I’m a huge Shannara fan! I’ve only read the Sword, Heritage, and Jerle Shannara series so far, but hope to continue this year. Allanon is still one of my all time favorite characters, but I think Heritage is my favorite series so far. Walker’s story arc is so amazing.
I'm with you that Allanon is one of the greatest characters. A lot of people write off the series after book one(which is still my favorite), but I love it! And Jerle Shannara was so tightly done. I hope to read the last two quartets sometime later this year, that way I'll have read all of them.
I read the original three books back in the 80's and eventually the First King prequel. Some of my favorite fantasy reads ever, but lost touch with them for many years. Found out Brooks was still writing them last year, and decided to get a book haul and bought all of them. I had no idea he wrote so many!
Indeed, there are quite a few. But he’s very consistent generally. I am about 3/4 of the way through the series in it’s entirety, and can’t wait to finish it.
Also! If anyone is interested I purchased 20 of the books in the series on a Humble Bundle sale that ends in 15 or so days 😃😁! It was about 24 bucks for 20 ebook copies.
What is your favourite fantasy series? I read the Sword of Shannara in 1983 and proceeded to read the rest of what Terry Brooks wrote including the Landover series which I loved. I think my favourite series though has to be The Bartimaeus Sequence because it combines fantasy and magic with some great humour.
My favorite for a while was the Wheel of Time. I think now it is a toss-up between the overall Cosmere by Brandon Sanderson and the Runelords series by David Farland. I do go into my rankings further in some fantasy series ranking videos on the channel.
I loved the series and I mean ALL of it. I think my favorite "miniseries" was Genesis Of Shannara. After reading the original trilogy I went to what became the prequel, The Word and Void Series and went chronologically through over 4 years or so before finally finishing it this spring and starting Wheel Of Time. I love extended series, so you don't get attached to worlds and people just to have to start over after 400 pages. That's why other favorite authors are Anne McCaffrey, Sanderson and when I was younger, Piers Anthony.
The Voyage of the Jerle Shannara, & Armageddon's Children trilogies are my favorites of all the Shannara stories. Shannara is great, because, as u said, its easy to read, in comparison to LOTR, & also because its kid-friendly, while remaining very adult.
I started reading these back in 2005-2006 in middle school and LOVED them all. I was just too young to understand to follow the books in order of the time line. Just now listening to sword of Shannara while at work.
I first learned of Shannara by the short lived SyFy series. Not the best but the lore got me interested in reading the source material, I'm about to start with the Sword of Shannara trilogy and I needed some insight of what to expect from them. Thanks for this video! I think I'm about to enjoy It so much !
I don't read much fantasy, and had barely heard of Terry Brooks, but picked up a copy of The Black Elfstone at random in a country town bookstore on a recent trip just to give me something to read. Now I'm going through the original trilogy and will probably pick up the rest of the books as I make my way through. Loving it!
Holy cowwwwww..!!! 30 something books long in a series ! I´ll read the first three novels. I watched the tv series. The show was good, but I had the feeling that the show would be nothing like the book series despite never having read them: post apocalyptic landscape with jungles in New York cities with rusty cars strewn everywhere.
There are a few books in the series that have that vibe. But the first few books definitely do not. And the TV series was way different! The first three books are sort of long, but the rest of the series books are under 400 pages, so they’re fairly short. Definitely worth a read at least to see what it’s about.
Thank you for this amazing review, Jonathan! 🎉Can´t wait to go through the complete series this year. My plan is to read each trilogy/ tetralogy and break by reading any other author, then come back for the next. ✨
A nice overview. Sword of Shannara was my first "grown up" fantasy I ever read (after Narnia) at age 10 (way back in 1980... wow! am I old! lol) and fell in love with Brook's world. I always felt Brooks was a stronger writer when he did the stand alone novels. At the series continued and the quests became longer, I often felt there was more padding/filler than necessary and the later generational characters at times felt recycled, just given new names and a fresh coat of paint. I think I stopped reading them around the Dark Druid series? Maybe it is time to give them a revisit? Really looking forward to hear your review of how the series ends and if you think it works. Would also be fun to hear your thoughts on the television adaptation, what they got right and what they got wrong?
I recently read for the first time the two first books, the first one was amazing, I couldn't stop reading and feel in love with the characters so fast I didn't really like those slow fantasy stories before but I really enjoyed the Shannara books but the second was kinda a disappointed, I can't explain why I haven't read the third yet bc it's hard to find in Brazil, but I wanna give it a try
I’m a relatively long time subscriber. So I know when to watch your videos. I’m thinking of reading the Sword of Shannara and chose to watch this video first. I’m hesitant because of its similarities to LotRings. LotR was a great book, but I remember it vividly and don’t want to spoil that with a copy. Thank you for your review.
