be written as I am a great fan of Terry Brooks and his Shananra legacy.