I can understand that. I still think it’ll be worth it, and shouldn’t taint your view of the LOTR books. And it’s only the first book that had the connection, as the rest are definitely their own thing. Thank you for watching!
I've read 'The Sword of Shannara' and 'The First King of Shannara' and I've also watched all the episodes of the now cancelled Shannara TV series and I've played the 1995 Shannara computer game. Being the completist that I am, I have no idea how I will be able to get hold of ALL the Shannara novels. Even worse is all the short stories published in periodical magazines over the years. As of these keystrokes there are 42 Shannara novel and short story titles on Wikipedia. The chronological first story 'Imaginary Friends' is only available as an ebook and I don't read ebooks (except free PDF files you can print).
It is hard to read everything. I’m really only about the novels, so it’s a little easier to find them, but you are right that it is hard to find the short stories in print. He did release a collection in print recently, but it doesn’t have absolutely everything. But I hope you are able to keep reading. There are some really great books in the series.
I started reading Sword of Shannara and couldn't quite get into it, but I just don't get people comparing it to Lord of the Rings. Maybe I'll have to take another look at it. I think people are way to eager to call any fantasy derivative of Tolkien.
That can happen, although in this case it really is true. He really did set out to tell the same story as LOTR just easier to follow and understand. It does follow just about all of the same plot beats, themes, and tropes. Some character archetypes are changed, but the first book was made as an LOTR copy (that really works for me, because I like the story and the way its done), but it doesn't work for a lot of people But the story really goes in a new direction in all of the rest of the books. Only book 1 is derivative.
Hello there :) I know I'm pretty late to the chat but I just watched your Videos on the Shannara Book Series, which are great by the way, after watching the TV series a few weeks ago. Now the series ends with a huge cliffhanger at the end of season two and there won't be a follow-up season. I really loved the series and I can't stop thinking about what will happen next. I was thinking about continuing with the books so I came across your Videos for some guidance but as I understood, the book series each have their whole completed story. So my question here is if the cliffhanger in season two is even in the books or just added by the TV adaption to make it more catching and if the following book will give me my really needed answers... I don't know if you've even seen the show but I would so appreciate if someone could help me out I'm so curious on how it would end :)
@@jonathankoan Alright thank you so much for the answer! I think I might still try out the books they do sound very interesting, especially since I enjoyed the general plot of the series a lot!
Can you clarify by what you mean by Name in order? I’m happy to provide any insight and information on the Shannara books, I’m just unclear what you are looking for.
@@BeerBunny2023 gotcha. Here’s the list from Publication order: 1. Sword of Shannara 2. Elfstones of Shannara 3. Wishsong of Shannara 4. Scions of Shannara 5. The Druid of Shannara 6. Elf Queen of Shannara 7. Talismans of Shannara 8. First King of Shannara 9. Isle Witch 10. Antrax 11. Morgawr 12. Jakra Rus 13. Tabequil 14. Straken 15.Armageddon’s Children 16. The Elves of Cintara 17. The Gypsy Morph 18. Bearers of the Black Staff 19. The Measure of Magic 20. Wards of Faerie 21. Bloodfire Quest 22. Witch Wraith 23. The High Druid’s Blade 24. The Darkling Child 25.The Sorcerers Daughter 26. The Black Elfstone 27. The Skaar Invasion 28. The Steihl Assassin 29. The Last Druid ***The Word and Void Trilogy is technically a part of the Shannara series, and should be read after #8 and before #15 I hope this helps. This info can also be found at fantasticfiction under Terry Brooks name.
I’m a huge Shannara fan! I’ve only read the Sword, Heritage, and Jerle Shannara series so far, but hope to continue this year. Allanon is still one of my all time favorite characters, but I think Heritage is my favorite series so far. Walker’s story arc is so amazing.
I'm with you that Allanon is one of the greatest characters. A lot of people write off the series after book one(which is still my favorite), but I love it! And Jerle Shannara was so tightly done. I hope to read the last two quartets sometime later this year, that way I'll have read all of them.
I read the original three books back in the 80's and eventually the First King prequel. Some of my favorite fantasy reads ever, but lost touch with them for many years. Found out Brooks was still writing them last year, and decided to get a book haul and bought all of them. I had no idea he wrote so many!
Indeed, there are quite a few. But he’s very consistent generally. I am about 3/4 of the way through the series in it’s entirety, and can’t wait to finish it.
I just started book one and was not aware that this massive series is complete 😃😁 !
Also! If anyone is interested I purchased 20 of the books in the series on a Humble Bundle sale that ends in 15 or so days 😃😁! It was about 24 bucks for 20 ebook copies.
What is your favourite fantasy series?
I read the Sword of Shannara in 1983 and proceeded to read the rest of what Terry Brooks wrote including the Landover series which I loved.
I think my favourite series though has to be The Bartimaeus Sequence because it combines fantasy and magic with some great humour.
My favorite for a while was the Wheel of Time. I think now it is a toss-up between the overall Cosmere by Brandon Sanderson and the Runelords series by David Farland. I do go into my rankings further in some fantasy series ranking videos on the channel.
@@jonathankoan thanks, I should add those to my reading list.
I loved the series and I mean ALL of it. I think my favorite "miniseries" was Genesis Of Shannara. After reading the original trilogy I went to what became the prequel, The Word and Void Series and went chronologically through over 4 years or so before finally finishing it this spring and starting Wheel Of Time. I love extended series, so you don't get attached to worlds and people just to have to start over after 400 pages. That's why other favorite authors are Anne McCaffrey, Sanderson and when I was younger, Piers Anthony.
The Voyage of the Jerle Shannara, & Armageddon's Children trilogies are my favorites of all the Shannara stories.
Shannara is great, because, as u said, its easy to read, in comparison to LOTR, & also because its kid-friendly, while remaining very adult.
I was not crazy about the Word & the Void.
The Sword of Shannara got me reading again. I love Brooks' series.
It’s so fun and underrated. Booktubers really don’t talk about it. Thank you for watching!
I started reading these back in 2005-2006 in middle school and LOVED them all. I was just too young to understand to follow the books in order of the time line. Just now listening to sword of Shannara while at work.
Thanks for the info. There is currently a Humble Bundle deal for 20 of his books and was interested to see if I should get them or not.
I first learned of Shannara by the short lived SyFy series. Not the best but the lore got me interested in reading the source material, I'm about to start with the Sword of Shannara trilogy and I needed some insight of what to expect from them. Thanks for this video! I think I'm about to enjoy It so much !
I don't read much fantasy, and had barely heard of Terry Brooks, but picked up a copy of The Black Elfstone at random in a country town bookstore on a recent trip just to give me something to read. Now I'm going through the original trilogy and will probably pick up the rest of the books as I make my way through. Loving it!
Glad you are enjoying it! I really love the series.
Holy cowwwwww..!!! 30 something books long in a series ! I´ll read the first three novels. I watched the tv series. The show was good, but I had the feeling that the show would be nothing like the book series despite never having read them: post apocalyptic landscape with jungles in New York cities with rusty cars strewn everywhere.
There are a few books in the series that have that vibe. But the first few books definitely do not. And the TV series was way different! The first three books are sort of long, but the rest of the series books are under 400 pages, so they’re fairly short. Definitely worth a read at least to see what it’s about.
Thank you for this amazing review, Jonathan! 🎉Can´t wait to go through the complete series this year. My plan is to read each trilogy/ tetralogy and break by reading any other author, then come back for the next. ✨
A nice overview. Sword of Shannara was my first "grown up" fantasy I ever read (after Narnia) at age 10 (way back in 1980... wow! am I old! lol) and fell in love with Brook's world. I always felt Brooks was a stronger writer when he did the stand alone novels. At the series continued and the quests became longer, I often felt there was more padding/filler than necessary and the later generational characters at times felt recycled, just given new names and a fresh coat of paint. I think I stopped reading them around the Dark Druid series? Maybe it is time to give them a revisit? Really looking forward to hear your review of how the series ends and if you think it works. Would also be fun to hear your thoughts on the television adaptation, what they got right and what they got wrong?
I recently read for the first time the two first books, the first one was amazing, I couldn't stop reading and feel in love with the characters so fast
I didn't really like those slow fantasy stories before but I really enjoyed the Shannara books
but the second was kinda a disappointed, I can't explain why
I haven't read the third yet bc it's hard to find in Brazil, but I wanna give it a try
Read sword of shannara in 85,my 1st ever fantasy book,loved all the series.
I’m a relatively long time subscriber. So I know when to watch your videos.
I’m thinking of reading the Sword of Shannara and chose to watch this video first. I’m hesitant because of its similarities to LotRings. LotR was a great book, but I remember it vividly and don’t want to spoil that with a copy. Thank you for your review.
I can understand that. I still think it’ll be worth it, and shouldn’t taint your view of the LOTR books. And it’s only the first book that had the connection, as the rest are definitely their own thing. Thank you for watching!
Rereading the entire series from Running with the Demon all the way through the last one. Mid way through first king!
I've read 'The Sword of Shannara' and 'The First King of Shannara' and I've also watched all the episodes of the now cancelled Shannara TV series and I've played the 1995 Shannara computer game. Being the completist that I am, I have no idea how I will be able to get hold of ALL the Shannara novels. Even worse is all the short stories published in periodical magazines over the years. As of these keystrokes there are 42 Shannara novel and short story titles on Wikipedia. The chronological first story 'Imaginary Friends' is only available as an ebook and I don't read ebooks (except free PDF files you can print).
It is hard to read everything. I’m really only about the novels, so it’s a little easier to find them, but you are right that it is hard to find the short stories in print. He did release a collection in print recently, but it doesn’t have absolutely everything.
But I hope you are able to keep reading. There are some really great books in the series.
The short stories related to Shannara are all available in the book Small Magic
@@MichaelSmith-zx5lw Not 'Imaginary Friends'
Don't trust anybody's reviews on Shannara, if they didn't go beyond book 1 😅
Read the first trilogy. Jerle Shanarra is also good. I LOVE the Ilse Witch. :)
I love this series
It’s very underrated on Booktube and Goodreads. I’m hoping to bring more attention to it so more people will read it.
I loved Riska from The First King. Probably my favorite Shannara Book so far too.
Did you ever play the Shannara Game for the PC? That was also great!
I have not played the game. I didn’t know there was one. That’s great!
❤
I started reading Sword of Shannara and couldn't quite get into it, but I just don't get people comparing it to Lord of the Rings. Maybe I'll have to take another look at it. I think people are way to eager to call any fantasy derivative of Tolkien.
That can happen, although in this case it really is true. He really did set out to tell the same story as LOTR just easier to follow and understand. It does follow just about all of the same plot beats, themes, and tropes. Some character archetypes are changed, but the first book was made as an LOTR copy (that really works for me, because I like the story and the way its done), but it doesn't work for a lot of people But the story really goes in a new direction in all of the rest of the books. Only book 1 is derivative.
@@jonathankoan I read Elfstones a few years ago. It was really good.
Hello there :)
I know I'm pretty late to the chat but I just watched your Videos on the Shannara Book Series, which are great by the way, after watching the TV series a few weeks ago. Now the series ends with a huge cliffhanger at the end of season two and there won't be a follow-up season. I really loved the series and I can't stop thinking about what will happen next. I was thinking about continuing with the books so I came across your Videos for some guidance but as I understood, the book series each have their whole completed story. So my question here is if the cliffhanger in season two is even in the books or just added by the TV adaption to make it more catching and if the following book will give me my really needed answers...
I don't know if you've even seen the show but I would so appreciate if someone could help me out I'm so curious on how it would end :)
It’s not really connected to the books. Season 1 is a loose adaptation of Elfstones of Shannara. Season 2 does something totally different.
@@jonathankoan Alright thank you so much for the answer! I think I might still try out the books they do sound very interesting, especially since I enjoyed the general plot of the series a lot!
Did anyone else here watch The Big Short ?
I have not, but I assume you are referencing Christian Bale’s character reading “Scions of Shannara”?
@@jonathankoan yessir. It was the first reference I've seen to these
Can give Name in order names of the all 30 book
Can you clarify by what you mean by Name in order? I’m happy to provide any insight and information on the Shannara books, I’m just unclear what you are looking for.
Of shannara series
@@BeerBunny2023 gotcha. Here’s the list from Publication order:
1. Sword of Shannara
2. Elfstones of Shannara
3. Wishsong of Shannara
4. Scions of Shannara
5. The Druid of Shannara
6. Elf Queen of Shannara
7. Talismans of Shannara
8. First King of Shannara
9. Isle Witch
10. Antrax
11. Morgawr
12. Jakra Rus
13. Tabequil
14. Straken
15.Armageddon’s Children
16. The Elves of Cintara
17. The Gypsy Morph
18. Bearers of the Black Staff
19. The Measure of Magic
20. Wards of Faerie
21. Bloodfire Quest
22. Witch Wraith
23. The High Druid’s Blade
24. The Darkling Child
25.The Sorcerers Daughter
26. The Black Elfstone
27. The Skaar Invasion
28. The Steihl Assassin
29. The Last Druid
***The Word and Void Trilogy is technically a part of the Shannara series, and should be read after #8 and before #15
I hope this helps. This info can also be found at fantasticfiction under Terry Brooks name.
I thought he did a prequel series or something
He did do the Word and the Void series, which wasn’t originally going to be part of the Shannara universe, but he folded it in later.
@@jonathankoan oh okay
I think I’ve read all 30 books in compendium, including the knight of the word series ❤❤